The Vampire Diaries was one of the most watched series on The CW network. The supernatural teen drama was adapted from a series of books by L. J. Smith and follows the lives and loves of a group of high school students, some of whom just happen to be monsters.
In the Harry Potter universe, most vampires sided with the Dark Lord, but these vampires are a little more nuanced. That's not to say there aren't a good amount of Slytherins in the bunch. But we've also got brave Gryffindors, true Hufflepuffs, and even a clever Ravenclaw or two. Here's the characters of The Vampire Diaries sorted into their Hogwarts houses.
10. Matt Donovan: Hufflepuff
Matt has the singular honor of being a major character that starts off human and remains so for all eight seasons of The Vampire Diaries. Except for his brief stint as a ghost—but really, who hasn't been a ghost at this point? Other than that he has no supernatural powers, no magical artifacts. Just a regular guy dealing with irregular problems.
He's loyal, easy to like, and all he wants is to keep his friends and family safe. He fits into Hufflepuff house because he's your quintessential nice guy. He's the kind of guy that, when Elena broke up with him, decided it's more important for her to be happy than be with him. He even tries to make friends with her new boyfriend!
9. Alaric Saltzman: Ravenclaw
With jobs like history teacher, college professor, and headmaster, it's hard not to classify Alaric as a Ravenclaw. He's devoted to the pursuit of knowledge, and not just in his professional life. He comes to Mystic Falls in the first place searching for information about the disappearance of his wife.
It's this investigation that gets him mixed up with the rest of the characters' drama. He also dispenses wisdom to the other characters on a regular basis and is the first they go to when they need information about a new threat.
8. Jeremy Gilbert: Hufflepuff
Jeremy is also a Hufflepuff, though he's less of a nice guy than his friend Matt. He belongs in this house because he values his loyalty and his relationships with other people above all else. He's suffered a lot of loss in his life, but each new blow hits him as hard as the first. His friends even go so far as to compel his memories so he doesn't self-destruct after his girlfriend Vicki dies.
Unfortunately, many of the people he loves fall victim to one danger or another. Every loss devastates him, and even when he can't feel the loss due to compulsion, he feels empty and wrong. That kind of devotion to other people makes him a true 'puff.
7. Caroline Forbes: Ravenclaw
Despite being popular in high school (beautiful, captain of the cheerleading squad, etc.) Caroline harbored feelings of inadequacy for a long time, particularly when it came to Elena. She always felt like she was in Elena's shadow, and responded by presenting as a confident, overachieving perfectionist. And then she became a vampire. Surprisingly, it was as a vampire that Caroline really began to appreciate life.
Caroline is a Ravenclaw because of how calculated she is. Even as a newly turned vampire, Caroline was an expert in self-control and rarely killed. After flipping her humanity switch off, she continues to maintain that control, because she knows killing anyone would bring police and would interrupt her living her own life. At one point, Bonnie says that Caroline with no humanity is almost exactly the same as Caroline with it. That kind of self-control and careful decision-making is Ravenclaw to the core.
6. Klaus Mikaelson: Slytherin
Klaus is more of your typical Slytherin. He's hungry of power, even though he's already one of the most powerful beings in existence. He rarely trusts others and hates being manipulated, despite being an accomplished manipulator himself. He also has a bit of a sadistic streak. Still, that doesn't mean he has no heart at all.
In fact, for those few people he cares about, he loves and protects them so fiercely that it's almost possessive. He'll ruthlessly kill anyone he perceives as a threat, including his own father or even children. He makes no compromises when it comes to his safety or the safety of his family.
5. Bonnie Bennett: Hufflepuff
Bonnie's most defining trait is her selflessness and her devotion to her friends. She is more than willing to sacrifice herself to protect them. In fact, she has done so time and time again. Her witch powers don't come without a cost, but she doesn't hesitate. She has saved everyone from her closest friends to uninvolved innocents, even knowing the negative consequences of some of her spells.
Hufflepuffs are always prepared to give of themselves for the benefit of others, sometimes to their own detriment. Bonnie, with her tendency to martyr herself to protect her friends, shares that same unbounded selflessness.
4. Katherine Pierce: Slytherin
High up on a Slytherin's list of priorities is self-preservation and, for Katherine, saving her own skin is the most important thing in the world. Even when she was still human, she decided to become a vampire to save herself and betrayed her allies in the process. She's sold out Stefan and Damon multiple time, seduces men to do her bidding, and sacrifices others to further her own agenda.
She's also very skilled at creating plans within plans, making sure to always have an escape route if something goes wrong. While she might be your ally for the moment, Katherine would stab you in the back without a shred of remorse if it meant she could live another day.
3. Damon Salvatore: Slytherin
It probably comes as no surprise that Damon's a Slytherin. He has little conscience after his long years as a vampire with no moral anchor to hold on to. He's been known to torture and kill innocents for no good reason and comes off as arrogant, with no regard for human life. He also has the patience and cunning to enact decades-long plans, such as when he was trying to free Katherine from her tomb.
Despite caring for his brother Stefan and for Elena, he doesn't hesitate to strike back if either of them cross him. He'll injure Stefan if it keeps him out of the way, and when Elena rejected him, he killed her brother. Over time, his Damon-first philosophy softens somewhat and at the end of season five he actually chooses to sacrifice his life to save those he cared about.
2. Stefan Salvatore: Hufflepuff
Stefan is the golden boy. He's a mirror held up to his dark and tormented brother. He was noble and altruistic in life and wanted to become a doctor to save lives. Even after becoming a vampire, his base personality didn't change. Above all else, Stefan wants to help people. He wants to prevent pain and suffering and see the people he cares about lead happy lives.
He belongs in Hufflepuff rather than the more classically heroic Gryffindor because of the way he values fair play and honesty. He's incredibly dependable and is always doing his best to save everybody, not just the people he loves.
1. Elena Gilbert: Gryffindor
Elena's the type to rush headlong into danger. Who else would decide to get in the middle of two centuries-old vampires? She's deeply compassionate as well as brave, and is described as "the mothering type" by Caroline. She's another character willing to sacrifice herself for the good of her friends. However, unlike Bonnie, her drive toward martyrdom comes from a sense of survivor's guilt from the death of her parents. That means she's more likely to throw her life away recklessly and perhaps not when it's the most useful.
And like many Gryffindors, Elena has a tendency to be self-righteous. She believes that she knows best for everyone. She can be judgmental and even smothering at times towards her friends and especially her brother Jeremy. But even still, Elena always has everyone's best interests at heart.