With her intelligence, it was evident that Hermione would end up in Ravenclaw as it values students based on wit, learning, and wisdom.
There is no doubt about the level of wisdom that Hermione possesses. She is even considered the brightest witch of her time.
Despite her massive intelligence, she was not placed in the House of Ravenclaw. What might be the reason for that?
Well, we will gradually know that.
First, let us know about the process and how Hermione was sorted.
Sorting Ceremony in Hogwarts
The sorting ceremony is the first ceremony that freshers go through in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It is held in the Great Hall after students have arrived at school via Hogwarts Express.
The purpose of the sorting ceremony is to assign students to one of the four houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff. The soring was initially done by the founders of each house.
Later, the supreme authority to sort the students into a particular house is given to the Sorting Hat.
Sorting Hat
Originally belonging to Godric Gryffindor, Sorting Hat is the cleverest object you will ever witness. It was enchanted by all of the four founders of Hogwarts.
It was charmed with the power to review the qualities and traits of students and assign them a house following that. It can speak and decide. It could hear a person’s thoughts and look into their mind.
Thus, the hat assured placement of students in a particular house according to the traits the founders wanted in their students, even in the future.
The sorting hat is placed on the student’s head. Then the hat identifies a student’s qualities and traits and puts them in a house that could help polish those traits.
The sorting hat tends to place students in a particular house based on the qualities they value rather than the abilities they possess.
Some other noted Ravenclaws
Sybill Trelawney belonged to Ravenclaw. She is none other than the one who had made the prophecy concerning Voldemort and the boy who would defeat him.
Some other noted Ravenclaws were Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, Luna Lovegood, Cho Chang, Padma Patil, Marcus Belby, and Myrtie Warren (the ghost of the girls’ bathroom).
Until now, we have known about some history and characteristics of the Ravenclaw.
Now let us come to the main point: why Hermione wasn’t placed into Ravenclaw and why she was sorted to Gryffindor instead.
Why wasn’t Hermione Ravenclaw?
It might be easy for us to say Hermione could have been a Ravenclaw with her possessing intelligence, wisdom beyond her gear, and academic excellency.
But are these only the traits defining her?
Of course not. Definitely, she may be the one spending most of the time in the library, and Hermione is a bookish girl, but she is a brave one.
She has lateral thinking capacity and quick adjusting characteristics. She is inquisitive in practical thinking and can overcome all sorts of obstacles.
Ravenclaw is more about creativity and open-mindedness, but Hermione is not shown to be the open-minded one. She sticks to theory rather than logic.
Besides, Ravencalw’s students are relatively competitive, and they could even backstab their own friends for their academic success.
Hermione is completely different than of Ravenclaw’s students. We can witness how good a friend she is throughout her journey. Despite being academically concerned, she left her last year to help her friend find the Horcruxes.
Besides, she has admitted that she values bravery and friendship over books and cleverness in the conversation with Harry.
“Harry – you’re a great wizard, you know.”
“I’m not as good as you,” said Harry, very embarrassed, as she let go of him.
“Me!” said Hermione. “Books! And cleverness! There are more important things – friendship and bravery and – oh Harry – be careful!”
-Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Also, Ravenclaw students trust their intuition and have a great sense of creativity, which are also the things that set Ravenclaw apart from other houses. On the other hand, Hermione prefers to stick to what’s already known rather than trust her intuition or step outside the box.
Okay, these things make Hermione not belong to Ravenclaw, but what is the reason that makes her a Gryffindor student? There are other houses, too; why did the Sorting Hat assign her specifically to Gryffindor?
Why was Hermione sorted in Gryffindor?
Well, till now, Potter fans are already aware that Sorting Hat considers what students value rather than what kind of traits students already possess.
Also, we have already mentioned Hermione valued friendship and bravery more than cleverness. This is the primary reason why the Sorting Hat sorted her into Gryffindor and also the reason why she is not in Ravenclaw.
