Gryffindor

"*You might belong in Gryffindor,
 Where dwell the brave at heart,
 Their daring, nerve, and chivalry,
 Set Gryffindors apart.*"
— Sorting Hat

**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 is filled with rubies. Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, also known as "*Nearly-Headless Nick*" is 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 is "*Forti Animo Estote*", which was displayed on a stained glass window in the common room.

## Traits

"*While the bravest and the boldest
Went to daring Gryffindor.*"
— The Sorting Hat regarding Gryffindor 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

"*I will be most seriously displeased if a Gryffindor student embarrasses the school in any way.*"
— Minerva McGonagall regarding the high reputation of Gryffindor house

Gryffindors and Slytherins had shared a fierce house rivalry since their rounders, 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 include the last-minute points awarded by Albus 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 Minerva 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.

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 Horace Slughorn left with his students, he then returned to the castle with reinforcements (possibly including senior students) and with Professor McGonagall and Kingsley Shacklebolt, personally duelled 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.