Slytherin House again. Was: Re: Problem with OotP? (was: Pampering)

[Hannah]

No: HPFGUIDX 118989


 Kim chiming in:
> I hadn't even noticed this aspect of Dumbledore's Army.  It seems 
a 
> shame to me too, but also not surprising that no Slytherins 
joined.  
> I think that JKR may want to set the Slytherins as an example of 
> people who are *potentially* interested in benefiting the common 
> good, but are too caught up in their own ambitions to get 
involved.  
> That's why they're in Slytherin in the first place, isn't it?  But 
I 
> think it's necessary to show all walks of WW society, even in a 
> school setting, as Jeanette says.  "It takes all kinds to make a 
> world" can sometimes be a sad but true statement.   It seems to me 
> too that another purpose of Slytherin House is to show the 
remaining 
> three houses the *wrong* way to behave, and the other three houses 
> are there to show the Slytherins the *right* ways to behave, in a 
> sense.  Although I suppose there are good things to be said for 
> Slytherin-style ambition, it, like other double-edged character 
> traits, is dangerous if it's not tempered by more positive traits. 
> 
> Just wondering:  Are there any non-pureblood Slytherins?  Harry 
had 
> his chance to be in Slytherin, and he's not a pureblood, but maybe 
he 
> had a chance only because he *was* Harry (i.e. the boy who 
lived).  I 
> can't think of any others (except Tom Riddle, of course).  Anyway, 
a 
> non-pureblood Slytherin would be in for a pretty rough time from 
most 
> of his/her fellow Slytherins, so it would seem.


Hannah: JKR has hinted (as only she can) that maybe Snape isn't 
pureblood.  She says (in a webchat somewhere) that he's not a 
muggleborn, but she deliberately doesn't say he's pureblooded.  So 
I'm guessing he's half blood.  But other than Malfoy, we don't 
really know much about the backgrounds of any of the other 
Slytherins, except that a disproportionate number have DE fathers.  
Goyle could be half troll for all we know (joking here!)

I think there must be some half blooded Slytherins, simply because 
pure bloods are supposed to be getting rarer, and there are quite a 
few pure bloods in other houses.  I think it's just muggle-borns 
that really wouldn't be able to be sorted into Slytherin.  OTOH, I 
don't see why a muggle born couldn't be sneaky, ambitious, etc.  
Maybe if they were, they'd still be put into Slytherin.  The whole 
allocation of houses process seems so utterly stupid to me that I'd 
believe anything of it!

No reasoning, however logical, could persuade me that having 
Slytherin as a way to identify potential dark wizards, or to show 
the other nice children what nasty children are like, is anything 
other that utterly reprehensible.  These children are 11 years old 
when they get sorted!  The idea of damning a quarter of them at that 
age to simply serve as an example to others, or to wait out the days 
till they become a death eater, is horrible.  Talk about self-
fulfulling prophecies!

Hannah