Hi Anon! Admin Liza here.

I thought a lot about where to put Rosalee, because Ravenclaw might have seemed like the obvious choice for her at first blush. But in the end, Slytherin won out for a few reasons.

Rosalee is incredibly smart, but that seems to be more something she can do than who she is, if that makes sense.

A good contrast would actually be Rosalee to Juliette: Juliette’s approach to life–problems, relationships, everything really–is to poke, prod, explore, interrogate, research, ask questions, experiment…and that’s part of who she is, not just something she does. Whereas research, book knowledge, application are all skills Rosalee has, but they’re not at the core of who she is as a person, they’re not how she tackles every single thing in her life.

Rosalee is clever and resourceful, but she’s also careful and shrewd. She always recommends honesty and openness to others, but she comes at her own personal issues from the side, and keeps things back if she doesn’t think sharing them will get a desired result.

She is careful and selective about the people she trusts, and fiercely protective of those she loves. She can be ruthlessly pragmatic when necessary, and although she would prefer a world of peace and harmony, she will not hesitate to go for the jugular (literally) if that’s what will help her survive and protect the ones she cares about.

She may not be ambitious in a way that is easily recognizable in a theoretical goal-setting sense. But that’s because her ambition is more the applied-daily variety, and has more to do with how she attacks everything set in front of her with a single-minded determination and work ethic than what far-flung objective she sets for herself.

So ambition? Check. Cleverness? Check. Loyalty to those select few she loves? Check. Caution and pragmatism? Check. That hat would have had her in Slytherin before you can say “snake.”