Nova Daily - 19 July 2025: The Sorting Hat

Hi!

At one of my most recent family meetings I overheard an unrelated 9-year-old girl talk with her uncle about Harry Potter, and it seems that they like the franchise very much as well. Me being me, I couldn't restrain myself and broke in on the conversation, and it was great fun talking with them. I was asked all kinds of questions like "Have you seen all three Fantastic Beasts movies?" (not yet) and "Who's your favourite character from the franchise?" (Ginny), and I could feed them a bit of trivia that many fans apparently don't know: the symbol of Ravenclaw is not a raven but an eagle. And I had a question to feed them in return: in which house do you think you belong?

The Sorting Hat

Originally belonging to Godric Gryffindor, the Sorting Hat uses legilimency to find out what resides within your head. It tries to determine which qualities you possess, which would be the strongest ones, and with which of the four Houses you'd have most affinity with. As McGonagall indicates before Harry's sorting ceremony, "your House will be like your family."

Most of the Harry Potter story revolves around the duality between Gryffindor and Slytherin, but I won't retell this whole story here. It's great fun to do some online quizzes and see in which House you belong.

Below are several of the verses that the Sorting Hat sings at the start of year banquet. In it, the Hat describes in four short lines each of the four Houses:

You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart

Gryffindor is the House that Harry ultimately gets sorted into. While it seems to be the "Good" House as it's harboured most of the protagonists of the Harry Potter story, Gryffindors frequently find themselves in perilous situations because of their impish tendency to take their endeavours further than anyone else.

You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;

The most underrated House of the four, Hufflepuff has a lot of students with outstanding character that have a strong sense of righteousness and loyalty. After an attack against Harry in the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff in Harry's third year, Hufflepuff team captain Cedric Diggory requests for the Quidditch match to be played over, despite Hufflepuff having won that match. There's sportsmanship for you!

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
if you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;

The House that has an exceptionally high regard for learning and the improvement of human understanding. Several of the most intelligent Witches and Wizards come from this House, and it has a reputation of being a bit of a nerdy place. "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure." It should come as no surprise that several Hogwarts teachers, even some of the least productive ones, started their education at Ravenclaw, and the Sorting Hat had seriously considered this House for studious types such as Hermione Granger and Minerva McGonagall.

Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folks use any means
To achieve their ends.

While ambition and opportunism are often regarded as something inherently negative, they're essentially neutral. It depends on how you use your resources and what the effects of your actions are that mark them good or evil. Slytherin teaches us that flexible morality is an inherent human trait, and that the means and methods by which you set out to achieve your goals can be flexible as well. However, this does fit the agenda of the worst of Wizardkind, and the story's main antagonist was a descendant of the founder of this House.

Although I can recognise good and bad elements of each of the different Houses, I can only be in one of them. Where do you think the Sorting Hat placed me? And in which House would it put you?

Study time: The Botvinnik system

Today I decided to start reading up a bit on the Botvinnik system. It's a method that Ntirlis doesn't cover because his scheme of development doesn't allow it: he always develops the knight into f3 so the Botvinnik triangle is off the table from the start, and against the King's Indian he point-blank dives into it. Instead, I'd have to consult Marin and Williams/Palliser for a proper treatment of this system.

When I entered the moves into my repertoire, it struck me how little the engine actually likes the Botvinnik. The very same can be said for some lines in Marin that give dry equality. But still, I think that it's useful to know a few ins and outs of these systems.

A bit about the Botvinnik system against ...e5 systems:

And a bit about the Botvinnik system against ...c5 systems:

The model games by Marin and his student:

There is rather more to the Botvinnik system than the engine might be able to tell you at first, and I love to play it even if I don't always get my favourite flavour. But I've been at this for long enough to seriously start studying this in more depth.