Harry Potter: Every Hogwarts House Explained

The "Harry Potter" franchise created an entire generation of children who dreamed of attending Hogwarts. Fans of the series take online sorting quizzes and choose their Houses, identifying with different characteristics and students within each one. "Harry Potter" parties typically include a sorting method, sometimes using the iconic Sorting Hat, to place guests in a House, even if it's just for the event.

The four houses each represent a different type of student that attends Hogwarts and the different ideals of the four Hogwarts founders. Some houses are more popular than others, and some have better reputations, but the houses give every student at the wizarding school a home away from home and a group of people that are similar to them.

If you want to know more about the Hogwarts houses and the famous witches and wizards in each one, we've put together everything you need to know about Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. While this article won't help you sort yourself into a Hogwarts house, it gives you exactly what you need to know before you put on the Sorting Hat.

Gryffindor students live in Gryffindor Tower, located on the seventh floor of the castle. They enter the tower by giving a password to the Fat Lady, a portrait. The common room is a circular room with a fireplace, tables, and large armchairs and sofas. Two staircases lead to the boys and girls dormitories, though if a boy tries to climb the stairs to the girls' rooms the entire staircase will turn into a slide.

In the series, students play popular wizarding games like Exploding Snap and Wizard Chess in the common room to pass the time. Fred and George Weasley used the space to conduct experiments with their magical sweets, though Hermione discouraged them. Students also host parties to celebrate Quidditch victories and use the area to study and work on homework together.

A part of being a Gryffindor student is participating in the rivalry against Slytherin. Throughout the series, students in each house egg each other on as they toss insults back and forth on a regular basis and use the Quidditch pitch and house point competition to prove their superiority over the other. This rivalry was only intensified by the classes the two houses shared. When Harry is at Hogwarts, Gryffindor and Slytherin students take Potions together, which was often taught by the Slytherin Head of House, giving Slytherin students the confidence to make derogatory remarks.

Slytherin is often considered the "evil" house of Hogwarts, but there is much more to the house founded by Salazar Slytherin. Slytherins are known for their cunning and ambition, which is part of why Slytherin students get a bad rap. These traits, combined with the founder's preference for pure-blooded students, creates a negative image of the house.

Slytherin's colors are green and silver, and its mascot is a snake or serpent. Green is often considered a calming or peaceful color, but it is also one of envy and pride. It represents how Slytherins can use their ambition and cunning for both good and evil. Snakes are commonly associated with rebirth due to the shedding of their skin, but when their biblical depiction is considered, they also share the house traits. In the story of Adam and Eve, the snake uses deceit to convince the two to eat from the Tree of Life. The aspect of rebirth can be applied to several Slytherins, like Malfoy, who originally fell in with the "evil" members and alumni of the house before turning towards the "light" as adults. 

The house ghost is the Bloody Baron. In life, he was in love with the Ravenclaw founder's daughter. When she ran away, he went after her at her mother's request. However, when he was unsuccessful in convincing her to come home, he killed her and then died by suicide.

While many know that Lord Voldemort was a Slytherin, there are several other house alumni who didn't go down the same path. One of the most well-known wizards of all time, Merlin, was a Slytherin, and he did not cause a wizarding war like Voldemort did.

Horace Slughorn, a long-time Hogwarts Potions professor, was sorted into Slytherin during his time as a student. Slughorn isn't just known for his potions abilities; he is also known for his collection of people. Slughorn enjoyed having connections to famous individuals, including people within the Ministry of Magic and popular Quidditch players.

Previous Hogwarts Headmaster Phineas Nigellus Black was also a Slytherin, as were many members of the Black family. Like other previous headmasters, Black's portrait hung in the headmaster's office at Hogwarts, meaning Harry and other students interacted with the portrait. Though little is known about him during his life, in death as a portrait he did favors for the headmasters that came after him, including helping Severus Snape check on Harry, Ron, and Hermione in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

The Hufflepuff dormitories can be found by the Hogwarts kitchens, which are located directly beneath the Great Hall. To enter, students must tap a certain barrel within a stack of barrels to the rhythm of their house founder's name. If students tap the wrong pattern or use the wrong barrel, they will be covered in vinegar. The common room is filled with plants, and a portrait of Helga Hufflepuff sits above a mantel. Many of the windows are round, and the doors to get to the dorms are also round.

Hufflepuff students took Herbology with Gryffindors during Harry's time at Hogwarts. After O.W.L. exams, they took courses with students from every house. Like other houses, it's likely that when students aren't in their common room, they are exploring the Hogwarts grounds, going to Quidditch matches, or visiting Hogsmeade. During Harry's second year at Hogwarts, he overhears a group of Hufflepuff students studying together in the library.

Ravenclaw, founded by Rowena Ravenclaw, focuses on students interested in learning and wisdom. While most students at Hogwarts are there to learn, Ravenclaws take their quest for knowledge to a new level with their diligence.

The house colors from the books are blue and bronze, and their mascot is the eagle. Blue isn't a color that only evokes sadness; it also can symbolize confidence and obsession, which describes how Ravenclaw students are when they are studying or trying to find new information. Sadness is represented in their house ghost, the Grey Lady. The only house ghost related to a founder, the Grey Lady, also known as Helena Ravenclaw, died after she stole her mother's diadem and refused to go back to Hogwarts when a baron came for her. In love with her, the baron killed her when she wouldn't follow him. 

In heraldry, the eagle has long symbolized glory, power, and conquest, but the bird's eyesight is also associated with truth and clarity. This is the perfect mascot for scholarly students who use their wit and knowledge to make decisions.

Audiences may notice that Ravenclaw's colors in the film adaptations are blue and silver. Their mascot is also changed from an eagle to a raven — possibly because it's more intuitive to have a raven as the Ravenclaw symbol, but the raven also symbolizes intelligence, wisdom, solitude, and spirituality, which are traits that may better represent Ravenclaw students. While there has never been an explicit reason given as to why the color and mascot were only changed for Ravenclaw, the fandom has speculated that this change was an aesthetic one, that blue and silver looked better on screen than blue and bronze.

Fans are familiar with Luna Lovegood and Cho Chang, two popular Ravenclaws in the series, but they may not know some of these house members. Uric the Oddball is one of the most interesting historical figures of the wizarding world because of the odd circumstances he put himself in. He lived during the Middle Ages and regularly pushed boundaries. Uric listened to a Fwooper, an African bird that can drive someone unwell in the head with their call, for three months in the name of health benefits and slept in a room with Augureys, thinking their cries meant he was dead. He is included in the History of Magic curriculum at Hogwarts for his escapades.

Another important historical figure who called Ravenclaw home during their education was Ignatia Wildsmith. The witch attended Hogwarts during the 13th century before going on to invent one of the most important forms of wizarding transportation: Floo Powder.

Famous generational wandmaker Garrick Ollivander was also a Ravenclaw student during his time at Hogwarts, as was Gilderoy Lockhart, a short-lived Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, author, and a five-time winner of the Witch Weekly Most Charming Smile Award.