Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.
Today we’re going to be discussing HOGWARTS and the 4 animal mascots that represent the
Hogwarts house system.
At Hogwarts there are 4 houses- Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff- houses
created by the original 4 founders of Hogwarts- Godric, Salazar, Rowena and Helga.
Why 4 houses?
Well, put as simply as possible, there were 4 founders and each founder wanted to teach
the students in their OWN way.
Dividing the students accordingly seemed like the best course of action.
Each of the 4 houses created by the school’s founders can be represented in a number of
different ways.
The first and most obvious identifier of a Hogwarts house is the use of their signature
colours.
Slytherin can be identified by green and silver, Hufflepuff by yellow and black, Ravenclaw
by blue and bronze (blue and silver in the movies) and Gryffindor by red and gold.
These colours can be found plastered all over the common rooms and uniforms of the respective
houses.
But that’s not the only way to identify a Hogwarts house.
The cornerstones of the Hogwarts house system, and perhaps the most iconic symbols associated
with each house are the house MASCOTS.
For Gryffindor, this mascot was a lion.
For Slytherin, a serpent.
For Hufflepuff, a badger.
And for Ravenclaw, an eagle (or RAVEN in the films).
But what do these creatures have to do with anything?
What connection do they have to the founders?
And how did these seemingly mundane creatures (at least, looking at it from the perspective
of a MAGICAL world) get chosen as representatives for these houses?
I’ve got nothing against lions, serpents, badgers or eagles- but in a world filled with
things like DRAGONS, ACROMANTULAS, THESTRALS and NUNDUS- these creatures seem…less impressive.
I’m going to start with WHY these creatures were chosen, and then move on to why MAGICAL
creatures weren’t chosen.
The Lion
When it comes to the Hogwarts house animals it’s important that we look beyond their
physical stature, and instead shift our focus to the symbolism associated with these different
animals.
To begin, let’s kick things off with the lion-Gryffindor’s mascot- a king in our
own animal kingdom and a creature that is unquestionably symbolic on a vast number of
levels.
The Sorting Hat had this to say of Gryffindor house:
“You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave of heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart”
Bravery and chivalry- those are 2 of the most prominent features of Gryffindor house- and
it just so happens that Lions symbolize these 2 traits perfectly.
Bravery is, in my opinion, the standout quality of Gryffindor students, as we’ve seen some
of the most hesitant witches and wizards, like Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom, muster
up their courage and stand in the face of Lord Voldemort.
And if we look at the element of ‘chivalry’, it seems only natural that the ‘King’
of beasts and ‘King’ of the muggle animal kingdom would be a suitable choice for a house
that radiates ‘royalty’.
Gryfindor’s also the ‘ruling’ house in the series due to its connection with the
main protagonists- and even it’s house colours of red and gold signify royalty!
But what else do Lions represent?
Justice.
In Mesopotamian mythology, Samas (also known as the Lion Man or God of Justice) allows
King Etna to free an eagle who has been trapped by a serpent.
In this example we can see that even before Harry Potter, the lion, eagle, and serpent—all
animals representing Hogwarts houses—have a shared history.
The Lion against the Serpent is a common theme in folklore that is repeated once again in
Harry Potter- pitting Gryffindor against Slytherin.
The Serpent
Moving on from the Lion, we’re going to discuss it’s nemesis- the serpent.
“Or perhaps in Slytherin You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means To achieve their ends.”
The general theme in Harry Potter is that Slytherin’s are conniving, ambitious, and
willing to do whatever it takes to succeed- even if that means stepping on a few toes
along the way.
Slytherin’s are also incredibly cunning and (often) able to manipulate others in order
to get what they want.
These attributes can all be seen in their house mascot, the snake- which has long been
identified with acts of ambition and cunning.
In nature, Snakes show ambition by going after prey much larger than them, and they show
their cunning by using clever tactics to trick / confuse their prey- like via camouflage.
An early tale outlining the snake’s propensity to deceive is in the story of Adam and Eve,
where the snake was able to convince Eve to give in to temptation and pick fruit from
the tree.
However, the biggest reason for Salazar Slytherin choosing this house mascot was undoubtedly
his unique connection to snakes.
For you see, Salazar Slytherin was a parselmouth- a wizard that had the innate ability to TALK
to snakes.
It seems only fitting that he should dedicate his house to the creature he closely resonated
with.
