[HPforGrownups] Re: Hagrid in Slytherin??? & in defense of Slytherin and mankind in general

[Lumen]

No: HPFGUIDX 20276

SORRY!  I am a near idiot sometimes when it comes to e-mail.  Half of my 
message got cut off, so I am trying again.  
Patience with the impaired, please.... Maria

Catherine wrote in reply to my speculation:

I don't think that it's been mentioned in the books, but it has 
certainly come up in interviews and JKR has said that Hagrid was in 
Gryffindor.

I was most perturbed to find that it could cross anyone's mind that 
Hagrid should belong in Slytherin.  I just don't see what qualities 
he has which fits in there - for me, he has the qualities of a 
Gryffindor (bravery) and of Hufflepuff (unswavering loyalty and 
hardworking) and although, like Harry, he isn't averse to 
disregarding rules, he certainly isn't ambitious, and he would not do 
anything to attain his own selfish ends.  His giant blood may come 
out in his rather bloodthirsty love of scary and dangerous creatures, 
but his almost killing Karkarof I put down to losing his temper, and 
not knowing his own strength.  We don't look at Harry when he loses 
his temper, and say "Oh dear, lost his temper again, maybe he should 
belong in Slytherin."  Likewise with Hermione when she slaps Draco 
across the face.  It's just that Hagrid, being half-giant, probably 
has more to control - I don't think he intended to kill Karkarof - 
just shake him up a little.

Finally, the giants may have an affinity with the Dark Side, but I 
don't think that it is said anywhere that they have any magical 
powers.  Hagrid is not a pureblood wizard - he is half and half, and 
also he is only half human.  The Slytherins pride themselves on being 
pureblood, therefore I can't see that a half giant would be 
acceptable to them, or sorted into their house.

Catherine

First let me thank those who assure me that JKR has said in at least one interview that Hagrid is in Gryffindor.  Your word is good enough for me.  It definitely is not in Book I; I just finished reading it through to check.  I am, needless to say, happy that he is there for I do like him and like people I like to be in "my" house...

That being said, I must go on to play the Devil's Advocate in regard to some remarks made about my theory:  Melanie finds it humorous and Catherine is "perturbed".  I'm beginning to wonder if I don't have some type of hex upon me, but here it goes point by point:

1)  Hagrid is courageous.  Well, so is Snape, one of the most courageous we seen so far.  Draco is cowardly to be sure, but the Slytherins are not excluded from this gift.  Neither is Hufflepuff since Cedric was from that house. Courage is not exclusive; you have to have it in an outstanding degree.  Whether his propensity for wrestling with trolls is real courage or just a lack of good judgment I will leave to those who dwell in Ravenclaw....

2)  "like Harry, he isn't averse to disregarding rules.." hmmm, but that was Dumbledore's line when at the end of CoS he is pointing out the similarities between Harry and Tom Riddle, how Harry has some of the characteristics for which Salazar looked.  Which means Hagrid is also evidencing that characteristic, and to a very big degree.  When the wizarding community takes your wand and breaks it in half, and you spend the next (?) years with it hidden in your umbrella...that is a might more than "disregard".

3) Granted he lost his temper with Karkaroff, but there is no excuse for putting a pig's tail on Dudley...except that we all enjoyed it immensely.  It was the father who insulted Dumbledore, and he could have removed it before taking off the next morning once he calmed down...  Attacking a Muggle child.....

4)  Being a half-blood doesn't exclude you from Slytherin; Tom Riddle was half-Muggle, almost the worse thing possible, and yet not only is he in Slytherin, but he is the heir of Salazar.  If the hat put a half-breed like that in Slytherin, it can put a half-giant in as well, IMO.

But the real question behind all this is: how do we see Slytherin.  Personally I cannot see it being suppressed without emptying the books of all moral value...and JKR has stressed the moral content of her books, making a very emphatic publication of her personal belief in God...which you would expect of anyone who is a raving fan of GKChesterton ( www.geocities.com/lumen_dei/rowling.html ).   They are a mirror of our world: a combination of the good, the bad and the ugly (boy, do I hate dating myself that way)  and even deeper: a mirror of each individual, again a mix-up of good, bad and ugly...or perhaps stupid, for those who pride themselves on their straight noses.  And since no one this side of death is all good or all bad (I'm excluding some theological fine points there), you have to have Slytherin, nor can you just jam only the bad into it.  Slytherin is not the juvenile delinquent wing of Hogwarts.  Putting Hagrid into it, would be a wonderful way to emphasize this: that you make yourself what you are through your own decisions, even if the company isn't the best.  Bad company is perhaps the worse thing that can happen to a young person, but the fact that every student at the Slytherin stood up to honor  Cedric, and a good portion stood up to honor Harry underscores that.  I am hoping that she will do this in a future book: show us a character or two who not being in the "know" as Harry was, didn't have the good sense to say, "Not Slytherin, Not Slytherin".  Dickens loves to place a person of real character in the midst of those bad or going bad.  Redemption rarely hopes down on a person from the air; it is usually mediated through a person.  So I remain hopeful for something good to happen in Slytherin.

Maria  (a Gryffindor at heart)
Harry Potter's Philosopher's Shop  -- "Have Wand, Will Wave"
www.geocities.com/lumen_dei





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