I have recently been re-watching the Harry Potter series and I noticed something rather odd about it, I am sure most of you have too, if you're that interested. How come all the villains are in slytherin, just because Tom Riddle was a slytherin doesn't mean every witch or wizard in the slytherin house has to be bad! (spoiler alert: to give insight to where I am coming from, I have been sorted as a slytherin)

Let's see what it takes to be classified into each house:

Gryffindor: "You might belong in Gryffindor,//Where dwell the brave at heart,//Their daring, nerve, and chivalry// Set Gryffindors apart"—The Sorting Hat^[src]

So we start with the "brave of heart" otherwise known as one who has courage. Obiviously this is what gryffindors are known for. In addition they are known for their "daring, nerve" or put more negatively; their lack of impulse control and their overwhelming sense of justice and determination. And finally their chivalry, a rather redeeming trait to make up for their "nerve." So overall there are ways that a gryffindor's heart of gold can go south due to their trait of having too much nerve. There is always a possibility for evil, unfortunately.

Slytherin: "Or perhaps in Slytherin,//You'll make your real friends,//Those cunning folk use any means,//To achieve their ends."—The Sorting Hat^[src]

I chose to do slytherin next to showcase the similarities of the two aforementioned houses and also their stark contrasts. Making your "real friends" shows the intense loyalty slytherin has to those they care about, if a slytherin cares so much about those close to them watch out (this is of course where they are the same as gryffindors) The second part, cunning. Slytherins tend to be resourceful and use their ambition to do anything to get their way, and obviously this leads to an interpretation that using any means to achieve their ends means something evil; however slytherins can be ambitious in other ways.

Hufflepuff: "You might belong in Hufflepuff,//Where they are just and loyal,//Those patient Hufflepuffs are true,//And unafraid of toil"—The Sorting Hat^[src]

Hufflepuff is a house that is near and dear to my heart, I know many good hufflepuffs. It starts as being just and loyal, oftentimes in a different way than gryffindors and slytherins. Hufflepuffs have courage but they aren't outright about restoring justice in the same way gryffindors are, they go about things differently. And when it comes to loyalty hufflepuffs are oftentimes more fierce than slytherins. The final two traits are unique only to hufflepuffs "patience" and being "unafraid of toil" these two traits go hand in hand, hufflepuffs don't mind bearing wrongs patiently, they take a lot and keep it to themselves dealing with a lot of internal strife, if you ask me this particular trait is one of the strongest of all the houses and normally very underestimated.

Ravenclaw: "Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,//If you've a ready mind,//Where those of wit and learning,//Will always find their kind."—The Sorting Hat^[src]

Ravenclaw is also a very underrated house filled with cleverness and wit. It begins with a "ready mind" meaning someone who is very sharp is normally sorted here. In case you forgot, Luna Lovegood was sorted into ravenclaw, so despite her quirkiness, she had to have been very bright. To the second part "wit and learning" those how have a thirst for knowledge tend to be in ravenclaw, even if that knowledge is facts about some obscure indie band that one happens to know everything about. Ravenclaws are normally the brains of an operation and occasionally will take leadership positions because of that.

In Summation. Any one of the houses could be portrayed as turning evil, however each house has a quality unique to itself and given the opportunity the good traits will always outrun the bad