The idea of putting students in houses in the first place seemed strange to most. Other schools didn't do it, so why did Hogwarts feel the need? Especially after the devastation of the war - the long, painful year it had taken to rebuild the school, the many lives that had been destroyed because of prejudice and the hunger for power - the house system seemed almost ludicrous, null in void. But the new Head Mistress, Minerva McGonagall insisted that the tradition was one of the core values that school was founded on and needed to be carried on if the students were to have a 'proper learning experience'.
You, personally, weren't completely against the idea. You loved categorizing your personality with other things like Star Signs and Personal Intelligence labels, so this wasn't much different. It was a system designed to identify aspects of your personality, and your values and desires, and give you an environment with peers similar to you. It was a system based around inclusion and harmony, meant to eliminate alienation. You really liked that idea.
And you, being the methodical Ravenclaw that you were, had studied the system during your five, now six years at Hogwarts, and had noticed a few patterns that never seemed to fail.
Every single house had two basic types of people. The 'typical' and the 'non-typical'. This being the people who perfectly fit their house stereotype, like you did, and the people who didn't, and often got surprised during sorting ceremonies.
There was the brave, over-zealous Gryffindors who went out of their way for people's attention and to be perfectly loyal and good hearted and save everyone that they could, even if they weren't always in danger. That was the stereotype. Then there was the shyer Gryffindors - ones who would never spoke up when called on in class or might cry at the drop of a hat. This type reminded you of your Herbology professor, Mr. Longbottom. When he told stories of his days as Hogwarts student, of being jixed by bullies and hung from chandeliers by loose pixies, and the fact that he was shocked by being sorted into Gryffindor in the first place, you knew he was that type. Even if everyone raved about him, said he was the coolest professor in the history of the school because he had the sword of Godric Gryffindor himself in his office, and because he was a war hero, you knew he wasn't always the confident man that stood at the front of the greenhouse.
Then there was Hufflepuffs: everyone claimed that Hufflepuff didn't have many defining qualities, that they were the 'other' house that kids got sorted into if they didn't belong anywhere else. Your research found that to be completely false. A 'typical' Hufflepuff is as any Sorting Hat song would state; loyal, generous, incredibly kind, maybe shy, and possibly a bit of a doormat. A 'little ray of sunshine' type person. They were easy to spot, even without the black and yellow ties. The 'non-typical' Hufflepuffs were rougher around the edges. And on any given day, could actually seem more like Slytherins. They cursed a lot and constantly give harsh looks to anyone outside their friend group. There was a Hufflepuff in your Charms class that was covered in tattoos and hardly spoke to anyone that reminded you of this.
Ravenclaws were even easier to figure out. Well mostly for you because you lived with them. The non-typical Ravenclaws were the types who dyed their hair obnoxious colours and wore lots of jewelry and sang songs about the stars. The dreamers; people who were plenty smart but used their intelligence to dwell on fantasy instead of fact. There was a few people like this that you could think of; like the purple haired girl from your dorm who was always writing stories.
You considered yourself a very stereotypical Ravenclaw. You had glasses and almost always had your nose in a book - plain on the outside, but an over-analytical, over-thinking mess on the inside. You actually knew that you were so typically Ravenclaw that you were tied for top of your class.
