Gryffindor
Head: Open
Colours: Red and Gold
Animal: Lion
Founder: Godric Gryffindor
Ghost: Sir Nicholas deMimsy-Porpington ( "Nearly Headless Nick")
Characteristics: Most would agree that courage is the attribute that makes Gryffindors Gryffindors. Being brave is not being fearless, it’s being able to do what needs to be done no matter how scared you are. Truly, being brave is harder than being fearless and so is such a respectable attribute. Gryffindor equals bravery, it’s something they have. Ravenclaws may be clever, but in the face of danger might not be able to use it. Slytherins are cunning also, but when facing fear they’ll do whatever they can to get out. Hufflepuffs would probably be a mixture of Ravenclaw and Slytherin, a combination of running away or freezing up. Though very generalized comments on the other three houses’ valor, Gryffindor shows its strength that every member is brave in some way, even if it’s not honorable.
Location: Gryffindor Tower, entrance on the seventh floor



Ravenclaw
Head: Open
Colours: Blue and Bronze
Animal: Eagle
Founder: Rowena Ravenclaw
Ghost: The Grey Lady
Characteristics: Anyone who has ever read Edgar Allan Poe’s poem, “The Raven,” knows that there is more to this stately bird than meets the eye. Such it is with Ravenclaw--the house that wisdom built, the house that’s always second-best in everything. One begins to wonder if Ravenclaw is just quietly biding it’s time, satisfied—for now—with being second fiddle to the more impulsive houses. Slow to anger and slow to act, perhaps, but something tells me when Ravenclaw does decide to act, we’d better hope we’ve stayed on their good side.
Location: Ravenclaw Tower, entrance on the seventh floor.



Hufflepuff
Head: Saphron Strelitzia
Colours: Yellow and Black
Animal: Badger
Founder: Helga Hufflepuff
Ghost: The Fat Friar
Characteristics: They don't often get any glory. They don't stand out, collectively, as being powerful or brilliant or valiant or genteel. The best things said about them is that they are loyal, hardworking, and friendly. At other times you get the sense that Hufflepuff House gets whatever is left over after the other Houses have had their pick. Taking the positives with the negatives, it's hard to say what exactly Hufflepuff House stands for. They are decent, humble, affectionate souls who have a sense of fairplay. Hufflepuffs make excellent friends, and are typically liked by anyone. This is not to say that some Hufflepuffs cant be aggressive, suspicious, the type of person who questions everything and gets on a lot of people's nerves. They are a diverse bunch.
Location: Down the staircase from the main hall.



Slytherin
Head: Open
Colours: Green and Silver
Animal: Serpent, signifying the founder's gift of Parseltongue
Founder: Salazar Slytherin
Ghost: The Bloody Baron
Characteristics: Slytherins are cunning, ambitious, determined and resourceful. They can be brave, but they generally put their own well-being over anyone else’s. Although evilness is not a prerequisite to become a Slytherin, Slytherins have the most potential to, say, take over the world. Slytherins aren’t necessarily bad people when they begin their first year at Hogwarts. They are educated into being the way they are. Wizarding society expects Slytherins to be mean, ruthless people, so, true to form, they become mean, ruthless people. Those dank, dreary quarters under the school lake can’t do much to improve their attitude either. The rest of Hogwarts probably shuns the Slytherins because these cunning characters garbed green and silver are the only people with the potential to alter their peaceful lives. They have the intelligence and they know what to do with it – they got it and they flaunt it. Why use their powers, cunning and determination for the good of everyone when they could use it for themselves – for evil, perhaps? The typical Slytherin’s most powerful quality is their ambition. If they want something, nothing can get in their way – not even the law, or the well-being of those closest to them.
Location: The Slytherin common room is a low-ceilinged, dungeon-like room with greenish lamps and chairs and is located under the lake