Appeal

[trivalent.livejournal.com]

Name: Silyara
Age: 20-something
House you were sorted into: Ravenclaw
Link to original application: Link
Are there any questions you would like to elaborate on? I will elaborate on the Mirror of Erised below, as it is asked again.

Besides the specific questions below, I would like to elaborate on the application as a whole. Applications, I have discovered, tend to make some of my characters more obvious than others. I have claw tendencies yes, but they are not nearly as abundant and dominant as application processes usually presents them to be. In my desire to be thorough, the Ravenclaw comes out. Further, some of my other traits I worry about, because I feel like if I present them it will seem like pushing or would be biased on my part. And thus I sometimes hide them in an effort to be unbiased, but instead that only pushes the application towards what is more obvious - my claw tendencies. I have struggled, even in answering these questions, with these issues.

What do I look for in a friend? – Some elaboration. Although I did say that my strongest friendships are not ones I particularly sought or realized at the beginning, that beginning is not enough for someone to have become good friends with me. The friendship has to be tested. A fair weather friend is no true friend. Such testing can come in a number of ways. There is the test of external pressure – some situation that happens during which the person proves him/herself a good friend, or the friendship survives. The person is shown able to be trusted, reliable, et cetera. When it matters, friends are there. On the other side are internal tests. Friends do not always get along. But what happens after a disagreement or fight? Is that it? Or afterwards, does it get worked out, and the two individuals end up closer together? Strong long-lasting friendship requires going through these kinds of situations, more than once. And the friendship passes through on the other side. Strong healthy long-lasting relationships are neither common nor easy. They require work, effort, perseverance, and a dropping of both people’s guards, the images we all show the world. No one is an entirely open book. But you have to know more than the cover to know someone. And when someone has one of those relationships with me, I can be possessive. I am not on the best of terms with either of my parents (nor have I been since I was young), yet whenever someone says something negative about one of them – even if all that person has gone off of are my rants about them – I stop the person. No matter what problems I have with them or any of “my people” – they are my people. And generally speaking, I will not tolerate flak about them. I have sometimes, when concerned, talked about flaws or faults some might have with another individual who knows that person well and cares, but I am very protective of them from outsiders. I am invested in them in a way I am not with most people. I get to know people, interact on friendly terms, like who they are as individuals, yadda yadda, but that does not mean I particularly…care about them or what happens to them. But I care about my people (and the list is small, countable on fingers, if I wanted to count them).

What would you see in the Mirror of Erised? In my answer, I said that I wished to see everyone I love happy. And that is still true and has been for a long time. As I explained, I can be possessive. As such, my happiness is partly dependent upon theirs. It makes me happy to see them happy. For me to be happy, we must all be happy. My heart would not be content if I got everything I desired related to me but my sister was miserable. But, of course, a large part of “we’re all happy” for me to be happy involves me getting what I want as well. I want to reach the top of my field, be the best, and be recognized for it. My lab will have everything provided for it needs. And after hours, I come back to a comfortable stylish house that provides for my personal needs. I may or may not be in a long-term romantic relationship or not. What matters, when it comes to people, is that I have my people nearby. Essentially, I see myself accomplishing everything I wish to do in life. That isn’t to say I would be sated – like some happy fat rich person. There is always more to go for, so once I have what I see now, I will see something else in the mirror.

Pick one or two canon qualities from each of the four houses that you possess and explain why you picked them:
Gryffindor - Nerve. Nerve for me is more long-term than bravery. You are brave in specific moments, but nerve has a tenacity that can include moments of bravery (for a canon reference, I would say that 7th year Neville had nerve for both the year-long perseverance and the continuation of that of chopping off Nagini’s head even when everything has supposedly been lost, still going on). I have faced prejudice for almost everything that I view as essential to me: Christian (when I was), female, Jewish, not being “technically” Jewish, “conservative,” “liberal,” “moderate,” not straight, American, being from a small city, et cetera. When I think about it all together, it almost seems ridiculous. Life is not a song. Life has generally not been pleasant or enjoyable for these kinds of reasons for as long as I can remember (I had an adult try to rip my logic of belief in God to pieces when I was eight). I remember in high school having a most shocking conversation, for both sides, about an English teacher. The other person said he had not felt comfortable with the teacher because there was a sadness about him, his life, and in the books he taught that as a young person in high school, he did not feel he could connect with. He felt that the English teacher who was happy, optimistic and admitted to being incapable of understanding why anyone would want to commit suicide as better for high school students. I stared at him in shock, for I had connected in exactly the opposite fashion. Yet somehow, overall in life, I have never given up. I keep going – whether I think things are likely to get better or not. I keep trying, keep going, and though things can get me down, they never keep me down. And this quality in Gryffindor I think I connect with better than any other.

Hufflepuff - Patience. I chose only this trait as opposed to loyal or both because as I answered in my application, loyalty is not inherently definitive about who you are, and although I am a loyal person in my way, I do not feel as though it is in a Hufflepuff fashion. Returning to patience, not everything comes as immediately in life as we would like. Although it is true in the entire world, science is a very good example of that. Patience is required for planning, analyzing, and not getting bored along the way. I make plans outside of research as well. A Nobel Prize is not won overnight (yes I would like one), and my life and goals are planned, not to every detail as they are flexible for opportunities, but I am on the right track. I am doing what it takes to get where I want to go and do what I want to do, and trying to enjoy it as much as possible. Patience also shows itself with my temper – I do not blow up. When I angry, I stay calm, to the point I have frightened people while not meaning to when angry. Generally, blowing up doesn’t help anyone, and it can greatly hurt your chances for the situation to go as you want it to go(whether to find out why, prevent something from happening again, et cetera). Being calm, having patience, usually brings about better results.

Ravenclaw – Ready Mind. Many people see intelligence as “knowing things”. Yet how I define it, intelligence is just about this Ravenclaw trait - a ready mind. A ready mind means that one is ready to learn, open to learning, and trained well enough to be able to do so. Someone cannot learn calculus if they do not know basic algebra. There is some certain level of knowledge and understanding to it, but mostly it’s in the training. And while my mind is not apt to learning everything (languages were the bane of my academic life), for most things, I have a ready mind. I have learned from a liberal arts education how to think and critically. And I’ve learned how to learn from more than simply the classroom. Most of our lives are not going to be spent there (unless one becomes a teacher), and so never giving up learning is important. After all, no one will get anywhere if they cannot learn more.

