Christmas Outfits Challenge 2017: Day 2.
Yet another reason to love Christmas: you can wear Slytherin and Gryffindor colors together without anyone judging you!
I’m not sure if I’ve yet talked about my love of Harry Potter on this blog, so, if you don’t mind, I’m now going to talk about my love of Harry Potter.
I first tried to read the Harry Potter novels when I was in second grade. My parents had gotten me a copy of theSorcerer’s Stone for my birthday, and that night, before my mother tucked me into bed, she began to read the opening pages to me.
I literally only lasted two chapters before I told her I was too scared to go on.
Here’s the thing – it wasn’t Voldemort that scared me, or the fact that Harry’s parents had been murdered, or even the concept of witches and wizards and monsters being real. What I was afraid of was the Dursleys, though Dudley specifically. I’m not really sure what it was about them; they were just so mean, but in a realistic way. I’d read books with heroes and villains before, so the concept of an evil wizard trying to kill Harry wasn’t scary, but the Dursleys, who were essentially just abusive parents, were too much for me.
By third grade, though, I was ready to try it again. This time, I tore through the entire series in about six months, aided partially by the way I was racing my friend to finish the series (spoiler alert: I won).
Naturally, like most Harry Potter fans, one of my favorite aspects of the series and the world it created was Hogwarts, the magic school that Harry attends. In fact, I’m pretty sure part of what drew me to Notre Dame was the fact that South Dining Hall looks like the Great Hall as it is depicted in the HP movies.
At Hogwarts, each student is sorted into a house depending on his or her personality traits (actually…that’s kind of debated among the HP fanbase. Are students sorted by who they are, who they should become, or what they want to be? A discussion for another day, perhaps). As a kid reading the books for the first time, I immediately identified with Ravenclaw, the house for the intelligent, creative, and wise. It made sense at the time – I was a giant nerd, thought way too much of how smart I thought I was, and spent most of my leisure time reading.
At some point in high school, though, and I don’t even know when or why, I realized that perhaps Slytherin, the house of cunning and ambition, was the better choice for me. This realization was further supported by how, upon taking the Pottermore Sorting Hat test, I was sorted into Slytherin. Since then, I’ve taken the test a few more times, and I usually get either Slytherin or Ravenclaw, though Slytherin is the more common result.
Thus, the scarf I’m wearing here is for Slytherin, the house I would choose if I were actually able to go to Hogwarts. I still think I might do well in Ravenclaw, and I think that, if I were truly to sit under the Sorting Hat, it might ignore my wishes and stick me in Ravenclaw anyway, but I’m sure I belong in Slytherin.
(Also, for you other Potterheads out there: have you ever thought about how weird it is that Hogwarts sorts 11 year-olds into cliques that they’ve stuck in for the next seven years of their lives without giving them any choice in the matter? Seriously, if 11 year-old, Justin Bieber and Twilight obsessed me were given a personality test that determined my future through the rest of my adolescence, I don’t even want to know where I would’ve wound up. I’d probably just be expelled on the spot.)
Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life here at Notre Dame. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!
Sweater: Abercrombie
Pants: Abercrombie (thrifted)
Scarf: Universal Studios Orlando
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