If you're a Potter-head, like many of us are, you were probably extremely disappointed when you turned 11 years old and didn't receive your Hogwarts letter. Going away to college for the first time probably brought all of the painful memories back; you wouldn't get to hang out in the Gryffindor common room, or have a Christmas celebration in the Great Hall. So, for all of you nostalgic Harry Potter fans at American, let's enact our childhood dreams of attending Hogwarts.
Anderson/Letts/Centennial: Slytherin
The Anderson, Letts, and Centennial building is without a doubt the most evil of all AU housing. Anderson and Letts are halls for freshman who come to DC filled with ambition. They plan to leave American fluent in over three languages (critical languages of course) and are on the track towards becoming the future Ambassador to China or the next Hilary Clinton. Don’t worry, the souls of these Slytherin first-years will soon be broken by the World Politics requirement in the SIS curriculum. They will then turn into disdainful sophomores living in Centennial. Their insides will turn sour as they rue the fact that their housing lottery times were not early enough to get a suite in Cassell. Now, they have to deal with fire alarms going off at least twice a week, freshman being transported every night and getting Housing and Dining emails asking residents not to defecate in the elevators (I’m looking at you Anderson Hall, Fall semester 2k14.) It’s enough to make anyone bitter.
Hughes: Ravenclaw
Hughes was constructed in 1962 as a woman’s only residents hall; Rowena Ravenclaw was a woman. Coincidence? I think not. The AU Housing and Dining program describes Hughes as a hall that “tends to have students that are highly engaged in their academics." Seeing as this dorm houses the honors, scholars, and three-year bachelor’s programs, it is only natural that it would be compared with the most academically devoted house at Hogwarts.
Leonard: Hufflepuff
Don’t know where Leonard Hall is located? That’s okay, you’re not alone. Luckily, Hufflepuffs are particularly good finders. Leonard Hall can be found hidden behind the amphitheater and is home to transfer students, foreign exchange students and Anderson/Letts refugees who have been de-tripled and relocated to the north side. It is essentially a hall of misfits, but the community is strong and loyal to each other. They like to lie low because getting anywhere from Leonard Hall is very unappealing. However, they are courageous when they have to be, like when public safety does not salt the amphitheater pathways in the winter, forcing students to walk up and down the slope at their own peril. Not that I’m speaking from experience, I’ve never slipped down the entire amphitheater ramp on my butt while two boys laughed at me from a fifth floor laundry room window. That never happened.
Cassell: Gryffindor
Cassell Hall is easily the most coveted on-campus housing option at the university. It is filled with students who understood that their choice to live in a suite-style dorm could potentially land them back on south campus in the Centennial suites, but took the risk regardless. A move like that shows courage—the kind of courage it takes to be in Gryffindor House. If the dorms were to have a house-cup tournament, Cassell would win every year.
Clark/Roper: Cupboard Under the Stairs
Clark and Roper Halls can be found in the corner of campus behind the SIS and library buildings. They are the smallest dorm buildings, largely secluded from the rest of the campus, and their gardens remind us an awful lot of the bushes that Harry hid under in Aunt Petunia’s garden so that he could listen to the news in the "Order of the Phoenix." Plus, have you ever met anyone who lives in those halls? What programs are housed there? How do you get placed in those rooms? Do Clark/Roper residents even exist?
Nebraska: Hogsmeade