Slytherin – Ambition. There is a lot I want to achieve before I die. I want to rise to a much higher position in the scientific world than I currently have. I want to discover more, win a Nobel Prize, have my own excellent lab, et cetera. I want to be able to shape young minds as well as some direction of the field. I want to be published. There are so many things I want, but I am not simply sitting back and going “I want this, waaaah.” As I said before in my definition of patience, I have much planned out. I am on the path to get what I want and be where I want to be. I am networking when I can, taking into account what other people say about possibilities for my path in order to take the exact route that is best for me. I will utilize everything I can to get there. Ambition has been what has kept me going – that goal that cannot be reached immediately but will be worked towards. Life will get better because I will make it better for myself. My rise is not the grabbing on of someone else’s coattails. Each step of life, even back in high school, was for the promise of more. I wanted to leave my hometown and the small group of people who stayed there. I was better than that. I got out. I went thousands of miles away to a great college that was what I wanted to continue. I took hard classes immediately to get ahead – to take even harder ones, to do research, to be the best choice for the next step along the way. I do enjoy the steps. Each one pushes me higher and that much closer to my goal. If this step, way, whatever is all there is, that’s not enough. It’s not enough to just live. I have to have something to live for. Some people do not have that, and I have seen their lives flounder and fail. But I have it, and I am going to get it.

Explain why you feel misplaced in your current house: I do not feel as if my claw tendencies are the most dominant part of my personality – or at least not anymore. I have come to know many people from the Harry Potter fandom, and at first they exclaim that I am “oh so claw” or some variant of that. But upon deeper analysis they see other traits as dominant and notice the elements of a different house when observing my thought process. As I realized that these people were correct, I came to realize I am not nearly as Claw as I thought I was. That actually, I do not fit in that House anymore when I take into account my motives and reasons for doing certain things. There is nothing inherently wrong or bad about Ravenclaw as a House; I simply feel as though I have come to operate differently. I don't feel like I can be myself in a House where I don't seem to belong. I see the world in different colors now and interact with it in different ways. So while I do enjoy interacting one-on-one, in a group, I feel like I have become the odd one out. I can pull up the claw to blend in and get along, but it’s not me being me. And being here should be about being with people who are more like me.

Comments

[caketime.livejournal.com]

Hi Silyara,
Your application is now up and subject to questions from our judges. It would be great if you could answer the questions until the 9th of April, or earlier if that's possible. The judges vote when you have answered all the questions.
Thank you!

[xfortytwo.livejournal.com]

Hey, Silyara (love your name)!

Some questions for you:
1. How do you deal with confrontation?
2. Which character in canon do you think you'd get along with the best?
3. In which house would the people who know you best put you?
4. What traits do you value in other people?

[trivalent.livejournal.com]

(Thank you!)

1. How do you deal with confrontation? Anger or emotional responses rarely leads to a good solution. I have heard confrontations from three blocks away, and I have seen people throw breakable items at each other. More than anything, I do not do either of those. Even if inside all I feel like doing is yelling someone down (such as when someone seriously told me women should stay at home and not work, literally) I stay calm and I respond coolly and logically, as best the situation requires. In customer service, it generally went along the lines of “when in doubt the customer is always right” but still being able to hold up the standards and not letting them get away with stuff they should not. In debates, I go with logic and observation. I will point out holes in their arguments or point out things they are ignoring while making my own statement. I tailor the answer to my needs, taking what I know of them into account in order to sound convincing and to avoid explosions. That way I can still get my point across without causing unnecessary arguments.

2. Which character in canon do you think you'd get along with the best? I think I will have to go with Sirius and Remus because combining the two together essentially creates my RL best friend. Sirius is cocky and charismatic, yet Remus is also very aware of what people think of him and how he presents himself. They have an incredible friendship that, in the bottom line, is built on trust. Even though Sirius was put away for twelve years convicted of horrible crimes, Remus learns the truth and in an instant is at his side without a doubt, without hesitation. That kind of trust and knowledge is what allows me to truly get along with someone. I may not stay in constant or even regular contact, but if I call my best friend at 4am when he has to be up in three hours, he will go without sleep because that is what friends do. Further, Remus’s quirky and intelligent personality resembles my friend’s, if only it got injected with Sirius’s cockiness. Sirius has a belief in himself – that he is right, that he will succeed – that pushes him to keep going no matter what. He helps bring together a bright wonderful group of people, not just the type to be “popular kids” and stands by them through thick and thin. He dies to save Harry. As such, I believe I would get along with these two marauders best as a group of friends.

[trivalent.livejournal.com]

3. In which house would the people who know you best put you? As they have known me a long time, they generally tell me I used to be a Ravenclaw but that I have grown out of it as I mature. They say that how I experience the world, my goals and my determination make me a Slytherin. I have used my skills in manipulation since I was a child – I needed to. My family was one crazy place of strong powerful unbending personalities, which can lead to loud confrontations where neither party is willing to back down. And every time, I ended up being the one they had to go to. And I knew the situation, but the only way to diffuse it was through leaving out what needed to be, trimming other people’s words into more acceptable versions, explaining what was meant behind the words (if any family is bad at saying what they actually mean all the time, it’s mine). When I first learned to be social (late bloomer for that, books had been my best friends), I was at first glad to simply be in a group, even though it was about fifty people and there were many I straight disliked. Yet I got along because I could, but that taught me to be more selective and focused on what was good for me. And as I became more selective, my experience in life became better because I became happier and more successful at seeing and finding what I wanted. I have my ambitions in life, and as I embraced my goals, pushed for success and did what was necessary, I became more successful and enjoyed the results. I felt like I got what I deserved.

When I begin the process of making friends, I only select those with potential to fit what I want and get along with best. I seek my goals wholeheartedly, unabashedly doing what is best for my life and my goals, even though that means many people have had to learn to see a lot less of me. And those who know me best have seen that transition – from the nerdy girl who just wants to find some friends to the driven successful woman who picks her friends and her life, and is in control of it.

4. What traits do you value in other people? Essentially, I look for people who excel at whatever they do, because that makes them useful in whatever way we are connected. Someone in service needs to be efficient and knowledgeable in what s/he is doing, so as not to waste my time. If we are in a meeting together, they need to be on time, know what it is about, not waste time on extraneous comments, and help make it a productive meeting. And no matter what, s/he should not be a bitch. Confidence is great, sure, perhaps even a bit of cockiness, but bitchiness is a no. I have already answered what I look for in a friend in my appeal post, and if they are not on that track, they are simply strangers or acquaintances, the latter for which I obviously value the potential to become a friend.

[caketime.livejournal.com]

I'm totally stealing this question from an ex-judge, but I find this question helps a lot so:
Rank for the following in importance (as far as the philosphy of your life is concerned): Wisdom, Fame, Family/Friends, Fortune, Love, Duty, Tradition, Justice, Mercy.

Also, what do you think of abundant display of emotion?