Bravery and friendship are the things that she values, but is she worthy enough to be a Gryffindor? Let us dive into this matter too.
How is Hermione a true Griffindor?
Talking about the Gryffindors is about being brave, daring, determined, and courageous. Doesn’t Hermione possess it all? Of course, she does.
You may now ask how. Okay, we will swoop into that matter too.
She has always proved to be a brave individual, whether erasing her parents’ memory during the second wizarding war to protect them or to withstand the severe torture from Bellatrix Lestrange.
How can we forget about the courageous Hermione during the journey of searching for the Horcruxes? She was daring enough that she didn’t have a second thought about helping Harry find Horcruxes, even sacrificing her last year at Hogwarts.
Thus, her bravery throughout her journey is enough to prove her a true Griffindor. She has always prioritized bravery over her intelligence and even proved her worthiness as a brave Gryffindor. It would not be wrong to say that she never deserves Ravenclaw.
Okay, we have stated she was a true Gryffindor, but what about other houses? Isn’t she eligible to be in different houses like Slytherin or Hufflepuff? Let’s know about that.
Why wasn’t Hermione in Slytherin?
Slytherin is the only house that prioritizes the pure blood clan rather than the personality traits. Besides, it also focuses on attributes like pride, cunning, and ambitions.
Hermione was the muggle-born (disrespectfully called mudblood, especially by Draco). She didn’t belong to a pure wizard family. This reason is enough for her not to be in the house of Slytherins.
Besides, she doesn’t possess any of Slytherin’s qualities, just a Slytherin, Draco. She actually hates the trait of that house. She has an extreme enmity with Draco throughout the whole years of Hogwarts.
Of course, she is an outspoken and independent girl. That doesn’t mean that she is cunning and proud. Thus, she cannot be Slytherin in any case.
See also: Why wasn’t Harry Potter in Slytherin?
Why wasn’t Hermione in Hufflepuff then?
Of course, Hermione is dedicated and loyal, which are Hufflepuff’s traits, but these traits are not enough to make her belong to that house.
Hufflepuff is also about being calm and grounded due to their house. Elements bring the earth, which Hermione lacks at several points in time. She is rather fiery and outspoken, like a Gryffindor’s fire element.
Thus Hermione is not the one who fits in Hufflepuff either.
Hermione is illegible to be the Gryffindor whether you take her own will or the bravery she has proven several times.
What if Hermione was placed into Ravenclaw?
In the first place, the golden trio, Hermione, Harry, and Ron, wouldn’t be in the same house. This might result from them not being close friends too.
We all loved their friendship; we loved how close they were and consistently there for each other in every high and low. We wouldn’t have witnessed their closeness if it had to be Hermione in a different house or, say, Ravenclaw.
Besides, Hermione might have been friends with Luna Lovegood, Cho Chang, or Padma Patel of Ravenclaw house. All of them being good friends of Harry at a certain point in time, Hermione would also have become a friend, at least with Harry. Although I doubt they would be as friends as they were when together in Gryffindor.
Hermione might have influenced her to be more creative and to think out of the box, but she would have barely recognized her bravery.
Also, how can we forget two lovers, Ron and Hermione, during their last years of Hogwarts? They even got married later. If they were not in the same house, they would probably not be a couple as they didn’t like each other initially. It was their friendship that gradually turned their dislike into love.
Well, this is just an assumption if she was in Ravenclaw. Besides, we love that she belonged to Gryffindor and the series of adventures that these golden trio experience in Griffindor.
As conclusion,
The actual matter was why she was not placed on Ravenclaw. Well, as Dumbledore once stated to Harry that it is not the ability that makes us; it is instead the thing we choose to be.
Thus Hermione’s ability was not something that decided her fate. Instead, it was her choice and her will. She had always considered bravery and friendship above anything else, not even the intelligence that she had got.
All the facts mentioned above have already expressed why she wasn’t on Ravenclaw.
