Ramblings of a Gryffindor

"Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,"

"By Gryffindor, the bravest were

Prized far beyond the rest;"

and

"'Twas Gryffindor who found the way,

He whipped me off his head"

---All mentions of Gryffindors and Godric Gryffindor by the Sorting Hat in 1994, Harry Potter's Fourth Year, Our Main Character's Third Year

Gryffindors are we. The house of the bravest, the boldest, the valiant, and the oftimes reckless. Most people equate Gryffindors with true and loyal friends, but that's not exactly true. After all, loyalty is a Hufflepuff trait. "Most people" just see too much of Ron, Harry, and Hermione, who are true friends, if not always loyal. (My brother can be a true idiot sometimes ... getting mad at Hermione because he thinks her cat might have eaten the rat he never cared for? How silly is that?) Gryffindors are also a bit proud at times. Not arrogant, for that is a Slytherin trait, but too proud for our own good, convinced beyond doubt that we are the best House of the school.

And mayhaps we are. Ask any First-Year-to-be sitting on the train what house they would like to be in, and what do they say? Why Gryffindor, of course. After all, it was Godric Gryffindor who challenged Slytherin when the foul Founder of the Serpent House wanted to rid the school of Muggleborns, and it was Gryffindor who decided upon the brilliant idea of a Sorting Hat. It was "Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor" who founded the house of the lions. And lions in themselves are such noble Gryffindors.

Ah, did I forget to mention that Gryffindor is also the house of the disgustingly noble? One prime example would be Harry Potter, though his nobility isn't as disgusting as you can tell he has absolutely no idea he's being noble, much less somewhat annoying. From nobility arises the subconscious belief that all witches are damsels in distress waiting for their knights in shining armor.

As if.

And my brothers. I mean, honestly. They're all Gryffindors, so they each take this noble thing a bit too far. Percy of all people found out that I was going to the Yule Ball with Neville, and actually threatened the poor guy. Fred and George I never told (because I knew they'd be pranking him in no time) and Ron ... well, Ron was too busy muttering about somebody "fraternizing with the enemy".

I suppose you could say I grew up as the sheltered only daughter in an almost all-male family with my mother figure being a housewife but that would be far off the mark. Sheltered? If by being sheltered you mean now possessing the knowledge of probably all of the curses and other such obscenities available in the English language as well as a too-informed knowledge of what exactly hormone-filled teenage boys think of girls, then I suppose so. Seriuosly, sheltered? As if. I also got a taste of PAYS, or Prejudice Against Younger Sisters when all of my older brothers ganged up together and threatened to beat Colin Creevey up if I invited him over to the Burrow.

Mum gave them a tongue-lashing, of course. Percy spent the entire summer degnoming the garden, Bill and Charlie beat a hasty retreat back to Egypt and Romania respectively, Ron had kitchen duty thrust upon him for the rest of the summer, and Fred and George were separated. As in they were grounded into different rooms and Mum thoroughly cleaned theirs, confiscating over half of their joke shop toys. I never invited Colin in the end, anyways. I was too disgruntled, and Ifelt sure that he would only suffer subtly at the hands of my brothers if he did come.

But I digress. I am speaking of Gryffindor, not of overly annoying gits who were born, by a freak of nature, as my brothers. We Gryffindors are friendly and amiable, and just as prone to vicious gossip and malicious rumors. As a matter of fact, we are also prone to jumping to conclusions, as well as stubborness and bull-headedness. (These are some of the traits you will probably never hear the Sorting Hat list). Life in Gryffindor is easy ... as long as you're in the "in" crowd.

Every House has a hierarchy. I'm not quite sure how Slytherins do it, though I'm sure it's partly due to grades and partly due to how far back you can trace your family and how much money your family has. Hufflepuffs have a most orderly system that none but Hufflepuffs can understand. Eloise (Midgen) has a younger sister in Hufflepuff, and tried to explain to me once. She gave up after I stared at her blankly for half an hour. I'm pretty sure that the Ravenclaws' system depends on their various grades but how they actually weigh how much each test, essay, quiz, and piece of homework is worth, I have no idea. Gryffindors have a system based mostly on popularity and what year you're in, partly on feats (whether brave like Harry or mischevious like Fred and George ... for example, if you pull a prank on Snape, you'll probably get a top seat) and partly on whether you've done anything Slytherin or Hufflepuff lately. The "best" seats are located in the middle, by the bread basket, and seating rarely changes. Of course, some people are outside of the seating arrangement. For example, Fred and George (because no one wishes to provoke them by refusing them a seat ... could you imagine the retaliation?) or Harry, Ron, and Hermione. I sit with my other Year-mates although our position changes every year (because we change Years).

It's not quite complicated as it's not enforced, and probably evolved because best friends liked to sit together.

Gryffindor is undoubtedly one of the better houses to be in. Most employers trust a Gryffindor implicitly, and almost all Auror Training Centers [a requisite training class one must take before entering the Auror Academy and then applying for the MLES] will not question a Gryffindor background. In the simple mind of children, it is the Slytherins who are Death Eaters and the Gryffindors who are Aurors.

But for others, Gryffindor isn't as well suited. For example, if Hermione hadn't befriended Ron and Harry, I doubt she would have been very happy as a Gryffindor, and if Ron and Harry hadn't become friends with Hermione, they would probably have stopped being friends after their first fight. As for me, I spent my First Year in solitude because of the Diary Incident, and well ... all of the other First Year girls have paired up friends, and who am I to intrude on their friendship?

No, life was simple, and I expect it shall be simple to the end. I was born the youngest daughter of a family of seven and lived through life "sheltered" in some aspects and knowledgeable in others. I was sorted into Gryffindor, and spent the majority of my life in solitude. (I would like to take this moment to mention that although I did have a rather large crush on Harry, I am completely over it by now. Completely. Absolutely. And I am not protesting too much!) I will probably graduate and marry someone dreadfully decent and disgustingly boring while my brothers go off gallivanting and saving the world. I shall either become the perfect housewife, a mediwitch, or something to do with Herbology. I shall have bunches of children (who shall each possess red hair and freckles) and die old and probably as a great-grandmother.

I think not.

Going against the grain is always hard, but if I have my way, I'm going to do something exciting with my life. I'll never allow myself to be a housewife, a mediwitch, or a secretary. I could be an Unspeakable and go off saving the world ... but Mum would kill me first. (Uncle Roberts three-times-removed was an Unspeakable for he mysteriously disappeared and Mum's convinced that anyone who becomes an Unspeakble eventually dies within three years of accepting his/her office.) I could become an Auror ... but I stink at Defense Against the Dark Arts. I could be something wonderfully romantic and impractical, like a writer or a painter or become a Muggle. I could even be an Herbologist, if I could make extremely important discoveries that shake the entire wizarding world.

But what with stupid You-Know-Who's war going on, I'll probably die before I even graduate.

Stupid Dark Lords who grow up from charismatic Slytherin's Heirs.

Over and out.

Gin.