[HPforGrownups] Re: The Sorting Hat

[Kathryn Cawte]

No: HPFGUIDX 87356


> Yolanda here:

>
> Why can't someone be smart and brave?  All the
> intelligent kids don't have to be in Ravenclaw.
> What about the prefects for the other houses?
> Aren't they good students?  I don't know if we
> can count the Slytherin prefects.  I admit that
> their appointment appears to be based on favoritism
> and in-house politics.
>

K

Are you basing that on something other than Draco's appointment - because I
don't think we can blame favouritism for Draco being a prefect. I mean look
at the competition, you've already said that you're assuming you have to be
a good student to be a prefect (we don't know this for a fact but it's a
reasonable assumption, after all if a student is already having trouble with
their work giving them extra responsibilities isn't really going to help
matters) - Crabbe and Goyle have been characterized as practically being one
step lower than flobberworms on the evolutionary tree - and we certainly get
the impression they're not very bright (although I must admit I would be
delighted if it was part of a cunning slytherin act so that people would
write them off as all brawn and no brains and they turned out to have passed
all their OWLs with flying colours), and we don't know much about any other
boys in their year so there's no real evidence either way - although the
fact that Harry has classes with them and they've never made an impression
doesn't suggest they have the presence to be a prefect. I agree that Draco
is an irritating little brat but unless we see anyone better out of the boys
in his year and House I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and
assume he got his position on merit. Besides Dumbledore seems to appoint
prefects (he explains to Harry why he chose not to make him a prefect at any
rate) and he doesn't favour the Slytherins.

And on the subject of people grouping all the Slytherins together (which we
are, but only sort of) if JKR doesn't give us anyone but Snape out of
Slytherin house who isn't evil to the bone by the end of book seven the loud
thump you hear will be me throwing my book across the room in disgust. She
has a strong anti-prejudice theme, she has a strong theme of choice and
individuality (Harry, Dobby etc) and yet she seems to be telling us you can
write off 25% of the wizarding world's children at the age of 11! Other than
Snape the closest we've seen to a Slytherin not being totally rotten is
Regulus Black, who may have been a bigoted idiot but did try and get out
even if it did get him killed.

K