I wanted to do something different for the We Love Pirates Week Blogathon, and thought it would be fun to type the memorable main characters from the franchise into their Hogwarts Houses. If you’ve been following me for any length of time, you know I prefer to use the Sorting Hat Chats system, since it gives greater value to each House, and not all villains wind up there as a result.

Elizabeth Swann: Gryffindor Primary / Slytherin Secondary

Elizabeth chafes under the rigid rules of society set for her, because she wants to live freely in accordance with her own sense of right and wrong—her first step is ignoring propriety in favor of her affection for Will, even though he comes from a different social class and her father frowns on their relationship. She chases after the life of a pirate, because it promises freedom from the constraints of society. Elizabeth has fierce opinions and is forthcoming in her views, shaming Jack for some of his more selfish and foolish decisions, but then adapting to survive and get what she wants—and yet, sometimes making a purely logical choice, such as when she betrays Jack to his doom, makes her miserable, because she isn’t living in accordance with herself. She is at her fiercest and most wonderful when she is defying other people’s opinions of the truth, and standing by her own beliefs—such as when she asserts that it is wrong to hang Jack Sparrow, and faints to cause a distraction so Will can help him escape, then stands by Will against Norrington and her father, because it’s the right thing to do. She comes into her own as the Pirate King, because it enables her to make decisions in alignment with her own desired outcome—to avenge her father’s death and put an end to corruption on the high seas. She has an adaptable Slytherin Secondary that allows her to shape-shift and become whatever a situation requires, to get what she wants—she manipulates Norrington into going back for Will by promising to marry him, she sneaks aboard a ship and feigns a ghostly presence to lead a crew in the direction she wants them to go, she kisses Jack to distract him from her true intentions, etc.

William Turner: Hufflepuff  Primary / Gryffindor Secondary

Will has a general ability to abide by the rules of society (he keeps his distance from Elizabeth and treats her politely, even though he is in love with her, out of respect for her father’s wishes and her social status; he protects his boss by pretending he makes all the swords, when in reality it’s Will who crafts them), and a tendency to judge Jack and even Elizabeth harshly for their immoral behaviors and attitudes, but he is also willing to forgive both of them (and the pirates in general), and he will sacrifice himself if the situation calls for it. He decides to save Jack at the end of the first film because it’s the moral thing to do, and he has decided that Jack is a “good man” despite being a pirate (a Hufflepuff prejudice he had to overcome). Will knows he will make the best captain of the Flying Dutchman, because someone responsible needs to ferry lost souls to the other side. But his Gryffindor Secondary is very active—he can be reckless in how he throws himself after things and takes big risks to get her back (he gets impatient with Norrington taking too long, so he breaks Jack out of jail and then helps him steal a ship, he threatens to commit suicide to obtain Elizabeth’s freedom, and even later gambles away his soul on the Flying Dutchman just for a look at Davy Jones’ key). There isn’t an impulsive decision that this boy has ever met that he doesn’t like!

Jack Sparrow: Gryffindor Primary / Slytherin Secondary

There’s a reason that Gibbs thinks Elizabeth is a lot like Jack—they have the same way of getting things done and viewing the world. Jack at first seems mostly concerned with himself, and it’s true, there’s a certain degree of selfishness in his actions—but at the end of the day, Jack will often do what is right, in accordance with how he feels about it, including bailing Will out of trouble, facing his doom when the kraken comes for him to save his friends. When his friends abandon him, Jack shrugs and says, “They did what’s right by them. Can’t ask for more than that,” implying he would do the same, and he cannot hold their disloyalty against them. Jack knows what he wants most of the time so strongly that his Compass always points to it, without hesitation. Much like Elizabeth, the life of a pirate for him represents freedom from constraints and the ability to do whatever he wants. And just like Elizabeth, Jack has a versatile and opportunistic Slytherin Secondary—whenever he is in terrible trouble, he talks his way out of it, he improvises, he becomes the “king of the natives,” he suggests he and Elizabeth get married. And it is all quite theatrical and flamboyant and intended to draw attention to his magnificence.

James Norrington: Ravenclaw Primary / Hufflepuff Secondary

Unlike the passionate people who surround him, James has a more rigid sense of morality and appropriate behavior, and he isn’t above adapting it in order to do the right thing, when the ‘rules’ of his social role conflict with his sense of right and wrong. He cares about Elizabeth as much as Will does, but wants to go about it in a rational manner, rather than making emotional decisions. He has qualms about hanging Jack, but the rules state that this is required—and it’s only when a person in authority, the governor, tells him that he can bend the rules from time to time, that he releases Jack, justifying it as sometimes you can break the law for a good purpose. Norrington processes things calmly and accepts them in a rational way, even taking Elizabeth’s choice of Will over him in stride (though it pains him, he concedes that she has a right to love another and leaves them). The second film shows him ‘Burning,’ or falling from his Ravenclaw system of ethics, because it has not served him well. He has lost his commission, his ship, his friends, and his position in society, chasing after Jack—he broke the rules, did a good deed, paid for it, and is now angry about it, which means he’s willing to use any method possible to get ahead in life, including becoming a pirate himself. But his thievery is primarily to get him back into a high position, where once again he adopts a method of fine manners, graceful resignation and acceptance of others’ choices, and strives to live according to a higher principle. He even dies upon this, by “remembering that I serve others… not just myself,” and saving Elizabeth and her fleeing pirate crew from Davy Jones. Norrington has a Hufflepuff Secondary—others know him as a hard-working, dedicated man with an established reputation for responsibility and goodness. He also knows how to leverage ‘community’ to gain inclusion and get things done, by abiding within social expectations, becoming a valued part of Jack’s crew, and calling in favors to scour the seas for Elizabeth and her father—in essence, calling in ‘his favors.’

Barbossa: Slytherin Primary / Hufflepuff Secondary

Barbossa is a tricky character to type, because he has such a limited scope of trust and loyalty, but his final film suggest a strong affinity for ‘my flesh and blood,’ in his desire to keep his daughter in the dark about his identity, in the fear that it might taint her opportunities in life. He’s protective of his crew, which does not include Jack. Barbossa feels nothing for those who fall outside his small circle of ‘those I care about.’ He doesn’t want to waste Elizabeth’s blood if he can help it (“waste not, want not”), but is willing to slit Will’s throat if necessary to liberate himself from the curse. He feels a sense of ownership over the Black Pearl, and keeps coming back to her in an attempt to reclaim her. He also primarily does things for himself, and has no problem promoting his own advancement, even becoming a ‘valued’ member of society. This ties in to his Hufflepuff Secondary. Barbossa not only cares about his wider reputation in the pirating community, in a pinch, he finds it rather easy to get his pirates to do things on his behalf. He effectively uses and manipulates them by convincing them he does things in their best interest. They help him, protect him, and feed his need for importance.

This is another contribution to the We Love Pirates Week Blogathon. Please click on the link to read more entries!