House Choice doesn't Equal Personality for Life

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 85617

> Fifty: 
> > I haven't read my books for a while now but I thought that we know
> > that James and his friends were all in Gryffindor.  And Snape was
> > Slytherin.  Isn't that right?  If that is right then that means 
> that
> > Wormtail was a death eater and so not all of the Gryffindor's are
> > good.  And Snape is good so that's another thing that makes it so 
> that
> > being in one house doesn't mean that you will stay the way that 
> house is. <snip>
> 
> Cheekyweebisom:
> I disagree. I think the qualities of the four houses are qualities 
> deeply ingrained in one's personality. I think if you're a 
> Gryffindor, you will always be a Gryffindor. That said, I don't 
> think being a Gryffindor makes you good. Courage can lead to great 
> things. It can also lead to foolhardiness. You can be evil but very 
> brave.
> 
> I particularly take issue with your description of Snape -- 
> that "being in one house doesn't mean that you will stay the way 
> that the house is." Even if it doesn't, Snape's a terrible example 
> of that, IMO. Snape is SUCH a Slytherin. So he isn't evil. So what? 
> Slytherins are not evil by definition; they're cunning and 
> ambitious. And usually pureblooded. Snape is very cunning. He's also 
> very brave, but I think cunning is his strongest trait. So yeah. I 
> think he is the way Slytherin house is. So's Draco. So's Moldy 
> Voldy. I think the houses have no moral alignments.


I agree with everything you said except that cunning is Snape's
strongest trait. I would argue that it's ambition (note his long and
detailed DADA O.W.L. exam and his persistent attempts at applying for
the DADA teaching position), but as you noted ambition is also a
Slytherin trait. His early interest in the Dark Arts would also, I
think, have suggested a placement in Slytherin over Ravenclaw for his
obvious intelligence or Gryffindor for his courage. The only house
where he would be a complete misfit is Hufflepuff. But I think the
Sorting Hat knew what it was doing. As Cheekyweebisom says, he isn't
evil, but neither is Slytherin in and of itself, and he definitely
belongs there. In fact, he's the Head of that House and notoriously
supportive of the Slytherin quidditch team. How much of his
partisanship is a cover for his position in the Order, I don't know, I
do think some of its real. So far as I can determine from the glimpses
we've seen, his family life was as bad as Harry's or worse. Hogwarts
and specifically Slytherin House is the only home he knows.

Carol, who is trying to remember a particular Slytherin that Snape
doesn't have but can't think of it at the moment