A/N: No real spoilers, I guess, unless you call a two-word insight into the nature of Horace Slughorn a spoiler. This could be the beginning of any year between the year Snape was hired (or at least the year when the other Heads of House started thinking of Slytherin as "Snape's House") and... well, if you don't know, I won't tell you. Mostly just random insights into the Houses of Hogwarts and very little actual work. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.
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"Another year's Sorting," said Flitwick wistfully, with a bit of a yawn. It was getting late. "Was anyone surprised?"
"I'm always surprised at the ones that get Sorted into your House, Filius," said McGonagall, "Some students are so much brighter than they look, and many of the brighter-looking ones end up in my House or Snape's."
Sprout scoffed. "You three don't get all the clever students! And even if you did," she said, smiling with a warmth that could only come from Hufflepuff House, "it wouldn't matter. You can keep the clever students... I've got all the good ones."
"That's not true," said McGonagall, "Not in the least!"
"Loving, clever, brave... what is it really, that makes our Houses what they are?" Flitwick pondered, but they all had heard the noticeable pause where the Charms professor had sought in vain for a fourth word. What indeed made each student worthy of this House or that? With some the answer was obvious, but with others there were grey areas where so-called "House qualities" overlapped. And some students where it seemed there were no such qualities at all to be found. They glanced covertly around at each other – epitomes and embodiments of their respective Houses – all but Snape, alone where he stood at the window, looking out on the grounds, or at the sky, or at nothing at all, none of them knew. Slytherin, always the loner, while the rest of them stood – or sat, in their case – together... both a part and not a part of them.
"Ravenclaw," Flitwick started, snapping them all out of their respective musings, "is more complicated than it seems. One must be clever, yes, but it's much more than that. One must want knowledge and be willing to seek it... and, I think, one must also be open-minded to that knowledge, and willing to learn it, whatever it is. A desire to learn truly everything and a willingness to go and seek out that knowledge... that it what it means to be a Ravenclaw. It's not really about cleverness, though it's usually the clever that desire knowledge... it's about seeking the truth."
Sprout and McGonagall both paused to think this over and nod, and though Severus Snape had not moved from his place at the window, if either had looked, they might have seen his head turn just the slightest bit, as if to more clearly catch all of Flitwick's speech.
"Gryffindor," said Minerva McGonagall with a smile, "is about bravery, of course. Whenever the Sorting Hat sings, it always sings of bravery... but I daresay there's more to it than that. Chivalry and strength of heart aside, you must admit that many, many of the great witches and wizards have been, and are, Gryffindors. I'm proud to say it... those of my House have a way of making something great of themselves. Even if they don't see it in themselves, or others don't see it in them, people with the potential to be great heroes tend to end up in Gryffindor." She paused a moment, then, and said, "Sometimes I almost wonder... many of those heroes could have been in other Houses, if not for one another. Do the heroes make the House, I wonder, or does the House make the heroes?"
That, like Filius Flitwick's speech about the deep nature of Ravenclaw, made the other Heads of House pause and think. And then Pomona Sprout gave a little laugh.
"Hufflepuff," she said, starting out as the others had, with the first, most basic quality of her House, "is for hard workers. That's what the Sorting Hat says a lot. Loyalty, kindness, acceptance... all just a great way of saying that Hufflepuff takes all the students that the other Houses don't want. But... it really is more than that, you know. There's something to be said for a person that feels deeply, even if they're not brave or clever. There's not enough gentleness in the world, really. Maybe they won't make the top grades or conquer the world, but they'll be there when they're needed. For some people, that's more important than being... important. For some people, that's more than enough. Supporting others... being the foundation on which Hogwarts – and the whole world, really – is built... that's what being a Hufflepuff is about."
"Well said!" said Flitwick, "Yes, well said indeed." There was a very long pause, then. Snape didn't say anything about his own House, and after several moments, the silence got uncomfortable. But that was how it always was... with Snape and with Slytherin House... always a part of them, but never really a part of them. They could feel each other thinking it. It was always Slytherin that stood alone, whether it was moody, anti-social Severus Snape, or haughty, ambitious Horace Slughorn. Too good for the rest of them, always looking out for themselves.
And then, to their everlasting shock, Snape spoke.
"Slytherin..." he said, in his always-quiet voice. There was another pause, and for a moment they weren't sure if he would continue. He did, and when he did, his voice was full of its characteristic cynicism, "When the Hat goes on about it, it's something different every year, whether it's cunningness or ambition or even purity of blood... Maybe it is ambition, because not all my Slytherins are pure-bloods and they're certainly not all cunning... Hufflepuff is always touted as the House that gets the students that no one else would want, but I wonder if, in some respects at least, Slytherin isn't the same? Not because they're not talented or brave... but because no one else wants to deal with them. 'Nasty Slytherins'... really... who else would take them? Not loving Hufflepuff, certainly." His voice got very small, all of a sudden, as he said, "But the more I watch them... I wonder... if it isn't something about loyalty. Not to Hogwarts, maybe, or to anything good for that matter... but at least to each other. They stick up for each other, when no one else would... or is it just an excuse to gang up on other students? They recognize the good in each other that someone from another House would never take the time to see... or are they just self-glorifying? No other House is as strictly and stringently loyal to itself... or are they just smug and arrogant?"
Snape turned from is window and glanced briefly at the only unoccupied seat at the table where the other three Heads of House sat. "Or maybe," he said, "it really is just about ambition." He swept from the room, leaving in his wake more questions than answers.
It is an odd feeling, to stand in a room full of kind, happy, and understanding people, and to realize that you've never felt more alone.