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"But you know, happiness can be found
even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to
turn on the light.”
~~J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of
Azkaban
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Hi all,
I've had an exhausting week with work so didn't have much time
to devote to this newsletter. Thankfully, some weeks ago,
I'd been inspired to try to determine what Hogwarts house
assorted Dyelanders and Friends would get sorted into. A
couple of you have already seen this (although I've tweaked it
since) but for the rest... I hope you enjoy! It seemed
particularly appropriate in light the latest Wizarding World
park opening in California. I'm imagining at least some of
the Dyelanders will be frequent guests there!
God bless,
Jenni
Dyeland and Co. Consult the
Hogwarts Sorting Hat
I've read all the Harry Potter books and seen all the
movies. I visited the Wizarding World in Florida which, in
turn, inspired Andrew's and friends' visit there.
Nonetheless, I sometimes get a lil confused about the whole
house thing. So to guide my decisions, I used the house
traits that are reiterated on the Harry
Potter wiki. After much thought and contemplation
and probably too much caffeine, here are my results. I
stayed away from characters I'm not the chief author for so feel
free to suggest additions. Kim supplied house designations
for her characters so thanks to Kim for that!
First up,
Gryffindor:
Andrew- He’s brave, he’s chivalrous (sometimes to a fault) and
needs to be loved. Like Harry, he’s determined to protect
his friends but not that great about asking for or accepting
help… although he gets better. Also, his going to Sheol
wasn’t unlike Harry facing Voldemort and the Death Eaters.
And the pride issue…
Max and Rose- They had to be in the same house. Opposites
may attract often but these two are a case of sameness
attracting. While all the Friends are brave (see not
totally freaking out over demons), Max held his own against
terrorists and Rose held her own against Max when he faltered
post-JenniAnn’s shooting. They’re tough cookies.
Catherine- Have you seen Beauty and the Beast?
Catherine’s faced down murderers, child abusers, wife abusers,
rapists, drug lords, and so on. Heck yeah, she’s
brave! Plus she has that need to prove herself.
Arthur- Well, the guy goes to scenes of devastation as his job.
Liam- He’s already overcome a lot and I think he’ll follow in
his daddy’s footsteps as far as being a recovery volunteer.
Mick- WWII vet and PI who routinely puts himself in the path of
danger. He doesn’t scare easily.
Beth- As a reporter, she put herself in harm’s way to get truth
out there numerous times. And then there’s the whole being
married to a vampire thing.
Sy- While we haven’t seen much of it yet, he can hold his own
against people who talk crap about him and Ivy. He’s also
chivalrous with her and he goes into that interview for the
pastorship of his church with confidence. He speaks the
truth even when it may not be popular.
Peter- Definitely chivalrous. But he’s also very brave and
determined. Starting a relationship with Emma was NOT
easy. But he didn’t give up. And then the whole
following in the footsteps of Joshua thing…
Clay- Veteran of war. And, again, chivalrous. Plus,
while he was initially afraid, it took some daring to step back
out into the public. And, not long after, he struck up a
romance so he can be pretty determined when he wants to be.
Randall- He’s a go-getter. His brother left the farm but
he soldiered on.
Nico- Sea captain. Enough said.
Zoe- She’s resilient. Her family life wasn’t great but it
never got her down.
Aiyla- Hard to tell right now because she's so little but this
one’s a spitfire who will do amazing things… also a bit
prideful.
Eric- He definitely had Harry’s arrogance. Even though
that’s been taken down several notches, I still think he’s a
Gryffindor. Showing back up at St. G’s, even with a
pseudonym, took some guts.
Zany- He went through so much medical trauma and yet is a happy,
energetic little guy. That’s bravery!
Eli- His involvement in the civil rights movement and biracial
relationship when that was still illegal in many places pretty
much guaranteed his Gryffindor status.
Sean and Ian- Kim’s picks!
John/Yohannan- It takes a certain amount of bravery and nerve to
throw verbal arrows at the king and his wife. And then
there was the whole calling the religious authorities a "brood
of vipers." And not backing down even in the face of
death...
Yosef- Sticking by your lady even when a bunch of people think
she cheated on you? That's chivalry for sure. Then
immigrating to a strange land so you can protect the
child-God? Yosef is NOT a shrinking violet.
For Ravenclaw:
Vincent- Easily could have been Gryffindor but I tried to focus
on traits I thought were natural to a character. I don’t
think, left to his own devices, that Vincent would have been the
aggressive protector. Sure, I think he’d still defend his
loved ones as needed but he wouldn’t want to be placed in that
position if it could be helped. I think he would have
always been bookish and cultured, though. He would have
loved instilling love of art and creativity in others. So…
definitely a Ravenclaw.
Jacob- As an artist, I think he’s pretty solid Ravenclaw.
Shelby- She’s an aspiring author. Gotta be Ravenclaw.
Kemara- Kim picked this one but it’s no wonder with Kemara’s
writing skills and desire to learn and teach.
Owen- An artist… and one with a snarky wit.
Ivy- Yet another aspiring author. And Ivy loves
school. I like writing and reading but didn’t always love
school. So if you love school so much than you voluntarily
go during the summer… yeah, you’re a Ravenclaw.
