Gryffindor

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

- The Sorting Hat

Gryffindor is one of the four Houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, founded by Godric Gryffindor. Its emblematic animal is the lion and its colours are scarlet and gold. Minerva McGonagall is the most recent Head of House. Nearly Headless Nick is the house ghost. The particular characteristics of students Sorted into Gryffindor are courage and chivalry, of which the lion is the symbol. Gryffindor corresponds roughly to the element of fire, which may partly be the reason for its colours.

Common Room
The Gryffindor Common Room is located in one of the castle's towers, the entrance to which is located on the seventh floor and is guarded by a painting of the Fat Lady, who is garbed in a pink dress. She permits entry only after being given the correct (regularly changing) password. Behind her is a large common room, with a fireplace, and two staircases leading up to the boys' and girls' dormitories.

Reputation
Gryffindor emphasises the traits of courage as well as "daring, nerve and chivalry", and thus its members are generally regarded as brave, though sometimes to the point of recklessness. Notably, Gryffindor house contributed many members to Dumbledore's Army and the Order of the Phoenix. According to Phineas Nigellus Black, members of other houses, particularly Slytherin, sometimes feel that Gryffindors engage in "pointless heroics". Another Slytherin, Severus Snape, considered many Gryffindors to be self-righteous and arrogant, with no regard for rules.

However, this may be taken with a grain of salt, as Gryffindors and Slytherins have shared a fierce house rivalry since their founders, Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin, respectively, had a severe falling out over Slytherin's emphasis on blood purity. There might also be an element of jealousy; since the sorting of Harry Potter into Gryffindor, the house received a certain amount of publicity that they hadn't had before. Harry and his fellow Gryffindors tend to win in a lot of circumstances which, when viewed from a Slytherin's point of view, may be considered unfair. Examples of this include the last-minute points awarded by Headmaster Dumbledore at the end of term feast, which conveniently put Gryffindor ten points ahead of Slytherin in the 1991-1992 school year. Harry also received special permission from Professor McGonagall to have his own broomstick for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, even though first-years are not normally permitted their own broomstick. Even members of other houses might have felt that Gryffindor received favouritism, considering that many saw Harry being chosen as the fourth competitor in the Triwizard Tournament as stealing Cedric Diggory's thunder unfairly and being an example of Gryffindors' attention-seeking behaviour.

List of Known Gryffindors

 * Abercrombie, Euan (1995 - 2002
 * Bell, Katie (1990 - 1997)
 * Black, Sirius (1971 - 1978)
 * Brown, Lavender (1991 - 1998)
 * Coote, Ritchie (1990s)
 * Creevey, Colin (1992 - 1998) (died in what would have been sixth year)
 * Creevey, Dennis (1994 - 2001)
 * de Mimsy Porpington, Sir Nicholas (14th Century)
 * Dumbledore, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian (1892)-(1899)
 * Evans, Lily (1971 - 1978)
 * Finnigan, Seamus (1991 - 1998)
 * Granger, Hermione Jean (1991 - 1997) (did not attend final year but returned in 1998 to get N.E.W.Ts)
 * Hagrid, Rubeus (1940 - 1943) (expelled for uncommited crimes in his 3rd year.)
 * Johnson, Angelina (1989 - 1996)
 * Jordan, Lee (1989 - 1996)
 * Kirke, Andrew (1990s)
 * Longbottom, Neville (1991 - 1998)
 * Lupin, Remus (c. 1971 - c. 1978)
 * MacDonald, Mary (c. 1971 - c. 1978 ?)
 * McDonald, Natalie (1994 - 2001)
 * McGonagall, Minerva (1937 - 1944)
 * McLaggen, Cormac (1990 - 1997)
 * Patil, Parvati (1991 - 1998)
 * Peakes, Jimmy (c. 1994 - c. 2001)
 * Pettigrew, Peter (1971 - 1978)
 * Potter, Harry James (1991 - 1997) (did not attend final year)
 * Potter, James (1971 - 1978)
 * Potter, James Sirius (2015 or 2016) - (2022 or 2023)
 * Prewett, Molly (1961 - 1968)
 * Robins, Demelza (1994 - 2001)
 * Sloper, Jack (1990s)
 * Spinnet, Alicia (1989 - 1996)
 * Thomas, Dean (1991 - 1997) (did not attend final year)
 * Vane, Romilda (1993 - 2000)
 * Weasley, Arthur (1961 - 1968)
 * Weasley, Bill (1982 - 1989)
 * Weasley, Charlie (1984 - 1991)
 * Weasley, Fred (1989 - 1996) (left early)
 * Weasley, George (1989 - 1996) (left early)
 * Weasley, Ginevra Molly (1992 - 1999)
 * Weasley, Percy Ignatius (1987 - 1994)
 * Weasley, Ronald Bilius (1991 - 1997) (did not attend final year)
 * Wood, Oliver (1987 - 1994)
 * Nigel (1994 - 2001)
 * Frank Longbottom
 * Alice Longbottom

Behind the scenes
Many members of the Gryffindor house seem to have a gift for Transfiguration, there are four known Animagi from this house (James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Minerva McGonagall). Also, Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall were both Tranfiguration professors while they were Heads of this house.