Sorting AU

Tropes and genres
Tropes and genres
Synonym(s)	re-sorting
Related tropes/genres	Hogwarts Houses, Hogwarts AU
See also	Hogwarts, Canon Divergence AU, Mirror Universe
	Related articles on Fanlore.
	Contents 1 Draco Malfoy 1.1 Gryffindor!Draco; 1.2 Ravenclaw!Draco; ; 2 Harry Potter 2.1 Hufflepuff!Harry; 2.2 Ravenclaw!Harry; 2.3 Slytherin!Harry; ; 3 Ron Weasley 3.1 Slytherin!Ron; ; 4 Hermione Granger 4.1 Slytherin!Hermione; ; 5 Ginny Weasley 5.1 Slytherin!Ginny; ; 6 Tom Riddle; 7 Lots of people resorted; 8 Resources; 9 References;

Sorting AU is a term used for Harry Potter Alternate Universe fanfiction or other fanworks that imagine what would happen if canon characters had been sorted into a different Hogwarts House; for example Harry Potter getting sorted into Slytherin instead of Gryffindor, or Draco Malfoy gets sorted into Ravenclaw instead of Slytherin.

Sometimes just one character is sorted differently, other times several House allocations are changed. The most common characters are probably Harry and Draco, but there are multiple sorting AUs for Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Severus Snape, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, and occasional ones for most major characters.

The trope is one of the most widely written in the fandom, to the extent it is sometimes regarded as a cliché. Works vary from cracky to serious examinations the value systems of non-Gryffindor Houses and/or the extent to which a character's fate in the HPverse is affected by his/her House. In some non-Slytherin Draco stories, for example, Draco resists Voldemort and fights on Harry's side. Sometimes there are prior divergences from canon, which often explain why the character is assigned a different House; for example in the Ravenclaw!Harry epic Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, Petunia Evans marries someone other than Vernon Dursley so that Harry has a different upbringing. Sorting AUs vary from ficlets recounting just the sorting process to epics giving a blow-by-blow account of seven years of canon, with the different spin conferred by the altered House. Some sorting AUs examine all four possible House choices in separate stories.

The trope can be used to allow positive interactions between characters canonically sorted into different (antagonistic) Houses, including cross-House ships and mentoring stories. The epic type is often used as an excuse for world building, and tends to develop minor characters from the alternative House.

Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples.

Draco Malfoy

Gryffindor!Draco

Perhaps one of the most famous examples of the trope , "A Slytherin in Gryffindor Clothing" [1] by Mahaliem, has Draco wake in an alternate universe where he is in Gryffindor and Harry in Slytherin.

Ravenclaw!Draco

If You've a Ready Mind by Maya

Harry Potter

Hufflepuff!Harry

Harry the Hufflepuff, ^{Archived version} by lullabyknell (June 2016); podfic by Opalsong (Jan. 2017)
- Hufflepuff!Harry being entered into the Triwizard Tournament, ^{Archived version} by lullabyknell (Oct. 2016); podfic by Opalsong (Jan. 2017)

Ravenclaw!Harry

Twenty Things About Harry Potter (Ravenclaw, 7th Year), Twenty Things About Ron Weasley (A Hufflepuff), and Three Untitled Moments (link) by Mad Martha. Ron is a Hufflepuff in these.
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky. Popular epic in which Petunia Evans marries a scientist, and Harry (& Hermione) are sorted into Ravenclaw.

Slytherin!Harry

On the Way to Greatness by mira mirth
Expectations by Potterworm
House Colours [2] by Sarka. Also includes Gryffindor!Draco and Slytherin!Hermione.
Another famous example is A Friend like Me by Lady Vader [3] in which Draco imagines what things would have been like if he had managed to befriend Harry, including Harry being sorted into Slytherin. A similar concept is explored in The If Sieve [4].
Better Be Slytherin! by jharad17. Snape mentors & eventually adopts an abused Harry
The Sacrifices Arc by Lightning on the Wave is possibly the longest Slytherin!Harry AU written, with a full seven book arc that is very different from canon and much darker than the original series. Saving Connor is the first book.