Gryffindor, founded by Godric Gryffindor, is one of the four houses at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In establishing it, Godric instructed the Sorting Hat to sort students into those who possessed the characteristics he valued most, such as courage, chivalry, and determination. Its colors are scarlet and gold, and its emblematic animal is a lion. Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, also known as "Nearly Headless Nick", is the house's patron ghost.
The house roughly corresponds to the element of fire, and it is for this reason that its colors were chosen; they can also correspond to a lion, with scarlet representing its mane and tail, and gold symbolizing its coat.
