The boy that lives under the stairs is probably one of the most famous modern characters in the world. Everyone, in some shape or form, knows the boy who was strong enough to survive the death spell. Harry Potter is a character that started as a way for J.K. Rowling to entertain her kids in bedtime stories, and now has a cinematic universe, a play, a theme park (in more than one location), and a whole wizarding world. Hogwarts is not only a home for the characters but, for long-time fans, they can always find Hogwarts awaiting them in the pages of the books or on the big and small screen.

Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is located in Scotland. As seen in The Goblet of Fire (the fourth installment of the Harry Potter series) and the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them franchise, there are schools for witches and wizards all over the world. For Harry Potter's adventure, Hogwarts is the main scenario. In the school, the golden trio (Harry, Ron, and Hermione) have their first encounter with The One Who Shall Not Be Named, and even more normal experiences as their first school dance. The students who attend the school are organized into four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house represents different values and personalities. Here is how the sorting happens, what makes each house distinct, and the characters that are in them.

Getting Sorted Into A House

Being sorted into a house is the first thing the new students do upon arriving at the school's grounds. The students are brought to the Great Hall and placed in a line. One by one, they put on their heads the Sorting Hat. This incredibly clever enchanted object is a hat that can talk and see deep inside a person's mind. Then, right there while all the students of the school are watching, the Sorting Hat declares the house the student belongs to. It takes into consideration their personality and ambitions, but most important of all, their values.

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Each house represents a different set of values the students have a tendency to follow to achieve what is most important to them. Nevertheless, the hat also considers what the student wants, as seen when Harry asks "anything but Slytherin" when he is being sorted. The students become a part of their house forever, taking into their life what they learned and the friends they made along the way. It's essentially a wizarding fraternity or sorority.

Fans of Harry Potter can do the sorting ceremony online on the Wizarding World website. The test takes a few minutes, and the new student needs to answer some questions to determine which house they belong to. After being sorted, the new Hogwarts student can earn points for their house and help them win an annual house competition - just like in the movies! But what differentiates each house?

Ravenclaw

Blue and bronze are the colors of the house of the eagle. Ravenclaw is the house with the least amount of characters in the Harry Potter series. The house of those who value learning and knowledge above all else also receives people who are very different from one another. Luna Lovegood and Garrick Ollivander (the owner of the wand shop Harry visits to get his wand in the first film) are both proud Ravenclaws. Because they are so curious and eager to understand all subjects, they can isolate themselves from what's happening in the outside world, as well as use their knowledge as a way of belittling others.

Hufflepuff

Yellow and black are the colors of the house of the badger. Hufflepuff is the house of the loyal and just. Even though this house didn't get a chance to shine as bright as the others in the series, it had important characters that were Hufflepuff, such as Cedric Diggory. The house did get more attention in the spin-off movies, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, because Newt Scamander is a Hufflepuff.

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He represents his house well with his positive view of the world and adventurous nature. Hufflepuffs were the first ones to stand up to help Harry, and the house with the most students stayed to fight Voldemort in Hogwarts. This is the house with the fewest evil witches and wizards in the history of the school. Hufflepuffs can be naive due to their positive view of everything and sometimes lack ambition.

Slytherin

Green and silver are the colors of the house of the serpent. Slytherin has a bad reputation in the Harry Potter story: being interpreted as the house of villains or bad people because Voldemort and other evil Death Eaters were Slytherins when they attended Hogwarts. That is an incorrect perception, as noble people such as Severus Snape, who sacrificed himself to protect others and ultimately win the war, is a Slytherin. Snape more than once saved Harry's life due to the love he had for Harry's mother, Lily. Later on in the timeline of the story, in the play The Cursed Child, one of Harry's sons, Albus Potter, is sorted into this house. In the house of cunning people who do anything to achieve their goals, determination is more present in Slytherins than in any other students.

Gryffindor

Red and gold are the colors of the house of the lion. Gryffindor is the most famous house out of the four due to the main three characters of the Harry Potter series being sorted into this house. The house of the brave and the daring Gryffindors are known for their courage and strict moral compass.

Like the other houses, Gryffindor consists of a set of very different students. Hermione's bravery comes from the knowledge she gathers from her books, while Neville Longbottom's bravery appears when he stands for what he believes is right in hard situations - even if it makes him get turned into stone for it. However, not everyone who is sorted into this house turns out to be a hero, as in the case of Peter Pettigrew who betrayed his friends (Harry's parents) to Voldemort and got them killed.