appeal!

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Name: Samantha
Age: 19
House you were sorted into: Ravenclaw
Link to original application: over thar

Are there any questions you would like to elaborate on?

What was your ideal job as a kid? Has that changed? What is your ideal job now?

The bit about me wanting to be Dana Scully as a child is, of course, still 100% true. I wanted to be able to speak broken German in order to get myself out of sticky spots, perfect her Eyebrow of Doom, and in general run around in heels saving people and being awesome. With red hair. The red hair part of it was really important to me as a kid. I...don't know why.

Nor has my ideal job has changed, but my description for it is limited in scope as I didn't really know why I wanted to be a journalist when I first applied. That sounds a little absurd, doesn't it? How could I know what my ideal job is but not understand yet why it was my ideal job? Woo boy, there's the first of many convoluted sentences. I think I just sort of went with the whole "I like to write, but don't have the attention span to write novels" aspect of it and stuck to that steadfastly. There was the surface answer, but there was no intent behind it.

I suppose I've got that part of it puzzled out by now. It came about through my moving to Washington, DC for university and becoming very much drawn into Election season. Living in Foggy Bottom (yes, take a minute to LOL at the name. it is a RIDICULOUS name for a neighborhood and I rarely think of it without sniggering) only a scant distance from the White House, we obsessed about, lived, and breathed the election. And with such close inspection of the election, came with it an inspection of my own social and political beliefs. I achieved a political awareness which I didn't really have prior to this year, and I realized how much I wanted to be the one who chose to Stick Up For The Little Guy. It's a cliché, I know, but one thing that stuck out to me the most was how easy it was for every day people to be misled by the media when the media was feeding on and indulging the ridiculous partisan squabbles. Somewhere along the way, I realized that I wanted to be a journalist because I wanted to be the one who did everything she could to write about what was really going on, to make sure people were rightly informed. It wasn't just "hey, writing is something I can do," it became "hey, writing is something I need to do because I'll never forgive myself if I never try."

In my "wizarding profession" answer, I said that I wanted to write for the Daily Prophet. Now, I think that I'd rather write for the Quibbler. I know that I'm not the type of person who can work within a corrupt situation and try to change it, because I lack the subtlety. I'd much rather be the thorn in their side.

I've also tangentially considered a career in public policy, and to be more specific, environmental policy. I've been volunteering with the Anacostia River chapter of an organization called Groundwork-USA, and the more I see of what they're doing, the more I realize just how much needs to be done. It's more than just going out there and teaching the kids and picking up some trash, a precedent needs to be set for long-term change (as if that word needs to be thrown around anymore, lulz). ;jkd;lsfj;alsdfjk. So much I want to do, so little time in life.

What HP character do you identify with most and why?

I originally stated Hermione and Luna, both of which make sense to a certain extent. I like books and uh, one might say that I am somewhat eccentric. However, given time and more thought, I'd say that I identify most with Remus Lupin.

Well, I have sort of a split way of viewing myself. I may joke about being egotistical and totally awesome, but the truth is, I completely underestimate myself on a daily basis much like Remus often did. I'd like to think that Remus, who was a Marauder surrounded by giant egos, most likely played along much in the same way I do but really didn't think that much of himself deep down.

I may insist to people up and down that I'm the sort of socially awkward person who would never make friends easily in a new situation, but I'm actually surprisingly affable. I always got the feeling that Remus was genuinely surprised that he was able to make friends, even before they discovered he was a werewolf, and I'm the same way. I can never understand why anyone would choose to connect with me, but it's something that I never seem to have a problem with.

However what really strikes me about Remus that I can identify with is that while he was the mature seemingly responsible one, he was friends with the sort of people who would bring him out of his shell and get him to embrace life. I have a very small group of close friends that I'm grateful for more than anything, and while I want to go everywhere, see everything, and do the sort of stupid foolish stuff that leads to a great story later on in life, I can never get there unless I'm dragged by them. I've been told by many that I'm mature for my age, and while that can be a good thing to a certain extent, it tends to inhibit me when it comes to really enjoying things. Sometimes I feel like an old codger in a 19 year old girl's body, and I need people around me to force me to act my age. I won't always take the initiative outside of more serious situations, but I'll love every minute of it in the end, and love my friends all the more for it.

