Slytherin MWPP

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 85184

>  "Kathryn Cawte"  wrote: 
> 
> You know one of the arguments for James and/or Sirius not being 
> Slytherins
> > is that they were probably all the same house, but what if they 
> were *all*
> > Slytherins? <snip> 
>
> 
Marianne said: 
> I'm leaning more and more to MWPP all being in Slytherin.  There is 
> certainly support for James being a Gryff, but JKR has not explicitly 
> said so. <snip>
> Okay, here's my first prediction for future books.  We'll find out 
> that Snape and MWPP were all Slyths in the same year.  Snape was odd 
> man out because he more firmly believed in the whole pure-blood 
> superiority thing.  Thus he was alienated from his dormmates, J,S,R, 
> and P.  However, he was taken in by some of the other, older Slyths 
> including Lucius and the Black cousins, who, in turn despised Sirius, 
> for not buying into the blood purity ideal. <snip>
> This can also tie in with the victimized Snape we see in OoP.  By the 
> time they're in their fifth year, Snape's older allies like Lucius 
> and Bellatrix have left Hogwarts.  He is now more vulnerable to a 
> joint attack by Sirius and James.  Of course, this warped, little 
> theory doesn't take into account that if the 5 were all in the same 
> year, Snape risked being hexed into oblivion every time he went to 
> sleep at night.  <snip>

Carol
The victimized Snape idea would still work if he were a Slytherin and
James et al were Gryffindors. I agree that the older Slytherins young
Snape had hung around with had probably graduated several years before
the events we witness in the Pensieve. Lucius Malfoy certainly had,
and IIRC, the Lestranges are closer to his age than Snape's. It isn't
necessary for the Marauders (sorry, Steve) to be Slytherins to account
for this state of affairs. Also, the adult Sirius seems to me to hold
Slytherin in contempt. A person who was in Slytherin himself would not
refer to "a gang of Slytherins." Also, Lupin, at least, has no traits
that would have placed him in Slytherin. Where are his cunning and
ambition? For that matter, I don't see much ambition in the
fifteen-ear-old James or Sirius. Sirius seems to expect to be treated
like royalty for his good looks. James is a show off who likes being
admired for his quidditch skills. But they don't seem to be working
hard to earn high marks and carve a place for themselves in the WW.
They just want to have fun--at Snape's expense or by risking expulsion
with their "marauding" adventures. There's no question that they love
mischief, but mischief is not a Slytherin trait. (Look at the Weasley
twins. They break a lot of rules, but they just want to have fun.)
And, whatever we may think of the Marauders' exploits, it took courage
to transform themselves into animals so they could wander around with
a werewolf. If they were ambitious, they would have spent their time
working to promote their future careers (think of the hours Snape must
have spent cramming for that Potions exam). Instead they devoted their
spare time to learning how to become illegal animagi. Where is the
ambition in that?

Carol, who has read too many interviews in which JKR makes it clear
that Gryffindor is her favorite house to believe that she would have
put Harry's father and godfather in any other house. I don't think
Lily would have married James if he were a Slytherin, either.

Carol