Where's the Bang?/Hogwarts Houses (Was: RE: House assumptions)

[Becky]

No: HPFGUIDX 45586

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., m.bockermann at t... wrote:
> As a big fan of the House assumptions I feel compelled to answer 
this one.
> 
> 
> I work on the presumtion that is was either Sirius (more likely) or 
Remus
> that was in Slytherin (James was in Gryffindor, we know that from 
JKR). I
> can imagine several bangs. The first bang is the shock for Harry 
when he
> finds out. <snip> Maybe that would
> change his view on present Slytherins, or Snape, or the fact that 
he was
> nearly sorted into Slytherin himself (I also adhere to the believe 
that
> without Harry's pleas he would indeed have ended up there).
> 
> Another scenario is to have that disclosure as the cause for 
disclosing
> Harry's little secrets: that he would/should have been sorted into 
Slytherin
> and that his wand is the brother to Voldemort's. Or revealing that 
one of
> the Marauders was a Slytherin might help to calm the waves after the
> disclosure of Harry's secrets. 

But that really doesn't seem Bangy enough for the total silence on 
the House status in the first place. IMNSHO there is no way Remus 
would have been able to keep his werewolf status a secret from 
Severus for so long if they were sharing a dormitory. And if it was 
Sirius, then I think a lot of listies would be asking why it wasn't 
brought up at the Three Broomsticks when Fudge, McGonagall, Madam 
Rosmerta, and Hagrid were talking about Sirius' "betrayal." None of 
them would seem to have any reason for keeping silent about it when 
speculating about Sirius. So why (especially given Hagrid's, in 
particular, prejudice against the Slytherins) wasn't it mentioned? I 
think JKR would have to have *some* explanation for the silence.

 
> I think the houses as similiar to student - ouch, I can't recall 
the English
> word for it :-( - those sororities or elite clubs they have at US 
(and
> British?) universities that are often named with Greek letters. 
<snip> I know, that the senior members of those societies keep
> in contact well beyond their university time and are expected to 
help each
> other along. I can imagine that wizards from the same house will 
help out a
> fellow ex-mate, for example helping with a promotion or such. While 
I grant
> to you that Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Huffle-Puffs would scorn 
such
> practice, I can well imagine the Slytherins to behave this way. If 
indeed
> the DEs were mostly or exclusivly made up of alumni-Slytherins, the 
DEs
> would likely have exploited this unwritten code.
> 

I tend to hope they were a lot more scattered around the Houses than 
that, though I can see your reasoning.

> I assume, that for the people, being a Parselmouth will place you 
along the
> descendants of Slytherin or in their very close relations. The 
talent is
> certainly rare for that. So for the people, LV would of course 
speak Parsel
> because he was the Heir of Slytherin. That reasoning is the only 
logical
> explanation why the other Hogwarts students were so quick to shun 
and blame
> Harry.


I'm not so sure. In FBAWTFT it mentions "Herpo the Foul," who is 
Greek, in the section on Basilisks, and "writings of Parselmouths" in 
the Runespoor bit. While I know some are wary of its absolute 
canonical purity, I think that this tends to reflect JKR's mind about 
the rareness and origin of Parselmouths. 

Also, the students were already suspicious of Harry, having a trait 
that Slytherin was known to hold would seem to only clinch the 
matter, especially given the atmosphere. Particularly, as Tom Riddle 
seemed to suspect that he and Harry were the only two Parselmouths to 
attend Hogwarts after Salazar Slytherin. Even given a lack of 
familial information, it doesn't seem likely that Parselmouth's are 
automatically associated with Slytherin (outside of locations where 
Slytherin's Heir is supposed to be attacking people that is ;-)), and 
TR has spent around five years discovering the secrets of Slytherin's 
Chamber of Secrets.

> 
> Greetings,
> Ethanol

Becky