Will the Slytherins leave Hogwarts ?

[Jim Ferer]

No: HPFGUIDX 107134

Del:" With LV out in the open . . . The pressure on the Slytherins in
particular will become nearly unbearable . . . will we see the day
when the Slytherins will decide to leave the school for good, just
like old Slytherin did ? And what effects would it have on the
remaining students ?"
Owlery: "DD could be viewed as a safety factor or a danger magnet. In
either case, Hogwarts becomes a front line bastion against LV, which
houses DD and HP, two key figures in the anti-LV chess game. With a
formidable "army" of house elves and witches/wizards (not to mention
the students and the budding DA), surrounded by the Forbidden Forest
and protected against all sorts of magical intrusion, it's unlikely LV
will attempt an all-out assault in chapter 1."

I agree

>From a narrative standpoint, JKR would obviously want the Slytherins
in school; what would life be without Draco and the Knuckles Twins,
assuming they've stopped oozing?

>From Dumbledore's point of view, I'm sure he'd want to keep the
Slytherins in school. 1) Some of them may turn towards the good side,
2)Dumbledore will believe (and I think he's right) that they're safer
there, 3) They'll continue to get their education, which is important
to Dumbledore, 4) DD is likely to get a lot of intelligence one way
and another, and 5) "You keep your friends close and your enemies
closer."  Dumbledore is not a judgmental man, and he will treat the
Slytherins as though nothing happened.

I guess, without having a strong opinion about it, that most of the
Slytherin parents would keep their children in. Some of them would be
afraid that withdrawing their children would be taken as declaring for
Voldemort, some will feel their children are safer in school, and some
will hope in their turn for intelligence about what's going on in the
center of resistance to Voldemort.

As far as assaulting Hogwarts goes, LV certainly won't early in HBP,
and likely not ever in HBP.  He was weakened by the MoM debacle; how
much strength does he have now? We don't know. Voldemort is going to
go after Harry through his friends, I believe, and it will be very ugly.

Jim Ferer