Slytherin's behavior at the GoF final feast (was Re: Dumbledore's awarding of points PS/SS)

[darrin_burnett]

No: HPFGUIDX 57026

Kelly wrote: 

> 
> Ok, on this I will agree:  many students in Slytherin hate Harry 
Potter.
> Hating one person does not necessarily mean they are evil.  But, 
for the sake of argument, let's just say that all of the Slytherins 
who have done these things against Harry and/or didn't stand to toast 
Harry at the feast are the future generation of DE's.  Well, then are 
you going to say all those students who *did* toast Harry are bad 
people as well?  Let's say the same people who drank to Harry also 
never stopped their fellow Slytherins from taunting Harry in the 
halls (can't really control the Quidditch team on  the field).  To 
me, that *still* does not make them bad.  Maybe they are  afraid of 
Draco.  After all, many in the wizarding world seem to be afraid
> of Lucius.  The Malfoy family has a reputation for not being messed 
with.
> These kids might have a reason for not wanting to cross a Malfoy.  
The smaller ones could be afraid of being beaten up by Crabbe and 
Goyle.  Then  again, some of these kids might just feel it's not 
their place to interfere.
> To me, these kids could be found guilty of not stopping some of the 
stuff that's been going on.  Put them in the same boat as many of the 
WW adults, then.  This, however, does not tell me these kids are 
therefore rotten to the core.  I actually think it telling that some 
of the Slytherins *did* stand and drink to Harry, in spite of what 
Draco and the others did.
> 


Martin Luther King Jr. said that all evil needs to flourish is for 
good men to do nothing. 

And I never said that the Slyths thought as one unit. Draco and MANY 
others sat down when Dumbledore was praising Harry's courage -- a 
courageous act that included bringing back Cedric's body, who the 
Slyths allegedly were SO mournful for, expressed by standing up when 
everyone else did. 

Who is to say the other Slyths just didn't think of it and privately 
said, "oh, yeah, good one, Draco?" Or that they WANTED to sit down, 
but didn't have the guts to in front of Dumbledore?

That works just as well as being afraid of the Malfoys or just having 
a policy of non-interference.



>  > As for the "people are just people" lessons, well, I hope the 
Slyths
> > have front-row seats for those lessons.
> >
> > It was old Salazar who left behind a giant, Muggle-killing snake
> > because he didn't want anyone but purebloods attending school. And
> > those lessons have carried down in prominent Slytherins -- Riddle,
> > the Malfoys -- since then. Their very password is "pureblood" in 
CoS.
> >
> > People ARE just people. And people who loudly call for the death 
ofMuggle-borns and Muggle-lovers are people who are slimeballs.
> I agree with you.  But there is no proof that the kids cited above 
are guilty of this, either.
> 

But again, they are calling friend someone who says that. They are no 
better than the white folks who hid in their homes and said, "Well, 
it's not my place to stop a lynching?" 

Understandable that they would be afraid? Absolutely. Admirable? 
Definitely not.

What was that about it taking a great deal of courage to stand up to 
your friends? Maybe that's why Dumbledore put Neville over the top in 
PS/SS, to send a message to any "good" Slyths that they should not 
suffer a Draco in their midst.

But so far, they've wussed out. And yeah, it tarnishes them in my 
eyes. 

> I have severe problems believing that 25% of a student body is 
automatically
> geared to be evil just because of what House they're placed in.  To
> automatically believe that of every single last child simply 
because s/he bears the name Slytherin is evil itself.
> 

Who picks the Slyths? The essence of Salazar Slytherin himself, the 
same guy who despised what he felt as a lower class so much that he 
left behind a monster to kill them.

And I never said the kids were evil. I said they were nasty. 

But go ahead, call me evil if it makes you feel better. I prefer to 
deal with the facts at hand. And the facts are that, other than 
Snape's conversion to Dumbledore's side, we have no concrete examples 
of a Slytherin doing anything decent, and Snape seems to be taking 
out that decent act on any Gryffindor within snarling distance.

Darrin