A distraction from the abhorrent politics of personality happening in #auspol at the moment.

This is one for the Pottermores.

Interning at an Image Consultancy, I have learned a lot about psychology and image. Far and away the most interesting piece of knowledge I have acquired is about personality; naturally I linked it to one of the distinguishing books of my childhood!

Politics is all about personality, right?
Let’s look into personality a bit more…..

There are four main psychological personality types:
Red is the Carer
Yellow is the Player
Blue is the Analyser
Green is the Safe-keeper

All information from the corresponding ‘Click Colours’ website: www.clickcolours.net

You can be a straight up Yellow, or you can be a [dominant] Blue-Green mix like me.

There are four Houses at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry:
Red for Gryffindor
Yellow for Hufflepuff
Blue for Ravenclaw
Green for Slytherin

I’ve done the sorting hat quiz twice in my life so far, I’ve gone from being a Hufflepuff to, today, sorted into Gryffindor.

Interesting.

What on EARTH are trying to say, PIK?
The four houses in Harry Potter all have personality traits; they represent the four psychological personality types. Characters in Harry Potter emulate certain behaviours according to their corresponding colour.

Gryffindor values bravery, daring, nerve and chivalry. They are Carers.

Hufflepuff values hard work, patience, loyalty and fair play. They are Players.

Ravenclaw values intelligence, knowledge and wit. They are Analysers.

Slytherin values ambition, cunning and resourcefulness. They are Safe-keepers.

Gryffindors as Carers:
Harry Potter
Hermione Granger
Fred, George, Ron and Ginny Weasley
Neville Longbottom
Professor McGonagall

Carers are natural and comfortable: listening to other people, working as a team member, having in-depth discussions on the arts, spirituality etc, helping others, the community and the environment, building relationships and expressing emotions.

They are uncomfortable: hurting people’s feelings, having to put the ‘bottom line’ ahead of workmates or friends.

The Gryffindor traits are especially obvious because the story is centered on three Gryffindor Protagonists, Harry, Hermione and Ron. There’s number one, the trio of them are almost always referred to together. Secondly, they are always listening to other people’s stories – Harry’s, Ron’s, Neville’s, Dumbledore’s, Moaning Myrtle, Cedric Diggory, Lupin, Sirius, Tom Riddle, Luna, Hagrid etc. The trio of Ron, Harry and Hermione [referred to as H, R and H herein] are always talking to people/networking: Dumbledore’s Army, the Yule Ball, Triwizard Tournament, Hogsmede, order of the Phoenix, Horcrux Hunting. H, R and H  are always expressing emotions of some kind, and are often discussing matters of the heart: Ron and Lavender, Harry and Cho, Hermione and Viktor, Harry and Ginny, Harry’s guilt over Cedric’s death, Ron angry at Harry and Hermione in Deathly Hallows etc. Their hate of emotional conflict is obvious in the fact they always eventually make up, or make out! [If you’re Ron and Hermione] Gryffindors are always the ones who save people: Harry, Ron, Neville, Hermione, McGonagall – Seamus Finnigan and his “proclivity for pyrotechnics”. God I love that line.

An interesting point about Gryffindors, although they might be uncomfortable putting other people at risk [Harry wanting to go everything alone, Ron Wandering off on his own in Deathly Hallows, Hermione time travelling] but they seem pretty comfortable putting their own lives in danger to achieve the ‘bottom line’ – defeating Voldermort. I.e. Harry going into the Forbidden Forest in Deathly Hallows, Ron and Hermione risking their lives under the trap door in Philosopher’s stone.

Hufflepuffs as Players:
Cedric Diggory
Ernie Macmillan
[Nymphadora] Tonks

Players are natural and comfortable: take exciting and intuitive risks, being the centre of attention, leading teams on ‘expeditions’, being creative.

Uncomfortable: dealing with details, being asked to explain their reasoning in depth, always playing by the rules.

Tonks and Cedric are inclined towards risk taking activites – Quiddictch, Triwizard Tournament, drinking polyjuice potion [while pregnant, no less!!] to mimic Harry and distract Death Eaters [Deathly Hallows], fighting in the Battle of Hogwarts. In Deathly Hallows, Tonks goes to blurt out that she’s pregnant but Lupin shoosh-es her, she was attempting to be the centre of attention. Her hair colour is also an attention seeking trait, but that’s more biological. Cedric is an unusual Hufflepuff, he is modest, or at least tries to be – he was confident enough to enter the Triwizard, but wasn’t a gloater about the fact he got picked, he even went so far as to help Harry with the Golden Egg. He is a ‘dreamboat’ for all the ladies, and a figure of envy for some of the guys at Hogwarts. Harry has a few small run ins with Ernie Macmillan, characterised by some kind of sarcastic defensive remark by Ernie – not wanting to justify himself [or can’t]. Ernie is almost always surrounded by a little clique of Hufflepuffs as well, demonstrative of the ‘leadership’ qualities.

