Lily (& Harry) = Slytherin or Griffindor (some TBAY)

[cmf_usc]

No: HPFGUIDX 41171

Eloise said, regarding the "deliberate error" comment:

<<<Non-British-English speakers seem to concentrate on what they see 
as the 
ambiguity of what is merely a common British way of acknowledging a 
mistake, 
without taking on board the implications of the rest of the 
sentence.>>>

That's exactly what I did.  I had no idea this was a common turn of 
phrase, none at all.  If I had, well, I probably would never have 
done all the research on the color green that I did in hopes of 
proving Harry was related to both G & S.

Warning: reposted material ahead.  I think it fits into the current 
discussion, though.

******
Harry settles down to listen, humming to himself.

"Now, we agreed that your mother represented the mercury in the 
alchemical equation for developing a philosopher's stone. One symbol 
relating both to mercury and your mother is the unicorn, a symbol of 
purity, just like the lily and willow tree."

Stoned Harry nods, liking this part.

"Another is the color green, like the pretty eyes you both share."

Harry likes this too. Caroline hopes he will still like it when she 
explores some of the negative symbolism surrounding the color green.

"Another is, well
 it's the serpent. Mercury, you see, is 
represented by the Caduceus, a wand entwined with two snakes."

Stoned Harry mumbles something that sounds like, "Slytherin."

"Yes," Caroline agrees. "The serpent often symbolizes water, 
because... well, there are fourteen pages explaining that in my book, 
so you might just want to take my word for it. And, well, mercury is 
often symbolized by water. And the color green is often considered a 
symbol for water."

"Too many symbols," groans Stoned Harry, clutching his head. 

"I know," Caroline agrees, "but I do think She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named 
put them there for a reason."

"Now," Caroline says briskly, "let's talk about the color green, 
shall we? It really is a *terribly* interesting color. First, it is 
the color of humanity. And it is, according to my book, `set midway 
between the inaccessible absolutes of the Blue of Heaven and the Red 
of Hell.'"

"Blue
 Dumbledore's eyes," Stoned Harry mutters. "Red
 Voldemort's."

"Exactly," Caroline beams. "Green is also the color of the awakening 
of life, of spring, and of regeneration. Medieval artists often 
painted Christ's Cross green as it was a symbol of regenerative 
sacrifice."

"That sounds like Mum," Harry mutters. "And me, if Cindy's right 
about the decapitation and the catwalk over lava."

"But," Caroline adds hesitantly, "the color green does have some dark 
symbolism as well. It is the color of sickness, decay, and death. 
The emerald was the jewel of Lucifer before he fell from heaven. 
Medieval artists often depicted Satan as green too."

"Slytherin's color is green," Harry says unhappily. "And so is the 
killing curse, and the basilisk was, too."

"Now repeat with me, Harry: *It is our choices that make us what we 
are, rather than our abilities.* Green as a color just sort of sums 
that up, doesn't it? It can go either way. I wonder what color Tom 
Riddle's eyes were before he went all evil. You didn't mention that 
when you met him in CoS, just that they began to gleam red at one 
point."

"I was *busy* at the time, OK?" Harry snaps. "He kind of looked like 
my dad and me, though."

"Honestly, Harry!" Caroline says reproachfully. "Don't you know a 
red herring when you see one?"

"And," Caroline continues, "the serpent can go either way as well. 
That's a chat for another day, but one reason there are fourteen 
pages about serpents in my book is that it has a dual symbolism too. 
Good and evil. Death and life."

"Then there's the alchemists again," Caroline says. "They believed 
that the Elixir of Life was actually housed in a vessel made from a 
cut emerald. And they had some interesting ideas about the power of 
green light. That it could pierce all secrets, and kill or heal 
depending on how it was wielded."
 
"I'm almost done, Harry," Caroline says reassuringly. "Just one more 
quote, about the emerald. It was `universally regarded as a powerful 
talisman. Although hell-born, it could turn itself against the 
inhabitants of the infernal regions, whose secrets it knew.'"
******************

I was pretty sure, when I posted all this, that the combination of 
snake & green symbolism relating to Lily meant she would be related 
to Slytherin.

Now that you've clued me in on the deliberate error thing, though, I 
agree with you that it'll feel like cheating if Harry ends up related 
to Slytherin.  I liked the idea in the first place because, as far as 
choices-vs.-abilities go, I think he either needs to be related to 
both G & S or neither.

I did think of one thing that could sort of let Dumbledore off the 
hook: Maybe Slytherin disowned all descendants who didn't choose/end 
up in his house?  That would be Lily, for starters, and then Harry.

Eh, I don't know.  Still seems like cheating, I agree.  But I think 
JKR's researched her symbolism pretty thoroughly, and included things 
purposely.

And the fact that so many folks don't believe it/don't want to 
believe it may just mean that it turns out to be true.

Caroline