Iowa, A Hogwarts Legacy: Sort These Iowa Cities Into Harry Potter Houses
It has been 12 years since the final Harry Potter movie was released from the original series and 16 years since the final book. Many years later, Harry Potter is back at the center of pop culture. With the release of the new Harry Potter video game "Hogwarts Legacy", old fans and new have been sharing their experience all over the internet.
While the game is currently only available on next-generation consoles and to PC users, it has been at the forefront of the gaming universe since its release on February 10th. PS4 and Xbox 1 users can expect to jump into the Hogwarts Legacy universe this April.
With the sudden upswing in new Harry Potter fans, I want your help in sorting these 4 Iowa cities into the 4 Hogwarts houses. For those of you who aren't fans of HP books, movies, or video games, the Wizarding school sorts every new student into a house that suits their strengths. The 4 houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. According to Wizarding World, here are the traits of each house:
Gryffindor - "is where you would find the pluckiest and most daring students. There’s a reason the house symbol is the brave lion."
Slytherin - "are most likely ambitious, shrewd and possibly destined for greatness. We can imagine you’re the kind of person who is always one step ahead and has a dark sense of humor. While it is true that a lot of dark witches and wizards were sorted into Slytherin, not all who belong to this house are bad."
Ravenclaw - "demonstrated excellent wisdom, wit, and a skill for learning. Ravenclaws are often known for being quite eccentric and most of the great wizarding inventors and innovators have come from this house."
Hufflepuff - "is where you will find the most trustworthy and hardworking students. In fact, out of all the houses Hufflepuff has produced the least number of dark witches and wizards. There is an idea that Hufflepuffs are the least clever of all Hogwarts students – but that is not true. Hufflepuffs are just the most humble of all the houses and don’t feel the need to shout about their achievements in the same way as the others."
If you had to sort these 4 Iowa cities into a different house, where would you place Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, and Waterloo? We'll start with the 3 cities in the eastern part of Iowa.
Cedar Rapids - I hate to do this but just like in the books, Slytherin always seems to be the second fiddle to Gryffindor. Whenever something new and exciting is coming to the state of Iowa, it always seems to end up in the state's capitol. I could see why the citizens of Cedar Rapids would hold a grudge against the most populated city in the state.
Iowa City - Iowa City is placed into Ravenclaw. While there are plenty of incredible colleges in the state of Iowa, the school with the most enrolled students is located in Iowa City. According to UIowa, there were 31,317 students enrolled in the fall of 2022 and the university cracks the list of the top 100 best schools in the nation, according to US News.
Waterloo - There's no question in my mind that the 6th biggest city in Iowa belongs in Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff is the least talked about house in the books and while Waterloo might not get talked about as often as these other cities, it is still home to many incredible people and hard-working individuals. According to the Des Moines Register, the John Deere factory employs about 1,500 people and they don't need to brag about that. Everyone in Iowa knows exactly where and how big the John Deere factory is.
Des Moines - The biggest and most popular city in the state of Iowa ends up in Gryffindor. This is by far the most popular house amongst fans and by sheer size alone, Des Moines is placed in the same house as the main character. *Spoiler Alert* The most popular house in the books/movies wins in an epic fight at the end. With the size of Des Moines, they probably win in any battle amongst cities in Iowa.
Do you agree? Where would you place these 4 cities in Iowa if they were going to be sorted into a Hogwarts house?