Dumbledore and Sytherin's Bad Rap

[nplyon]

No: HPFGUIDX 41866

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "voicelessblue" <voicelessblue at y...> wrote:

Wendy wrote:

[snip]

> That last scene in PS/SS was horrible...when Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw 
> and Gyffindor all stand up and cheer not so much because Gyffindor 
> won, but because Slytherin LOST.  It was awful, and I was horrifed 
> that Dumbledore perpetuated it.  I mean he gave exactly enough 
> points to beat Slytherin.  I somehow doubt it was just a 
> coincidence.  
> 
> The rest of the school seems to hate the Slytherins, and I don't 
> think it's completely justified.  The main reason why they hate 
> them is because of the fact that their in Slytherin.  That's just 
> not fair.  I think there's a scene where Fred and George actually 
> HISS at a first year who just got sorted into Slytherin!  They 
> didn't know anything about the little kid except for the fact he 
> was in Slytherin.  Growing up in this sort of environment, how can 
> a person NOT think that if Dumbledore can't protect them from this 
> prejudice, then maybe Voldemort could?  

I think you raise many valid, interesting points in your argument.  I 
have to admit that I have never really looked at things from this 
perspective and your post really made me think.  I guess the best way 
of giving a sort of general description to the whole Slytherin versus 
the other three houses thing is to say that it's just a plain, old-
fashioned rivalry.  Basically, what happens in the book is that it 
all boils down to the students having a fanatical love of their house 
but I don't think that necessarily means that they hate or would 
never be friends with someone from one of the other houses.  We are 
seeing these events from a very narrow point of view so, for all we 
know, there could be packs of Ravenclaws running around with their 
Slytherin best friends.  The contentious relationship between 
Gryffindor and Slytherin reminds me very much of the relationship 
between the university I attended and our biggest rival.  You will 
commonly hear people who went to my university putting people from 
the other one down and vice versa.  I too will make jokes about 
graduates from the other school but I also judge people based on who 
they are, so I am friends with some people who went to my rival 
school (even though I hate and despise that school :) ).

On that thread, I think Harry, Ron, and Hermione are also judging 
people based on who people are and not which house they are in.  
Harry is friendly with both Cedric Diggory and Justin Finch-Fletchley 
and Ron goes to the Yule Ball with Padma Patil, even though they are 
in other houses.  They obviously don't have a problem with Hufflepuff 
or Ravenclaw.  Now, why do they have a problem with Slytherin?  Well, 
let's look at who they have to judge Slytherin by: Pansy Parkinson, 
Millicent Bulstrode, Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy.  Every one of these 
people has gone out of their way to be nasty and condescending to the 
trio and whenever other Slytherins are nearby, they encourage their 
nasty behavior.  School children tease one another but Malfoy is just 
plain vile with his attacks on Ron's mother, Ron's family's poverty, 
Hermione's Muggle heritage, and Harry's sorrow over the loss of his 
parents.  If I were one of the trio, I don't think I'd have a very 
high opinion of Slytherin either.   

As for the comments about Dumbledore, they are interesting in their 
own right.  I tend to agree with you that Dumbledore is--whether 
consciously or unconsciously--helping to perpetuate stereotypes and 
prejudices against Slytherins.  I really like Dumbledore and think he 
is a very interesting character but there is something about him that 
sort of rubs me the wrong way.  I wouldn't go so far as to say I 
believe he's Ever So Evil but I do think he's somewhat sinister.  
There is something strange about him that I cannot quite put my 
finger on.  As headmaster, he should be doing more to protect and 
foster the growth of all of his students and while I don't think he's 
outwardly condoning the rivalries against Slytherin, I don't think 
he's doing much to prevent them and you would definitely think that, 
at this point, he would want to do all he could to draw people into 
the fight against Voldemort.

That said, I don't quite agree with you on the feast scene.  I think 
that Harry, Ron, and Hermione fully deserved every single point they 
won for Gryffindor.  I also think that Snape unfairly deducted points 
from them so Dumbledore was also making some amends.  However, 
something that has always touched me about the way he awards the 
points is that he awards Neville's points last, so that it is Neville 
who has, in effect, won the House Cup for Gryffindor.  By doing so, 
Dumbledore has taken one of the most mistreated and lacking in 
confidence students in the whole school and elevated his virtues and 
accomplishments to the notice of all his peers.  This is one of my 
favorite moments in the series because it highlights the idea that 
you can achieve anything if you set your mind to it.  It really makes 
a cynical person like me feel good to see poor, bumbling Neville win 
the cup for his house.  :)

This is an interesting thread.  I hope to see more about it.

~Nicole, who sampled the Bertie Bott's Beans this weekend with a 
bunch of her cousins.  A good time was had by all but let me tell 
you, when they say those beans are dirt flavored, they *mean* it.