Re-Sorting “Harry Potter” Characters into Different Hogwarts Houses

The Sorting Ceremony is perhaps one of the most iconic parts of Harry Potter. However, there is one slight flaw in it. After all, the person you are at age 11 isn’t always the same person you are seven years later. This is why I thought it would be interesting to take some of the Harry Potter characters and re-Sort them at the end of the books, seeing who grew into their original Houses and who grew into different ones.

Harry – Hufflepuff

Harry is absolutely brave; there’s no questioning that. But when I think of Harry in his seventh year, his bravery isn’t what stands out the most to me. Instead, it’s his loyalty. J.K. Rowling spent a large portion of the later books emphasizing the power of love, and Harry shows us that power as his love for his friends, parents, and girlfriend shines through. This love creates a powerful loyalty that drives Harry throughout the seventh book and is ultimately what allows him to walk to his death. Also, considering the amount of effort needed to find all the Horcruxes, no one can say Harry shies away from hard work.

Hermione – Slytherin

Hermione may be a Muggle-born, but by the end of the series, she exemplifies the Slytherin House traits scarily well. In terms of ambition, we certainly see it in regard to her schoolwork, with her desire to be the best at everything. And her ambitions only grow larger, with her ongoing house-elf activism and her determination to change the wizarding world. She ends up managing to rise through the ranks at the Ministry pretty handily. As for using any means to achieve her ends, she trapped Rita Skeeter in a jar and blackmailed her. She Obliviated her own parents. Even as just a first year, she set Snape on fire. Needless to say, she has this trait pretty well covered too.

Fred and George – Slytherin

Perhaps their ambition might not be as lofty as world domination, but there’s no denying that once the Weasley twins decided that they wanted to build a joke shop, they didn’t let anything stop them. They managed to achieve their ambition before they even graduated from Hogwarts. Their pranks also help show off their cunning sides. This is partially because anyone who can orchestrate the amount of chaos they did in the fifth book has to have some measure of cunning. And it’s also because they managed to turn joke items into practical defense. Their Extendable Ears are just one example. So as much as Snape would have hated it, the Weasley twins could have been re-Sorted into Slytherin fairly easily.

Dumbledore – Ravenclaw

First, I have to say that I don’t think Dumbledore just transitioned from Gryffindor to Ravenclaw. I believe that he transitioned from Gryffindor to Slytherin and then to Ravenclaw. The Slytherin side of him can easily be seen in the fact that when he graduated from Hogwarts, Dumbledore was ready to literally conquer the world. However, once Ariana dies, Dumbledore’s ambitions fade, and suddenly, he doesn’t fit Slytherin so well. Furthermore, he lost a lot of his courage in that moment. He becomes afraid of himself. We hear about how he limits himself, worried about what would happen if he let himself reach for too much power. So Gryffindor doesn’t quite fit either. But with all his love of teaching and continuous encouragement of creativity, I think he would end up settling quite well in Ravenclaw.

Neville – Gryffindor

You may be wondering why Neville is on this list given that his House doesn’t change. Well, that’s because Neville does something unusual. Most of the other characters as they grow up start being able to fit into more than one House, but Neville grows into his House, not out of it. He’s far more of a Gryffindor by Book 7 than he is in Book 1. When he was first Sorted, he probably had a pretty good chance of being Sorted into Hufflepuff as well, and he could have been happy there. However, once Sorted into Gryffindor, he becomes less split between the two Houses. Honestly, a large part of this comes down to confidence. In the beginning, Neville’s courage revolves primarily around battling his own internal demons. But once Neville believes in himself, he’s able to be more openly brave, rising up to become a true hero and the epitome of a Gryffindor.