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An analysis on Finn Hudson and “what the hell house is he in” -prompted by @grouchycritic7794’s comment on my Kurt post
First off there isn’t a chance in all of the nine circles of hell that this boy is a Ravenclaw. Not because he’s dumb, but because he doesn’t see any value in wisdom. And I’ll be the first to admit that S4 Finn was (mostly) wise. But our boy has no wit or care for knowledge. So Ravenclaw is the easy out.
Slytherin is another easy out in my opinion. His entire S3 struggle was about how he wasn’t as ambitious as Rachel and early S4, had it been given the proper dedication, would have been him accepting that that’s okay. That he doesn’t need to have insanely huge dreams to be of worth. Some might claim, “But Lo! By your definition he admires ambition so he should go in Slytherin!” (Yeah let’s be real most people aren’t saying that, but) This is true, I do say that they need to have the traits of the house in high regard. However, they need to hold it in the same regard that they would try to act on it in their own life. The perfect example being Neville, who admires the bravery of others and uses their example to build himself. So, in the case of Finn, Slytherin is out.
Now onto the harder decisions. Yes Finn is very brave and chivalrous. Most of his character arcs revolve around him choosing the untraveled road, the path that takes more bravery. And he was fairly chivalrous with various people in his life. Not the best but not nearly the worst of Glee. However I see his bravery as a subset of his larger character growth, I would even go as far to say he was only brave in defense of the people he was loyal to...
Hufflepuff. So I know there are going to be objections. Objections about how he is lazy and unkind and doesnt fit the soft puff mold. I will never agree with many of the words and decisions Finn has said and made, however Glee was always trying to show that he was learning. Glee was just somewhat bad at their jobs. He was a kid who had been with the wrong crowd for years, he was the standard American way to look into this group of weirdos and learn how to empathize and accept them. Sometimes they did it right and he came off as a good man and a hero. Sometimes they did it wrong and he came off as trite and even worse than before. But at his core he was a child learning who he should be loyal to. He was loyal to the jocks until he realized that they didn’t deserve that loyalty and then he mostly committed to glee club (rewiring everything you’ve ever been loyal to is a hard process). When Quinn is having his baby he is trying his best to be hardworking so he can support the family he thinks he’s going to have. And after the anger at Puck they still make up, it takes time because as a Hufflepuff who’s loyalty has been tested he’s going to have troubles trusting them. As a teacher at McKinley he shows the best of his Hufflepuff qualities with his dedication to those kids, and though he had stumbles along the way I truly believe he is a Hufflepuff.
Throwing my two cents into the Kurt Hummel hogwarts house debate...
I’ve always treated the house one is sorted into as the house whos characteristics the child values the most. Hence Harry asking for Gryffindor (thus proving he valued bravery more) and Draco (who isn’t particularly cunning or ambitious) who values Slytherin as that is what he has always been told is supreme. And the most obvious example being Hermione with her literal quote in book one about how knowledge is not as valuable as bravery in her eyes.
Slytherin, my own house, is what for a long time I believed Kurt was. But then I started writing this post. Kurt is very ambitions and cunning, however his value on those traits? Very little. In fact I would go as far to say his values would place him in Hufflepuff before Slytherin. Kurt sees how Rachel and Santana (both absolutely Slytherin no arguments) treat others around them and doesn’t always agree or like it. When Blaine tells the warblers that Kurt will be the duet partner without audition Kurt immediately asks about others having a chance. No Slytherin would do that. Kurt may love Rachel but when he is fighting her it’s usually over her ambition going too far. In Audition he and Mercedes are horrified by how Rachel scares off sunshine. He doesn’t value the deviousness of her plan even to object to the content of it. Kurt hated how Sebastian acted and treated others around him (very unslytherin of him because us Slytherins can appreciate our enemies plans even when we hate them so much) and even refuses to take action with Santana.
Kurt is so so brave. He faces that school and everyone who has hurt him every day with determination. And he doesn’t just value bravery in others, he expects it. During prom Queen he expects Dave to use the opportunity to come out because that’s what he would have done. He never really understands that his level of bravery is not common. Until Blaine showed up he had trouble finding someone who would be “just as brave as you are” (Burt Hummel Duets). He stands up to authority (Britney/Brittany, Bad Reputation, and others) and is somewhat disappointed when others around him don’t do the same. Not to mention the chivalry demonstrated by letting Sebatian off the hook. If you look at most of the series he seems like a cut and dry Gryffindor.
However I acknowledge that no one is a cut and dry anything. Kurt is ambitious, but he refuses to even put his ambitions above his family (Wheels). I think Kurt would be a particularly tough placement for the hat. I could go even as far as to say a hatstall. You can legitimately make an argument for any of the houses. But I do think that “Better be... GRYFFINDOR!”