Could Salazar Slytherin be nice?

[magpie1112 at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 26842

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., s_luhtanen at h... wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., y_no_m at y... wrote:
> > Has this topic been discussed before?
> > 
> > Professor McGonagall said in the first book that each House has a 
> > long and honorable history including Slytherin.
> > 
> > I am writing a fanfic with this theory in mind, and readers are 
> > either liking the idea of a nice Slytherin or saying Slytherin 
> > can't have been nice.
> > 
> > yen
> 
> Right - I think Slytherin was indeed a good person. Just that each 
> founder of the Hogwarts had different values and different code of 
> ethics with "Ends justify the means" being whole-hartedly accepted 
> by Slytherins...


I'd love to see what type of person Slytherin was.  He had to be 
decent enough, or else Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff wouldn't 
have joined forces to form the school.  He may not have been a warm-
fuzzy, but the four did end up with enough commonality to work 
together as a team.  

And as the Sorting Hat has hinted at when he was placed on Harry's 
head, someone can have traits from more than one house - it is the 
*strongest* traits that win out.  Or perhaps a split decision is 
finalized based on where the student *wants* to be?

For example, I can imagine that Hermione would feel very much at home 
in Ravenclaw, but in PS/SS she says, "...I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it 
sounds by far the best...but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too 
bad...."  By having that kind of attitude, has she placed herself in 
Gryffindor?  And it seems that Harry chose Gryffindor over Slytherin 
while the Sorting Hat was on his head; "Not Slytherin, eh?  Are you 
sure?...Well, if you're sure - better be GRYFFINDOR!"  


- Denise (who really, really wanted to be a Hufflepuff, and was quite 
glad when she was sorted "correctly")