You may remember Gilderoy Lockhart as the vain, deceitful and cowardly Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher during Harry Potter’s second year at Hogwarts.
Did you know that he was actually sorted into Ravenclaw house?
Here’s what you need to know…
Contents
Gilderoy Lockhart’s background
Gilderoy Lockhart was introduced to us in “Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets” when he signed copies of his autobiography ‘Magical Me” in Flourish and Blotts. We know very little about him other than he seemed to be a very distinguished wizard with many books detailing his heroic ventures; “Travels with Trolls”, “Break with a Banshee”, and “Voyages with Vampires” to name just a few…
However, it was revealed during “The Chamber of Secrets” that Gilderoy Lockhart was simply very skilled with the memory charm “Obliviate”, which he used on the real heroes of his heroic ventures so that he could take credit for them himself!
So, knowing all this, how could he possibly be sorted into Ravenclaw, which is a house that values wit, wisdom, learning, intelligence and creativity?
The value he places on wit and intelligence
Lockhart places intelligence above many other attributes; he is often seen bragging about his knowledge (I mean, he introduced himself as “Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly’s Most-Charming-Smile Award”)!
This undeniable craving for applause may be just the thing that made him a Ravenclaw. A hunger for intelligence is an unmistakable Ravenclaw quality, regardless of how it is executed.
In the same way, Harry Potter pleaded with the Sorting Hat to place him in Gryffindor house by whispering “not Slytherin” in “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”.
The Sorting Hat challenged Harry but eventually took his judgement into account and sorted him into Gryffindor. Does this mean that the Sorting Hat acknowledged Gilderoy’s desperation for admiration and quest for knowledge and sorted him into Ravenclaw despite his Slytherin-esque qualities?
If we take the view that at 11 years old, the children being sorted into houses at Hogwarts are not yet shaped into people, they would like to be. In this light, we might conclude that the Sorting Hat places much trust in traits they admire and aspire to show.
For example, Hermione Granger is wildly intelligent and fits all the characteristics of a Ravenclaw. Still, she revealed in “Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone” that she valued “loyalty and friendship” and not “books and cleverness” – making her an aspiring Gryffindor.
Gilderoy Lockhart wanted to be clever, wise and creative, and maybe when things didn’t work out that way, he acted as though they had.
Fooling the entire magical world
Alongside admitting that Lockhart was deceitful, we must also admit HE GOT AWAY WITH IT.
How does one man convince an entire magical population that he has single-handedly defeated various creatures/monsters/dark wizards? Perhaps…intelligence, planning and creativity.
Gilderoy succeeded in convincing everyone that he was a gifted duelling wizard for years. Let’s be blunt, Albus Dumbledore (The greatest wizard the magical world had seen, according to Elphias Doge’s obituary) appointed him his “Defence Against the Dark Arts” teacher.
This isn’t a decision he would have made lightly or without some faith in Lockhart’s ability to fight dark magic.
Does the fundamental nature of Lockhart’s plan to use a Memory Charm on heroic wizards and steal their stories for himself show intelligence? Furthermore, he needed to maintain and solidify these lies through years of fame and scrutiny.
He has crafted a creative and effective way to become famous and adored, much like a Ravenclaw might.
What other house would he be in?
It is essential to address this; we cannot expect every person to be sorted into each house to display all of their attributes in the same way.
If not Ravenclaw, where does Gilderoy Lockhart belong? The standard answer would be Slytherin because of their cunning and ambitious natures.
However, this may not make complete sense.
Slytherins are ambitious and determined. Gilderoy Lockhart achieved nothing other than a façade he created, and he certainly did not show any determination to succeed in actually defeating villains.
Moreover, Slytherin does not represent the only house where a witch or wizard can be evil. Not all Slytherins portray ambition or cunning negatively; so…you guessed it, not all Ravenclaws present intelligence and wit in a positive way.
Let’s look at Gryffindor, where the house traits are courage, bravery, determination, daring and chivalry.
Lockhart is never seen to show any sign of courage or bravery; we see his cowardice first-hand in “Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets” when he tries to flee from Hogwarts rather than attempt to go into the Chamber to save Ginny Weasley.
Although it could be argued that Lockhart shows determination in following through with his ruse for many years, a Gryffindor would perhaps show determination differently.
Combined with their sense of daring, a determined Gryffindor would be more likely to attempt fighting against and teach the Dark Arts rather than fabricating stories about it.
Finally, Hufflepuff, they are are hard-working, patient, fair, just, loyal and modest. Modesty is entirely out of the question for Lockhart, who consistently brags about and embellishes his accomplishments.
This quote from “The Chamber of Secrets” shows Gilderoy’s arrogance:
“Why, I remember the time when I was writing my second bestseller, Gadding with Ghouls. I believed that the more exposure I got in the press, the better my career would progress. Trouble was, I became overexposed! And it wasn’t until I went mysteriously missing for three weeks, subsequently leaking the story to the Prophet that I’d been captured by Trolls in the wilds of Stockton-on-Tees, that I managed to regain my former prominent position as the world’s most popular wizard.“
We can also exclude fairness and justness, as Lockhart was perfectly happy to take credit for and wiping the memories of other Witches and Wizards.
He built his career on taking credit for other people’s achievements, which is against the majority of the Hufflepuff values.
Conclusion
Gilderoy Lockhart valued learning and intelligence, but he loved the attention he hoped it would bring him instead of the endeavour for knowledge. Unfortunately, this emphasis on intelligence aligns him with Ravenclaw house above all others.
Like Albus Dumbledore said in The Goblet of Fire, perhaps “sometimes we sort too soon”!
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