Britain is a nation of Hufflepuffs – even though we really want to be Gryffindors
A new survey shows that most of us belong in Cedric Diggory and Newt Scamander's Hogwarts house
Britain is a nation of Hufflepuffs. At least, that's what Sorting Hat stand-in YouGov thinks.
A new survey has found that more than half of Brits identify most with Hufflepuff personality traits – even if they would rather be in Gryffindor.
Twenty years to the day since the publication of JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, a survey of 2,077 adults found that a huge 51% of the population counts themselves as Harry Potter fans. And that rises to 81% among 18-24 year olds (some of whom hadn't even been born yet when the first book was published!).
Harry Potter may have willed himself into Gryffindor by begging the Sorting Hat to place him in his father's Hogwarts House, but the public weren't given that option.
Instead they were asked to choose which selection of personality traits they felt most applied to them. "Hard work, patience, justice and loyalty" came out on top at 54%. That, of course, describes your average Hufflepuff.
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36% went for "intelligence, creativity, learning and wit" (Ravenclaw) while just 4% reckoned they had "courage, bravery, nerve and chivalry" (Gryffindor). Even Slytherin came third at 5%, with "ambition, cunning, leadership and resourcefulness".
But while Brits might reckon themselves as patient just and loyal, very few see themselves dressed in yellow and represented by a badger. Just 16% said they wanted to be sorted into Hufflepuff, while most (57%) said they would choose Gryffindor if they could.
Still, take comfort: ending up in Hufflepuff isn't actually a bad thing. After all, this is the House of Cedric Diggory and Newt Scamander and Tonks – brave and intelligent figures in the wizarding world.
Participants in the survey were also asked to sort a selection of celebrities and public figures into houses. Some results were as expected – Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson are deemed the nation's biggest Gryffindors (with 59% and 52% respectively) followed by JK Rowling on 37% – but some were more surprising, with Mary Berry, Ant and Dec and Adele the most likely Hufflepuffs.
69% of those surveyed saw Donald Trump as a Slytherin, followed by 64% who consigned Piers Morgan to the house which spawned the likes of Lord Voldemort. Meanwhile, David Attenborough and Andy Murray are the most obvious Ravenclaws, according to the YouGov results.
