Nobody other than J.K.Rowling knows the exact number of students that have made their way through the halls of Hogwarts through the centuries. Dozens upon hundreds of new students enroll in the school annually as a pack of baby-faced eleven-year-olds make their way down the Great Hall at the beginning of each year to face the Sorting Hat.
With that many students attending a wizarding school for over a millennium, and having only four different houses to sort the children into, it’s only natural to wonder where some of our favorite witches and wizards may have ended up if not in the houses we know them for. Take a look at our list of secondary houses for the main characters of Harry Potter.
Luna Lovegood - Gryffindor
Surprisingly, the quirky and out-there Luna Lovegood (whom we all know as a Golden Eagle) is the only member of this list that would’ve traded up to the Golden Lions. Turns out the house that Godric built is impressively talented at drafting in the first round, but they definitely missed out on a good one with Luna.
She may have been difficult to handle at times with her intelligence stumbling over her personality, but anytime her friends needed her Luna was more than willing to help - sounds like a Gryffindor to us. Plus, she’s already got the blonde mane.
Neville Longbottom - Hufflepuff
Pretty much everybody saw this one coming. It’s nothing against Neville, there have been some amazing Hufflepuffs throughout Hogwarts history and it’s a shame that the house gets such a bad rap, but Neville was just never meant to wear blue or green robes.
He sincerely showed his Gryffindor-sized courage while being tortured by Death-Eaters during his seventh year of school and stunned everybody when he killed Voldemort’s snake Nagini during the Battle of Hogwarts, but it would be fairly safe to assume that had Neville grown up a normal kid and not during the era of the Wizarding War, the Sorting Hat probably would’ve donned him with the badger emblem instead.
Fred & George Weasley - Slytherin
Two of the biggest pranksters to ever fly brooms through the halls of Hogwarts? Not a huge shocker here. Had their names not been ‘Weasley’, the Sorting Hat probably would’ve chosen to banish them to the dungeon common-room.
It obviously didn’t matter since our favorite pair of fire-headed twins decided that education wasn’t the right path for them, and that certainly would’ve worked out if not for a couple of bumps in the road by a few Death-Eaters. Maybe if the duo had been sorted into Slytherin, they could’ve made nice with the Voldemort fan-boys.
Ginny Weasley - Ravenclaw
Make no mistake: every Weasley might be a Gryffindor by default, but Ginny was born-and-bred to don the red-and-gold. Everything about her roars Golden Lion, but had the Sorting Hat taken a crazy turn and decided that she was better off in a different house, the only acceptable substitute would be Ravenclaw.
She may have been an all-star athlete and had an impressive knack for mastering difficult spells, but Ginny was also one of the brightest of her year. Combine that with her witty, confident personality and you could bet she’d be playing seeker for Rowena’s house in no time.
Severus Snape - Ravenclaw
This one was a little tricky because regardless of which side of the fence the audience sits on Snape, he’s a character like Ginny in the fact that there was never any question which house he belonged in. That said, and despite all the positive or negative things about Snape, he earns a spot on a Ravenclaw common-room couch for one reason: he out-smarted Voldemort.
Whether Snape’s obsession with Lily Potter was romantic or creepy, it ultimately led to him being able to outwit one of the deadliest wizard’s to ever be produced by J.K. Rowling’s imagination, and that means he’s smart enough to fly with the blue-coats.
Voldemort - Started His Own
Try and change our minds. Honestly - does anybody believe that Tom Marvolo Riddle, Lord Voldemort, heir to Salazar Slytherin himself, would have stood for anything other than the snake emblem slithering across his robes?
Had the Sorting Hat made that fatal mistake, Tom Riddle would’ve been the last person to take it sitting-down and most likely would’ve tried to assert his magical dominance by creating his own house. To a certain degree, he did still kind of do that: what were the Death-Eaters if not members of the Voldemort house? Riddle for your thoughts.
Albus Dumbledore - Slytherin
How many Harry Potter fans are we going to upset with this one? Argue all you want that Dumbledore’s folksy and quirky personality deserves him a seat in Hufflepuff. Complain all you can about how his superior intellect and ability to manipulate spells and magic would earn him a right to sit at Ravenclaw’s table. None of that matters when you have a backstory as tragic as Hogwart’s greatest headmaster.
His father died in Azkaban for seeking revenge against a group of Muggles that had attacked his baby-sister until she was mentally handicapped. Any child who lives through such an experience must have at least a little unregistered hatred in their heart. Dumbledore was as close to perfect as they come, but the Sorting Hat could have easily sent him down the wrong path.
Hermione Granger - Ravenclaw
Not a particularly difficult character to resort, it’s arguable that the only reason Hermione was in Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw in the first place was that J.K. Rowling needed her to be. While the mangy-haired genius was absolutely the brainiest witch among the main cast of characters, other than being loyal she really didn’t have many other Gryffindor traits, and even that one, honestly, applies more to Hufflepuff.
She seldom wanted to take part in adventures that were dangerous and normally only did so in order to make sure Harry was safe. Despite her abilities to prove her worth at every turn, it’s hardly debatable that Hermione’s brain belonged among the Golden Eagles.
Ron Weasley - Hufflepuff
Don’t worry, Neville, at least you would’ve had Ron’s company in your new house. The goofy ginger who was glued to Harry’s side for seven years would’ve fit seamlessly into the black-and-gold badger clan. Ron was an impeccable best friend and rightfully deserved his spot as a Gryffindor after all of the things that he went through just because there weren’t any other available seats on the Hogwarts Express.
But let’s not forget that he clumsily stumbled his way through every one of them and just happened to land right-side-up. You were a great friend, Ron, despite the fact you were never really able to talk Harry out of doing something stupid.
Harry Potter - Slytherin
The Sorting Hat said it himself - “you would’ve done well in Slytherin.” To be fair, that was probably only because Harry had a sliver of Voldemort’s soul living inside him, but nevertheless, the-boy-who-lived was always Dumbledore’s man, through-and-through, and he would’ve followed down the same, slippery scale as his mentor had he not been sent to roam among the plains of the Golden Lions.
Harry may have been smart, loyal, and the best Defense Against the Dark-Arts student the world has ever seen, but in order to take down the most malicious, cunning wizard the world had ever seen, Harry himself had to understand that. It may have been a good metaphor for children, J.K., but anyone who could sympathize with You-Know-Who has to have a little venom in them.
