I already answered this privately to say yes (and I’ll probably reblog it when you do) but like, yeah, I need to talk about this some more, because I think it’s one of the major misconceptions people have about Meg (especially vs. Ruby) that informs their entire terrible and romanticized view of her character as just some steadfast, loyal, hardworking soldier in whatever group she’s in, a True Neutral who was deathly loyal to her father, then her Father, then her unicorn, and did whatever they needed her to do cos she loved them so much. /eyeroll.

Hufflepuffs are a loyal that costs you. They’re a loyal that hurts, that tears you apart if it’s challenged, that’s near unbreakable. They’re a loyal like angels are to God, like Cas is to angels, like Dean is to Winchesters, a loyal of “we’re family and that means forever” that isn’t entirely choice, that’s almost guaranteed to be slightly codependent. Hufflepuffs are all about being just, being fair, being kind/nice (because those are two different things imo). Hufflepuffs care about people as individuals, separate from whatever relationship they themselves have to them, and it can mean far too much empathy, which, take it from a half-Huffle, can mean a lot of victimization that we by nature justify. Hufflepuffs don’t just serve, they work hard to serve well, to serve as far as they can possibly go, and generally the causes pick them, because generally their loyalty and hard work go into a very “do it honestly and do it for x person or group”.

These are not Meg qualities or Meg values. Meg is not Hufflepuff loyal, she’s Slytherin smart, good at picking causes (ambitions), at finding the person who’ll get her to her self-serving ambition, and that loyalty is easily breakable if it’s misused and she wants to ‘grow’ aka ‘find new allies to do something else for myself whether they like it or not’. Meg is not fair, nor is Meg just, nor does Meg do the hard work when she can take the easy route by manipulating someone or delegating to minions. Meg doesn’t give a fuck about literally anyone as an individual, whatsoever; only what she can get out of them and what relationship she can cultivate (usually with almost all the benefits on her side for any of them) by any means necessary (without thought toward the other individual’s agency in the process). Meg is not nice, nor kind, but she’s gratified that you think so, because it is her cunning that made you believe that—that again and again she is able to use against actual kind people (Sam, Dean and Jo [as Sam], Cas) their own desperation to find an ally to trust or someone else like them. Meg doesn’t want to be a soldier, to fall into routine and happily work with a loyal group; Meg wants to be queen. “Her time is coming” and she’ll get there by any means, even if it means she needs “friends” she doesn’t like or trust (but finds it easy, with sinister demonic intuitive empathy, to predict and control).

Meg is also a Gryffindor. Choosing a cause and building your morality around it can happen to both Gryffindors and Slytherins, but Gryffindors find it harder to adapt, whine about how “messy” it is (if that can even be trusted from Meg) that they can’t have the same code of morality (or amorality, in Meg’s case: she misses the Apocalypse because then she got to do whatever she wanted but her survival instinct has made her neutralize that to keep appearances, lest she be killed by her uneasy allies, TFW, and thus fail to kill and usurp Crowley) because the situation changed. Meg is very much that graphic of her, “be the trouble you want to see in the world”, picking causes that mean a lot of amoral adventure, a lot of chauvinism. She directly disobeys Azazel by the long, purposeful jaunt she goes on to fuck with Sam and Dean in 2x14 (and yet is brave enough to approach them in S6), she taunts and attempts to taint an angel for funsies, she laughs at being tortured/raped with a knife. 

She’s so brazen that she even reveals her manipulation to Sam in 7x21 despite the fact that she’s manipulated him before, and her single-minded “I’ll die before this doesn’t happen” self-sacrificing last stand in both 6x10 and 8x17 were very Gryffindor. Her bold and anti-survivalist stubbornness because of how she feels about Crowley, her refusal to be a double agent (as most demons are) in order to gain Crowley’s trust and then screw him (as she does so expertly) is very Gryffindor. Even her woefully OOC “go save my unicorn” bullshit (which is partially Slytherin tbh because she has to get them out for them to try again if she dies fighting Crowley, and that they “had her” at killing him is as pigheaded and foolishly martyring as Dean taking the Mark the next season: she’s always been his lightyears darker mirror) is not treating them as agents, but being chivalrous (and one of the primary elements of the original chivalry is transactional; Meg’s “I did things for you and you don’t trust me?” is very Gryffindor).

