Slytherin and Death eaters

[Allyse at my-deja.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 13733

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., MMMfanfic at h... wrote:

>It would be strange if the entire year of Slytherins all become 
Death 
>Eaters. (which seems to be the case with Snape's year, as Sirius has 
>implied)  That, seriously, would make one doubt the value of a 
>Hogwarts education.  I can understand how two or three may become DE 
>but the 'entire gang'?  Even if we take the 'bad seeds' approach 
>(i.e. all Slytherins are destined to become Dark Witches and 
Wizards, 
>which even a 12 year-old can't believe.), it's just extreme to think 
>that DE=Slytherin.  

Ain't that the truth. :)

There's a fanfic out there (the name escapes me, sorry) that touches 
on this very point. I'm sorry to say the fic lost my interest after a 
while, but the initial chapters were a fascinating insight into the 
question of DE=Slytherin.

>From the Slytherin POV, then: Slytherin is for people of great 
ambition. Ambitious people, even if less brilliant or talented than 
others (such as Ravenclaws), will usually succeed because of their 
sheer determination and doggedness. This will translate into 
resentment by the others (Slytherin has won the cup seven years in a 
row) and sour grapes. If you think about the behavior of Hufflepuff 
and Ravenclaw at End of Year feasts and Quidditch matches, this 
becomes very clear.

As for the DE thing? Well, no one denies that Voldemort was a 
Slytherin, but that means that all Slytherins are painted with the 
same brush. Hagrid's line to Harry that there wasn't a wizard that 
went bad that wasn't from Slytherin (paraphrase, the book isn't at 
hand) is a broad, sweeping statement - one that has been repeated so 
often that it's more or less believed as the truth. Non-Slytherins 
that went bad? (Like Sirius is believed to be) Well, those are 
aberrations. But bad Slytherins? Naturally! All Slytherins are Death 
Eaters!

Since we see Slytherin only through Harry's limited POV, it's hard to 
judge them properly. Yes, they sneer at Harry constantly. So do 
Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff in large portions of PS, CoS, and GoF. 
(Losing  150 points, "seriously evil wizard coming through!" 
and "Support Cedric Diggory!") But Jo's abilty to provide us with 
lovely deep layers serves as a pretty good indication that there 
*has* to be more to Slytherin House than Harry thinks.

Allyse, who despite this long-winded post doesn't like Slytherin :)