As the house of those who are ‘brave at heart’ – including, of course, Harry Potter: The Chosen One, aka The Boy Who Lived and all that – you could do a lot worse than fall in love with a Gryffindor. But in case you need persuading, here are a few other reasons why Gryffindors are perfect boy/girlfriend material…

They have a certain risky glamour

It’s probably all that nerve and daring they like to throw around, but many Gryffindors possess an almost undefinable sparkle that makes for a great partner. Sure, sometimes they exhibit a bravery that borders on recklessness, but with a Gryffindor you’d be having way too much fun to worry about breaking rules. Sirius and James were, perhaps, the original Gryffindor bad boys; curse-breaker Bill Weasley was glamorous enough to attract the attention of Fleur Delacour; and Harry’s celebrity status undoubtedly gave him a certain cachet, inspiring such beautiful poetry as:

‘I wish he was mine, he’s really divine, the hero who conquered the Dark Lord…’
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

But Gryffindor’s glamour isn’t the sole preserve of male students with a disregard for danger – truly, no Gryffindor is truly immune to a spot of risk-taking. Who can forget Ginny’s statement:

‘The thing about growing up with Fred and George,’ said Ginny thoughtfully, ‘is that you sort of start thinking anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve.’
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Even model student Hermione had a Gryffindor-flavoured attitude to rules – she might not have cared for slathering her hair in Sleekeazy’s Hair Potion every day but, from brewing Polyjuice Potion in her second year to creating the D.A. right under Umbridge’s nose, she was a risk-taker of the highest degree. Also witness her almost single-handed protection of herself, Ron and Harry during their Horcrux hunt at no small personal risk: honestly, where would anyone have been without Hermione?

They don’t play it safe, Gryffindors, but their exploits do give them a glamorous golden glow. Who knows, go out with a Gryffindor and perhaps that glow will reflect on you…

You could be a calming influence

The trouble with all this risky danger is that sometimes it goes to a Gryffindor’s head – especially, it has to be said, amongst the male students. Hermione called Harry out on his ‘saving-people thing’, James and Sirius could be ‘arrogant little berks’, Ron was reckless enough to cast a slug-eating spell on Draco Malfoy with a malfunctioning wand.

But you could change all that. Calm down your hot-headed Gryffindor with some disarming Luna Lovegood-esque Ravenclaw wisdom, or urge them towards Hufflepuff-inspired fairness. Make a Gryffindor pause for thought and they could be yours for life – at least, that’s what we like to think with regards to Hufflepuff Nymphadora Tonks and Gryffindor Remus Lupin, given Lupin’s initial refusal to listen either to his own feelings or to the reasonable protestations of those who urged him to accept Tonks’s love for him, despite his being a werewolf. Tonks made Lupin realise he didn’t need to continue his self-imposed loneliness, and if that’s not an example of Hufflepuff patience countering Gryffindor determination, then we don’t know what is.

A true Gryffindor will defend you to the end

Gryffindors are chivalrous; the Sorting Hat says so. That means they’re pretty much duty-bound to look out for you (although we’re not counting either Harry’s behaviour towards Cho or Ron’s to Lavender in this scenario: teenage romances are tricky, even for Gryffindors).

Still, when the chips are down and you’re facing a Voldemort who wants you dead, it is probably going to be a Gryffindor who saves you – whether sacrificing their own life for the love of yours, as Lily did for Harry, or defying the Dark Lord with such confidence that Godric Gryffindor himself sends you his sword, as Neville did in the Battle of Hogwarts.

They’re inspirational

Just look at the list of famous Gryffindors: Dumbledore, Sirius, Lupin, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, all three Potters. They had their faults, of course, but as ex-students go it’s an intimidatingly impressive list. Date a Gryffindor and you, too, might find yourself bound for greatness – well, you couldn’t go out with someone known for bravery and not become a little bit braver yourself.

You’d have a whale of a time

Going out with a Gryffindor would make life pretty unpredictable, but it would also be a lot of fun. From Fred and George’s Wizard Wheezes to Lee Jordan’s Quidditch commentary and the Marauders’ hilariously inappropriate comments to Snape via the medium of magical map, there’d be ample opportunity for witty repartee and jokes. Plus, think of the stories a Gryffindor would have: all those daring tales just waiting to be revisited over a drink in the Three Broomsticks.