I also, and it pains me to admit it, keep entirely too much to myself. I think that there are some things that I'm just better off not sharing, things that are mine and personal, and shouldn't ever be voiced aloud. I don't talk about how I feel, not really, and I know that it drives some of the people in my life a bit mad.

What would you see in the Mirror of Erised?
You know what I said above about there being so much I want to do and so little time? I don't want to be the sort of person who reaches the end of their life only to discover that nothing was as they wanted it to be, that nothing was as it was meant to be. I have a great fear of failure, and while a great deal of it is a fear of failing those around me, mostly it's a fear of failing myself. I want to be that person who at the end of their life, looks back and says yes, I don't regret a thing.

What would I see in the Mirror of Erised? Myself content with the knowledge that I'm doing everything that I can to live life to the fullest.

Pick one or two canon qualities from each of the four houses that you possess and explain why you picked them:

Gryffindor: I am passionate about that which I care about the most. For instance, I tend to have something of a laissez-faire attitude towards college life in general, save for the few interests that I've found attract me the most in the past seven months or so. Once I'm interested in something, I'll throw my all into it. That goes especially if it's a cause I believe in. Yes, I'll stay up all night with the College Democrats. Yes, I'll be there at 8 am on a Saturday to clean up the park. I guess you could say that I also have some of that good old fashioned Gryffindor boldness as well. I've never been afraid to voice my opinion. It's not just that I despise bigotry, it's that I'm James Potter standing there red in the face demanding that you never say that word again or else there will be hell to pay.

Ravenclaw: To say that one has a kinship with Ravenclaw because they're intelligent is both arrogant and completely missing the point. I'm going to sidestep that and instead say that it's more that I'm thoughtful. Over all, I'm a fairly out-going person, but I have those moments where I live in my own head and go over things endlessly, leaving no stone unturned, so to speak.

Slytherin: I possess both determination and ambition. That "get it done" attitude that we see so often throughout the series embodied in the Slytherin House. I may waffle and procrastinate, but at the end of the day, I'll still do anything I can to get done what needs to get done. Furthermore, I tend to aim for the stars when it comes to my goals in life. I refuse to settle for ordinary or mediocre.

Hufflepuff: I value justice highly. I realize that it's a cruel world and the knowledge that life is unfair is inescapable, but there is still a strong idealistic side of me that believes wholly in all that is just and fair. I'm also extremely loyal to those closest to me. I will always have your back and be there on that one terrible no-good awful day with some booze and a sympathetic ear, regardless of whatever else is going on in my life.
Explain why you feel misplaced in your current house:

For the past half year, I've had the increasing feeling that I no longer connected with my fellow Ravenclaws, and that I was no longer able to relate to them. It wasn't anything that they were doing wrong, it's simply that I realized how different I had become from them.

So, I looked back on my original sorting application. I looked back and found myself wondering "who the hell was this person" because for the most part, it certainly doesn't feel like me anymore. There are little bits and pieces that remain the same. Yes, I still would enter the Tri-wizard Tournament, yes my Animagus would most likely be a dog. However, I could no longer connect myself to the greater parts of it.

I was sorted when I was seventeen years old. It may not seem like a long time ago, but it feels like it's been eons for me. At the time of my sorting, I was going through an awkward tough time in my life, and so I dealt with it by constructing this version of myself that was so focused on academia and higher learning because that set me aside from my peers in high school that I so despised.

My focuses and priorities have shifted greatly since beginning college, and brought to the forefront parts of myself that I had never realized were quite so strong or integral to who I am. And while I can't deny that I'll always have something of a Ravenclaw side, I know now that it's not the side which defines me.

Comments

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1) For each house, choose someone you think you'd get along with pretty well, and also choose someone you'd despise on sight. Explain why.