Ravenclaws are Analysts:
Luna Lovegood
Cho Chang
The Grey Lady [Helena Raveclaw]

Analysts are natural and comfortable: solving problems, making tough decisions,  achieving bottom line results, taking time to make a measured decisions, having in-depth discussions about science and technology.

Uncomfortable: dealing with emotional people, discussing issue of the heart, doing anything impulsive, and taking uncalculated risks.

The Grey Lady in Deathly Hallows continually disappears from Harry when the Battle of Hogwarts is raging, Harry is very highly strung and a bit panicky, and he has to calm down considerably to talk to her about her mother’s Diadem. When he does ask a lot of questions, she gets super defensive and aggressive. Rowena Ravenclaw’s diadem was passed to Tom Riddle in order to achieve the bottom line of destroying it [which he doesn’t]. Cho Chang is a Seeker, means she gives attention to detail/ problem solving, which involves the process of trapping the snitch, the bottom line result of the game. She also had to make a ‘tough’ decision between Harry and Cedric to go to the Yule Ball, and she is usually awkward around Harry – when they kiss, or she talks about Cedric [matters of the heart]. She is apprehensive to join Dumbledore’s Army at first, something which involves a lot of ‘unknown’ in terms of certainly being able to defeat Voldermort, not get found out by Umbridge etc. Finally, my favourite girl, Luna Lovegood; one ‘habit’ of Analysers is that they don’t show a huge amount of emotional involvement in relationships – Luna’s ‘dreamy’ temperament. She is constantly talking about animals [science/technology?] with Harry and the others. I.e. Kacky Snorgles, Nargles, Crumple Horned Snorkacks and Thestrals. She’s smarter than you think she is. In her own way, she goes about solving complex problems in a seemingly logical manner – I.e. finding her sneakers while walking with Harry at the end of the Half-Blood Prince, hanging above a door after talking about her sleepwalking habits. She seems dreamy, but she is incredibly measured and calm, particularly when escaping Bellatrix LeStrange’s house in Deathly Hallows and in the Battle of Hogwarts. I love her complexity.

Slytherins are Safe-keepers:
Tom Riddle
Draco Malfoy
Bellatrix Lestange
Severus Snape

Safekeepers are most comfortable: being organised, putting everything in the world into its ‘proper place’, being in control, and ‘just getting things done’.

Uncomfortable: dealing with disorganised/undisciplined people, being surprised by anything, not being in control, taking risks without a good reason to do so.

Slytherins, particularly Snape and Malfoy come across as condescending, they have this high expectation of people, and they are unimpressed with someone who does not meet their standard like H, R, and H; also the Weasley family [somewhat ‘unorganised’/chaotic.] The way Malfoy mocks Hermione for being a “mudblood” is the prime example of this; he thinks he is putting her in her ‘proper place’.  Tom Riddle also thinks he is doing this through torturing who he consider to be below him, Neville’s parents for example.  The love of organisation shows through in a lot of Slytherins being  Death Eaters, they like the organisation of the group environment and they have a very united cause in wanting to re-install Voldermort into power in the wizarding world. Snape is the key example of not wanting to take risks without a good reason to do so: he defected to protect Lily, and he ‘looks after’ Harry, and even kills Dumbledore to maintain his cover to give the appearance of helping Voldermort. We find out later that Dumbledore even organised his own killing by Snape – Syltherins could be good, organised hit men? Haha Slytherins hate surprises – Bellatrix [in general] and Draco when he realises the fiendy fire in the room of requirement will consume him before Harry resuces him; they are somewhat impulsive in that they don’t enjoy too  much attention to detail.

J.K Rowling, you clever woman!

I was thinking to myself – how can I be a Blue-Green personality, yet be sorted into Gryffindor?
I suppose the Click Colours help us understand ourselves, and the colours we pick indicate how we see ourselves/our personality; the houses in Harry Potter are sorted by potential, by behaviour. Not ALL Hufflepuffs are ‘total’ Yellows, nor Gryffindors Red. My blue-green traits somehow make me a good Gryffindor, and I understand that when I take a step back from it all. Strange, but I like it.

…….no harm in being a Hufflepuff either!

Hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing!

-PIK