[trivalent.livejournal.com]

Rank for the following in importance (as far as the philosophy of your life is concerned): Wisdom, Fame, Family/Friends, Fortune, Love, Duty, Tradition, Justice, Mercy.

Family/Friends; Family, for me, does not include everyone I am related to by blood. Instead, I take this as the “my people” category. In life, it is the people that truly make the difference. Romantic love can, but it is not as deep as these bonds. These are the bonds that are not broken. These are the people that no matter what, you are there for, and they are there for you. And if you do not have those – even if it is only one person or two – you are alone, and is that worth it?
Wisdom; Most humans are complete idiots. And if everyone could just get a divine hit of wisdom, the world would be a much better place. Unfortunately, humans seem neither to be getting wiser nor using an inbuilt mechanism to deal with overpopulation/stupidity the way most animal species are balanced. And without wisdom, most of the traits/ideas below cannot be properly kept/used/followed. There can sometimes be nothing quite as painful as someone blindly or foolishly trying to be just, merciful, seek fame (reality shows anyone?), uphold tradition, fulfill duty, make a romantic relationship work, and flop flat on their faces even with fortune. It is not enough to have or value the rest without the wisdom to do so.
Fortune; I may not believe in fate, destiny, or lucky habits/traditions, but I do value having fortune on my side. Mostly, it presents itself as opportunities for one to take advantage of if one sees it and knows how to do so. Tricia Helfer was picked up off the street and was offered a modeling gig, but she still had to work impossibly hard to succeed to where she is today. But I appreciate getting the opportunities, and fortune can certainly help with that.
Justice; I have a strong moral compass. It is not one that most people understand, as it is not exactly the most traditional one, but I have it. Although there are shades of grey in almost everything that I believe, that is no excuse for letting something that is wrong slide. I can understand that someone has a mental illness and that should be taken into account, but it is still wrong to rape or hurt another person. The world will become (and has been before) an ugly place when justice is left behind. No offense John Locke, but I do not think a true anarchy would be so peaceful. As such, it is quite important to uphold and follow. Yet it is quite difficult to do so without wisdom or the fortune (aka strength/opportunity) to do so.
Fame; I rank this as earned fame, as recognition for who I am and what I have done. I do not want to be famous for dating someone famous, for winning the lottery, for winning a reality show. I want to be famous because I am damn good at what I do, and I contribute to the world and making it a better place, and some day I will get the recognition I deserve for everything I have done. I am finishing up a project within this year, while applying for placements at highly respected places. I would enjoy working on a long term project that I'm currently planning, which could possibly lead to a break through. Each step will push me closer to being in control of my projects and the people I want to be working with. Then, once I am in more direct control, I will work hard at projects that I care about which would open more doors for me. At the same time I would like to involve the next generation in my work, so that my influence spreads through them. And eventually, when I get what I want, you will read about me and my Nobel prize in the newspapers.

[trivalent.livejournal.com]

Love; I took this to mean romantic love. Romantic love is very nice and sweet in the movies, and the real thing can be very rewarding, though generally harder work. And if it happens, if I find someone I wish to be with that way, then I will be grateful for the opportunity and take it. I am willing to do my part in a relationship. However, I do not need to be in love or to have someone that way. There are so many advantages to being single that many people seem to forget about - I do not. And it would take a lot for me to give up this freedom, which gives me the ability to do whatever I want, whenever I want to do it.
Mercy; Mercy is when someone does not deserve to get a second chance, when the one giving it has no obligation to do so yet chooses to anyway. That is an amazing gift to give and to get. I believe that for what we have control over in life, we ought to do the best we can and get what we deserve in return for it. And for someone wanting mercy, they will do anything for it. Yet mercy should only be selectively given. If they do not deserve that chance, that forgiveness, there is a reason for it. And mercy may not be enough to wake them up to change and become a different person, take a different path. Instead it might just allow them to slip back into their old habits, believing that they have “gotten away” with their mistakes. And at those times, giving mercy can be worse than withholding it.
Tradition; I do not believe in upholding tradition for tradition’s sake – there has to be a good reason for doing something. I have left my home environment and I have discovered places with different traditions, which have made me question the traditions I have grown up with. At the same time I have come to appreciate the traditions that deserve it. For example, I value the personal freedoms that are considered traditional in the States yet are not in other countries I have visited. Like with friendships, values – traditional or not – that have survived test after test to prove they are worthy are ones I value. Yet generally, as it has proven to be one I value through surviving, the tradition is strong and continues, regardless of my opinion of it.
Duty; I was told a lot about duty growing up. I “owe” my father this, duty “demands” I do that for my mother. The ability to have sex and create a child does not make that child have duties in return. I do things for my parents, not because duty demands it, but because I appreciate certain things they have done for me or choose to. I am the only person who has made me truly succeed in this world. People have taught me sure, but no one has been important enough for me to owe them anything. I am my own woman.

Also, what do you think of abundant display of emotion? Everything has its time and place. When it is inappropriate (say in the middle of my talk or involves other people getting hurt), then I dislike it very much. However, with “my people” it can be just fine. I have cried, I have screamed in excitement, and probably displayed every emotion abundantly at some point to some person/people but only when it is appropriate. There are plenty of grey areas when it comes to this, like most things in life, and I approve or disapprove of those on a case-by-case basis.

[semi-subtle.livejournal.com]

1. Who is your least favorite character in the series and why?
2. How would you react if someone insulted you deeply, refused to apologize, and made it very clear that nothing you do will change their opinion?

Thanks!

[trivalent.livejournal.com]

1. Who is your least favorite character in the series and why? Peter Pettigrew. There is so much to dislike and disrespect, I can't really see a single redeeming quality in this character. He wants to live, preferably with the least amount of pain possible. Well, that is not enough in my opinion. And if it is enough for someone to just survive, to do some of the most terrible deeds possible on both a personal and social level to survive, then that person is pathetic and needs to get squashed. Despite not ever really showing qualities that make him a good friend, the other marauders take him in and treat him as one of them. He’s chubby and rat-faced, and alright he doesn’t have enough of a spine to be a nemesis for them or even too pathetic to pick on or something. But he goes along. They help him have fun throughout their lives, and when the war comes, he chose to fight with them. And when he got trusted to hold James and Lily and Harry essentially in his hands, he gave it out to save his own skin.

