Development

 Slytherin:

Slytherin was one of the four Houses at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry, founded by Salazar Slytherin. In establishing the house, Salazar instructed the
Sorting Hat to pick students who had a few particular characteristics he most valued.
Those characteristics included cunning, resourcefulness, leadership, and ambition.
Many Slytherin students tended to clique together, often acquiring leaders, which
further exemplified Slytherin's ambitious qualities. Examples of these included Draco
Malfoy's gang, Merula Snyde's gang, Pansy Parkinson's gang and the Death Eaters.
The emblematic animal of the house was a snake and the house's colours were
green and silver. There were two notable heads of the house; Horace Slughorn took the
role twice (first leaving in 1981 and then taking the role again from 1997 until leaving
before 2016), and Severus Snape. The patron ghost of the house was the Bloody Baron.
Slytherin's opposition over the idea to allow witches and wizards from Half-blood
and Muggle-born heritage to enrol at Hogwarts during its foundation created great
controversy at the school and it was the root of a feud between former friends Slytherin
and Godric Gryffindor. Slytherin later decided to leave the school when an argument
started between him and Gryffindor, and they either duelled or started a civil war
between the two houses. Such an argument would be forever known as the origin of the
feud between their two houses and made them most competitive.
When Slytherin departed Hogwarts, he would leave behind the Chamber of
Secrets with the purpose of an heir opening the chamber one day and unleashing a
means of purging the school of those who, in his view, were unworthy to study magic:
Muggle-borns. The chamber was opened twice and the Serpent of Slytherin was killed
the second time by Harry Potter in 1992. Slytherin's views at the time could be
attributed to the persecution of witches and wizards at the hand of Muggles during that
century.
Slytherins tended to be ambitious, shrewd, cunning, strong leaders, and
achievement-oriented. They also had highly developed senses of self-preservation. This
means that Slytherins tended to hesitate before acting, to weigh all possible outcomes
before deciding exactly what should be done.
According to Albus Dumbledore, the qualities that Salazar valued in the students
he had chosen included cleverness, resourcefulness, determination, and "a certain
disregard for the rules". Dumbledore noted that all of these were qualities possessed by
Harry Potter, who was a Gryffindor but almost placed in Slytherin.
The Slytherin common room was in the dungeons of Hogwarts Castle and
underneath the Black Lake. Because of this, the light in the common room was green.
Harry Potter along with Ron Weasley entered the common room in his second year to
find out if Draco Malfoy was the one opening the Chamber of Secrets. To enter the
Slytherin common room one must merely speak aloud the current password in front of a
stretch of a damp stonewall; once the word was uttered, a concealed stone door would
slide aside leaving a rectangular hole in the wall leading to the Slytherin common room.

"Or perhaps in Slytherin,

 Ravenclaw:

Ravenclaw was one of the four Houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry. Its founder was the medieval witch Rowena Ravenclaw. Members of this
house were characterised by their wit, learning, and wisdom. The emblematic animal
symbol was an eagle, and blue and bronze were its colours. The Head of Ravenclaw
was Filius Flitwick and the House ghost was the Grey Lady, real name Helena
Ravenclaw, daughter of Rowena.
Ravenclaw House prized learning, wisdom, wit, and intellect in its members.
Thus, many Ravenclaws tended to be academically motivated and talented students.
They also prided themselves on being original in their ideas, and methods. It was usual
to find Ravenclaw students practising especially different types of magic that other
houses might shun. Hermione Granger, an extremely intelligent witch and the top
student in her year, sorted into Gryffindor, though she admitted that the Sorting Hat had
seriously considered placing her in Ravenclaw.
Often hard working and diligent, as often was the case with intellectuals with a
predisposition for academics, some of the pupils sorted under the blue-bronzed eagle
were known to be inclined to dismiss certain social expectations for the sake of
satisfying their own intellectual curiosity. Some of these eventually also ended up being
not only accepted but also even celebrated, in spite of being initially subjected to scorn
for their various oddities. Luna Lovegood, for example, was one such student: eccentric
to put it at its mildest, she was a Ravenclaw student who initially was bullied for her
open defiance of conventionality, but ultimately became a celebrated wizarding
naturalist and renowned for her participation in the legendary Battle of Hogwarts and
past membership in Dumbledore's Army. Another example would be Professor Filius
Flitwick, a half-goblin who might have faced scorn for his short stature earlier in life
but went on to become a renowned Duelling Champion, and subsequently one of the
finest and most knowledgable Charms Masters in the entirety of the wizarding world
during his employment at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. (The best,
according to some of his students).
The Ravenclaw common room was in one of the castle's towers and was wide and
circular. One had to climb a tight spiral staircase to get there. It had graceful arched
windows, and the walls hung with blue and bronze silks. The domed ceiling painted
with the night sky, which echoed in the midnight blue carpet. Tables, chairs, and
bookcases covered the expanse of the floor, and a white marble statue of Rowena
Ravenclaw sat next to the door that led to the dormitories above. Harry Potter entered
the common room in 1998 while searching for clues to the location of one of
Voldemort's Horcruxes.

"Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

 Hufflepuff:

Hufflepuff was one of the four Houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry. Its founder was the medieval witch Helga Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff was the
most inclusive among the four houses, valuing hard work, dedication, patience, loyalty,
and fair play rather than a particular aptitude in its members. The emblematic animal
was a badger, and yellow and black were its house colours. The Head of Hufflepuff was
Pomona Sprout, and the Fat Friar was the House's patron ghost.
Students belonging to this house were known to be hard working, friendly, loyal,
honest and rather impartial. It might be that due to their values, Hufflepuffs were not as
competitive as the other houses, and were more modest about their accomplishments.
Hufflepuff was the most inclusive among the four houses: valuing hard work,
dedication, patience, loyalty, and fair play rather than a particular aptitude in its students
Hufflepuffs were known to have a strong moral code, and a sense of right and
wrong. Hufflepuffs were usually accepting of everyone. Students in Hufflepuff were
known to value everyone and treat them as equal.
According to Minerva McGonagall, all four of the houses produced exceptional
witches and wizards in their time, but due to Helga Hufflepuff's policy of accepting any
student Hufflepuff is often thought to be the house of less talented wizards and witches.
However, this was merely a misunderstanding of the Sorting Hat's poem. The
Hufflepuff house had produced a great many of successful and influential members of
the wizarding world, such as the famous Magizoologist Newton Scamander.
Hufflepuff was the house that produced the fewest Dark Wizards throughout its
history. Their cheerful and friendly demeanour could probably account for this
achievement of the House. Hufflepuff firmly demonstrated its loyalty during the Battle
of Hogwarts in 1998, when they were second only to Harry Potter's own house of
Gryffindor in the number of students willing to stay and fight against Voldemort and his
forces in the defense of their school.
The Hufflepuff dormitories and common room were never been seen by outsiders
and was the only house with repelling devices in case of intruders. They were accessed
through a pile of large barrels, found stacked in a shadowy stone recess on a right-hand
side corridor near the kitchens. The barrel two from the bottom, middle of the second
row, would open if tapped in the rhythm of "Helga Hufflepuff".

"You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Gryffindor was one of the four Houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry and founded by Godric Gryffindor. Gryffindor instructed the Sorting Hat to
choose students possessing characteristics he most valued, such as courage, chivalry,
and determination, to be sorted into his house. The emblematic animal was a lion, and
its colours were scarlet and gold. Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, also known as
"Nearly Headless Nick", was the House ghost.
The Gryffindor house emphasized 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.
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 and Harry 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.
The Gryffindor Common Room was located in one of the castle's towers
(Gryffindor Tower), the entrance to which was located on the seventh floor and guarded
by an oil painting of the Fat Lady, who garbed in a pink silk dress. She permitted entry
only after being given the correct (regularly changing) password. Behind her painting
was a large common room, with a fireplace, and two staircases leading up to the girls’
and boys' dormitories.
There was a charm on the girls' staircase that prevented boys from using it;
however, there was no such enchantment on the staircase to the boys' dormitory,
allowing girls to use it whenever they wished, due to the founders' belief that girls were
more trustworthy.

"You might belong in Gryffindor,