Joe raised an eyebrow. Salem hadn't had houses, but there had been plenty of stiff and heathy competition between the different grades. He recognized ribbing when he saw it. He assumed that those old loyalties probably carried over to when students became teachers.
"Okay, Ravenclaws are smart, Gryffindors are dumb muscle and slash or loyal, the Hufflepuffs get no respect, and the Slytherins are, what? Right, maidenly and kind. Easy enough." Joe wondered, idly, what house he'd have been in, whether he was more loyal than maidenly, etc.
"Nope," Joe said cheerfully. "I am a brand new teacher, so we'll see how it goes. And yeah, it's different. We didn't have houses at all, we were just split up by year."