oh right, i rambled about it on twitter but i forgot to post it here: it’s official, aos is a fandom, which means SORTING HEADCANONS!
skye is definitely a slytherin, with some secondary ravenclaw traits (more reasons to love skye to pieces,…
I think you mistake wanting to be strong, which could be equally Gryffindor or Slytherin, with wanting to be brave, which is what really defines Gryffindor house. Pettigrew, despite his later choices, really and truly desired to live up to the Gryffindor ideal of courage and nobility. He wanted to do the right thing, but ended up failing out of cowardice. Ward never once envisioned himself as brave or noble, probably not even at age eleven. He did what he had to in order to survive, which is an incredibly Slytherin trait. He wanted to be strong, yes, but not because he wanted to be able to live up to his own morals (of which he apparently has none). The only reason he wanted to be strong was to either defeat his enemies (i.e. burning his house down) or to keep surviving under the direction of those stronger and smarter than he is. So yeah, he’s basically Crabbe and Goyle type Slytherin.
I’d also note that while the Sorting hat does take personal choice into account, it does occasionally decide that it knows better. Neville Longbottom asked to be in Hufflepuff because he was intimidated by Gryffindor’s reputation, but was overruled. If Ward asked to be in Gryffindor, I’m guessing the same sort of thing would happen.
Less mistake, more I think that Ward, at age eleven, might mistake one for the other. I think Ward at age eleven is a different prospect to Ward as an adult, too, and I was thinking more about what he would have been like at that age, before The Well, before that ‘defining moment’, where cruelty and abuse has already happened, but he hasn’t embraced his hate in the way he describes, the defining moment that led to the arson, that led him to Hydra.
Also, digging deeper (probably too deep for a casual Sorting, oh well) there’s a lot of influence of culture and family in what happens in Sorting. If we’re working on the premise that Ward is Wizardborn, there would be pressure to be where his family was, and if his family were traditionally Slytherin, then that’s where he’d be likely to be placed. However, if his elder brother was already at Hogwarts and already in Slytherin, I can see Ward pushing with all his might to be Sorted into the House diametrically opposite it. If he’s Muggleborn, and the first of his family to go to Hogwarts, I think the waters are a bit more murky, even though Slytherin isn’t traditionally a House inclined to Muggleborns. (Incidentally, my first ever Potter fic was about the fate of a Muggleborn Slytherin during the Books Six and Seven.)
knitting in the dark 