Sirius's sorting

[Mistress Siana]

Some time ago, there was a discussion in this forum about which houses the marauders where in, for it has never been confirmed that they were all Gryffindors. I've thought about that, and I really need to bring it up again.
It's about something that Hagrid said in book one. When he warned Harry of the Slytherin house, he said that maybe not every member of Slytherin becomes evil, but that every witch or wizard that HAS turned bad was in Slytherin. Now we know that Sirius isn't evil, but when Hagrid said that, he must have thought of Sirius Black as a famous DE, a mass murderer and a traitor, that gave away the whereabouts of his best friends, so that the Dark Lord could kill their child. A true dark wizard. So, according to Hagrid, Sirius must have been in Slytherin!!

[yasmane]

Hi Siana,

I think you're making a little mistake here.
Hagrid said that all wizard who had turned bad was from Slytherin : first of all we know that hagris isn't really fond of the Slytherin house. Second, thee are othe wizard school in te world and I'm quite sure that evil wizar came out from them.
I really don't think Hagrid's words should be took as gospel.
And anyway, Hagrid knew which house Sirius came from, he's a friend of DD, he has worked for a longtime in Hogward.

For all I know, that's what I think.

[Sacred Guardian]

yeah, i really doubt that sirius was a slytherin for a few reasons
1)he's actually a nice guy
2)this is true that Hagrid is not the final law
and 3)why would a gryffindor be best friends with a slytherin (the gryffindor is james) and they wouldn't know eachother that well if he were

[Mistress Siana]

hm...that James was in Gryffindor is actually something we assume, it has not been confirmed. But I can't picture him in Slytherin either

[yasmane]

I thoght it was clear that James was a Gryffindor' student.
I really thought it was said in one of the books. But may be I'm misunderstanding.

[Gower]

I think Sirius and James were in gryfindor. But I wonder which house Petigrew was in? Surely he wouldn't have been friends with Black and James if he was in slytherin.

[Liquid Ice]

But I wonder which house Petigrew was in? Surely he wouldn't have been friends with Black and James if he was in slytherin.

I dont think he would have been their friend if he was a slytherin, plus slytherins are supposed to be 'cunning and resourceful' pettigrew doesnt strike me as either of these, he seems really weedy to me, someone who just tags around after james and sirius.

[Violet]

I do think that Mistress Siana is right to an extent tho. i cant really see Hagrid making up something like that.
And if we assume what he said to be true, then maybe Sirius was in slytherin.
However it does still leave the question as to what james (assumably a gryffindor) was doing being friends with him.

[Mint]

Why cant u have friends in other houses if you are in SLytherin? Not everyone in SLytherin are evil.

About being cunning and resorceful - are Crabbe and Goyle resorceful? If u ask me they are not very bright.

And if u guys think that Petigrew is from Gryffindore - then Hagrids is indeed wrong Because no matter what Petigrew will do in the end - he turned into a bad wizard.

[choki]

I always presume James, Sirius, Remus and Peter to be in the same house, Gryffindor. Otherwise it would be real hard to sneak out in the middle of the night if they are in different houses. How did they noticed Remus is a werewolf, surely they should realised that Remus isn't around in the common room on a full moon night.

I find it hard to know abt someone's behaviour if that someone isn't in my class. If we belong to the same house, having the same routine, sleeping in the same room, it is easier to detect any abnormality right?

And one thing, I believe that not all Gryffindor are brave the same goes for Slytherin. It is sort of a trait most of them have...
what if one student is neither brave,loyal,intelligent nor evil, where does he belong to?

[Mistress Siana]

We know that Sirius's family was one of bad wizards, which were merely Slytherins. What we don't know is when exactly Sirius decided that he himself wasn't that way. Maybe he was sorted into Slytherin but then changed somehow. That could also mean why he and Snape were enemies in the first place...I mean if Sirius was originally a Slytherin and then turned his back on them...

[pinky p]

i don't know... i guess i always thought of the marauders in gryffindor because- er- i just assumed it. of the students in hogwarts, the closest friends tend to be in the same houses. you don't really see the other house members except for meals (when you don't even sit by them) and if you have some matching classes. otherwise, youre always with your own house.

[Ginny Malfoy]

Maybe, during the time the marauders were in school (before Voldemort was really having an adverse effect on things), the houses were more united...so much so the friends all belonged to different houses. Maybe that's what the sorting hat, Dumbledore, and eventually Harry will be striving to recover...

It seems like that was a big theme in OotP...everyone coming together to fight Voldemort...having more power in unity than in division...just an idea...now to just get the Slytherins in on the unity...that'll take some doing!

[Mistress Siana]

great idea! I never thought of that...but it seems to me that Slytherin has always been an outsider...what seems kinda strage to me is the fact that most of the DEs, except for maybe Lucius (we don't know how old he is) and those who aren't from Hogwarts (Karkaroff), were in the same year as the Marauders. Maybe atthat time, Slytherins had only the chance to join Voldie or get along with Gryffindors?

[Blaise Zabini]

Something about Sirius always made me think of him as being a Slytherin.

The quote from Hagrid in SS reads:
"There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin." [P. 63 - First American Edition]

Like Yasmane said, while he may not use that as a strict rule, it is odd that JKR would put something like that without it having some bearing on future events. I mean, when we take the quote literally, he's basically saying all "bad" wizards have been in Slytherin. At that point in time, he undoubetedly thought Black to be in that category. Why would he make that statement if there was an exception?

Furthermore, in OotP, we learn that Black caomes from a family of pureblood Slytherins, the likes of whom include the Malfoys. With an ancestry like that, it seems likely that the Sorting Hat would place him in Slytherin. While that rule doesn't always hold true (as in the case of the Patils' [identical twins who were placed in different houses],) the Sorting Hat does seem to have a propensity for placing members of the same family in the same house (Weasley, Malfoy, Creevey, etc.)

Oh, and I like the idea of the houses having been more united during the Marauder Generation!