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

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 119078


Carol wrote :
"The hat isn't looking for an interest in the Dark Arts as a criterion
for placement, as far as we know."

Del replies :
And yet, the only few students we know were interested in the Dark
Arts when they arrived at Hogwarts (Snape, Draco, possibly Tom Riddle)
have *all* been placed in Slytherin. And Sirius, even though his
family was apparently traditionally Slytherin, wasn't placed in there,
most probably because he hated the Dark Arts.

Carol wrote :
" And there has to be a place for the cunning and ambitious types to
feel at home, doesn't there?"

Del replies :
I personally consider the Weasley twins to be cunning and ambitious,
and Percy sure is ambitious, and yet none of them was placed in
Slytherin. Ernie McMillan also seems to be quite ambitious, at least
as far as academic accomplishment goes, and yet he wasn't placed in
neither Ravenclaw nor Slytherin. There's also Hermione of course, but
as a Muggleborn she couldn't in any way be Sorted into Slytherin.

Carol wrote :
"In addition, Slytherin House is part of the Hogwarts tradition,
honoring one of the four founders, and certain students, notably those
from certain pureblood families, expect and *want* to be placed there."

Del replies :
Yes, but *why* ? Is it really just a matter of "I want to be in the
same House as my mommy and/or daddy" ?
It's not all the pureblood families who want to be in Slytherin : it's
only those who believe in pureblood superiority. I personally call
that a *negative* trait, one that shouldn't in any way be encouraged.
Those students who want to go to Slytherin want to go there for bad
reasons : either because of the pureblood superiority mentality, or
because of the interest in the Dark Arts. Giving them what they want
isn't helping them.

Carol wrote :
" Imagine Draco as a Ravenclaw and his thuggy friends as Hufflepuffs.
Would any of them be happy with that placement? Would their Ravenclaw
and Hufflepuff housemates be happy to have them there?"

Del replies :
It all depends on whether or not there is still a Slytherin House. If
the choice was only between Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, then
I'm pretty sure Draco would be quite fine in Ravenclaw. As for Crabbe
and Goyle, they are just happy to follow a leader, so I think they
would do well in Hufflepuff.
As for whether or not their Housemates would be happy to have them, I
don't think that matters in the least. Ron wasn't happy at first when
Hermione was Sorted in Gryffindor. But thanks to his and Harry's
influence, Hermione changed and let the best in her come out. I don't
see why the same couldn't have happened to Draco and his cronies.

Carol wrote :
"The only alternative that I can see, other than doing away with all
four houses, is to have a separate school for the Slytherin types--and
that would almost certainly be worse. If the Lucius Malfoy types got
control of it, it would quickly turn into another Durmstrang, a
producer of Dark Wizards. Its graduates would probably engage in a
power struggle, with the winner becoming the next Grindelwald or
Voldemort."

Del replies :
This is already happening with Slytherin. Lucius Malfoy's son got
control of the loud part of Slytherin, and some suspect that Lucius
himself might have been the leader of the gang of Slytherins that
became DEs. And there's indeed a power struggle between Lucius and
Bella (at least those 2), two Slytherins, as to who is the
second-in-command among the DEs.

Carol wrote :
" How JKR can unite the houses and end the Slytherin vs. everyone else
antagonism by the end of the seventh book, I don't know, but I don't
think that eliminating *only* Slytherin is the answer. (Snape wouldn't
like it, either. ;-) )"

Del replies :
I vote for an elimination of all Houses. The antagonism between the
three "good" Houses might not be as strong as between them and
Slytherin, but it is already damageable enough in my opinion. We saw
in OoP that only a much greater enemy is capable of uniting them
strongly enough for them to manage to work together.

Del