Percy placed in the wrong House?

[meghana]

Shughla (here's the answer):
This is from the World Book Day Chat:

Sirius Riddle: What houses were Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter and Remus Lupin in? Everyone tells me they were all Gryffindor, but I won't believe it unless I hear it from Ms. Rowling herself!

JK Rowling says: This is JK herself saying that they were indeed in Gryffindor!

HedwigOwl,
We know that the Sorting Hat is sincere. We know that there is nothing wrong with ambition. It could be true that Percy developed a craving for power during his Hogwarts years; he probably tired of the treatment that the Weasleys get (look at how the Malfoys and others treat Arthur and family). I guess that there is part of me that feels that this is staged...though JKR doesn't like how it was staged.

Meghana

[MagicMuggle]

Originally Posted by Shughla

I don't love Percy, but there is obviously some good in him otherwise he wouldn't be in Gryffindor.

Well, I think Percy wasn't as ambitious at age 11 as he is now. When he arrived at Hogwarts, I don't think he was as uptight, or ambitious as he is in the current books. I think his ambition grew as he matured, which seemes fairly quickly. Let's list a few qualities:

~*Gryffindor Qualities:*~
-Loyality: We viewed Percy as loyal until the fifth book when he walked out on his family. In thefourth book, Percy seems very loyal and caring when he literally flung himself into the lake and pulls Ron from the water.
-Leadership: As Prefect and Heads Boy, Percy does have excellent leadership skills, although he takes it to the extreme sometimes.
-Bravery: He does show a bit of bravery, or courage when he takes on titles like Prefect and Head Boy because he's bound to have wise cracks made about him from time to time, considering his personality. He also never backs down when he believes in something...Even if it is about Cauldron Bottom Thickness reports.
-Ethcial: He tries to do what's right, no matter what. Although, considering the current situation, he did do what he thought was right. He thought Dumbledore was slightly cracked, but now that he knows Voldemort has offically returned, I don't think it will be long until he goes back to the Weasley's.

~*Slytherin Qualities:*~
-Ambition: He does let his ambition get the better of him in the fifth book as I mentioned earlier.
-Pompous: He is described like this a few times when givin directions, or orders.

Feel free to add things to the list. I know it's late here, and I'm bound to have left somethings out.

[HedwigOwl]

Originally Posted by meghana

We know that the Sorting Hat is sincere. We know that there is nothing wrong with ambition. It could be true that Percy developed a craving for power during his Hogwarts years; he probably tired of the treatment that the Weasleys get (look at how the Malfoys and others treat Arthur and family). I guess that there is part of me that feels that this is staged...though JKR doesn't like how it was staged.

Meghana, I don't understand the part about JKR....after all, she wrote it.

[brokenglasses]

I have faith in the Sorting Hat. Percy was sorted at 11 years old. He may have asked the hat to put him in Gryfindor, because his brothers where there. But he's made some bad choices as an adult. He's not at Hogwarts anymore. What does his school house or the Sorting Hat have to do with what he did in OoTP. That's like saying all Sytherins are dark wizards. And all Hufflepuffs are push overs. People make choices that suprise even there family. Percy will come back around I hope, but his sorting is not a major issue. The Sorting Hat(aka JKR) does the sorting. He was a Gryfindor and now he's a punk. What are you going do?

[meghana]

HedwigOwl:

This is what I mean. This is my opinion...
1) Percy is a spy for the order against the DEs (or Fudge)
2) To be a great spy for them, he has to disassociate himself from his Muggle-loving family.
3)He gets into a fight with his father (someone has mentioned somewhere that we've NEVER seen Mr. Weasley mad). Seems suspicious. He makes his form leave the family portrait.
4) Because of this, most of his family thinks he's a git. He is able to be an effective spy/convert because he has severed all links with his family.

I think that JKR doesn't like the way Percy severed himself from the family. She stated that 'Unfortunately, he acted on his own accord" or something to that effect. She knows her characters very well, there are things that they would do that she wouldn't approve of. She doesn't like how Percy decided to play out the separation of Percy & family.

Hope that makes sense

Meghana

[HedwigOwl]

Originally Posted by meghana

HedwigOwl:

This is what I mean. This is my opinion...
1) Percy is a spy for the order against the DEs (or Fudge)
2) To be a great spy for them, he has to disassociate himself from his Muggle-loving family.
3)He gets into a fight with his father (someone has mentioned somewhere that we've NEVER seen Mr. Weasley mad). Seems suspicious. He makes his form leave the family portrait.
4) Because of this, most of his family thinks he's a git. He is able to be an effective spy/convert because he has severed all links with his family.

I think that JKR doesn't like the way Percy severed himself from the family. She stated that 'Unfortunately, he acted on his own accord" or something to that effect. She knows her characters very well, there are things that they would do that she wouldn't approve of. She doesn't like how Percy decided to play out the separation of Percy & family.

