sorry, life got hectic and then dreamwidth wasn’t loading for me
I think part of the difference in opinion we’re having is for a lot of these character their motivations and their values match up pretty exactly, even if their actions don’t always express that XD
I doubt motivation is the key factor though, given that you could argue that at that point Neville’s motivation was just to work hard and avoid the spotlight, and JK Rowling has mentioned that the difference between Gryffindors doing the right thing and Hufflepuffs doing the right thing is that Gryffindors have shades of wanting glory to go with it. Hermione is also motivated to do well in school, but because of her values meaning she wants to do the right thing she often jeopardizes her position in the school (and sometimes with her friends) to do so. And also, why would she emotionally dismiss the importance of books if not for her values? If her motivation is to use books as a means to end to do the right thing, wouldn’t she refer to them that way instead of denouncing their importance in comparison to friendship and bravery altogether? In addition, if motivation were the key factor, that wouldn’t explain why sorting tends to be consistent across families, where your motivation differing from your relatives’ wouldn’t be all that odd, making relatives scattered across houses much more common.
Not to mention it assumes that your motivation remains a consistent enough factor that the sorting hat would consider it a reliable characteristic to judge you on. Given that Neville went from being motivated to remaining at Hogwarts to being motivated to openly fighting death eaters even if it cost him his place at the school and later his life, I doubt it’s as prominent a factor in terms of judging what house you end up at.
Also, Dumbledore’s choices speech was in the specific context of Harry having a lot in common with Voldemort and worrying he would become the same way. He mentions that the hat takes your opinion into account, but Harry was also nearly a hatstall. Look at Neville. His opinion was that he should be in Hufflepuff, which the hat talked him out of, which also nearly made him a hatstall. Your choice is a factor, and Dumbledore’s speech was in the wider context of what you do with your life, not what house you’re sorted into.
As for Peter, JKR has said that “out of cowardice will stand in the shadow of the strongest person” which speaks more to him being motivated by self preservation more than anything else.
I actually do think Ardyn would make a fitting Gryffindor. Again, JKR mentioned that Gryffindors will do the right thing with shades of seeking glory, which seems to fit with Ardyn describing himself as a healer king and how he healed people of the starscourge (doing the right thing) and then being forsaken by the gods (who describe him as the usurper). I think he was doing the right thing, and when denied the glory (combined with being corrupted by the daemons) it pushed him into dark lord territory.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
Re: Harry Potter AU
Date: 2017-03-15 12:23 am (UTC)sorry, life got hectic and then dreamwidth wasn’t loading for me
I think part of the difference in opinion we’re having is for a lot of these character their motivations and their values match up pretty exactly, even if their actions don’t always express that XD
I doubt motivation is the key factor though, given that you could argue that at that point Neville’s motivation was just to work hard and avoid the spotlight, and JK Rowling has mentioned that the difference between Gryffindors doing the right thing and Hufflepuffs doing the right thing is that Gryffindors have shades of wanting glory to go with it. Hermione is also motivated to do well in school, but because of her values meaning she wants to do the right thing she often jeopardizes her position in the school (and sometimes with her friends) to do so. And also, why would she emotionally dismiss the importance of books if not for her values? If her motivation is to use books as a means to end to do the right thing, wouldn’t she refer to them that way instead of denouncing their importance in comparison to friendship and bravery altogether? In addition, if motivation were the key factor, that wouldn’t explain why sorting tends to be consistent across families, where your motivation differing from your relatives’ wouldn’t be all that odd, making relatives scattered across houses much more common.
Not to mention it assumes that your motivation remains a consistent enough factor that the sorting hat would consider it a reliable characteristic to judge you on. Given that Neville went from being motivated to remaining at Hogwarts to being motivated to openly fighting death eaters even if it cost him his place at the school and later his life, I doubt it’s as prominent a factor in terms of judging what house you end up at.
Also, Dumbledore’s choices speech was in the specific context of Harry having a lot in common with Voldemort and worrying he would become the same way. He mentions that the hat takes your opinion into account, but Harry was also nearly a hatstall. Look at Neville. His opinion was that he should be in Hufflepuff, which the hat talked him out of, which also nearly made him a hatstall. Your choice is a factor, and Dumbledore’s speech was in the wider context of what you do with your life, not what house you’re sorted into.
As for Peter, JKR has said that “out of cowardice will stand in the shadow of the strongest person” which speaks more to him being motivated by self preservation more than anything else.
I actually do think Ardyn would make a fitting Gryffindor. Again, JKR mentioned that Gryffindors will do the right thing with shades of seeking glory, which seems to fit with Ardyn describing himself as a healer king and how he healed people of the starscourge (doing the right thing) and then being forsaken by the gods (who describe him as the usurper). I think he was doing the right thing, and when denied the glory (combined with being corrupted by the daemons) it pushed him into dark lord territory.