I don’t know where the fuck this “Hufflepuff!Meg” nonsense came from but I’d like it to go back there because it alternately makes me bitter about how people misunderstand her (and transpose Ruby’s traits and reasons and FAE onto her, goddamnit I hate that) to this icky and abuse apologist extent so that they can romanticize/idealize her and say “she and Cas were MFEO” 

(LOL NO; they’re both half-Slytherins but Meg is the kind of oppressive racist already-powerful traditionalist Slytherin JK primarily showed and Cas is the kind of Slytherin JK didn’t really show us who would hate those, the fabled Good Slytherin whose ambitions accomplished at any cost are justice-related, whose primary shit he wants done [ambition!!!] are not exclusively for him, who in the book would’ve tried to undo the oppressive Slytherins’ regime from the inside so that everybody could be self-directed as Slytherin supposedly is, with the appropriate cunning—who does that w/ angels in S6; if anybody were MFEO, it’s Ruby and Cas, who’re both those kinds of Slytherpuffs who got taken because they wanted out and had an ambition of helping others [“you saved us”] and faced such an intense and painful conflict of loyalties in their most Slytherin seasons, who were willing to do the hard work, who cared about fairness and individuals [to a varied extent cos Ruby cares less than Cas cares less than the Winchesters] and their agency. Those two would’ve been friends once they got past the initial demon vs. angel enmity and ended up on the same side versus Lucifer’s regime [cos it wasn’t going to save anyone], without one of them needing to abuse the other into tolerating them, without sexual assault and acquaintance rape via Stockholm Syndrome.) 

and EXTREMELY AMUSED, CRYING LAUGHING amused, that people could get Meg “Baby I’ve killed a lot more for a lot less. // We’re gonna win! You lost the universe! // I’ll take power where I can get it, I’ve got myself to look out for // Hi, I’m Meg, I’m a demon [in response to ‘you just let a bunch of people die so you could buy time?’]” Masters that fucking wrong.

Because the Houses are way too boxed in, in the books, to fit fleshed out characters/people. To call someone only one House usually leaves out a big part of who they are. People are not actually archetypes. Characters who are so well-written they develop personhood are not archetypes. Castiel and Dean are both core-deep defined by loyalty and hard work, but Dean is defined by heroism as a never-ending moral imperative formed by his loyalty, even when he can't do it, and,

Castiel is defined by getting shit done that sometimes is morally fueled but is often loyalty fueled, that's his most evident trait, that when he wants shit done, he gets it done (that's what AMBITION MEANS), he goes desperate and mentally beats the crap out of himself when he can't: not because he's not doing right, but because he's not doing anything: the only time this changes is when Castiel literally cannot do anything, as in, neuroatypicality-related inertia prevents him.

Even when it's past the point of being able to believe he's right, Castiel continues the S6 goal because he has to stop Raphael: "if we can beat Raphael, we can end this." That's how he puts it: not "I have to save the world because it's the right thing to do" (except when he's talking to Gryffindors) but "I have to do this specific thing, which by the way will help you too". Castiel may, on the surface, have Gryffindorishness (I have toyed with the idea of him being a Slytherdor at best) especially when he's "doing things because of Dean", but when push comes to shove he's Slytherpuff. Slytherin and Hufflepuff, the latter only marginally more than the former.

Let me put it even further. Castiel's "Am I doing it the right way? What if I'm wrong?" was put to God, to whom he is still loyal enough to want to please Him with what he does, with the righteousness he believed for millennia that God expected of him, if he can't please Dean. The person who says "you're worried about them figuring out you're not righteous" is Crowley, who does not have the kind of understanding of non-selfish reasons to keep what Castiel is keeping from the Winchesters to understand that that's not the reason, who thinks the only reason has to be worry for his reputation. Even when Crowley talks about "his little pets", he does it in a mocking way, as though the boys can't possibly really affect Cas except by matter of utility. And when Crowley challenges him like that, "if they believe it, you get to believe it" his response is "Don't touch them or I'll tear it down" because his ambition is only equaled by his chosen loyalties.