Hope that makes sense

Meghana

Meghana, thanks for the explanation. I think I understand where you're coming from, but I still have to disagree about Percy's motives. I doubt that he's insightful enough to be a spy, he didn't seem to notice Crouch's odd behavior before abandoning his post. And while Percy told his family that Crouch left him in charge, you have to wonder if he just didn't take over rather than report it to someone at the MoM, seeing it as a perfect opportunity to advance himself. And I'd say that the fight with his father was real, about Percy's taking a job with Fudge. Remember that the Weasleys are very loyal to Dumbledore, and Fudge was never really pro-DD, and in OoP he became anti-DD. The Weasley's thought Percy would be fired after the Crouch episode, but instead he was promoted by Fudge. I think Fudge was using Percy as an unwitting source of information about DD or anyone associating with him. Percy can't see this -- again, lack of insight. I think if Percy ever wakes up, he's going to be furious with Fudge and his whole experience at the MoM.

[ginny88]

I dont' think Percy's in the wrong house. Perhaps just like Harry, although he have talents that Slytherin looks for, he chose to be in Gryffindor.

He's a Weasley, from an old pure bloodline, so hopefully in the end, he'll realize what a big **** he is and will work for the Order/ save others from the DEs.

[asrivathsan]

He's a Weasley, from an old pure bloodline

That in a way is the trouble. Slytherins are pure and half bloodswhile griffindors all aren't. . But the rest i agree.

[tarachristwen]

i don't think percy was placed at the wrong house..he's just ambitious and wants a job,not power but it doesn't mean he was supposed to be in slytherin house...

[Mad_Druid]

Percy could have been in either Ravenclaw or Slytherin, in fact i think they would have suited him better than Gryffindor did. Ravenclaw for his intelligence, Slytherin for his ambition. No way he would have been in Hufflepuff...he proved his absolute lack of loyalty in OotP.
Do we know what house Cornelius Fudge was in?, because Percy reminds me alot of him : intelligent, pompous, very ambitious, prone to jelousy, only sees what he wants to see.
He really does not show any Gryffindor traits. He is also a bully, for example, in CoS he bullied and intimidated Ginny when he thought people would find out about his relationship with Penelope Clearwater...

[RosieBirdy]

Percy has always been a leader, don't you think? Prefect. Head Boy. He's very ambitious, too. This sounds like a Gryffindor to me. And maybe in the end of the series he will do something brave, and we will all know exactly where he belongs.

[stepha_hpfan]

Percy has always been a leader, don't you think? Prefect. Head Boy. He's very ambitious, too. This sounds like a Gryffindor to me. And maybe in the end of the series he will do something brave, and we will all know exactly where he belongs.

I'm agree... He may be ambitious but it doesn't mean that he wouldn't pass to the dark_side... He seems a lot to Crouch, ambitious...yes, But he never go over the dark side, indeed, he always scorned DE and dark wizards...

[Zebileth]

I haven't read all of the posts, so I apologize if what I am saying was already said. I just think that Percy is going though a strange time in his life, and I think he will redeem. He never really seemed like a Gryfindor to me when he was in school, but he didn't seem like a Slytherin, either. I hope he redeems himself!

[Tane]

Yes and foolish people can still be brave as Percy was when he went against his family in favour of a career with Fudge, brave but foolish.

[Shadowboxer]

you know, I think he could go in Slytherin or Ravenclaw.
But, if you think about it, Percy was only doing what he thought was right. He thought Harry was a coot and Dumbledore was an ambious nutcase. So, going against your ENTIRE family does take a lot of courage. I still don't like him, but maybe Griffindor was the best place for him.

[winky22]

Nah, i don't think the sorting hat makes mistakes. if Percy is in G then he is suposed to be in G and there will be a reason to it.

[exiguusmus]

I agree. One of the Gryffindor traits is bravery and doesn't it take as much bravery to do what you think is right, even if it goes against your family's wishes (however misguided your version of right is)? Now that Fudge knows that Voldemort is back, and will be replaced as MoM in HBP, Percy will have to be pretty brave in the way he deals with his family - it should make for some interesting reading.
Percy is a pompous git, but his heart is in the right place.

[genesis]

As we know there are many different kinds of bravery, and one of the hardest is going against the ones you love. Percy did show a form of bravery in OOTP. We do not have to like it, but he did.
There are many reasons on why Percy is in Gryffindor. We do not know if he influenced the hat in any way. The sorting hat is always sincere; it meant well to place Percy in Gryffindor. Also, we do not know the eleven year old Percy. Percy, for all his faults, is not evil.
In HBP, we might see another form of bravery from Percy, only time will tell.

[RitaSkeeter17]

Percy is Ravenclaw, maybe he choosed his house. Percy can't be in Slytherin, he wouldn't break a rule one! I think Percy will show his good side in HBP. I like Percy, even though he is a prick.

[asrivathsan]

Also, sorting house does not put you in a house that you won't like to be in. Among all the characterestics, Griffindors' appear the most high and mighty. So, it may be just that percy wanted to be in Griffindor.... He would not have thought Slytherins fit enough to be his companions...