Hailey- Gonna be a teacher like her mama so, yes, she definitely
values intelligence.
Emma- I wondered about her but ended up picking Ravenclaw since
she’s so artsy. Singing, dancing, acting, and her
preference for Frasier make me believe she prefers
witty comedy to more lowbrow or even broad comedy.
Edward- He’s the more reserved Romano twin and was drawn to a
teacher (Zadie… likely also Ravenclaw). And there are
hints that he watches documentaries during his downtime.
Shane- A teacher. He also seems to be one of the more
reasonable characters. It’s not that he’s not emotional
but he doesn’t immediately act on those emotions. Like
with knowing who Joshua was. He thought maybe Joshua
wanted to be low-key so he bided his time and didn’t create a
big scene when he put two and two together.
Robert- Like Owen, he has a snarky side. Somewhere I
thought I mentioned him being a college professor, too, but I’m
not positive.
Rabbi Yakov- Well read and learned. He knew the Christian
scriptures before he even had reason to believe them. I
think studying is actually fun for him.
Neela- I think she and Eric are opposites attract. Eric is
all heart, for good or ill. Neela is the voice of reason
in the relationship. I imagine she had to be that way to
keep her head when Zane struggled.
Gloria- I think TBAA clearly made this decision for me.
Henry- I waffled on this. Henry remains the most
unknowable AOD for me. But he seems contemplative and like
someone who would enjoy an evening by the fire with a good book.
Slytherin:
So, as gets stressed, Slytherin is NOT bad despite the villains
in HP being overwhelmingly Slytherin. Merlin was
Slytherin. And good, ol’ Snape.
Josef- I can’t imagine Josef as anything but. Whether as a
businessman or as a philanthropist, Josef is ambitious. He
wants to be the best. He also reminds me of Snape in that
his entire life is directed by lost love.
Behnam- I thought maybe he was too nice and cuddly for
Slytherin. But Behnam, too, is ambitious and
resourceful. He’s also a fine schemer when he has to
be. He gets himself, Isra, and Aiyla away from his uncle
by basically entrapping the guy. And while I glossed over
it, I imagine he was pretty cunning with the U.S. Army. I
don’t think there’s any way they just said “Sure, we’ll get you
and your family into the U.S. because you seem like really nice
people!” I’m thinking it was more like “My uncle was
X. He was in contact with several people connected with
A-Q. I can tell you things… but here are my
conditions.” (Which probably means he sat in on a lot of
his uncle’s “meetings”… always with the intention of eventually
bringing him down.) And again with the Snape references…
Behnam’s entire adolescence and adulthood have been about making
things right for the women in his life. First Badriya and
then Isra… even if it took him to dark places.
Father- I toyed with Ravenclaw but I definitely think he’s a
Slytherin. You have to be resourceful to head up the
Tunnels, after all. I think he was a little too keen on
protecting his own image. He made a lot of missteps just
because of needing to maintain his high ideals… not publicly
recognizing Devin as his own son, relying on Vincent to protect
their world, being quite judgy with others, at times.
Tess- Her bossiness on TBAA tends towards Slytherin IMO.
But the more I thought about this, there is a sorta parallel
between Tess’ initial displeasure with JenniAnn and Arthur and
the Slytherin tendency to be elitist. She basically
assumed Arthur and JenniAnn would hurt Monica and Andrew.
It didn’t seem to occur to her until evidence was already
building that maybe Arthur and JenniAnn were actually perfectly
suited for her Angel Babies.
Hufflepuff:
JenniAnn- So I originally thought she was Gryffindor but then
couldn’t come up with any real reason beyond Andrew being
Gryffindor. Ravenclaw was a definite possibility.
She does value intelligence and creativity. However… I
think even that is just as a means of obtaining cuddliness and
coziness for all. In an ideal world, I think JenniAnn just
wants to sit around with her loved ones, sipping tea and eating
freshly baked sweets.
Joy- Per Kim.
Belle- She takes after her mother. Belle is and will
always be a cuddlebug. Even in her rebellious phase, she
won’t be able to really keep away from Mama and Daddy.
Violeta- Also very cuddly… and intensely loyal. Not even a
couple of eons old demons could convince her that JenniAnn was a
fraud. Like Slytherin, she’s ambitious… but only up to the
point that it’d mean giving up time with her family.
Violeta’s probably gonna be in the protege stage for far longer
than most angels are simply because she wants to remain with
Andrew and Co.
Monica- Kim seconded this. Monica was quite ambitious on
TBAA but she was also exceedingly loyal to Tess and, yes, to God
and humanity… even if she faltered a couple times there.
Definitely a hard-worker, too.
Kylie- She's a nurturer by nature, I think. Unfortunately,
that led to a disastrous first marriage to a deeply flawed man
who abused her. Thankfully, Kylie fared much better with
Clay who returns her love and devotion. Kylie is also
deeply loyal to Joshua. Even when her life was hellish,
her faith never wavered.
Portia- A single mom who became a doctor? Yeah, definitely
values hard work. She’s also very loyal. I imagine
she coulda had a nice private practice but instead she covers
the medical needs of the Tunnels and the Phoenix.
