#througharosedarkly

Hi,

Would you mind doing a ranked sort for me? On Pottermore I am in Slytherin house, but I identify with Ravenclaw as well, and I'd like to know if this is reflected in a full 27 question ranked sort. Thank you!

QUESTION 1: Which of the following would you most hate people to call you? 1. Ignorant 2. Ordinary 3. Selfish 4. Cowardly

Ravenclaw

Slytherin

Hufflepuff

Gryffindor

After you have died, what would you most like people to do when they hear your name? 1. I don’t care what people think of me after I’m dead; it’s what they think of me while I’m alive that counts 2. Miss you, but smile 3. Think with admiration of your achievements 4. Ask for more stories about your adventures

Slytherin

Hufflepuff

Ravenclaw

Gryffindor

Given the choice, would you rather invent a potion that would guarantee you: 1. Wisdom 2. Love 3. Power 4. Glory

Ravenclaw

Hufflepuff

Slytherin

Gryffindor

How would you like to be known to history? 1. The Great 2. The Wise 3. The Good 4. The Bold.

Slytherin

Ravenclaw

Hufflepuff

Gryffindor

So 2 Slyth, 2 Claw overall on Q1; Gryffindor always comes last.

QUESTION 2: You enter an enchanted garden. What would you be most curious to examine first? 1. The silver leafed tree bearing golden apples is first 2. The bubbling pool, in the depths of which something luminous is swirling 3. The fat red toadstools that appear to be talking to each other 4. The statue of an old wizard with a strangely twinkling eye is last.

Ravenclaw

Slytherin

Hufflepuff

Gryffindor

What kind of instrument most pleases your ear? 1. The violin 2. The piano 3. The trumpet 4. The drum

Slytherin

Ravenclaw

Hufflepuff

Gryffindor

Four boxes are placed before you. Which would you try and open 1. The gleaming jet black box with a silver lock and key, marked with a mysterious rune that you know to be the mark of Merlin. 2. The ornate golden casket, standing on clawed feet, whose inscription warns that both secret knowledge and unbearable temptation lie within 3. The small pewter box, unassuming and plain, with a scratched message upon it that reads ‘I open only for the worthy.’ 4. The small tortoiseshell box, embellished with gold, inside which some small creature seems to be squeaking.

I have a lot of trouble deciding between the black box and the gold one, if that helps.

(So do I!) Well, the black is Slytherin and the gold Ravenclaw, but in practice the Ravenclaws are pretty evenly split between their box and the Merlin box because the gold box is the only one given an explicit downside. And you seem to be very Slytherclaw thus far, so...we'll see, I guess. Also, this is the 1st question where you haven't ranked the Gryffindor answer last.

Slytherin

Ravenclaw

Gryffindor

Hufflepuff

Four goblets are placed before you. Which would you choose to drink? 1. The smooth, thick, richly purple drink that gives off a delicious smell of chocolate and plums. 2. The foaming, frothing, silvery liquid that sparkles as though containing ground diamonds. 3. The mysterious black liquid that gleams like ink, and gives off fumes that make you see strange visions. 4. The golden liquid so bright that it hurts the eye, and which makes sunspots dance all around the room.

Hufflepuff

Ravenclaw

Slytherin

Gryffindor

Once every century, the Flutterby bush produces flowers that adapt their scent to attract the unwary. If it lured you, it would smell of: 1. The sea 2. Fresh parchment 3. A crackling log fire 4. Home

Slytherin

Ravenclaw

Gryffindor

Hufflepuff

So that's 3 Slytherin, 1 Ravenclaw, 1 Hufflepuff, but with a hard time deciding between 1 of the Slytherin questions and the Ravenclaw option.

