Dumbledore and Sytherin's Bad Rap

[darrin_burnett]

No: HPFGUIDX 41881

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "voicelessblue" <voicelessblue at y...> wrote:
> Hi everyone, I'm Wendy, and I'm new.  Anyway, I thought I'd start 
off 
> with something that's been irritating me since I've read the HP 
> series.  One of which is Dumbledore.  The other is Slytherin's Bad 
> Rap.    
> 


Hiya Wendy. Welcome to the boards. You started an interesting thread. 

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.  


Of course it wasn't a coincidence. He wanted Gryffindor to win. He 
made the (I think correct) value judgement that standing up to an 
evil wizard was more important than winning points for answering the 
Herbology questions right.

But hold on here. What exactly have the Slytherins done to endear 
themselves to the rest of the school? We have no evidence of any 
single positive characterstic or action taken by the Slytherins. In 
fact, the ones we see are cheaters, thugs, tattletales, bullies, and 
arrogant, unrepentant racists.

Sure, the prefects are probably more mature, but we don't see them. 

For a Slytherin to complain about being hated by the school is a 
little like someone who goes out of his or her way to alienate or 
infuriate everyone and then gripes because no one likes him or her.

And make no mistake. Draco wanted to be in Slytherin. He might have 
quit school had he not been in it. And Crabbe and Goyle are such 
followers that they would do anything Draco said.

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'm not making any excuses for them, 
> because their ambition probably plays a large factor in their 
> decision as well...but still.  Can you imagine because loathed your 
> entire school career because you happen to be ambitious?  Being 
> sorted into Slytherin could still mean a person could be loyal, or 
> brave, or intelligent.  If a Gryffindor can be intelligent, or a 
> Hufflebuff brave, who's to say a Slytherin can't be loyal?  


They aren't loathed because they are ambitious. Harry is ambitious. 
So is Hermione. They are loathed because of what they will do to 
further that ambition. Big difference. Wanting to win the Quidditch 
Cup is ambitious. Training day and night like Oliver does is 
ambitious. 

Cheating to win it, either by holding onto the Seeker's broom or 
dressing up as a dementor, is loathsome.

Trying to earn points is ambitious. Trying to win the cup by getting 
other points taken off is loathsome, and that is exactly what Draco 
was up to in PS/SS.

> Okay, maybe I just feel this way because I'm skeptical of 
Gyffindors 
> and their self-righteousness.  Gryffindors always say that 
> Slytherin's are prejudiced, yet hyporcritically enough, they are 
> prejudiced against Slytherins.  Slytherin often is synonymous to 
> Death Eater for them.  So maybe their families are Death 
> Eaters...does this make them evil by association?  Even if 
Slytherins 
> aren't necessarily good people...well, why do they have to be?  So 
> they aren't noble and honorable, not everyone is.  This doesn't 
mean 
> they are basically evil people...and it doesn't mean they should be 
> condemned. 
> 

Prejudiced against Slytherins. A while back, some goofball white 
supremacist tried to float the argument that to criticize him is to 
be "prejudiced" against his point of view.

Yeah, damn skippy it is. It's OK to be prejudiced against the racist, 
you know.

I'm prejudiced against the KKK. I'll scream that prejudice from any 
mountaintop you put me on. Guilty as charged.

So maybe the Slytherin's family are Death Eaters. Follow that out. 
That means some of the kids in the other houses' parents were 
affected by the Slytherin parents. I would expect a DE's kid -- if it 
was proven -- to get no more sympathy at Hogwarts than a Nazi's kid 
would get in liberated France.

This whole story has a strong parallel to World War II. Dumbledore is 
Churchill. Fudge is Chamberlain. Voldemort is Hitler.

What does that make the DE's? The SS shock troops. And their kids got 
fat off the blood of other wizards. 



> I feel bad for Slytherin.  Actually, I also feel bad for 
Hufflepuff, 
> because they're hard work and loyalty is often overlooked, and 
> they're often written off (you'd think they'd understand how 
> Slytherin feels).  In the first book, Hermione said the best houses 
> were Gyrffindor or Ravenclaw, and I guess most people just assume 
> that as well.  Even though logically each house is supposed to be 
> equal, it's almost as if there's a heirarchy to them before one is 
> sorted: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflefpuff, and then Slytherin.  
> Unless you're related to Slytherin alumni, in which you'd think 
> Slytherin is best.  I don't really understand Hufflepuffs as I do 
> Slytherins, but I still feel sorry for them.  

Why in the world would a Hufflepuff, who is praised for working 
diligently at everything he or she does, understand a Slytherin, who 
is rewarded for how many corners her or she can cut on the way to the 
goal?

Darrin
-- Despises cheaters, cowards and racists.