Cheering on Harry

[darrin_burnett]

No: HPFGUIDX 100830

> > 
> > Maybe there is some hidden, "good Slytherin" kid out there, but 
JKR  hasn't chosen to show us yet. We must go with what we have.
> 
> Del replies :
> But wasn't it one the main lessons of the Pensieve Incident, that
> people can change ? James was a total jerk at 15, but he changed. 
Why can't we grant the same right to those Slytherin kids ?
> 

When one does change, I will change my opinion of them. James was 
also a jerk, but he wasn't a racist jerk. I actually look forward to 
the day some as-yet-unnamed Slytherin kid stands up and says, "Draco, 
QUIT MAKING US ALL LOOK LIKE GITS!"

Maybe it'll happen now that Lucius is in jail, but until it does, I'm 
assuming the Slyths either agree with Draco or are too cowed by him 
to stand up. Either way, they are the ones that need to show it.

So they agree or are cowards. Forgive me if I don't cheer.

> Darrin wrote :
> > And right now, the House of Slytherin is V-Mort's prime training 
> > ground for DEs. Will he get all of them? No, but he'll get enough 
to 
> > keep the movement going, and even those who don't join openly 
> > sympathize with V-Mort in spirit.
> 
> Del replies :
> Oh I agree there, and that makes me only more angry towards the good
> guys :-) The adults know what happened the first time around, how LV
> went recruiting among the Slytherin kids, so why aren't they doing
> anything to prevent that from happening again ?? DD is letting the
> kids choose their side again, but he should know that the Slytherin
> kids have been fed hate and anger and that their judgement is bound 
to be altered.

Short of taking them away from their parents -- not a bad idea, 
really -- I'm not sure what D-Dore can do. He gave them a "tough 
love" lesson in book one, saying that courage and love are worth more 
than deceit and trickery by giving Harry and the gang points.

(Ah, I remember a thread castigating D-Dore for that, as if what 
Slytherin kids need is MORE pampering and being told they are right.) 

And if they do need that? Slytherins won the House Cup for years 
before Harry showed up and they won Quidditch a bunch too. You can't 
say that House Slytherin gets no success at Hogwarts.

D-Dore is setting an example by being welcoming to all. Muggle-borns, 
half-giants, werewolves. 

The very fact that there IS still a House Slytherin speaks volumes. 
Unless there is some magical binding contract that prevents old Sal's 
line from being kicked out on their butts, one would think that there 
would be massive temptation to just dissolve the house and put the 
kids somewhere else.

And these are not refugees who haven't been accepted by anyone else. 
Remember, these are the children of priviledge. Most of them, if not 
all of them (besides V-Mort) are pureblood, which means they are 
upper-crust in many eyes. 

The Slyths are the jocks, prom queens, rich kids, trend-setters, 
arbiters of status and harpies. They are NOT the Square Pegs, nerds,  
geeks, goths, skateboarders, punks, rebels, or any other picked on 
group in school. 

Let's go to real life for a minute. Picture a kid who is poor, or 
maybe struggling with his or her sexuality, or not as smart, or smart 
but not athletic, or with a single parent, or with a stutter.

Do you REALLY believe that child is welcome among people like the 
Slytherins you've seen?

So, let us not blame Dumbledore for failing to overcome the 
maliciousness of parents like Lucius Malfoy and the rest of the DE 
dads. 

Any teacher will tell you that you can only go so far.
 

> 
> Del replies :
> Speculation.
> Yep, Harry met people, lucky for him. Once again, it all comes down 
to luck. Harry was lucky to meet the right people at the right time in
> order to get a vague idea that he didn't want to be in Slytherin.
> 

You said it. I didn't. "The right people."

Harry did meet the right people, the non-Slyths. Good thing for us, 
or else there might not be a series of books.



> Darrin wrote :
> > I'm sure facing V-Mort is a bed of roses in some eyes, but four 
> > times in five years? With a horde of dementors thrown in for good 
> > measure?
> 
> Del replies :
> Once again, you're being disrespectful.
> And what I meant is not that it isn't hard to face LV, just that 
it's> not necessarily the only hard thing, nor the hardest one, onecan
> face. What will break you can be a breeze for me and vice versa.
> 

I'm only disrespectful when I see semantic games being played for the 
sake of holding on to threads of arguments. 

If you want to keep arguing that facing V-Mort four times in five 
years, alone in three of the cases (books one, two and four and 
outnumbered in four) is something that someone else besides Harry 
might find a breeze (what will break you can be a breeze for me) then 
maybe we should just end it. Because I'm not going to pretend to 
respect that just for the sake of civility.


> 
> Darrin wrote :
> > He puts others before him. Just one more thing to love about the 
> > kid, but I suppose since I've said that, you will instantly find 
> > something else to hate about him to balance the scales.
> 
> Del replies :
> You're getting annoying with your derisive irony, Darrin.
>

What? You admitted you hated Harry just because others liked him. I 
figured that if I piled on the like, you'd pile on the hate, since it 
was an equal and opposite reaction. :)

Maybe we should just agree to disagree and leave each other be. 
Because I don't think you'll be satisfied with the "respect" I give.

Darrin