QUESTION 3: A troll has gone berserk in the Headmaster’s study at Hogwarts. It is about to smash, crush and tear several irreplaceable items and treasures, including a cure for dragon pox, which the Headmaster has nearly perfected; student records going back 1000 years and a mysterious handwritten book full of strange runes, believed to have belonged to Merlin. In which order would you rescue these objects from the troll’s club, if you could? Select order: 1. Merlin’s Book  2. Student Records  3. Dragon Pox Cure

Slytherin primary; possible tertiary weighting on Ravenclaw (they get more points for book>cure>records and cure>book>records.) Slytherins are defined by cure-last and then book-first, Claws by records-last and then book-first. (The most popular answer is actually cure>book>records.)  Which would you rather be: 1. Trusted 2. Liked 3. Envied 4. Feared 5. Praised 6. Imitated

Hufflepuff/Gryffindor

Hufflepuff

Slytherin

Slytherin

Gryffindor primary/Slytherin secondary

Ravenclaw

But, in practice, this question is really and truly the worst question on the quiz in terms of weight and bias. (Q3/4 weigh more than the others, and this one is terrible in several respects: over 40% of the respondents I have pick trusted - keeping in mind that I have a LOT more Ravenclaw/Slytherin respondents than Hufflepuff/Gryffindor and that this number would top 50% if I had more than 360/2360 Puffs; Ravenclaws pick trusted over 50% of the time; Slytherin has trusted as their #2 answer and praised as #1 in practice; trusted + praised = 60-66% of the total answers for this question; trusted + praised + liked = 75% of answers on this question; Ravenclaw's only distinguished answer thus far, imitated, is actually least-likely to be chosen by Ravenclaws, with only 8% of Claws picking it vs. 9% of Gryffs, 12% of Slyths, and 20% of Puffs, and 'Claws are more likely to choose trusted/praised/liked, none of which give Ravenclaw any points; Slytherin gets feared, which nobody ever picks; people who are otherwise likely to Sort 'Claw don't when given this question...it's just a big mess that gives Gryffindor and, to a lesser extent Hufflepuff, an unwarranted advantage.) 

But your results are very interesting - overall, disregarding trusted, they take on a rather Slytherin bent. Envied tends to be ranked highly only by Slytherins; otherwise, it varies from 4-5/6 in the ranked Sortings. Feared is a terrible answer that nearly no one picks and usually ends up dead last on ranked Sortings, but you have it at #4. OTOH, the only people who are usually likely to rank praised so low are Hufflepuffs (it's #2 overall in Gryff and Claw, and #1 in Slyth.) 

Which of the following do you find most difficult to deal with? 1. Being ignored 2. Boredom 3. Loneliness 4. Cold 5. Hunger

Ravenclaw/Slytherin

Gryffinslyth

Huffledor

Slytherpuff

Huffleclaw

This is the fairest of the Q3s. Cold/hunger are likely to be grouped together in ranked Sortings and often are placed first or last.

Q3 overall: 1 Slytherin, 1 Ravenslyth, and 1 Huffledor that's not a very good question.

QUESTION 4: What are you most looking forward to learning at Hogwarts? 1. Every area of magic I can 2. Hexes and jinxes 3. Secrets about the castle 4. Flying on a broomstick 5. Transfiguration (turning one object into another object) 6. Apparition and Disapparition (being able to materialise and dematerialise at will) 7. All about magical creatures, and how to befriend/care for them

Ravenclaw primary/Slytherin secondary

Slytherin

Gryffindor

Huffledor

Ravenclaw

Slytherdor

Hufflepuff

If you could have any power, which would you choose? 1. The power of invisibility 2. The power to change the past 3. The power to read minds  4. The power to speak to animals 5. The power to change your appearance at will 6. The power of superhuman strength

Gryffindor

Slytherdor

Ravenslyth

Huffleclaw

Slytherclaw

Hufflepuff

Having change appearance so low is quite rare - about 50% of Claws, 25% of Slyths, and 25% of Gryffs answer that way! 

Which of the following would you most like to study? 1. Merpeople 2. Werewolves 3. Goblins 4. Centaurs 5. Ghosts 6. Vampires 7. Trolls

Slytherin

Huffledor

Slytherclaw

Ravendor

Gryffinclaw

Slytherpuff

Hufflepuff

Aside from trolls-last, your rankings are very different from the overall (which goes ghosts > werewolves > centaurs > merpeople > vampires > goblins > trolls.) 

So your Q4 is Ravenslyth, Slytherin, or Gryffindor - very different results depending on which question you get.

