5 Misconceptions About Being A Gryffindor

Gryffindor is often regarded as the most popular house at Hogwarts. Its reputation precedes itself, mostly because the series' main characters like Harry Potter, his friends Ron and Hermione, the entire Weasley clan, to name a few, were sorted there. Some may think it’s awesome to hail from the house celebrated for its heroics, but being a natural-sorted Gryffindor is not as easy as it seems. Here are five misconceptions we’re howling about. Are you a Gryffindor and feel there are misconceptions about our house? Feel free to share in the comments! (And stay tuned - we're going to be dispelling myths about the other houses in future posts.)

Harry Potter Is Our Favorite Character

Harry Potter may be the poster boy of the series, but that doesn’t mean we worship at the Chosen One’s feet. Many Gryffindors admire characters from other houses. Hufflepuff chameleon Nympathdora Tonks is my favorite, while some of my fellow Gryffindor friends love Slytherin Narcissa Malfoy and Ravenclaw Cho Chang. Potter is, like many fans, iconic because of his unforgettable journey, but he isn’t all of our favorites.

We Choose the House Because It’s the Most Popular

Many people who are not familiar with the Harry Potter series outside of the movies will choose Gryffindor (and hold a lot of ignorance towards Slytherin) because it’s the golden trio’s house. However, not everyone chooses the house because it’s the most popular. Many of us were sorted into it on Pottermore, at book launch events, web quizzes, etc.

We Don’t Feel Guilty About House Inequality

Every Hogwarts house should have their time in the spotlight. I feel bad as a Gryffindor that there isn’t more merchandise for other houses, or that people don’t recognize Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw as easily as ours (or Slytherin). Unfortunately, J.K. Rowling didn’t select a wide variety of characters to be sorted into all of the houses and give them all their due. A large proportionate of characters are from Gryffindor, even though she has said Hufflepuff was her favorite. That’s not something Gryffindors can take responsibility for, but we can make up for it by not playing into misconceptions about other house members...

We Love Being the Center of Attention

Gryffindors doesn’t necessarily love all the attention. A lot of us can be brave and chivalrous in our own ways, and remain introverted, quiet, shy, and socially awkward. To be a Gryffindor doesn’t mean we all follow in Harry’s footsteps to be outspoken, act on our impulses, or expect to be treated as the Chosen One.

We’re All About the Heroics

In our Muggle world, it’s hard to understand what makes a Gryffindor brave, fearless, or daring – after all, we’re not all in a several-year battle against the darkest wizard of all time. There are no Horcruxes to find or basilisks to kill. Nevertheless, it is a part of our Gryffindor DNA to move forward in the direction we believe is best to tackle problems head-on. We may act now and ask questions a little later. Sometimes our results end with a bang or a lot of gusto, but we don’t always intend or want to be considered the hero.