But oh, not only that! He doesn’t want to go to Azkaban, so he frames one of his best friends (who was rightfully going after him) and breaks the heart of his remaining best friend, who thinks he is dead. That’s not a great track record. And is it really worth it? He survived. And he could have gone to South America and have a real life somewhere, but no he lives as a rat for a poor family. Wow, so glorious. Let me spend a decade doing that, please. /sarcasm. And Harry saves his life when that gig goes topside, and what does he do? South America now? No, lets bring back the Dark Lord and lead more innocent people to die, including working toward Harry’s death. And all of this does him NO good because he questioned his pathetic self for a moment, which let Harry live, and so he kills himself. That made me go “…?” Certainly twelve years as a rat and four as the despised servant of the Dark Lord is not worth what he did, wouldn’t be worth it at all. And for all that, he is despicable scum without any redeeming qualities.

2. How would you react if someone insulted you deeply, refused to apologize, and made it very clear that nothing you do will change their opinion? Preferably, I would have nothing to do with them. That will never be a good person to interact with. However, I have been in this situation before when we had to work together. I did not explode. I did my job coolly, sometimes with an extra drive to beat him and be better than him, and at our worst outbursts we exchanged witticisms. We did scare people when for two months we were simply deadly polite to each other. But yes, I live my life, I go on, and I deal with them as calmly as possible without showing how murderous I actually feel on the inside. Because I know that unless they're somehow going to damage or try to wreck what I'm working towards, they're not really worth my time and effort to truly hurt them back. So I shrug it off and I compartmentalize my emotions in order to get the job done, and even though I might be seething on the inside, the job will always get done.

[music-simbol.livejournal.com]

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. :)

[trivalent.livejournal.com]

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.
Gryffindor;
Albus Dumbledore; Dumbledore is intelligent, and that is definitely a plus for getting along well with me. I know it isn’t someone’s fault that they are stupid (as opposed to ignorant), but stupidity can really make me want to hit my head against the wall. He is also a bit out there, zany, like Einstein or something, which makes him an interesting character. And he does not wear his personal issues on his sleeve when he is out and about all the time. Being emotional can get old after a while, which is why Harry got on my nerves sometimes.

I think Dumbledore and I would have excellent conversations and get along pretty well. And I do not hold his ideas about “the greater good” against him. I understand that it might come off as cold-heartedly manipulative to some, but Dumbledore understood that this is how the job should be done, he saw it as a way to save the world. He understood that the world cannot always be saved by a hero of pure heart. The good guys need their manipulative bastards to guide them and tell them what to do. However, because of my understanding of Dumbledore as a character, I would not let him manipulate me.

Romilda Vane; Again, Peter needs to be crushed, but you already know that. She is better than him, as she showed to have some skills and sneakiness when she created the love potion for Harry. Not to mention, she actually has ambition, she has a goal, something she wants to accomplish (even if it only is to get a celebrity to go out with her). However, she is ridiculous and delusional while also being a bit of a scary bitch. She does not really know Harry. It’s like some girls who go “Oooh, Obama” *swoon* because he’s amazing and decent looking for a president. And when she cannot convince Harry honestly, she tries to take away his free will. It isn’t manipulation, where he gets led on or given the wrong impression, It’s essentially a drug, like the date rape drug. And that, is a no.

Hufflepuff;
Zacharias Smith; It may seem to throw you for a loop at first, but even as the obvious answers of Cedric or Tonks came to mind, I realized I have known people similar to them, and while they are fine people, they have gone on their ways and me mine. But I still have a friend who greatly reminds me of Zacharias Smith. He manages to piss off anyone he speaks to every single time, which I find hilarious. There are people who have that gift and use it, and if people do not know how to laugh at themselves, they get in a huffy about it. But really, it can be a good reality check. He is a cynic, but the world needs cynics. They ask the questions, every time, and if something is real or good or whatever it’s supposed to be, it’ll survive the fire. When Harry proved to Zacharias that his cynical opinion about the disarming spell was wrong, he shut up. And he does want to know the truth. After all, why constantly pester Ginny about what happened if he did not want to know? And yes, he left Hogwarts in a hurry to save his life, but honestly that is what most people are like, they put themselves first because they want to survive, it's basic instinct. And if it is someone you love, you may want them to be like Zacharias, to be “the other guy,” the guy who “sees danger and runs in the opposite direction” (quoting Grey’s Anatomy). So I think I would get along well with him, even if I occasionally want to smack him on the nose.

[trivalent.livejournal.com]

Nymphadora Tonks; Book 6 and onward. She was fine in OotP, but in the sixth book she was a mopey pathetic pining girl, and when Harry thought it was about Sirius, I was like “Alright, it may be pathetic looking, but I can understand that.” But no, she likes a man, and he doesn’t want to be with her. Oh no, it's the end of the world! That has never happened to anyone else before! How can she be her previously happy confident likeable self without her Remypoo?

I have gone through unrequited romance, and I’ve been dumped for social reasons. But romance is not the end of all life. And really, how is appearing like that going to convince him to be with her? He’ll feel so sorry for her? Then, apparently she had gotten him into her bed, gets knocked up, and like many men, he decides to go with a shotgun wedding. But even Harry can see he doesn’t look happy, but she glows! Haha, I tricked him into marrying me now! And Remus was a bad husband and a bad father – from the get go, trying to abandon them, always choosing to fight. So she is essentially a single parent or at high risk of becoming one because of how he is acting. But rather than considering not fighting for the sake of her child, she decides to fight. Now, I do not dislike her fighting because she is a woman, her place is with the baby yadda yadda but this scenario really pissed me off. She should have stayed behind, she should have been more thoughtful and considerate towards her own kid, knowing that his other parent was already out there, throwing his life away. Bellatrix had already been on her ass before, trying to kill her, so she knew she was a marked target. But she went anyway and got herself killed. Much thanks, not.

Ravenclaw
Penelope Clearwater; Very few claws have good characterization, but from what we see of her, I think we would get along. First, she was dating Percy Weasley. That can make anyone think her a poor judge of character, but Percy is so obviously who he is, she had to know. But he had the promise of power and going far in society, a potential everyone else saw but did not take advantage of. She sees opportunities and takes them – that's what I gather from her character. Further, she is a prefect and 6th year student, yet when Hermione comes along and explains what she thinks is going on, Penelope realizes it is a very smart idea and she doesn't frown upon it just because it's being handed to her from someone younger. Her willingness to listen to those below her saves her life. She is smart, able, and moving places, but she still is open to listening to others and seeking out all opportunities.

Luna Lovegood; She is a fine character for the books, but to meet her actually as a person.. Uh, seriously? She is out there, not just in an “artsy girl with some crazy ideas out there” but “crazy psycho girl” out there. She believes in animals and crazy conspiracy theories without evidence, sometimes even with evidence to the contrary (the horn was not from the creature). Luna lacks so much common sense, it's almost hard to believe that she is in Ravenclaw. A lot of people consider her loopyness to be endearing, but to me it just makes no sense. Underneath it all, yes I understand that there is a kind girl who stands up for what is right and whatnot. But for an actual person, I think I would see her and think her craaazy.