2) What is the one thing you have to do in your lifetime? (as abstract or concrete as you wanna)

3) Is there any house you just don't see yourself in at all?

4) If you could have a coffee or tea with any HP character, dead or alive by book 7, who would it be and what would you want to discuss?

5) What are your thoughts on Snape?

Thank you. :)

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1) For each house, choose someone you think you'd get along with pretty well, and also choose someone you'd despise on sight. Explain why.

Slytherin: I am quite sure that I'd get along pretty well with Andromeda Black-Tonks, knowing that she's the sort of person with the balls (so to speak) to follow her own heart, rather than adhere to family plans and family traditions. I've never put much stock in tradition, and would likely have a lot of respect for her. I would despise Draco Malfoy on sight, simply because he is a ween and there's nothing I hate more than pompousness when you have nothing of yourself to back it up with. Don't brag of other people's accomplishments, tell me something of your own.

Hufflepuff: Cedric Diggory just seems like the sort of popular gets along with everyone well enough guy, and would probably be easy to talk to. I can't say that we'd be friends, but we would get along pretty well. Zacharias Smith, on the other hand, I would hate instantly. He reminds me of a guy I knew from school that I hated with the fire of a thousand suns. Sure, he wasn't a bad guy, exactly. Much like with Draco, I have no problem with ego if I think it's warranted. Zacharias seemed to be full of nothing more than hot air.

Ravenclaw: Marietta Edgecombe, you are a useless twit. I don't get along with people who are too straight-laced, because I've never been one for rules. And yes, maybe some of what she did was because her father worked for the Ministry, but how could she not see that everything had reached a point where it was so much greater than favor in the Ministry and school rules? I would get along with Luna well because she's a bit of a nutter, and I like that in a person.

Gryffindor: I would get along well with Neville Longbottom because he's such an obviously decent guy, good-humored guy. That and he turns out to be a total BAMF. For similar reasons to Draco Malfoy and Zacharias Smith, I would hate Cormac McLaggen.

2) What is the one thing you have to do in your lifetime? (as abstract or concrete as you wanna)

I...really desperately want to go on a backpacking trip around South America. That is the first thing that popped into my mind, so I'm going to go with it. This is something that I've been thinking about for many years now. I've been talking it through with my few closest friends and it's something that we all want to do. I've never been to South America, speak only snatches of Spanish, but there's some part of me that keeps telling me Yes, Do This. And when my brain starts pulling out the capital letters, I know it's srs bizness.

3) Is there any house you just don't see yourself in at all?

I don't see myself in Slytherin, which is why it's so funny to me that I used to be so sure that I was one when I was younger. While my goals in life are high, my methods for achieving them are not Slytherin in nature. Sure, I work hard when I have to, but I tend to think that things will happen when they happen.

4) If you could have a coffee or tea with any HP character, dead or alive by book 7, who would it be and what would you want to discuss?

Ugh, you don't know how difficult it is to not just say Dumbledore and force him into a conversation about Grindelwald. No, mustn't abuse hypothetical question powers for OTP fangirling. OH, but first, let me clarify that it would most definitely be a cup of coffee. I want to have a cup of coffee with James Potter, because I think that he could be incredibly fun, have some awesome stories that start with "this one time, Sirius was wearing a skirt...", and because I don't think that canon gave him a fair shake. Lily wound up marrying him after all, it's not as if she suffered an extreme blow to the head.

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5) What are your thoughts on Snape?

I cannot bring myself to like Snape. I don't hate him, exactly, but I personally find nothing redeeming about him. I know that so many people have woobiefied him and expect everyone to go all squishy because he loved Lily, but no. I can't. I can have some respect for what he did, but I don't believe that he chose the path he took because it was the Right Thing. When it comes to Snape, I can't let go of the fact that no student should be asked the question "what do you fear most?" and respond with the name of one of their teachers. No student should fear a teacher that much, and the way Snape treated Neville was reprehensible. He was a bastard to many students where there's no convenient "oh, but he's the son of the woman that he loves from another man so it's okay, he's just expressing his inner ~*~pain~*~" excuse, and I find that disgusting.