James Potter's house

[Paul W. Hanbury, Jr.]

No: HPFGUIDX 11907


>  
> But...do we know of any example where a child of a former Hogwarts 
> student was not in the same house as their parent? Even more, other 
> than Percy (Gryffindor) and Penelope (Ravenclaw), do we know of any 
> (canon) pairings from mixed houses?? Weren't both Mr & Mrs Weasley 
> in Gryffindor? Do we know about Snape's mother (assuming, of 
> course, that Lucius was in Slytherin)? It almost seems like a 
> family tradition ~ in fact, perhaps this is why Lucius wanted dear 
> old Draco to go to Hogwarts, so that he could continue the 
> Slytherin tradition in the Malfoy family (since we never hear of 
> any siblings that could continue this tradition). 
> 
> However, in thinking this through a little more as I write this, no 
> one seemed to bat an eye that Percy and Penelope were together, so 
> maybe it's not that uncommon to have mixed relationships. Following 
> this through, if we assume that James was in a different house than 
> Lily (who was in G), does the fact that Harry is in G mean that he 
> has more of Lily's traits/characteristics? 
> 
> Becky

Harry admits that the only reason that he was put in Gryffindor is 
that he begged the Sorting Hat not to put him in Slytherin.  This is 
not suprising if Harry really is a descendant (or ancestor :) of 
Salazar Slytherin.  If this is true, there is a good chance that 
James was in Slytherin because he, too, by your arguement must have 
been a descendant of Salazar (Lily was in Gryffindor).  Harry, then, 
could have been put in either House, because his parents come from 
both Houses.

I wouldn't find it surprising to discover that the Marauders all come 
from Slytherin.  Not registring as animagus. The map. Peter Pettigrew 
as a Death Eater spy revealing the location of the Potters.  
Pettigrew disguised as the Weasley family pet.  I thought of these 
of of the top of my head.  If I think on it longer, there might be 
more.  "For these it was in Slytherin / They made their real 
friends / These cunning folks use any means / To achieve their ends."

I also have to mention the hatred that Snape seems to have for James 
(which he currently redirects to Harry).  I think that a bitterness 
that can span a generation must have been caused by something really 
awful, probably something that tore apart their friendship.  

It might be farfetched, but I'm thinking that Lucius Malfoy, 
Snape,and the Marauders were Slytherin housemates.  As Voldemort's 
power was increasing, a large number of the (ex-)Slytherins became 
Death Eaters.  James, who was newlywed to Lily, refused.  Some of 
Voldemort's new followers were offended by this and turned against 
him.  

I don't have the text in front of me and don't remember if it 
mentions why Voldemort attacked the Potters on that Halloween.  I may 
be completely wrong in what I wrote above, but thanks for reading; I 
know that this message became a lot longer than I originally intended.

Paul