[trivalent.livejournal.com]

Slytherin
Narcissa Black-Malfoy; Even though we only see her briefly here and there, I think I love this woman (platonically). In every instance possible, she proves how much she loves her family, those who are hers, and how she will do anything for them, anything at all. She did not want to send Draco far away because she would miss him. And so she sent him care packages from home, which are always awesome to receive when one is away at school. Yet her affection for him goes so much deeper than that. She risks her life to get Snape to swear to protect Draco. And that scene shows that she at least had a good relationship with Bella. When Draco loses his wand, she gives him her wand, which is so important. She chooses to leave herself defenseless for him. She lies directly to the Dark Lord, a powerful legilimens, for a chance to save Draco again. When the battle goes full throttle again, she runs through the middle of it all, defenseless, trying to find her son. Yet she is not willing to do this for anyone, only for her people. And she comes off as a snob because she is highly selective about the people she chooses to keep close to her, something I highly agree with. She is an incredible witch and a great woman, and I would love to be friends with her.

Vincent Crabbe; He is a stupid racist bully who cannot think for himself. After all, when he does, he kills himself and almost kills his best friend(s). Right on first impression, he comes off as stupid and a bully, so despise on sight – yes. It is even believable that Ron, polyjuiced as Crabbe, doesn’t know the password to the Slytherin dungeons because Crabbe really is so stupid. That is even worse than Neville, who simply had a poor memory/overexcited portrait combo. He does not even have the redeeming feature of Gregory Goyle, because Goyle at least had the sense of listening to a more intelligent person, i.e. Draco.

2) What is the one thing you have to do in your lifetime? (as abstract or concrete as you wanna) I have to leave my mark upon the world, that is really important to me. It goes back to the situation Achilles was presented with: would he rather be an unforgettable famous hero for thousands of years to come but die young, or would he rather live a long peaceful pleasant life but be forgotten? And I want to do something amazing, great, memorable. It has been thousands of years since Achilles was given his choice, and he is still remembered. I would love to be remembered in three thousand years time. Most people alive today will be forgotten within a century, at best nothing more than a name on a family tree. I will not be. A Nobel Prize is the goal I have in mind for myself, but if something happens that prevents me from getting there, I will find another goal, another way to leave my mark.

3) Is there any house you just don't see yourself in at all? Patience was the Hufflepuff trait that I mentioned in my appeal post, and although I am patient, I do not think of my patience in a Hufflepuff-kind of way. I am patient because I am working toward what I want, smartly choosing when to wait and when to spring for it, when to let some rudeness slide and when to smack someone down. It’s a patience that serves other means. With each of the Hufflepuff traits, I do not have them in a Hufflepuff way. I am loyal but only selectively. I am just, but my moral compass is not a common one. And so I do not see myself as having any real Hufflepuff in me.

[trivalent.livejournal.com]

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? Gellert Grindelwald! It’s a bit of a pity the series had Voldemort as the main villain when it could have had Gellert Grindelwald. Now that was a villain that really fascinated me. He had some truly interesting and compelling ideas, to the point where he even seduced Dumbledore into agreeing with him. He thought: “Lets not just take over a country – let take over the world, one country at a time. And lets do it decisively, smartly, and with powerful weapons on our side.” He’s great, and I love how he acts toward Voldemort, treating him like such a pathetic Dark Lord wannabe who is far too late in his search for the Deathly Hallows, including the wand. And I love the fact that Grindelwald lies, like one last gift to Albus, who was probably the only person who ever truly understood him, a strong friendship that Grindelwald valued, until the very end. He valued it enough to laugh in Voldemort's face and lie to him. After all, he has been in a cell for fifty years – what does he care if he dies or not? And he does, he goes out on his terms, in style. That is a villain I would love to take to tea. We can talk about taking over the world, ridding it of stupid people (yay solving overpopulation, really we’re killing the only world we got), and how to do everything with class and style. I’d love it.

5) What are your thoughts on Snape? For the first six books, Snape was a complex and interesting character, who only became more so over time. He dislikes Harry and Gryffindors, yet Dumbledore trusts him (despite having been a Death Eater), and in the end it is revealed to us that it was Snape who was trying to save Harry’s life, several times. The plot becomes even more complicated when we find out that he is actually a double/triple-spy. Both sides think the other one mistakenly trusts him, and he is the great spy for them with the inside scoop. And at the end of the sixth book, it could have gone both ways. Snape’s cards are so close to his chest. You know he has a secret agenda, a motive, deep ambition, yet you do not know his goal, and that's what made the book so interesting.

He is a half-blood racist, who had been friends with a muggle-born as well as racist purebloods. He was on Voldemort’s side, but Lily somehow helped change that, or he was using her to make Dumbledore an arse of himself. I remember the passionate debates people had over whether or not Snape was good or evil – or even on a more complex level, was he a grey character? But on which side? We did not see much of him in DH, and until the chapter All About the Secret Workings of Severus Snape, he was continuing his poker game, cards close to his chest.

And then he fell flat on his face, at least for me. Rather than being complex and intriguing, in the end it turned out that it was All Done For Lily. It was simple and a bit pathetic, in my opinion. For such an amazing character, that had so much potential, he turned out to be rather boring. Without the mystery, he became a character of no importance for me; not because I knew his cards, but because his cards were boring.

[beckella.livejournal.com]

1. You're stuck on a desert island. You get one book, one album, and one person. Whom and what do you bring?

2. Sort Barty Crouch, Jr. Into which house would send him and why? Sort Barty Crouch Sr. Into which would would you send him and why?

3. Re-sort the following characters. None can go to their canon houses (unless you make a REALLY good argument): Remus Lupin, Luna Lovegood, Cedric Diggory, and Draco Malfoy.

4. What house do you see the most in yourself? Why?

[trivalent.livejournal.com]

1. You're stuck on a desert island. You get one book, one album, and one person. Whom and what do you bring? I bring my sister. She was my sister, my best friend, my most trusted person ever since we were growing up. She is the top of my list of those who are my people, and we already have the goal of living in the same metropolitan area if we can, in the future. She is the only person I have ever taken into account when deciding where to go for what I want, and to what lengths. She is not a factor that would make me abandon my goals, or decide against taking a great opportunity, but if I can get a great opportunity near her – so much the better.