[watching the last three of S6 for posterity]:

"I was so full of confidence, of mission" > rewarded loyalty by God as he'd been brought back, and ambition, "it was nearly impossible" to retrieve Sam. The anger he feels at himself for not actually succeeding in his ambition is palpable in the way he talks about his "arrogance...hubris".

"If you don't, we will both die, again and again, until the end of time." > Self-preservation.

"And the worst part was Dean, trying so hard to be loyal, every instinct telling him otherwise." > Castiel valuing loyalty in the one he's chosen to be loyal to and feeling it like a blow that he's unworthy of it.

"I had no choice. I did it to protect the boys. Or to protect myself. I don't know anymore." > More self-preservation and loyalty as important.

"No. No one leads us anymore. We're all free to make our own choices, and to choose our own fates." "God wants you to have freedom." Ambition: to free the angels of enslavement through obligation and abuse. Method: undiscovered.

"Then I won't let you." > His ambition's method, which ultimately becomes the ambition itself. His goal. To kill Raphael, free himself from his control, and free the angels and humans as well.

"But I didn't go to them. Because I knew they would have questions I couldn't answer. Because I was afraid." > More self-preservation.

"But on the other hand, they were my friends." "For a brief moment, I was me again." "Wonder never cease, they trusted me again. But it was just another lie."

"If you touch a HAIR on their heads, I will tear it all down, our arrangement, everything." Crisis. of. loyalties.

"What was I doing with this vermin? As if I didn't already know the answer. Raphael was stronger than me; I wouldn't survive a straight fight." > TELL ME AGAIN, FRIENDS, THAT THIS WASN'T AT ALL ABOUT SELF-PRESERVATION.

"I'm talking about happy endings for all of us. With all entendres intended." Crowley says, as in "everybody you're loyal to".

"What can I do but submit or die?" "I'm not strong enough and you know it." "You're asking me to be the next Lucifer." And Crowley uses God's love as the reason why Castiel is not. Not "you're better than he is" but "God loves you."

"This is ridiculous. The amount of power it would take to mount a war..."

"No, not Dean. He's retired and he's to stay that way." LOYALTY.

"This is pointless. Your plan would take months, and I need help now." Never forget Castiel had a day. And note how Castiel doesn't refuse the plan based on its immorality, but because it's not going to do what he wants it to fast enough.

Also, Crowley uses the words "everything you've worked for, everything Sam and Dean have, gone" to manipulate Castiel: undoing his success.

Castiel knows the plan is likely not right anymore: however he must do what is necessary, no matter what, "I had no choice". "So went the road of good intentions...the one that led me here."

"I did it to protect you. I did it to protect all of you." Loyalty. "To get the souls. I can stop Raphael." The ends justify the means.

"You don't understand. It's complicated." Moral greyness is necessary. To do what is necessary, he can't pay attention to "should".

"You should have come to us for help, Cas." "Maybe. It's too late now. I can't turn back now. I can't." Ambition at. any. cost. Castiel has reasons why he wants to accomplish his ambition, but said ambition is clear: get the power and kill Raphael. Beyond whether it's right or wrong, he has to do what's necessary.

"I know what I'm doing, Dean." "You're the one who taught me that freedom and Free Will--" and there's the reason, right there, for his ambition. His loyalty to his family, to Dean's cause, and to his Father. His goal to kill Raphael, to give Free Will to everyone.

"If you don't give me a sign (that this is right), I'm going to do whatever I must." Castiel's ambitions will still be accomplished, whether they're right or not. They're necessary.

---

"It's a means to an end." "To win the war."

"All i ask is this one thing." "To trust your plan?" "I've earned that, Dean."

---

"Enough. I don't care what you think. I've tried to make you understand, and you won't listen. So just, please, go home and let me stop Raphael. I won't ask again." Ambition over loyalty.

"I wish it hadn't come to this. Well, rest assured, when this is all over, I will save Sam, but only if you stand down." Loyalty warring with ambition. An ultimatum made that if you betray him, his loyalty is burned.

And then he betrays Crowley. "You think I'm handing all that power to the King of Hell? I'm neither stupid nor wicked." "You either flee, or you die." Giving Crowley a chance, being fair, but also making it clear that his attachment to Crowley was not loyalty, Crowley was a means to an end like the rest: to achieve his ambition of killing Raphael and winning the war.