Fr. Mike- Very dedicated to the Church… much more so to
Joshua. I think he may eventually get himself into trouble
with that blog of his and face a loyalty test of sorts.
Raquel- She’s very relationship-oriented. It occurs to me
that I don’t think I ever even gave Raquel a job. Her job
seems to be supporting and lifting up those she loves.
Isra- She’s very dedicated to her family and I think patience
can be assumed. She was a Christian for quite some time
before Behnam was but never pushed. She does seems to have
an innate sense of fairness. Even before Behnam encouraged
her, she believed women got the raw end of the stick and
deserved better.
Omar- While Aiyla will be a firebrand, Omar will be
soft-spoken. Aiyla will risk hurt feelings to make a
point. Omar will likely find the nicest way to spin a
negative.
Diana and Zeke- The most Hufflepuffiest couple. Neither is
afraid of hard work. They took jobs that demand extra time
and attention, not just a 9 to 5. They instilled that in
their children… hence the angst when Sy started veering into
snob mode. Family and faith is everything. As for
loyalty, they were the ones least willing to bail on Doug’s and
Lucy’s dream.
Kendra- Haven’t done too much with her yet but I think she’s a
mini-me blend of her parents. Something I have in mind for
her in the future smacks loudly of loyalty.
Caleb- He just badly wants to connect deeply with someone and be
dedicated to her forever and ever. Hang in there,
Caleb. Also, the fact that leaving his home and family
only meant moving into the home of another branch of the family
probably says something already about his loyalty.
Dot- I figure you have to be pretty loyal to your family to let
two of them move in with you after you and your husband have
enjoyed a quiet household for years. But I think Dot loves
that. So much so that she pulled Clay and Kylie into the
family, too.
Joccy- I think Joccy actually woulda fared better if she had the
traits of any other house. Her desire for loyalty and
fairness made what happened with Emma cut deeper than it might
have otherwise. I think it’s also why she beat herself up
for not speaking up for Emma despite being a very little girl at
the time. Her loyalty to Emma was so strong.
Lily, Basil, and Azalea- Maintaining one’s own business is hard
work! But that business is driven by Basil’s and Azalea’s
desire to ensure Lily and others like her have services that
others take for granted. They’re intensely loyal to their
daughter and I think Lily will always be loyal to her parents,
even when she becomes more independent.
Allison- I wasn’t sure what to do with JenniAnn’s mother but I
think she fits well in Hufflepuff. Unfortunately,
sometimes her loyalty to her daughter takes on a bad edge… see
her flipping out on Andrew in “Shadowlands.”
Tiva- She’s social justice oriented so the fairness angle jumped
out at me. Also, I think of Rabbi Yakov as being a bit of
the brilliant but scattered type. It requires patience to
live with that!
Hatstalls:
Logan- He loves heroic stories so much that Gryffindor seemed
like a good match. However, he’s also got a cuddly, eager
to be part of a team aspect to him. And he did become a
vampire just so his mother would never be alone… So
Gryffinpuff.
Maryam- I think she's a Gryffinpuff also. It's beyond
brave to agree to carry and raise the Son of God. All the
trials that came with that... But Maryam is also intensely
loyal and loving. She's devoted to her husband and son
with not even death breaking those bonds.
Adam- That snarky sense of humor and wit screams
Ravenclaw. But he had that chivalrous and gentlemanly side
on TBAA which gets stressed even more in the Dyeland
stories. I mean everything with Kylie… So
Gryffinclaw.
And possibly the most controversial entry on
this list...
Joshua- I think the claim could easily be made that Joshua is
a four-way hatstall with the most perfect elements of every
house. But if I had to pick one... I really do think
Slytherin fits. For one, Joshua himself said he would
want it to be his house because the people there seemed to
most need him. See this excerpt from "The Carpenter":
Catherine laughed. "I feel deprived for not
having grown up as part of the Harry Potter
generation. It's like a whole different
language." She smiled at Joshua. "So... since
apparently this is an issue... what house do you think Jesus
would be in, Joshua?"
"Slytherin."
"What!?" Max exclaimed.
Joshua smiled. "Jesus went to the lost sheep...
Slytherin seemed to have the highest number of them.
But I know Jesus would have made a point to mingle with the
other houses."
So, even as a hatstall, Joshua would live with the
Slytherins. But beyond being the Good Shepherd to the
lost, I think Joshua genuinely fits there. There is no
more resourceful person to ever exist. Literally.
All resources come from Joshua and he knows how to use
em. Saving an entire world... pretty ambitious.
And since Dyeland features multiple worlds, it's safe to say
Joshua has likely saved multiple worlds. Cunning doesn't
even begin to describe it. He had a plan since before
the dawn of time and he stuck to it regardless of the great
personal cost. With all due respect to Professor Snape,
Joshua is the bravest man.
So agree? Disagree? Anybody else I shoulda
included? I used the birthdates list mostly so know I
missed some people since a lotta angels are missing from that.
This newsletter is dedicated to John Dye
and everyone who brings great stories to life. We all
need a little magic in our lives sometimes!
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