I would bring the book We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, my favorite novel and the original distopia novel. I can read it and reread it many times over and over again, and every time I still cannot put it down. It shows what the State can become, an awfully good prediction for many things in the Soviet Union, even if it never got such complete power over every aspect of everyone’s lives. “I” is an excellent character, smart and manipulative, who tries to get the power she needs to change the system to suit her needs. Yet the book is realistic, even if it is science fiction. It tells us about human nature, about power, and about what can happen when things go wrong (I'm being purposefully vague here for those who have not read it). And I would bring Dropkick Murphys – The Warrior’s Code as the album. Back when I had a car and drove around in it, small town days, it was the only album I could listen to on repeat endlessly without wanting to go nuts or stab the thing.

2. Sort Barty Crouch, Jr. Into which house would you send him and why? Sort Barty Crouch Sr. Into which would you send him and why? I consider Barty Crouch Jr. a Hufflepuff. In my personal interpretation of him, he is of what people would call the “Zacharias” type Hufflepuff. He is not nice. He is mocking, not just critical, but mocking of everyone. And in that way he is “fair” – he does it to them all. I get that trait from his ability to perfectly impersonate Alastor Moody. No one is that good without practice. He is incredibly intelligent – 12 OWLs – which is an incredible amount of work, no matter how much of a genius he is. And while his morals are twisted into the view of blood purity, he is just by his standards. After all, we have seen that Hufflepuffs can be evil. And he is most definitely unafraid of toil. The Dark Lord gets taken down, and he is one of the few who still continues to search for him, he remains loyal. He fights off the Imperius Curse, despite having been weak and sick and in Azkaban. He manages to do this through hard work and he keeps going toward his goals. The Dark Lord is a twisted baby looking thing, but he is still sure of the course, that the Dark Lord will come back powerful, and he shies away from no job. He is a pretty incredible evil Huffepuff.

Barty Crouch Sr. however is a Slytherin, in my opinion. He has ambition in spades – working up the Auror ranks with the goal of becoming Minister of Magic. And by gollie gee, he is going to get it. Sure he is one of the “good guys” then, but oh he has guts of steel and is most definitely willing to do anything to get what he wants. That man was willing to play as hardball as the Death Eaters, only with him it was “morally right” because the law was on his side. We may dislike the cause he was fighting against, but he still was willing to use any means. He even put his son away without a second thought. Yet despite how few people matter to him, he does have the very Slytherin selective loyalty, only his loyalties apply only to his wife. She is the reason he helps get Barty out of prison. Again, for her, he is willing to do anything with any means.

[trivalent.livejournal.com]

3. Re-sort the following characters. None can go to their canon houses (unless you make a REALLY good argument): Remus Lupin, Luna Lovegood, Cedric Diggory, and Draco Malfoy.
Remus Lupin; Slytherin. He is a smart intelligent young man, who manages to befriend the most popular boys in school. Despite being a werewolf, something very difficult to hide at the time, his secret remains hidden with the exception of his people, which shows that he is good at manipulation and keeping secrets. He graduates from Hogwarts happy, having moved up from his loner status, and no doubt with ambitions for how much further he will go. And then suddenly he has every single individual who matters to him ripped away – death, death, supposed death, imprisonment with supposed betrayal. And that just completely destroys him. He is living a shabby loner life because without them, with having made such an error in judgment (supposedly in Sirius), that makes him question himself and his purpose in life. Yet, somehow, he still manages to keep his “furry little problem” from being publicly known, which means that the subtle manipulation of those around him still continues. Those small subtle things that mark a snake are curled about him, especially because he continues to hide his secrets due to self-preservation.

Luna Lovegood; Hufflepuff. She painted portraits of her friends on the wall and surrounded it with little gold chains made of the word ‘friends.’ Her father and her friends are what matter most in her life. She keeps them going strong, keeps people going optimistic and bright even when she is in the Malfoy dungeons for months. That shows how she is unafraid of toil. She is fair in her treatment of everyone, not lifting a hand against petty bullying. And she stands up for what is just, to prevent wrongdoing against the innocent, and to fight the good fight in an instant, just like so many Hufflepuffs did before the Battle of Hogwarts.

Cedric Diggory; Gryffindor. He volunteers for the Triwizard Tournament, willing to face the unknown in the first task, which shows daring. He always tries to do what is right, even if it is not easy. Cedric bravely faces everything in the tournament and is respected for what a good right person he is in general. He is also very chivalrous. Yet he does not seem to show much ambition, despite having entered the tournament. And he most definitely will not use any means to get what he wants, he is far too considerate for that. He is smart, yet he does not seem to have the wit or focus on a ready mind, which puts even more emphasis on his Gryffindor traits.

Draco Malfoy; Ravenclaw. Draco is an incredibly good student, even if his father does not think him good enough, as he is not number one. And he is quite clever, writing Weasley is Our King and making the Potter Stinks buttons. And he failed at being willing to use any means to kill Dumbledore, which shows empathy. Yet that process showed that he truly had a ready mind. He took what he learned in school and applied it to “extracurriculars,” using the knowledge he had learned in theory in the real world. This is still a very Slytherin thing to do because he used this information in order to get his way, but it also takes a lot of smarts to be able to figure something like that out, which shows that he had a fair amount of Ravenclaw in him as well. He mastered the protean charm, as Hermione had, and he was able to cast the difficult Imperius Curse over Madam Rosmerta for an entire year. And his greatest accomplishment that year was achieving what no one else had done before – getting Death Eaters into Hogwarts, into Dumbledore’s Hogwarts. That took a long time, yet Draco never gave up. He cared greatly about it (after all, lives on the line), yet was able to think critically even under so much pressure, and he finished the task. While I do think many instances in the books show how he is definitely a Slytherin over a Ravenclaw, if he were to go anywhere else, it would be Ravenclaw.

[trivalent.livejournal.com]

4. What house do you see the most in yourself? Why? Slytherin. I have great ambition. I have had ambition since I was about seven years old, when I decided I was going to become a US Supreme Court justice. I then actually worked at it, it wasn't just a daydream of mine that I wasn't going to pursue – I actually began working towards it, right away. I watched Law and Order and pestered every lawyer friend my family had, did anything I could to find out more. As I got older, I read about law and Constitutional law, and in college I took classes in order to get into Law school, focusing on Constitutional law for my first term. I spent over a decade of my life slowly but surely working toward that dream.

However, that ambition shifted to a new goal over time, the plans for which you have already heard. And I am doing what it takes to get there – I have my priorities in life, me and my people, and I do whatever it takes by that. And truly, like with the Hufflepuff traits I have already mentioned, my Gryffindor and Ravenclaw traits are serving the needs of the Slytherin inside me. I have nerve and I never give up, but that is because everything and everyone are simply temporary obstacles in my way that I need to conquer in order to get to where I want to be. I face the world and do what is right in my book, and it serves me and my people. I am polite, chivalrous, because there are usually only disadvantages to being otherwise and being nice to people can yield better results in the end than being the opposite. I am a huge nerd, I admit that, but I am not simply learning for the sake of learning alone. I did not study law or turn to science only for its sake. I appreciate the knowledge I have, but I always apply it out there, in the real world. It doesn’t simply sit in my head, I put it to use in whatever way suits me best. Being aware of myself, using the skills I have in order to get what I want is what essentially shows the priorities of my Slytherin side over any other traits that I have.

