His enemies destroyed his rep/America forgot him....

[eldabe]

Dear Fandom,

Half of you are wrong*. Alexander Hamilton is THE MOST RIDICULOUS GRYFFINDOR EVER.

I know we've been spending a lot of time fighting against the Gryffindor superiority implicit in HP** and we want to redeem Slytherin all over the internet, but Hamilton once challenged the entire Democratic-Republican party to a duel. He stole canons from the British in Revolutionary War. He published the Reynolds pamphlet. HAMMY YOU IDIOOOT.

He challenged Burr to a duel when he had a two-year-old son at home and extensive debts that were going to fall on his wife. And which house is full of people too busy rushing in to DO THE THING to realize what idiots they are being? Gryffindor.

Just saying. Hamilton didn't die at the youngest age of all the Founding Fathers with a fairly questionable reputation by cunningly using all his means to achieve his ends.

_____

*I don't actually care if you want to argue Hamilton as a Slytherin. Like, this is what fandom is FOR. Go to. Have fun.

**I HAVE A LOT OF THOUGHTS, maybe I'll get around to it after my prepare-for-the-play HP re-read.

Comments

[batyatoon]

SUCH A GRYFFINDOR, omg.

Although I suspect the Hat would take a while to decide, because he has enough ambition and thirst to prove himself to have done well in Slytherin.

[eldabe]

In my head, I picture Alex sitting on the stool with the hat on his head and his BIG FANART EYES and before the hat can say anything Hammy's all "THERE'S A THOUSAND THINGS I HAVEN'T DONE JUST YOU WAAAIIIIIT!" and the hat goes "Ayup, this one's for Godric."

There are Slytherin traits in him! I just picture the line between them that Slytherin's think honor is mostly an artificial construct that is largely malleable depending on the circumstances and Gryffindor's would NEVER SACRIFICE HONOR JUST TO WIN HOW DARE YOU.

But, you know, fandom. Variable. :D

[batyatoon]

No nononono, "THERE'S A THOUSAND THINGS I HAVEN'T DONE BUT JUST YOU WAIT" is a Slytherin quality! That's ambition!

The Gryffindor comes in with his inability/unwillingness to hide how he really feels about anything/anyone, and his frustration at being sidelined from the actual fighting, and his bone-deep certainty that he and his side will win because they're morally in the right.

[eldabe]

Tonal difference, I guess? Hamilton would be on the edge of his seat, ready to pull the sword of Gryffindor out of the had and, like, do something stupid and IMPRESSIVE with it. Slytherin would be tense, focused, less capital letters.

Gryffindor's can have ambition. Hermione did. So did Cedric, he's a Hufflepuff! I don't think ambition is the sole dominion of Slytherin. "Cunning folk use any means to achieve their ends." <-- Slytherin's.

Now, the later poem (I am doing this off the top of my head, typos expected.) "by Gryffindor/the bravest were/most worthy of admission...while power hungry Slytherin/loved those of great ambition." Which argues that all Salzar wanted was ambition, we know it's more than that. Tom Riddle was an ambitious orphan too, but while both of them craved power and recognition, I can't imagine Tom Riddle wanting to start in a war as a soldier. He would have been happy as Washington's secretary, building a power base to then run for president when George stepped down.

NOW I AM WRITING TOM RIDDLE AU.

I dunno, I think it's how the ambition expresses itself that marks a lot of the difference. We have hard-working Slytherins and brave Ravenclaws, so the whole things a hodge-podge. For Gryffiondor, it would have been how the bravery expresses itself as well - bravery sans ambition works for Gryffindor, while ambition sans bravery is fine for Slytherin.