The Badger
Next up we’ve got the Badger, the mascot of house Hufflepuff.
“You might belong in Hufflepuff, Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true And unafraid of toil;”
Hufflepuff is similar to Gryffindor in that they both value justice and aren’t afraid
to show a bit of bravery, but one of the big differences is that they’re a little more
reserved in their approach.
The badger, though fierce and powerful, has quite a reserved disposition- commonly leading
a quiet life and not revealing its true ferocity until provoked.
In some ways, this reflects the way that the other 3 Hogwarts houses view Hufflepuff.
Hufflepuff is commonly written off- a joke- an afterthought, but in truth they were the
second most represented house during the Battle of Hogwarts and have achieved more than their
fair share of success.
Badgers are quite common in children’s literature, playing prominent roles in stories like The
Wind in the Willows and the Animals of Farthing Wood.
In these tales, each of these Badgers perfectly exemplify what it is to be a Hufflepuff.
In the Wind In the Willows, Badger shows incredible loyalty to his friends- no matter how much
they test his patience.
And in the Animals of Farthing Wood, the Badger reveals its nurturing, caring nature- traits
we know to be consistent with the house founder, Helga.
The Eagle
First let’s address the elephant..or…Raven in the room.
Ravenclaw’s house mascot is NOT a Raven- it’s an eagle!
You may be able to find all sorts of Ravenclaw merchandise online with a Raven on it, but
in truth Ravenclaw’s mascot was only changed for the FILMS.
In the books (which are TRUE canon), Ravenclaw house is represented by an EAGLE as well as
the colours BLUE and BRONZE, rather than blue and silver.
“Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, If you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning, Will always find their kind”
The overarching character trait associated with Ravenclaw is UNDOUBTEDLY intelligence
or wisdom, and in this regard they couldn’t have picked a better mascot.
The eagle, while also a symbol of strength and immortality, is deeply rooted as a symbol
for intelligence, wit and high spirit.
This is reflected in the Ravenclaw student welcome message:
“Our emblem is the eagle, which soars where others cannot climb”
And if we look at the prevalence of Eagles in Myth, we can find even more evidence that
Eagles are synonymous with wisdom.
In Mesopotamian folklore the eagle is “doubled-headed, representing its ability to see in both directions
at the same time, and emphasizing its association with wisdom.”
Doesn’t get much clearer than that.
With the above explanations, hopefully I’ve provided you with a better idea of WHY these
‘muggle’ animals were chosen to represent each house in lieu of magical creatures.
Ilvermorny may have houses named after magical beasts, but that school was founded by different
people, in a different part of the world, in a different ERA.
Thunderbirds, Wampus Cats, Horned Serpents and Pukwudgies are impressive, and they seem
to work well as house mascots, but these creatures were also chosen fairly arbitrarily.
When Ilvermorny was formed, the founders simply chose their ‘favourite’ magical beasts
to represent the houses, and didn’t make their decisions based on any kind of deeper
connection.
In this way, I think that the Hogwarts houses are a lot more special.
Furthering this, the houses at Ilvermony are looked at as ‘pieces’ of a whole, where
Hogwarts houses have entirely their own identities, existing independently from one another:
‘It is sometimes said of the Ilvermorny houses that they represent the whole witch
or wizard: the mind is represented by Horned Serpent; the body, Wampus; the heart, Pukwudgie
and the soul, Thunderbird.”
In essence, the only reason that magical creatures weren’t chosen was because they weren’t
necessary.
They could have chosen more IMPRESSIVE creatures, sure, but the choices made by the original
four founders of Hogwarts were made for a reason.
We also have to remember that Hogwarts was founded before the International Statute of
Secrecy had been put in place, meaning that Muggles and magic folk coexisted.
During this time (due to exposure to the muggle world) these ‘muggle’ creatures could
have become near and dear to the founders.
And one last theory to close-off this video (since this is Harry Potter Theory) is that
the animals associated with each house were representative of the Hogwarts’ founders
PATRONUS animals.
According to Harry Potter lore, the animal shape of the Patronus is determined by the
personality of the caster, and based on this, we can safely assume that the characteristics
that this person displays are characteristics that they share in common with that animal.
The only issue with this theory is that I’m not sure whether Salazar Slytherin would have
been able to produce a Patronus.
And that’s it for this video!
Did you ever ask yourself these questions?
Got any more for me?
Leave a comment down below
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Until next time
Remember
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live