QUESTION 5: One of your house mates has cheated in a Hogwarts exam by using a Self-Spelling Quill. Now he has come top of the class in Charms, beating you into second place. Professor Flitwick is suspicious of what happened. He draws you to one side after his lesson and asks you whether or not your classmate used a forbidden quill. What do you do? 1. You would not wait to be asked to tell Professor Flitwick the truth. If you knew that somebody was using a forbidden quill, you would tell the teacher before the exam started. 2. Tell Professor Flitwick the truth. If your classmate is prepared to win by cheating, he deserves to be found out. Also, as you are both in the same house, any points he loses will be regained by you, for coming first in his place. 3. Tell Professor Flitwick that he ought to ask your classmate (and resolve to tell your classmate that if he doesn’t tell the truth, you will). 4. Lie and say you don’t know (but hope that somebody else tells Professor Flitwick the truth).

Slytherin

Ravenclaw

Gryffindor

Hufflepuff

This is notable as the Slytherin option is least-often-chosen overall, although there's significant Puff crossover (lots of Puffs pick this answer and many Slyths lie.) In fact, most Q5s save the troll fight usually have Slytherin in last by an unfairly large margin.

You and two friends need to cross a bridge guarded by a river troll who insists on fighting one of you before he will let all of you pass. Do you: 1. Attempt to confuse the troll into letting all three of you pass without fighting? 2. Suggest that all three of you should fight (without telling the troll)? 3. Suggest drawing lots to decide which of you will fight? 4. Volunteer to fight?

Ravenclaw

Slytherin

Hufflepuff

Gryffindor

Which road tempts you most? 1. The wide, sunny, grassy lane 2. The twisting, leaf-strewn path through woods 3. The cobbled street lined with ancient buildings 4. The narrow, dark, lantern-lit alley

Hufflepuff

Gryffindor

Ravenclaw

Slytherin

Which nightmare would frighten you most? 1. An eye at the keyhole of the dark, windowless room in which you are locked 2. Standing on top of something very high and realizing suddenly that there are no hand- or footholds, nor any barrier to stop you falling 3. Being forced to speak in such a silly voice that hardly anyone can understand you, and everyone laughs at you 4. Waking up to find that neither your friends nor your family have any idea who you are.

Gryffindor

Ravenclaw

Slytherin

Hufflepuff

With the caveat that this question's answer patterns are pretty screwy. In practice, Gryff and Puff work okay, but the majority of Claws pick the Gryff nightmare, most Slyths pick the Claw nightmare, and nobody picks the Slyth nightmare (6% overall/16% of Slytherins.) 

Late at night, walking alone down the street, you hear a peculiar cry that you believe to have a magical source. Do you: 1. Proceed with caution, keeping one hand on your concealed wand and an eye out for any disturbance? 2. Draw your wand and stand your ground? 3. Withdraw into the shadows to await developments, while mentally reviewing the most appropriate defensive and offensive spells, should trouble occur? 4. Draw your wand and try to discover the source of the noise?

Hufflepuff

Slytherin

Ravenclaw

Gryffindor

Even ranking the Slyth answer #2 is uncommonly high - the Slytherin answer here is one of the least-popular on the entire quiz.

A Muggle confronts you and says that they are sure you are a witch or wizard. Do you: 1. Ask what makes them think so? 2. Agree, and walk away, leaving them to wonder whether you are bluffing? 3. Agree, and ask whether they’d like a free sample of a jinx? 4. Tell them that you are worried about their mental health, and offer to call a doctor.

Ravenclaw

Gryffindor

Slytherin

Hufflepuff

2 Ravenclaw, 2 Hufflepuff, 1 Slytherin, 1 Gryffindor

QUESTION 6: Dawn or dusk? Dusk - Huffleslyth Moon or stars? Moon - Slytherclaw (in practice, basically Slyth - Ravenclaws overwhelmingly pick stars) Forest or river? Forest - Gryffinclaw

Overall, Slytherclaw. QUESTION 7: Black or white? Black - Slytherdor Heads or tails? Tails - Gryffinslyth Left or right? Left - Ravenslyth

Overall, Slytherin.

Thank you again! I appreciate this.

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