Gryffindor

**Gryffindor** was one of the four Houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was founded by Godric Gryffindor. Gryffindor instructed the Sorting Hat to choose students possessing characteristics he most valued, such as courage, chivalry, nerve and determination, to be sorted into his house.

The emblematic animal was a lion, and its colours were scarlet and gold and its house point hourglass was filled with rubies. Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, also known as "*Nearly Headless Nick*", was the House ghost.

Gryffindor corresponded roughly to the element of fire, and it was for this reason that the colours scarlet and gold were chosen to represent the house. The colour of fire corresponded to that of a lion as well, with scarlet representing the mane and tail and gold representing the coat. The Gryffindor motto was "*Forti Animo Estote*", which was displayed on a stained glass window in the common room

## Traits

The Gryffindor house emphasised the traits of courage as well as "*daring, nerve, and chivalry*", and thus its members were generally regarded as brave, though sometimes to the point of recklessness. Some Gryffindors had also been noted to be short-tempered.

Notably, Gryffindor house contributed many members to Dumbledore's Army and the Order of the Phoenix, although this may have been because the main members made it a point not to associate with other houses.

According to Phineas Nigellus Black, members of other houses, particularly Slytherin, sometimes felt that Gryffindors engaged in "*pointless heroics*". Another Slytherin, Severus Snape, considered many Gryffindors to be self-righteous and arrogant, with no regard for rules.

## Reputation

Gryffindors and Slytherins had shared a fierce house rivalry since their founders, Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin, respectively, had a severe falling out over Slytherin's emphasis on blood purity. There might also be an element of feeling wronged, as Harry and his fellow Gryffindors tended to win in a lot of circumstances which, when viewed from a neutral point of view, may be considered unfair.

Examples of this included the last-minute points awarded by Headmaster Dumbledore at the End-of-Term Feast, which conveniently put Gryffindor ten points ahead of Slytherin in the 1991–1992 school year. The fact that no points were deducted for the rule breaking that happened during that night. Harry Potter being permitted by Professor McGonagall to have his own broomstick for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, even though first-years were not normally permitted their own broomsticks because of danger. Members of other houses might have felt that Gryffindor received favouritism. Many saw Harry Potter being chosen as the fourth competitor in the Triwizard Tournament as an unfair stealing of Hufflepuff student Cedric Diggory's thunder.

Overall, however, the houses of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tended to side with Gryffindor in its rivalry with Slytherin. This was particularly notable during the Second Wizarding War — the members of Dumbledore's Army were from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw, but the Army lacked any Slytherins. (This, however, could also have been because news of Dumbledore's Army was passed by word of mouth, and Harry, who had initially raised it, did not associate with any Slytherins.)

During the Battle of Hogwarts, the Slytherin students left, while senior students from the other three houses remained behind to fight against Lord Voldemort and his army — however, it is also worth noting that while Head of House Professor Slughorn left with his students, he then returned to the castle with reinforcements (possibly including senior students) and with Professor McGonagall and Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt, personally duelled Lord Voldemort. Most of the known Death Eaters (besides Peter Pettigrew, Quirinus Quirrell, and possibly others) had been Slytherin House members, and that might have been another reason as to why the other two houses sided with Gryffindor over Slytherin.

## Gryffindor tower

### Common room

*Main articles: Gryffindor Tower and Gryffindor common room*
The entrance to the Gryffindor common room (which, in turn, lead to the Gryffindor dormitories) was located behind a large portrait of the Fat Lady in a pink silk dress. If one know the right password to tell her, she swung open to reveal a round opening in the wall. The common room contained a lot of squashy armchairs, a fireplace, and tables. The fireplace was connected to the Floo Network, but as it was extremely public except in the dead of night, Gryffindors usually used owls to communicate with their families instead.

There was also a notice board, for public announcements such as the date of the next Hogsmeade weekend trip, but also for notices from individual students seeking to buy or sell secondhand books, or trade Chocolate Frog Cards, or similar, as in any school.

The common room was very comfortable, and members of the Gryffindor house met there for study groups, celebrations, or relaxation. The walls were lined with portraits, each one depicting a previous or current Head of Gryffindor.

### Dormitories

There were two staircases opening off the common room into the Tower itself: the boys' staircase, on which the seven boys' dormitories were located (one for each year) and the girls' staircase, on which the seven girls' dormitories were located (one for each year).

The girls' staircase was under a Charm so that if a boy set foot on it and persisted for a few steps, a wailing klaxon went off and the staircase temporarily turned itself into a stone slide, sending him and anyone else on the stairs sailing to the bottom. According to *Hogwarts: A History*, the founders believed that girls were more trustworthy than boys, so that while the girls' staircase was enchanted to prevent boys from getting in, the boys' staircase did not carry a reciprocal enchantment. Each dormitory was a round room with windows looking out onto the grounds, and containing four-poster beds.

## Head of House

Godric Gryffindor

(10th Century)

Gryffindor Lady

Gryffindor Seeker

Gryffindor Man

Gryffindor Man

Gryffindor Man

Muldoon Cragg

Uric Oapley

Podric Piles

Tobias Stump

Valeria Myriadd

Minerva McGonagall

(?–1998)

Neville Longbottom

The Head of House before and during Harry Potter's time was Minerva McGonagall. Minerva became the Head of House possibly when she was appointed Transfiguration professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, taking over Albus Dumbledore's previous teaching position when he became Headmaster. Neville Longbottom was known to have become the Head of House after Minerva was made Headmistress in 1998 following the end of the Second Wizarding War.