It was the scariest thing I ever had to do, and as a second year Oxford student that’s saying something.

The time had come.

I was about to take the Pottermore Sorting Hat quiz.

I’d been a Gryffindor all my Potter-reading life. No question. Probably because Hermione is a Gryffindor, and at age 9 when I first picked up the books I WAS Hermione.

In fact, when I went to a Harry Potter party at the library later that year and got sorted into Slytherin by random draw, I cried, threw a fit, and insisted on going home.

THAT IS HOW MUCH OF A GRYFFINDOR I AM.

Back to the Pottermore test.

I gave myself a pep talk. Of course I’m a Gryffindor. I’m bold, loyal, determined… and then I realised. Most of those are actually Hufflepuff qualities. I have nothing against Hufflepuff. In fact, I believe that Hufflepuff is where the best people are (I mean, I did marry one). But but but… I’m not a Hufflepuff!

Sitting in front of that screen, sweating, shaking, as I selected my answers with care (I sat there for like forty minutes) was a form of torture. But it got me thinking about what each of the Hogwarts houses stands for, and how I fit into those qualities.

You can live like you belong to one of the houses, but what’s even better, and stronger, is to live by all of them. Draw on that Ravenclaw curiosity. Channel Slytherin when you need to take care of yourself. Buckle down and get to work like a Hufflepuff. Summon your innermost Gryffindor courage when you’re forced to take an online personality test.

P.S. Oh, and Pottermore DID put me in Gryffindor so I can relax now.