From Under the Brim

You became a historian, young Miss Smythe? Oh, Mrs. Johnson; my apologies.

Hmm, doing research on Harry Potter and his classmates, you say? Well, seeing as how it's been two hundred years, I suppose there's no harm in giving you some generalities. Nothing specific that would invade their privacy, you understand.

So, who do you want to know about?

Hmph. Not much of a list. Don't you want to hear about Lily DuFay, who could've been in any of the four houses?

Oh, fine, fine.

Three of them weren't even in Potter's class year, you know.

Cho Chang was the quintessential Ravenclaw of the time. She wanted knowledge for the sake of having it.

Why did you want to hear about her, anyway? Based on what I heard in the Headmaster's office over Mr. Potter's school years, she doesn't play a part at all.

She tried to date Mr. Potter? Bad match, that. Couldn't have lasted any time at all.

Now, the next one on your list could easily have dated him but for all the wrong reasons. Ginevra Weasley should've been a Slytherin, what with that level of ambition and cunning of hers. But she was so adamant that she go into Gryffindor to be with the "Boy Who Lived". She even called him that in her own mind. Anyway, as she was so against Slytherin and the rest of her family was in Gryffindor, I let her go there.

Luna Lovegood was actually quite difficult to place. She could've easily been in any of the houses.

You're surprised? You shouldn't be. Even at 11, I saw her defense mechanisms in place. If that "Looney" persona - she even called it that - isn't pure cunning, I'll eat my own liner. Not to mention the intelligence it takes to come up with it and the bravery and hard work to actually go through with it for seven years. But overall, her loyalty is what defined that girl. She was so very fiercely loyal to her father and would be to anyone she considered to be a friend.

Yes, I know I put her into Ravenclaw. I'm getting to that. You youngsters have no patience.

The problem is that she was originally convinced that Ronald and Ginevra Weasley were her friends. Ronald was already a Gryffindor and Miss Lovegood was utterly convinced that Miss Weasley would become a Gryffindor as well. So, therefore, she wanted to be in a house that would be "acceptable" to them.

As I already stated, Miss Lovegood would do the best in Hufflepuff House, but she was convinced that being there would cause the Weasleys to overlook her. Therefore, believing that her bravery wasn't enough to get her into Gryffindor, she wanted to be a Ravenclaw. Now, that argument actually proves her cunning, so Slytherin was looking better and better. Then, she pointed out, quite calmly, that her eccentricity would likely get her killed sooner or later among the snakes. So off to Ravenclaw she went.

Neville Longbottom could've been in one of three houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin.

Mrs. Johnson! If you continue to interrupt me with variations on, "But that doesn't make any sense!" then this conversation will drag on for a very long time. Kindly let me get on with the story, and I trust your Ravenclaw intelligence will allow you to see the truth to my words in time.

Now, your argument about his skill in Herbology showing intelligence is incorrect. Don't get me wrong, he was an intelligent young man, but no blazing star like Miss Granger or Miss Padma Patil. His skill in Herbology was what is now considered a prodigy talent instead of more mundane intelligence. The amount of hard work, both academically and physically, he'd already put into his studies proved that he would make a good Hufflepuff, but his bravery, facing the metaphorical slings and arrows of his classmates when everyone, himself included, considered him a near-squib only proves that Gryffindor was really the only place for him. His Slytherin quality that so surprises you was ambition to live up to the Longbottom name, which he equated to making his grandmother proud of him. Considering what I knew of August Croaker and had heard since then of Madam Longbottom, that certainly sounded ambitious to me.

Hermione Granger on the surface appeared to be an obvious Ravenclaw, much as Miss Chang had the previous year. However, when I saw her idealism, that impetuous "charge headlong at a perceived wrong without researching" attitude of hers, it forced her into Gryffindor.

I can see that objection forming Mrs. Johnson. Before you say a word in her defense, think about one thing: the Society to Protect Elvish Welfare.

Ronald Weasley was one of the easiest sorts that year. He hadn't an ounce of loyalty or intelligence. Hard work was anathema to him and subtlety was completely beyond him. He had plenty of ambition, so Slytherin was a possibility until I realized that any level of cunning and actually working was completely outside of his abilities. With all of the primary criteria now exhausted, I simply put him with the rest of his family.

Draco Malfoy was only slightly easier to place. Similarly to Weasley, no loyalty, only moderate intelligence, and absolute refusal to consider any physical work. His ambition was just as all-encompassing, but in this case was tempered by just a bit of cunning and willingness to actually work for it, assuming no physical effort - such a plebian pursuit to his thinking - was required. So to Slytherin he went.

Harry Potter himself: Gryffindor, through and through. Oh, he had the work ethic and loyalty of a Hufflepuff, but his untempered need to do the right thing despite personal danger or the anger of his peers meant that Gryffindor was the only place for him.

Ah, you heard about what I told him regarding placing him into Slytherin? No, I wouldn't have done so, despite what I threatened. I said that for two reasons: First to see if he'd tell me why he wanted to avoid Slytherin so badly and secondly because Albus Dumbledore was so adamant to keep him out of Slytherin.

So, there you have it, Mrs. Johnson: my view of each individual on your list. Once you finish writing this biography, do let me read it, hmm?

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From Under the Brim