[slyfoxesq.livejournal.com]

1. If you ever encounter a mountain lion, you should try to make yourself look as big as possible (wave around a jacket and such) and make a lot of noise in the hopes of convincing it that you're not easy prey. By contrast, if you run into a gorilla, it would be much better to stay still and whatever you do, avoid eye contact. In both cases, running away is not recommended as then you make yourself something to chase.

What's your reaction to me telling you this random information?

2. You're on the verge of a truly amazing scientific discovery when a coworker sneaks into your lab at night, copies your research, and makes a big announcement about it the next day. You feel that enough research had not been done and making your findings known was premature, and of course this guy is now claiming credit for your work. What's your reaction? What do you do? Which part of this scenario bothers you most?

3. Do you think it's possible to maintain your personal ethics or morals in every situation? Is it possible that sometimes the only solution requires unethical behaviour?

4. For that matter, could you briefly define what makes an action good or ethical to you as opposed to bad or wrong?

5. What's your favourite animal, and why? :)

[trivalent.livejournal.com]

1. If you ever encounter a mountain lion, you should try to make yourself look as big as possible (wave around a jacket and such) and make a lot of noise in the hopes of convincing it that you're not easy prey. By contrast, if you run into a gorilla, it would be much better to stay still and whatever you do, avoid eye contact. In both cases, running away is not recommended as then you make yourself something to chase.

What's your reaction to me telling you this random information? I already knew it. I also know how to kill an anaconda if it tries to hunt you. My reaction to knowing this kind of – not random – information is that one needs to know one's enemy/predator/threat in order to best survive in the world. Knowledge is power. The best way to survive is to be ready for anything, be prepared, both with knowledge and physical skill. And in case you wanted to know, I actually have survived encountering a mountain lion. I had an incredible adrenaline rush for the entire day after that incredible encounter.

2. You're on the verge of a truly amazing scientific discovery when a coworker sneaks into your lab at night, copies your research, and makes a big announcement about it the next day. You feel that enough research had not been done and making your findings known was premature, and of course this guy is now claiming credit for your work. What's your reaction? What do you do? Which part of this scenario bothers you most? Have any of you heard of Watson and Crick, who “discovered” the double helix? Rosalind Franklin had that recorded in her lab book before they “discovered” it. The issue of bullshit results or stolen discoveries is one dealt with in the scientific world, one I am always aware of since that is my arena.

Anyway, I would feel completely murderous, but the thing is, nowadays results and findings are regularly recorded with names and dates. Everything is written down in five places and properly accredited. As such, I would not be terribly worried about proving the person as a fraud. That simply is what would happen, hands down. No one pulls that shit on me. No one. It would be the end of that coworker’s career.

Given my surety regarding the final results of this situation, I think the most bothering part is that the results are premature. Premature in science is not like with babies. Premature can lead to false investment and loss of money, it can even lead to death if the discovery is in any way related to health. And it ruins the reputation of science. Now, more than ever, America and other countries need to invest in science, or else we will not survive as a species. We are ruining the earth, and personally, I care about what that does to my people. I do not want that to happen. And even though I would come out unscathed and accredited in this situation, it would damage the situation for science in general – as scandals always do – which would restrict me and hold me back from my goals and the goals of other scientists. In the end, everyone loses in this scenario. And that bothers me.

[trivalent.livejournal.com]

3. Do you think it's possible to maintain your personal ethics or morals in every situation? Is it possible that sometimes the only solution requires unethical behaviour? I believe it is. There is no situation that cannot be solved ethically. It may not be a solution I prefer, but there is one. My personal beliefs are an odd mix, but a large part of it is Jewish. And in Judaism, there are outlines for the most extreme of circumstances (which are generally outlined, such as when more than seven lives are at stake), that state which Jewish laws should be broken ethically in the case of an emergency. Clearly, it is more important to save someone’s life than it is to eat kosher, even though eating non-kosher breaks G-d’s law. It is more important to survive than to follow the letter of a code and die in the process. But it is not difficult to maintain an ethical code in any situation, if you truly understand its meaning. Essentially, to be able to deal with any situation ethically, one simply needs to have truly thought out and understood one’s ethics beforehand. If the true spirit and meaning of one's personal ethics are understood, as opposed to just the letter, they can be applied to anything.

4. For that matter, could you briefly define what makes an action good or ethical to you as opposed to bad or wrong? Essentially, I have my priorities: what is right by them is good and ethical and what is not is bad or wrong. It may seem an amoral position, but that is only if one thinks short term. After all, that is essentially what choosing to live under any government is. People are selfish, and while religion may have the effect of teaching us that most killing (if not all) is wrong, the only times most people are not willing to crush someone else in a situation is if it is not beneficial enough for them. After all, in the long run, I will be better off if I find where you bought that cute shirt and pay for it than if I kill you for it. It goes back to the chivalry aspect again. I gain by being polite and usually only lose when I am rude. Even when people follow constricting religions, it is because of what they get out of it that they follow it. It serves them. It gets them something in return for what they offer. I am simply being very up front about the fact that I too choose to follow these rules, but only because it is suitable for me and my long-term goals.

5. What's your favourite animal, and why? :) I do not want weakness. It needs to be the predator, not the prey. It needs intelligence and class – style, something that makes it stand apart from the other animals. It has to have grace and beauty. It needs to have adapted perfectly for where it is.

So I choose the jaguar. It is the third largest feline and native to the Western hemisphere, like myself. And as a predator, it is very smart: solitary, stalking, ambushing, and opportunistic. That is a predator I can respect. Further, it has an amazingly powerful bite, so that it can pierce an armored reptile. It can drag a 800 pound bull 25 feet in its jaws. It kills by crushing the skull and sometimes by severing the vertebrae to paralyze prey. But its power is not simply in its jaw. Due to its limb structure, the jaguar is adept at climbing, crawling, and swimming. Its physique has evolved to fit its prey and environment, which reminds me of myself and my own personal growth of character.

They are possessive and protective of their territory, yet as a species they generally avoid physical fights, which is also something I can relate to because I prefer the more subtle and intimidating approach. And hey, it’s survived two million years and is now at the top of the food chain.

[darthsarah.livejournal.com]

I knew you didn't belong in Ravenclaw. :0)

1) You are confronted with immediate danger.
Will it be fight or flight?