He kills his ally, a "good friend", when Balthazar betrays him.

Also "What should we do?" about Dean Winchester being on his way, "I'll handle him myself." 

When Crowley comes back, Castiel tries to smite him.

"Consorting with demons. i thought that was beneath you." he says to Raphael. Beneath you, not us. After all, Crowley was a means to an end.

"You fool. Raphael will deceive and destroy you at the speed of thought." Hmm, I'm really not seeing how this isn't self-preservation, in large part. (Though not the kind of Meg and Crowley, where they recruit anyone, with or without force or abuse, in order to save themselves.)

"So you see. I saved you." "You doubted me, fought against me, but I was right all along." "You're just saying that because I won, because you're afraid." Good Christ, Godstiel is very much what can happen to a Slytherin with dark power working their brain and without loyalty still strong to people who can keep them grounded. "You need a firm hand." he says later in 7x01, to the angels, once he's gone Dark Slytherpuff. Not what is right, but what is necessary. "I'm not finished yet." He has more shit he must get done. Ambition again outweighing loyalty, despite Dean's hopes.

(I also feel that it should be noted that, contrary to Castiel's inner monologue, which is mostly appealing to God for help and instruction--not actual "is this moral?" but more "Daddy, tell me what to do"--but also partially just working through his shit, he is socially adept enough [if not much] to justify himself in loyalty and righteousness and Dean's cause to Dean, in utility to Balthazar, in necessity to other angels beyond Balthazar [whom it must be noted don't care about his ambition's aim to get them Free Will so must be appealed to differently], in intimidation to Crowley. But to stop Raphael and win the war is always the goal.)

 And yes, I do.

And here, have some more about how I view the Houses and why Cas is a fucking Slytherpuff even when he hits anti-villain status, and Dean is a Gryffinpuff. Like, okay, I may not know much, but I know my own. And Castiel is my own. Slytherpuff. Slytherin and/or Hufflepuff.

That's a thought I don't normally have...

I do think that Harry Potter could have done amazingly well in Slytherin (though perhaps not in Rowling's biased Evil Slytherin), that the Hat was not wrong on that, though growing up with Gryffindors made his own Gryffindor qualities come out full sail.

As for Percy, I kind of think he might have made a good Slytherin as well. Especially because outcasts, considering how his parents treated his ambition. I've read a few posts about how the Weasleys treat Percy that make me think he would have been a good one. Though not necessarily a Good one.

Beyond that, I'm not sure. But I'll think about it.

Wow, hmm, interesting question.

There’s not as much material for Charlie or Kevin, but I would call at least one of their Houses Hufflepuff. I haven’t watched their pittance of episodes with this in mind before, but I could tell you more after having done so. I have suspected before that Charlie’s second House could be Gryffindor, and Kevin’s Ravenclaw, but that might change.

Sam is a Slytherdor, or a Slytherclaw. Why? Because Sam’s ambition outweighs everything except what he was conditioned into (except in the case where he makes that conditioned duty his ambition): Slytherin. In addition to the things I’ve said to explain Castiel’s Slytherinness, Sam doesn’t come back to Dean out of chosen loyalty necessarily, he comes back out of obligation if not ambition: “I have to find Jessica’s killer”. And it’s most of the time treated by him as temporary, till he gets back to what he wants to do.

Sam went to college despite what his father wanted him to do. We see Sam reading, for pleasure and for work, constantly. He’s always learning, always picking up new stuff, and it’s enjoyable for him, he seeks it. He doesn’t take up research; he instigates it. Ravenclaw. Not to mention Sam’s biggest arc is a desperation for knowledge about himself (five seasons of “who am I? I’m the one who saves the world by self-destructing”). And then, there’s Gryffindor in him, because of the way he and Dean both throw themselves into the fire, as well as the way Sam is obsessed with being Good, not doing Good, necessarily, but being Good (like, think of S2 when he’s like “what if I become Evil, you have to kill me Dean” which Meg then reiterated in 2x14 when she was playing Sam convincingly) though unlike Dean’s throwing, Sam’s is tempered by “only if this is what I have to do” (Slytherin). I go back and forth between the two. I definitely don’t see a bit of Hufflepuff in Sam, tbh. Sam’s loyalty is extremely Slytherin.