Potter, potter, potter...

[kerravonsen]

I recently tried out a dozen or so of the Hogwards Sorting tests over at www.quizilla.com and came out as Ravenclaw most of the time (no surprise), though I got a Griffendor and a Hufflepuff once. Must be my sense of fair play or something. Mind you, the only house that I would never ever fit into would be Slytherin, because I'm not at all ambitious. At least they've cleared up why the Houses are divided like that, because I wouldn't have thought that ambition was a sensible virtue to sort for, but the explanation given makes sense.

Unlike the magic in the Potterverse. Well, there's no... system to it at all. Or very little. Why is it that making a Patronus is very advanced magic, yet reading a person's intent can be done with a cheap sneakoscope? Not to mention that the Sorting Hat has the ability to read minds, an incredibly powerful thing, but it's only ever used for something as trivial as putting people into Houses.

I did not resist. I did read Mistral's recommendation on GenFicCrit, "Harry Potter and the Polka Dot Plague", and I did enjoy it, especially the characterisation of Snape. Must do a review of it ASAP. I don't really intend to read any other HP fic, unless maybe Rebecca Anderson's, since I know she writes so well. But it's quite wierd to read any fanfic set in a universe which is still unfolding, because it's like taking a snapshot of the past and then moving one step sideways. And book fic makes me uneasy anyway.

Comments

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

"Polka Dot Plague" is brilliant: one of my own favourites. If you ever change your mind about not reading much HP fic and want some recs, you know where to come. :)

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

Not to mention that the Sorting Hat has the ability to read minds, an incredibly powerful thing, but it's only ever used for something as trivial as putting people into Houses.

Hullo -- followed R.J.'s link to you.

Beg to differ, but the Sorting is hardly trivial. The expectations of the character of each House are going to shape the student's whole life from that point on. In addition, there's subtle intimations that the Hat is also trying to place resources where they'll do most good.

Hermione, for instance, could have ('should' have) been a Ravenclaw, but she's proved to be an invaluable counterbalance for Harry... well, Harry AND Ron. Because it's implied the Houses keep largely to themselves for friendships, their threefold friendship would likely never have formed if Hermione had been in a different House to the boys.

Harry, likewise, could have been a Slytherin as well, but the expectations of Gryffindor have provided a tempering effect which Slytherin would not have provided. That, I can't really give an example for -- it's more of a right-brain idea.

Incidentally, on the fanfic side of things, Textual Sphinx's wonderful A Decoding of the Heart (http://www.sff.net/people/Corgi/textualsphinx.fic/) has Dumbledore using the Sorting Hat as a tool to do 'status checks' on Snape's suicidal urges, in an attempt to save his life. You've really got to read it in context. Sphinx has a voice like no other HP 'fic writer I've read yet.

Re: Sorting Hat

[kerravonsen]

About the Sorting Hat... well, yes and no. You seem to be arguing against yourself here, since you say that Hermione should have been a Ravenclaw, but was made a Griffendor because they needed someone un-Griffendorish for balance -- which makes me think they'd all be better off without the Sorting Hat altogether, and put people in Houses randomly, in order to get this balance naturally. 8-)

On the other hand, you're also arguing against the Hat itself, in regard to Harry and Sytherin, as the point Dumbledore made very early on -- that it's also about choice.

Again, considering whether Hermione "ought" to have been a Ravenclaw, I think it demonstrates that people aren't quite so easily compartmentalized as all that. Yes, she could well have fitted in in Ravenclaw -- or driven her friends crazy with her inclinations to go off and do things, like make polyjuice potion, or free the House-Elves from oppression. That sort of impulse is probably why I got one "griffendor" answer from one of the quizzes -- not that I've ever marched in the streets, but I do have these old-fashioned notions about wrong and right... though my tendency to ponder and muse would really push me more into the Ravenclaw camp.
I guess one could support your argument here by basically saying that Hermione is really someone who could have fitted into either Ravenclaw or Griffendor, really -- and that's probably true, since I wouldn't like to think that braininess means lack of bravery -- and the Hat decided for the good of Griffendor as much as the good of Hermione.

As for "A Decoding of the Heart", guess I'll have to wait until I read it (thanks for the rec) before I can see whether the use of the Hat is plausible there.

Decoding of the Hat

[kerravonsen]

Garrgh! Why didn't you tell me "A Decoding of the Heart" was a Work-In-Progress? Actually, the author didn't warn for that either... not until I actually got to part 5... (sigh)

Well. Lovely writing style, I think I can agree on that. Jury is out as to whether the author can convince me that Snape/Hermionie is actually possible; it isn't something that normally swims within the ken of my imagination.
As for the use of the Hat here... I'm not really convinced of that either.

[chyara]

you wouldn't happen to have a copy of Corgi's working of Textualsphinx's work?

[kerravonsen]

Who are you asking, me or sff-corgi? If me, no, I don't have a copy. If sff-corgi, she won't have seen your comment, because it's a comment imported from livejournal. You'd be better off sending her a PM on her livejournal account.