I was really impressed by Magdalena’s project. Not only did she take the time to research what houses the certain characters would be sorted into from “Yuri, On Ice,” but she also took the time to draw each character and dress them in clothes of their corresponding houses.

I’m a sucker for art, and stuff like this just blows me away. I don’t think people like Magdalena get enough credit for doing artistry like this. If I were to try to draw something freehand, it would seriously look like a stick figure. She was saying after her presentation that one character, alone, took her a couple of hours to do and I’m betting that’s more time than most of us would spend on a project like this.

I was also really impressed at all of the research that she did. She took the time to break down each house and see what qualities a member of that house would have. She would also have to have a lot of knowledge on the characters from the show (which, I’m betting, wasn’t too hard if she finds the show enjoyable). I was even impressed by the slideshow presentation and how the sorting hat would come in from out of screen! And I think having the class interact with the presentation was the icing on the cake. She did a really good job. I just really appreciated how much thought and effort she put into it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Magdalena’s presentation on Yuri!!! on Ice characters sorted into their respective Hogwarts houses resonated with me not only because I enjoyed the show but because the ability to apply houses to characters outside of the Harry Potter canon is something that has allowed the series to remain relevant. Even on Pottermore the main appeal is for visitors to be able to find out how they’d fit into the Harry Potter universe with their own wands, patronuses, and houses. Like she pointed out, though, there can be many ways to interpret how characters would be sorted, which isn’t necessarily bad – it’s true in the canon of the books as well (such as Harry being either a Slytherin or Gryffindor, or Hermione being a Ravenclaw or Gryffindor.)

With that said, I would argue for different sortings for some of the characters she showed, most specifically with Yuri and Yurio. Yuri, for instance, although shy and uncertain in a lot of things changes throughout the series and shows a different side of himself on the ice (and when partying after drinking his sorrows away) that reflects more of a Slytherin than a Hufflepuff; he also needs to have external validation in order to believe in himself, and his shyness leads to a more individually-oriented lifestyle. Additionally, Yuri ignored a younger skater who looked up to him until Victor pointed it out to him, so he’s a bit more self-centered than things let on.

Yurio, on the other hand, despite his abrasive personality, performs best when driven by his emotions, which I would argue to be a stereotypically Hufflepuffcharacter trait. Also, even though he often gives other characters the cold shoulder off the ice, he has a change of heart when in the rink and generally cheers others on. And considering Magdalena shifted driven by passion toHufflepuff’s side, I’d say that Yurio is far more driven by his desire to be a great skater than any form of reason. Despite my disagreements, it’s still true that Magdalena’s sortings are well-thought out and just as “canon” as my own, because when it all comes down to it, the Sorting Hat takes the choice of the wizard into account.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I really liked Magdalena’s Remix project! I could tell she put a lot of work into it and that she was interested in her idea. I had seen people sort characters from other fandoms into Hogwarts houses, but I liked that she did some actual research about the houses and looked at what the values are for each house before sorting the people. The information she had about the houses was cool to see, because it took dichotomous concepts and put them in the houses so you could see how certain houses were similar and different.