A Good Slytherin? (Was: Forever Wicked?)

[Wendy St John]

No: HPFGUIDX 74555


 "Wendy St John"  (that's me)
<hebrideanblack at e...> wrote:

> If thestral guy had 
ever been awful to Harry, I think Harry would know his name. And any 
Slytherin in Potter's year who *hasn't* given the Boy Who Lived a 
difficult time is definitely not living up to the standard of a true 
Evil Slytherin. Therefore, Blaise Zabini aka Thestral Guy must be 
good.>

To which jenny from ravenclaw replied:

"Or maybe Harry dislikes the Slytherins so much he doesn't bother to 
remember their names.  Not knowing some kid's name is no evidence that 
the kid is good.  Thestral Boy may not be a real baddie like Draco and 
his thugs, but he may be a jerk just the same."

Now me (Wendy) again:

No, actually I'd say that Harry not "bothering" to know their names just
because he dislikes all the Slytherins is evidence that Harry is going
though life with a less-than-admirable attitude. <dodging curse from jenny
in retaliation for criticising her beloved Harry>   ;-)   The fact that he
doesn't know Thestral Guy's name is certainly no evidence that the kid is
evil, is it? And, being a jerk doesn't mean the kid is evil, either. Snape
is a jerk, and he appears to be one of the "good guys." (That's my opinion
anyway - I don't remember whether you've discussed your feelings about
Snape, so you might feel differently about that. I do know where you stand
on Harry and Hagrid, though <g>). 

I still feel my argument is sound: if Blaise had been awful to Harry, Harry
would remember him. I sure as heck knew the names of all the people who
were awful to me at that age. Then again, it's possible that Harry and I
don't have all that much in common. I was never accused by the whole school
of being the heir of Slytherin. <g> And perhaps *all* the Slytherins have
pretty much been awful to him all along, so he doesn't even bother to try
and keep them straight. But I just can't get past feeling that it is *very,
very* strange that Harry has been in potions class with this kid for *five
years* and doesn't know his name. Has Snape *never* called on "Mr." Zabini
in class? Aside from the question of whether or not Blaise could be a good
Slyth, I think it says something about Harry: either he is so unobservant
he doesn't notice the other students in the class, or there is something
else going on in terms of his personality. Note: I am in the camp that
believes the number of students in Harry's year is pretty much what we've
been shown in canon, which means there are only about 20 students in that
combined Gryffindor/Slytherin potions class. And I don't think it's all
that difficult to remember the names of 20 kids. Again, this is just my
opinion, and others may not find it strange at all. I wrote a longer
message about it a while back. Here's the link, if you're interested.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/73224

So, if Harry is disliking the Slytherins "on principal" due to the fact
that they're Slytherins, that doesn't say much about Harry, does it? Or
maybe it's just because "they exist," (Maybe he's more like his dad than we
think! <g>). While I don't expect Harry to bend over backwards to get to
know everyone (particularly those in the rival house), it isn't fair of him
to dislike someone just because they're in Slytherin. At least in my
opinion, it isn't. Admittedly, this has a lot to do with my belief that
there just HAVE to be good people in Slytherin. There HAVE to be, or else
nothing else in the books makes any sense to me at all. From "inside" the
Potterverse, if all Slytherins are known to be evil, then why not just send
the kids straight to Azkaban when they get sorted there and save the world
a load of trouble later? And from "outside," none of JKR's talk of choices
and what-not makes any sense if approximately one quarter of the students
at Hogwarts are irredeemably evil by age 11. So, if these good kids do
exist within Slytherin, I'd like for Harry to at least be open to that
idea, and not just blindly dislike everyone in that house based on the
treatment he's had by Draco (okay, so maybe there are a few other
Slytherins who've treatedly him poorly as well. Okay, maybe several. <g>).
But my point is, if there's a kid whose actions haven't even put him on
Harry's "radar," why should we assume that kid is evil just because the
others are? It makes more sense to me that Harry hasn't noticed "Blaise"
because a) Blaise hasn't done anything awful to Harry *and* b) Harry just
assumes every kid in Slytherin is evil, so Harry hasn't noticed that Blaise
is, well, actually *good*. 

Back to jenny:

"That great distaste look on his face (as I've said before) might 
simply be due to his disgust at Hagrid (can't blame him there), "

Wendy again:

Okay, you've got me on that one. Disgust at Hagrid is definitely an
appropriate reaction throughout pretty much the whole of OoP (and much of
the other books, as well). BTW - does this mean that my theory that Hagrid
was really a Slytherin won't do anything for you in terms of proving that
there is, in fact, a good Slyth in canon? <GGGG> Nope? Oh well. (Just
kidding. I don't have a theory about Hagrid being in Slytherin. JKR said in
an interview that he's a Gryff, and I have no reason to doubt her. Please
don't anyone post messages telling me what an idiot I am for thinking
Hagrid was a Slyth. Although, he did come across as very dodgy in Knockturn
Alley <G>). I happen to agree that Hagrid is a major loser. Nice guy? Sure
but he needs to be sacked and sent far, far away where he can't hurt
himself or anyone else. Okay - back to Harry and Thestral Guy . . . 

Jenny again:
 
"I also have to throw in again that just because this kid 
has seen someone die doesn't mean he's especially sensitive now.  
Maybe he murdered his own House Elf, or watched dear old mom and dad 
kill a Muggle or - well, you get my drift."

Now me again (Wendy):

True. And my good Slytherin argument doesn't rest at all on the fact that
the kid saw the thestral. It's based purely on the fact that Harry doesn't
know his name. Although now that I think about it, the fact that he sees
the thestrals might be seen as an indication that he's not "on the fence"
one way or the other . . . it seems that he's more likely to either be
already firmly entrenched in evil (i.e. murdered his own house elf), or
firmly entrenched in good (i.e. having experienced the pain of losing a
loved one and so taking that sort of thing very seriously - something which
I believe someone like Draco, for example, does not). From there, it's just
a matter of opinion which side you believe he's on. At least until Book 6
when he joins Dumbledore's Army. ;-)  (Of course, if it turns out you were
right all along, then he'll also be the one who betrays Dumbledore's Army
in Book 7). <g>

:-)
Wendy