Today we’re concluding our look at Ravenclaw. Since we’ve looked into the basic attributes and facts surrounding this house and looked a little deeper into the founder Rowena Ravenclaw herself, we can now talk about what it means to be a Ravenclaw.

  1. Intellectual

The most obvious characteristic that defines Ravenclaws is their sharp intellect. They’re not just brainy with factual knowledge, they usually have quite a bit of wisdom. For instance, when Ravenclaw’s want to enter their common room they have to answer a question from the bronze eagle shaped knocker on the door. These aren’t just factual questions that any brainiac could answer; they’re essentially riddles and require deep thought.

        Door Knocker: Which came first, the phoenix or the flame?
        Luna Lovegood: Well then, I think the answer is that a circle has no beginning (DH 587)

 

 

  1. Diverse

From the list of members in my “Ravenclaw Basics” post, it is obvious that Ravenclaw is a house of diverse interests and personalities. From talented wand maker Garrick Ollivander to the delusional Sybill Trelawney, Ravenclaw is filled with all types of people with all different talents. There is no one subject in which Ravenclaws flourish.

 

  1. Accepting

With all the diverse interests within this house there would have to be a lot of tolerance. This attitude of acceptance can be seen especially in Luna Lovegood. Luna is quirky and often ridiculed for her peculiar views and fashion choices, but she never lets this keep her from being herself. She channels this into being accepting of others. When someone acts or dresses oddly, Luna just rolls with it. This can be seen when Harry invites Luna to Slughorn’s Christmas party in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. 

Nobody’s ever asked me to a party before, as a friend! Is that why you dyed your eyebrow, for the party? Should I do mine too? (HP 311). 

  1. Unique

As we saw above, Ravenclaws are a diverse group of individuals. Ravenclaw is diverse because of its unique members. Of course we know about how unique Luna Lovegood is with her spectrespecs and butterbeer cork necklace. However, one thing we may not remember is that Filius Flitwick—charms professor and head of Ravenclaw throughout the Harry Potter series—is of Goblin ancestry. There aren’t many Hogwarts students that are not full blood human mentioned in the series, so it’s a pretty big deal that one of Ravenclaw’s finest is descended from Goblins.

 

  1. Loving and Loyal

As we saw in our brief look at Ravenclaw founder Rowena Ravenclaw, loyalty to loved ones seems to trump all other traits in the end. Rowena Ravenclaw set aside her pride of knowledge at the end of her life to seek out her daughter, who had stolen from her and run away. This shows that even though Ravenclaws desire knowledge, they also desire love and companionship.

As we saw with Slytherin, Ravenclaw is much more than what meets the eye. Yes, Ravenclaws are generally brainy and often quirky (Sybill Trelawney and Luna Lovegood), but they are also wise and very accepting of others. Maybe they’re so accepting because they are such a diverse group of individuals themselves.

Featured image credit to harrypotter.wikia.com