vorkosigan | a vitally important question

a vitally important question

Given the chance, how would you sort the Vorkosigan characters into Hogwarts houses?

Don't look at me like that. This is clearly key information that I am gathering. Is Cordelia the world's most ruthless Hufflepuff, or would she at eleven be hustled off to Ravenclaw, only later in life to develop interpersonal convictions? Does Miles con the hat into putting him into Gryffindor despite the fact that if cut him open you would find a great big S drawn in green on his heart? For that matter, where would Aral have wanted to be put when he was eleven, a pretty formative year for him by any yardstick? Are Illyan and his chip in different houses entirely-- no, don't answer that one--

And so on.

This inquiry definitely not made for gruesome fusion research purposes of any kind, of course.

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Ooh, this is tricky! Ivan, for instance, I was going to say, is blatantly a Hufflepuff, but then, the instinctive rescue-kittens-from-trees-without-considering-the-consequences is pure Gryffindor.

I'm tempted to say that Miles Vorkosigan is a Gryffindor and Admiral Naismith a Slytherin... and where will that leave Mark?

Duv, surely, is pure Ravenclaw.

Cordelia might have fancied herself a Ravenclaw until she needed to learn to manage scientists, at which point she embraced her inner Slytherin.

I would say Cordelia is definitely a Slytherin - she's ruthless, she knows what she wants and does what she needs to get it, and doesn't spend a lot of time worrying about it afterward.

I've always put Aral down as Hufflepuff, though; one gets the impression that he would have been perfectly happy just living a quiet life of hard but useful work with the people he loves around him, if it weren't that he's always getting forced into doing great things.

Alys is Ravenclaw, obviously. She even usually wears Ravenclaw colors. (Illyan probably is too.) Ivan and his father were both Gryffindors, though.

Lord Miles Vorkosigan is Slytherin; Admiral Naismith is probably Ravenclaw, actually; but Miles being Miles is fairly Gryffindor.

I can't figure out Gregor, though. Maybe Ravenclaw? It would be interesting to put Gregor in a situation, growing up, where who-he-was-inside was more important than being the Emperor. (On the other hand, the vast majority of Vorbarras have always been Slytherin, so I suspect he would have been put in Slytherin regardless of what the Sorting Hat said, because that's the Imperial house; Cordelia's control over his education can only go so far.)

I would put Cordelia, Alys, Miles and Admiral Naismith all firmly in Slytherin! Aral as Gryffindor, yes, and Illyan.... hmm. He's got me baffled. I am sort of tempted to say his real self is a Ravenclaw, but he's acted very Slytherin all his working life.

Everyone's a Slytherin. No, really.

Awesome post! I still need to think about this, but...JSYK, I'd SO read that fic! :)))))

I'm no expert so I'd love to hear peoples' thoughts on Mark. Especially Mark vs. Killer/Gorge/Grunt/Howl. (Sort all *those* if you dare. :D)

My first instinct pegs Aral as Gryffindor (although I buy the argument about him being a Puff, his early self strikes me as a bit too violent and idealistic (and violently idealistic...)), Miles as rule-breaker type Gryffindor (Miles is probably a bit -- a lot -- like Harry; the Hat probably stalled between Gryffindor and Slyth, and Miles would sweet talk it into sorting him into Gryffindor, because, you know, Vorthalia the Bold. Plus, his lack of ambition for Gregor's camp stool). Illyan as a Ravenclaw (inclining towards a Slytherclaw, really)- he can be sneaky, he can be hardworking, but he sure loves his data. (I can actually see him volunteering for the chip, because of the sheer shiny attraction of something that could possibly make him smarter.)

Cordelia I'd place as a Hat-stall. She reminds me of McGonagall, and ultimately I'd slide her into Gryffindor (with her views on the Vor, she's probably not enough of a pureblood fanatic to be Slytherin although she certainly has many characteristics of one), though it's a very close shave with Ravenclaw.

Mark I'd peg as a Slytherin. He's certainly sharp enough, he doesn't share that brand of heroism that Miles does (though he has his own). Strangely enough, I can also see him as a Hufflepuff.

Ivan - is really hard for me. He screams Hufflepuff to me, except for the laziness...

Having said that, I think what this very fascinating discussion shows is that - people really can be placed in all kinds of different Houses, depending on what you define as their defining characteristic and the the House's defining characteristic :) It must be a pain, being the Sorting Hat...

Late to the party...

I don't really understand sorting Cordelia anywhere but Ravenclaw. Think about her backstory - high-achieving misfit geek, manipulated out of her first chance at captaincy by her ex (which does not argue for ambition or ability to scheme on her part), "let's see what happens." She didn't come equipped with those formidable social and political skills, she built them based on her observations throughout her life, which is very Ravenclaw. Her first instinct in any situation isn't to act, it's to analyze. Then she'll act, decisively, if she decides it's best. But she'll always think first. (And during. And after.)

Gregor is also a Ravenclaw, and is more like Cordelia than Miles is, in some ways. The books mention several times how Gregor uses Cordelia's phrases, analyzes her in turn, and has the same kind of unsettlingly thoughtful gaze.

Miles is such a Gryffindor. What he wants most to give everyone in the universe is rescue. Seriously.

Aral... I like the idea above that Aral is a Gryffindor who has been forced to act against his instincts his whole life long, which is the cause of a lot of his pain and self-destructive habits. And Piotr, who is definitely a Slytherin, doesn't understand why his son can't shape up and show some cunning and ambition.

I don't get why a lot of people in fandom want to make everyone they like a Slytherin; that kind of defeats the whole idea of sorting. (Which is not that great an idea to begin with, in HP canon.) Many interesting characters are not particularly ambitious, or are cunning in the service of other priorities!

I don't think many of the main characters in the Vorkosigan saga are Slytherins. Piotr, yes. Ezar, I can see. Mark, definitely yes. (Of the family-protecting Mine Or Not Mine type, who care very intensely about a small list of people.) Maybe Elli's a Slytherin, actually. (Elena's a Gryffindor, and I think her father may have been one too, albeit terribly damaged.) I could buy Lady Alys... she did, after all, marry the best catch of her generation, which is what an ambitious young lady in her position might want. (Padma was the son of a princess, wealthy, handsome, kind, etc. Aral and Serg were higher ranked but, for different reasons, not good prospects.) And then she ended up as the Imperial Hostess and the queen of high society for decades. Not to mention a spy. Yes, I'd say Alys is Slytherin.

I think there are a ton of brave Ravenclaws and thoughtful Gryffindors floating around, partly because Bujold is at her best when she's writing ethical intellectuals. I'm not sure who's a Hufflepuff. Kou and Drou? Ooh, Kareen the younger, definitely. And that's why she balances Mark. Ivan I can't place. I want to say Hufflepuff for loyalty, but hard work? Nah. Maybe Gryffindor. (Which puts Alys in the same position as Piotr, a ruthlessly ambitious parent who doesn't understand why their child doesn't want what they want.)

Okay, stopping there. It is a really interesting exercise, even if I think the Sorting in the HP universe was incredibly toxic. It makes you think about what people's core characteristics are.

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