If I Were An AU, Where Would I Be?

[kerravonsen]

Poll #5750 AU Sorting

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 10

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Suppose, in an AU, Harry Potter got sorted into Slytherin. Where should Ron, Neville and Hermione be Sorted?

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Ron, Hermione and Neville in Gryffindor (as in canon).
5 (50.0%)

Hermione in Ravenclaw, Ron in Gryffindor and Neville in Hufflepuff
5 (50.0%)

Ron and Hermione in Ravenclaw, Neville in Gryffindor
0 (0.0%)

Ron and Neville in Hufflepuff, Hermione in Ravenclaw
2 (20.0%)

Ron in Ravenclaw, Hermione in Gryffindor and Neville in Hufflepuff
0 (0.0%)

Other (leave comment)
2 (20.0%)

Part of the reason I'm asking is that I'm pondering whether to sign up for au_bigbang and do my Draco time-travel AU for it. But in order to do that,
* I will need a detailed outline, otherwise I won't be able to manage it
* I will probably not be able to participate in the tthdrabbles birthday fest
* I will probably not be able to participate in the finish-a-thon (though I will still run it). Not unless I make my offerings quite short.

I know some people are good enough at multi-tasking to be able to do multiple ficathons at once, but I can really only count on one good hour a day to do writing, which means I will have to concentrate on one thing or another, not split my time between multiple writing projects. But I would like to try one of the Big Bangs for a change, because the lure of having art to go with the story is very alluring.

Comments

[tree_and_leaf]

I think Ron might actually be more of a Hufflepuff than Neville is.

[kerravonsen]

Because...? I'd be interested to hear your reasoning.

[cheyinka]

I actually had the same feeling! Ron, I get the impression, is in Gryffindor because his family always has been - though he certainly had enough latent courage to "qualify" for Gryffindor, if he'd been in Hufflepuff it would have been his loyalty that would have "qualified" him and that trait that he would have developed.

[kerravonsen]

(nods) Okay, I see that.

[fred_mouse]

I really like the idea of them all being in the same house - Neville as a Slytherin has a great deal of potential.

and for me, given the scene on the train, I would expect Ron to end up either in Gryffindor, or wherever Harry ends up (and he would be sorted after Harry). Hermione I'm not so sure of - there must have been some reason for her to end up in Gryffindor in the first place, and I don't think that there is anything prior to the sorting that would make that change, even if Harry is sorted into Slytherin (and both she and Neville are sorted before Harry). Unless you are adding in a scene that changes their interaction with Harry, as well as Draco's?

[kerravonsen]

there must have been some reason for her to end up in Gryffindor in the first place, and I don't think that there is anything prior to the sorting that would make that change

Having recently gone over the scene in the train, there actually was a reason: Hermione actually declared that she would like to be in Gryffindor because it sounded like a good House to be in. If I recall correctly, when she was Sorted, she had a choice between Ravenclaw and Gryiffindor, so she chose Gryffindor because she was already biased towards it.

My thinking is that, if Harry has been persuaded not to be biased against Slytherin, then the conversation in the train when they are all discussing Houses could be quite different, since a better-informed Harry could be encouraging them all to hope for the House which suits them best, rather than the House which other people think is the best House to be in.
In canon, all four of them are biased towards Gryffindor: Harry because of what Hagrid told him, Hermione because of what she read in Hogwards, A History (and because Dumbledore was a Gryffindor), Ron because all his family were Gryffindors and he's expected to be one too, and Neville because there's a lot of pressure from his Gran and uncle to be in Gryffindor.

If all those biases were mitigated... that's why I'm wondering what Houses they would be Sorted into.

I'd rather not Sort them into Slytherin, though, because I'd like to concentrate on developing a friendship between Draco and Harry, and having the others in Slytherin too would make that more difficult. What I think would be lovely would be if Ron, Hermione, Neville and Harry decided on the train to be friends no matter what Houses they were sorted into, and then have all of them in different Houses. But I'd like it to be plausible, too.

[cheyinka]

I imagine you could write any of the possibilities in the poll plausibly! However, if I were attempting it, I think I'd keep Neville in Gryffindor, have Hermione either in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, and have Ron... well, almost anywhere, honestly, though I don't really see him as a Ravenclaw. I think it would be interesting to see him in Slytherin with Harry!

[kerravonsen]

As I said above, I'd rather not Sort any of the three into Slytherin (though I agree that Ron could have ended up there in other circumstances) because I want to develop a friendship between Harry and Draco, and that will be easier if the others aren't in the same House.

Now I'm wondering if the best combination would be Hermione in Ravenclaw, Neville in Gryffindor, and Ron in Hufflepuff.