ROBRON WEEK 2020
Day 2: Criminal
mischief managed
Murderer Aaron Dingle has escaped from Azkaban and Daily Prophet reporter Robert Sugden is determined to be the one to find him. But the more he investigates the story, the more he realises the facts just don’t add up...
What do you think Jack Sugden’s hogwarts house would be?
My reigning theory is that Jack is one of those old-school Gryffindors who wants all his kids to be one too. Sarah was a Ravenclaw, which Robert wanted to be too, though Jack always presumed Robert would be a Gryffindor like him and Andy. (To be fair, it’s a miracle Andy even gets in. He’s only one notch above a squib).
Only poor Robert found out about his father’s affair just before he left for Hogwarts, and so with his illusions of the father he once idolised shattered, he agrees immediately to what the Sorting Hat recognises in him: he’d make an excellent Slytherin.
Jack flips out, Sarah is supportive. Years later, Vic is sorted into Hufflepuff.
What’s Aaron’s house?
I go back and forth on this a lot, because the Dingles as a whole would be Hufflepuffs. (The mascot is a badger, the house values loyalty, and the whole affinity for plants and animals thing. Not to mention the Dingle farm aesthetic fits what I presume the Hogwarts common room to be like — close to the kitchens and warm and cozy.) Of course, there would be outliers — like Cain, possibly.
But Aaron himself is very definitely a Gryffindor, especially when he was younger and even more hard headed and impulsive than he is now. He’d be scared of his feelings (both about his sexuality and, perhaps, Gordon), but not afraid to do the right thing, even though he might end up doing the wrong one in the name of love and friendship. So of course the hat recognises this and before he can even place it on his head, it yells, “Gryffindor!”
Later, a second year Robert will find a first year Aaron sobbing in an alcove that has become he favourite reading/fuming nook and he’ll ask him what’s wrong. It’ll take some time, but he’ll eventually work it out: Aaron doesn’t think he’s brave enough to be a Gryffindor. This is where Robert will tell him that the houses aren’t just about who you are, but also about who you want to be. “So if you’re not feeling your bravest right now. That’s alright. You can try and be brave tomorrow.”
