Sytherin's Bad Rap

[aldrea279]

No: HPFGUIDX 42064

Talia Dawn:
>>The fact that Dumbledore always 
rewards the Trio for breaking the rules shows that he has a loyalty 
to 
Gryffindor.>>

I don't know about this statement.  Dumbledore doesn't really reward 
them *because* they broke the rules.  He rewards them for their 
bravery, cleverness, and use of strategy   Dumbledore really is quite 
fair, IMO.  Snape(who is Slytherin, if you've forgotten =P) is always 
the first to think the worst of the Trio(or any other Gryffindor, for 
that matter).  But Dumbledore remains neutral and listens to their 
side before making a decision.  And since we see things through 
Harry, we don't know if maybe a Slytherin has been brought in before 
Dumbledore on serious charges, been given the benefit of the doubt 
and listened to, then not punished because Dumbledore could find no 
wrong in what they did after listening to their story.  We just don't 
know.  

Talia Dawn:
>>One would think, in times like these, that Dumbledore would try 
to show the Slytherins that he doesn't *hate* them, which is what I 
think the 
Slytherins think.>>

If by "in times like these" you mean Voldemort's return, then that 
didn't actually happen til the end of GoF.  And what did Dumbledore 
do at the end of GoF?  He said that anyone and everyone sitting in 
that hall would be welcomed back at Hogwarts if they needed it.  And 
that does indeed include Slytherins.

Talia Dawn:
>>I think the 
Slytherins are mean because they have to be. They have to defend 
themselves 
some way.>>

Hmm...well, Draco and Co. were mean *before* they even got sorted 
into Slytherin and dealt with this "prejudice".  Which just makes 
*them* slimy gits, not all of Slytherin; but still, you get my point.

Talia Dawn:
>>They hate them just because they're Slytherin.>>

Okay, I was just flipping around the beginning of PS/SS.  Harry 
arrives at Hogwarts and certainly does *not* carry the dislike for 
Slytherin he developes in later books.  He just doesn't think they're 
the house for him, and that has to be majorly reinforced with his 
first Potions class.  Look at that!  Talk about prejudice, Snape 
embarasses Harry infront of the entire class, *just* because Harry is 
the "famous" Harry Potter.  And he even gets on to Harry for *not* 
helping Neville and takes a point away during that first class...kind 
of contrasts sharply with the way he got mad at Hermione for helping 
Neville with that potion in one of the later books(I can't recall 
which one, exactly, at the moment), doesn't it?  I don't think Harry 
hates Draco *just* because he's Slytherin.  He hates Draco because 
Draco deserves to be hated by Harry, what with the way he's treated 
him and all.  As do Crabbe and Goyle, but not all Slytherins.

Trisana Granger:
>>Okay, so Draco's an idiot. That doesn't mean that *all* Slytherins 
are, does it?>>

No, it doesn't.  And I think everyone so far has been careful in 
wording themselves when describing Slytherins. Saying things 
like "from the Slytherins we've seen *so far*, it doesn't seem like 
any of them have a single redeemable quality". But that's only thus 
far.  We could see a nice Slytherin, it just hasn't happened yet.  I 
mean, not *all* of them didn't stand up and raise their glass to 
Harry.  Which means that they're not *all* slimy gits.

Trisana Granger:
>>Also, Draco does have a reason to not like Harry - he tried to make 
friends with Harry at first, but Harry rejected him.>>

And that's a *bad* thing?  When Draco "tried to make friends" with 
Harry, he did so by insulting the first real friend Harry had ever 
had.  And, when looking at the text and thinking about Draco's 
character as we know it(thus far), the *only* reason he went to see 
Harry was because everyon was "saying all down the train that Harry 
Potter's in this compartment".  He went to go make nice with the 
person everyone was talking about.  Real friend there, oh yeah.

~Aldrea, who would *love* to see a good Slytherin.