that's actually a really interesting way to look at it, I hadn't thought of that before, and I totally agree with you about Ignis.
However, I disagree that what motivates you entirely decides your placement in the houses, given that Dumbledore wasn't always motivated by doing the right thing (see: his anti-muggle sentiments that only went away with the death of his sister, which was after he left hogwarts). Or even Peter, who was definitely not motivated by doing the right thing (he was even a hatstall between gryffindor and slytherin) and was described as idolizing James and Sirius, which seems more like him valuing those traits rather than what actually motivates him. Also, there's Hermione's "books and cleverness" speech, which shows where those qualities rank in terms of importance to her. Neville, despite being loyal and wanting to do the right thing, only wanted to be in Hufflepuff because he was intimidated by Gryffindor's reputation, which implies that he values those traits but believes himself incapable of them. Also, if they hat was going off of what motivates them you'd probably have a lot more hatstalls, given that it's unlikely that an 11 year old just starting school is going to know with any certainty exactly what motivates them. Also, it has been mentioned that sorting tends to be consistent across families, which makes sense given that families tend to have shared values. A notable exception is Sirius Black, who has extremely different values than the rest of his family (same with Tonks).
I do totally agree with you about any sorting fitting as long as you can support it. Sorting is so subjective.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Harry Potter AU
Date: 2017-03-10 05:42 pm (UTC)that's actually a really interesting way to look at it, I hadn't thought of that before, and I totally agree with you about Ignis.
However, I disagree that what motivates you entirely decides your placement in the houses, given that Dumbledore wasn't always motivated by doing the right thing (see: his anti-muggle sentiments that only went away with the death of his sister, which was after he left hogwarts). Or even Peter, who was definitely not motivated by doing the right thing (he was even a hatstall between gryffindor and slytherin) and was described as idolizing James and Sirius, which seems more like him valuing those traits rather than what actually motivates him. Also, there's Hermione's "books and cleverness" speech, which shows where those qualities rank in terms of importance to her. Neville, despite being loyal and wanting to do the right thing, only wanted to be in Hufflepuff because he was intimidated by Gryffindor's reputation, which implies that he values those traits but believes himself incapable of them. Also, if they hat was going off of what motivates them you'd probably have a lot more hatstalls, given that it's unlikely that an 11 year old just starting school is going to know with any certainty exactly what motivates them. Also, it has been mentioned that sorting tends to be consistent across families, which makes sense given that families tend to have shared values. A notable exception is Sirius Black, who has extremely different values than the rest of his family (same with Tonks).
I do totally agree with you about any sorting fitting as long as you can support it. Sorting is so subjective.