The Four Houses

Gryffindor: Gryffindor is one of the four Houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was founded by Godric Gryffindor. Gryffindor instructed the Sorting Hat to choose students possessing characteristics he most valued, such as courage, chivalry, and determination, to be sorted into his house. The emblematic animal is a lion, and its colours are scarlet and gold. Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, also known as "Nearly Headless Nick" is the House ghost.

Gryffindor corresponds roughly to the element of fire, and it is for this reason that the colours scarlet and gold were chosen to represent the house. The colour of fire corresponds to that of a lion as well, with scarlet representing the mane and tail and gold representing the coat.

The Gryffindor house emphasises the traits of courage as well as "daring, nerve, and chivalry," and thus its members are generally regarded as brave, though sometimes to the point of recklessness. Some Gryffindors have also been noted to be short-tempered. Notably, Gryffindor house contributed many members to Dumbledore's Army and the Order of the Phoenix, although this may have been because the main members made it a point not to associate with other houses.

Hufflepuff: Hufflepuff is one of the four Houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Its founder was the medieval witch Helga Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff is the most inclusive among the four houses; valuing hard work, dedication, patience, loyalty, and fair play rather than a particular aptitude in its members. The emblematic animal is a badger, and yellow and black are its colours. The Head of Hufflepuff is Pomona Sprout and the Fat Friar is the House's patron ghost.

Hufflepuff corresponds roughly to the element of earth, and it is for that reason that the House colours were chosen: yellow represented wheat, while black was emblematic of soil. The Hufflepuff point hourglass contains yellow diamonds. Students sorted into Hufflepuff often demonstrate exceptional abilities in Herbology, owing to their correspondence to earth.

Students belonging to this house are known to be hard-working, friendly, loyal, honest and rather impartial. It may be that due to their values, Hufflepuffs are not as competitive as the other houses, and are more modest about their accomplishments. Hufflepuff is the most inclusive among the four houses; valuing hard work, dedication, patience, loyalty, and fair play rather than a particular aptitude in its students.

Hufflepuffs are known to have a strong moral code, and a sense of right and wrong. Hufflepuffs are usually accepting of everyone. Students in Hufflepuff are known to value everyone and treat them as equal.

Ravenclaw: Ravenclaw is one of the four Houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Its founder was the medieval witch Rowena Ravenclaw. Members of this house are characterised by their wit, learning, and wisdom. The emblematic animal symbol is an eagle, and blue and bronze are its colours. The Head of Ravenclaw is Filius Flitwick and the house ghost is the Grey Lady, otherwise known as the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw, Helena Ravenclaw.

Ravenclaw corresponds roughly to the element of air, and it is for that reason that the House colours were chosen; blue and bronze represent the sky and eagle feathers respectively, both having much to do with air. The Ravenclaw points hourglass contains blue sapphires.Ravenclaw House prizes learning, wisdom, wit, and intellect in its members. Thus, many Ravenclaws tend to be academically motivated and talented students. They also pride themselves on being original in their ideas, and methods. It's not unusual to find Ravenclaw students practising especially different types of magic that other houses might shun. Hermione Granger, an extremely intelligent witch and the top student in her year, was sorted into Gryffindor, though she admitted that the Sorting Hat had seriously considered placing her in Ravenclaw.

Often hard-working and diligent, as often is the case with intellectuals with a predisposition for academics, some of the pupils sorted under the blue-bronzed eagle are known to be inclined to dismiss certain social expectations for the sake of satisfying their own intellectual curiosity.

Slytherin: Slytherin is one of the four Houses at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, founded by Salazar Slytherin. In establishing the house, Salazar instructed the Sorting Hat to pick students who had a few particular characteristics he most valued. Those characteristics include cunning, resourcefulness, and ambition. Many Slytherin students tend to clique together, often acquiring leaders, which further exemplifies Slytherin's ambitious qualities. Examples of these include Draco Malfoy’s Gang and the Death Eaters.

The founder highly valued and favoured pure-blood students and the Sorting Hat admitted that it can be a factor when being sorted. Students of any blood status can now be placed in the house. However, a Muggle-Born student from that house is considered to be quite rare.

The emblematic animal of the house is a snake and its colours are green and silver. There were two notable heads of the house; Horace Slughorn took the role twice (first leaving in 1981 and then taking the role again from 1997 until leaving before 2016), and Severus Snape. The patron ghost of the house is the Bloody Baron.

Slytherin corresponds roughly with the element of water due to serpents being commonly associated with the sea and lochs in western European mythology, as well as serpents being physically fluid and flexible animals. Similarly, in Celtic mythology, water is seen as a portal to another world, leading some to speculate that the element was chosen to symbolise many Slytherins' hope for a pure-blood only community. The colours also correspond with waters around lakes and lochs often being green, and silver being often associated with grey rainwater.