2) What would your amortentia potion smell like?

3) What animal would your patronus be?

4) Being Polite vs. Being Right

Which do you think is more important to a Slytherin, a Gryffindor, a Hufflepuff, and a Ravenclaw.

[trivalent.livejournal.com]

1) You are confronted with immediate danger.
Will it be fight or flight? Honestly, it depends on the exact situation. I am not going to run from an anaconda – that means death. Yet neither do I want to attack when that only leads to my death. The situation is about knowledge and making the right call at the right time. Rather than reacting on the simple fight/flight principle, I will make the best decision I can in the amount of time I have to do so.

However, if each route had equal chances, I prefer the non-violent answer if I can. People can call me a coward, but what is important is being there the next day, the next year – surviving and being remembered for what I've done. And if we are talking about a people-danger, I am legally more likely to be better off if I have at least attempted to leave the situation. If I get followed, and I have to take the person down, so be it. But I have then showed I did not choose physical confrontation, and that I was forced into it. And I want to live – and to live, not just to end up in prison or with a hefty fine.

2) What would your amortentia potion smell like? The forest, ginger, and mint.

Forest; I love forests, especially Douglas fir and some other types of trees around where I am from. The forest is away from humans, from the filth and pollution and noise and constant intrusion by people I don’t want. Humans have done so much, achieved amazing things, yet none of them can take my breath away like a virgin wood. Nature outstrips anything humanity can do. Science, after all, is only tinkering with her toys, playing by the rules she gives us. Nature goes beyond that, it is a force of its own that needs to be reckoned with. And I truly respect and appreciate that.

Ginger; It’s sweet, spicy, fierce. I have always loved ginger, and ginger beer and ales – if they are real, none of the fake canned crap – smell intense and incredible. I enjoy eating ginger in dishes or on its own, in drinks, et cetera. And I love the smell of it. I walk past a small vegetable store on a regular basis, and they always have fresh ginger out. And I always make sure to take a deep breath in as I am passing. And it brings up so many pleasant memories – happy ones as a kid, introducing my best friend to ginger ale when I found out she had never had any, relaxing in the summer with my sister. The smell is refreshing in good times, and in bad times it’s a zingy wake-up call to take control of the situation and forge ahead.

Mint; I learned a mixed drink a while back, while I was working on an interesting project, taking steps forward, and at the end of the day, I had a cocktail with a fresh sprig of mint in it. That time was excellent because I succeeded despite a bureaucratic bastard backing out of paying me – literally. However, the person I was working for, who was not supposed to have to pay me directly, told me that I had proven myself worth paying for out of his grant. Those few days of uncertainty were rather scary ones, yet I made it through with my work, with what I did, proving my mettle, and at the end of it, the mint drink was how I relaxed. That was an incredibly happy night.

3) What animal would your patronus be? Grizzly bear. It is not simply a bear or a predator. They are fierce and strong. Black bears turn and flee upon seeing one, even if the grizzly has come into its territory. And if the black bear chooses not to run, it usually dies. The grizzly will appropriate kills from wolves and cougars. Even when they stand their ground, grizzlies have learned their styles and techniques to better defend its body. Usually not much damage is done in these fights, and it’s about who gives up first. And the grizzly often/usually has more perseverance.

And they are extremely protective of their young. 70% of human fatalities from grizzly bears come from a mother feeling like her cubs are at risk. Given grizzlies often do not fight to the death, that shows their character – wary of physical altercations that could seriously hurt them yet willing to attack and risk their lives to save those who are theirs, a bit like me. I understand it, and given it will be my patronus, I’ll be the one it’s protecting.

[trivalent.livejournal.com]

4) Being Polite vs. Being Right

Which do you think is more important to a Slytherin, a Gryffindor, a Hufflepuff, and a Ravenclaw.

Slytherin; Being polite. If a Slytherin knows s/he is right, s/he knows. The truth is no less the truth because an idiot cannot see it. And a Slytherin thinks ahead, considers the advantages and disadvantages of different routes, different actions. There is a calculation, a thoughtfulness, which understands that being so stubborn and so determined to be right can burn bridges and turn others away from helping you. After all, when has someone denied helping someone because s/he was polite? If it has happened, it has happened fewer times than someone has decided against helping someone for how much they refused to compromise being right to anything else. As such, the Slytherin is polite.

Gryffindor; Being right. Harry definitely shows this. Dumbledore, even, shows this. They always have to be right. That is not to say they are all pompous jackasses like James Potter was in school, but that need to be right and for the world to know what is right can rub a lot of people the wrong way. That is why they do not always get along with people who disagree with them. Rather than backing down, they have to show the other person how it really is, what’s really right. They do not necessarily think about how, at times, they are rude and hurtful to others by doing so. They often believe that if they manage to convince the other person, certainly the other person will thank them for lifting the covers off their eyes – except quite often this technique has the opposite effect, and only pushes people away.

Hufflepuff; Being polite. This politeness is not necessarily so much from a selfish place, about personal advancement or networking but consideration of others. There is wide diversity in the world, and disagreements do not mean that only one side is right. There are many sides to things, and they can see that. That gives them no need to have to prove their rightness at the expense of hurting other people. It’s that person’s choice and life.

Ravenclaw Being right. I see this as more along an intellectual level than moral level. A good example is many scientists I know, and the subject of evolution. As they see it, the science proves that it happened – see, it’s in the data, the figures. It’s not so much about them being right as the fact it simply is right. And given there is evidence to back it up, how can any one deny it? That’s rejection of fact. And so they do not give up. They badger ( XP ) people with it because it is undeniable to them. It is not that they like being rude but that it can be hard for them to respect an opinion that goes against fact. Except what they can forget is that facts constantly change, science evolves and has to constantly admit its own previous mistakes when new information is presented. Some scientists tend to forget that, they cling to their “truths” and sometimes refuse to admit that they were wrong, which can make them just as narrow-minded as the people they were trying to convince.

Resorted: Slytherin

[caketime.livejournal.com]

You were unanimously voted into Slytherin by the judges. Most judges noted that your Slytherin side came out in the Questions and Answer section, but that your application was that of a Ravenclaw. Your Slytherin side is definitely your core personality and that's why you belong there.

You are incredibly ambitious, confident, calculating and definitely not hot-headed. A judge noted that your answers were ambiguous, and that's deliciously Slytherin. You're a survivalist and very opinionated in a Slytherin way.

You definitely won the judges over. :) Please defriend yourself from the Ravenclaw common room and join cunningfolk.
Have a nice holiday. :)

Re: Resorted: Slytherin

[trivalent.livejournal.com]

Thank you, everyone!

[nehsin72.livejournal.com]

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