Top 10 Signs You're a Ravenclaw

Ravenclaws are all about intelligence, both having it and seeking it. One of the primary ways people gain knowledge is by looking to the past. After all, without the accumulated work of those who came before us, how can we move forward? Looking to the past also helps us see how our present day society came to be. Plus, history’s just really cool! It’s a whole unexplored frontier full of events shadowed in mystery that we may never solve, but it’s still fun to try. Trust us – it’s way more interesting than Professor Binns made it sound.

Being smart doesn’t automatically mean that you’re able to retain everything you hear. Only a very select few have that skill or gift. For the rest of us, it often means having to take notes. If you’re especially good at taking down information, you might be a Ravenclaw. You’ve got well-organized info with annotations. You have your own shorthand that lets you take down more facts quickly. You’ve got tabs in your notebook based on subject. If any of this sounds familiar, you should probably be wearing blue at Hogwarts.

Being smart or clever can lead to negative consequences too. Revealing one’s intelligence can lead others to consider you stuck up, prim, or pretentious. After all, being intelligent is something you can just turn off, right? [SARCASM] Clearly anyone who tries to contribute using their brain must be showing off! [SARCASM] Whether those labels are accurate or not depends on the person, but the perception of it, real or perceived, may mean you belong in Ravenclaw. This kind of prejudice can be quite isolating as well, and it’s one of the many reasons why Ravenclaws tend to be loners too.

Something that goes hand-in-hand with intelligence is the ability to be open to points of view and experiences other than your own. Empathy is a mark of intelligence and while the stereotype of Ravenclaws is that they’re more analytically minded, some members of the House think with their hearts too. Sometimes one of the smartest things you can do is realize that you can’t change people and that it’s okay for us all to be different. After all, if we were all alike, that wouldn’t be interesting at all, would it Pure Bloods?

While Gryffindor and Slytherin tend to be very goal-oriented Houses, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw are less about the destination and more about the journey. Having knowledge is great and all, but how you acquire it is also important. If you’re a Ravenclaw, you may relish your time spent studying or taking notes or look forward to any opportunity to learn something new. And sure, learning can be hard work sometimes. But the best things in life rarely come without a little effort on our parts – even magic takes practice, after all.

We’ve already established that Ravenclaws can be enthusiastic. However, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Ravenclaws are determined and frequently pursue their interests with enthusiasm. But this can also lead to being spread too thin, since, if many things make you passionate, not all of them will get the attention they need. Maybe your web browser has a dozen tabs open as you watch this. Maybe your “to-do” list has a table of contents. Maybe you have several ongoing passion projects that you need to get to, but can’t, because each one is demanding your undivided attention!

One thing about being clever is that your brain makes connections that others don’t see. Whether it’s making connections from available evidence or using your intuition to arrive at conclusions faster, perceptiveness is another hallmark of Ravenclaw House. Studying and notes are all well and good, but the truly insightful are able to put the information or clues they take in together more quickly and find meaning or intent where others don’t. Ravenclaws would probably do well in fields that involve investigation, such as the Auror department, or detective work if you’re a Muggle.

Some Ravenclaws aren’t just smart – they can’t turn their brains off. While this can lead to greater intelligence, making more mental connections, and possibly better grades, it also means that they may have trouble turning down the volume of their thoughts. Maybe you have trouble sleeping because you can’t stop thinking even when you lie down to rest. Or maybe, you feel overwhelmed by a barrage of errant thoughts throughout the day, as “what-if” scenarios play out for every little choice you face. You might have anxiety, but you might also be at home in Ravenclaw.

A love of learning can certainly lead to loving one of humankind’s most enduring tools to cultivate the mind – books. Conversely, perhaps it’s that people who like books become more intelligent. Or maybe it’s both! Whatever the case may be, Ravenclaws tend to love books and/or appreciate the written word more than the members of their fellow houses. In fact, it’s a good bet that most of those who belong to, or should be in, Ravenclaw have spent a considerable amount of Galleons, or those bits of paper Muggles use, on books or office supplies.

Before we get to our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:

You Love Terrible Puns

You've Pulled an All-Nighter Just to Read a New Book

Intelligence Attracts You

You’re Creative

You Have an Opinion on the Oxford Comma

By now, it should come as no surprise that Ravenclaw has a reputation for being the nerdiest Hogwarts House. But being a nerd is great! If you’re a total geek about a particular subject, whether it’s history, books, or Quidditch statistics, it just means that you’re enthusiastic in your pursuit of what you’re interested in. “Wit beyond measure is man’s greatest treasure,” may be the motto of Ravenclaw, but that doesn’t mean that treasuring other things is discouraged. Knowing what you love and sharing it with others is sure to enrich the minds of everyone. So you do you fellow nerds!