Yeah, I mean, sorting is fun because it's so ambiguous and subjective, but then also kind of worrying, when you think about how many lifelong ramifications it seems to have for the characters in the Harry Potter universe. Such trust to place in singing millinery. Makes you wonder whether the Hat's standards have changed at all over the years, too.

I agree that what we know about Aral's past is very Gryffindorish-- he may have since matured to a point where he exhibits a lot of other House traits, they weren't all there from the beginning, so to speak. And yeah, Miles would totally do the Harry thing if he could. Though, being Miles, it might not take the form of a single firm request but rather a two-week long campaign pre-Sorting to woo the Hat over to his side. You can see him asking Cordelia: "What does a hat really want in life? Unlife?" It's important to have ammunition.

I think my doubts about Illyan-as-Ravenclaw mostly have to do with the fact that he sort of has to love his data as a requirement of his job, and we know little enough about his pre-chip life that it's hard to judge how much of that is also intrinsic.

We have definitely had convincing arguments for Cordelia in every house at this point, damn her. Maybe, as with Gregor, I'll pack her off to Beauxbatons and sidestep the issue. Beauxbetans. Oh, god.