Uniting of the school by the Heir and the Slytherins in General

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 93607

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, gsanderson at c... wrote:

> 
> I'm not sure that Harry needs to be the heir of anyone to unite the 
> school.  If the DA [club/group] continues, he has already done that
> without any help from his blood at all.  There are no Slytherin's in 
> DA, but all the other houses are well-represented.  This actually 
> appears to suggest a recreation of history when Syltherin (the wizard)
> left the school.
> 
> I wonder what direction the DA will take now that they do not have to 
> operate in secret.  Will it become a club or will the new DADA 
> teacher either render it unnecessary or impossible?  I wonder who 
> Dumbledore will find next year.
> 
> Kristen

bboy_mn:

I'm troubled by the Heir of Gryffindor idea and it's many variations.
On one hand, it is a grand sounding scheme, but on the other hand,
with Dumbledore emphasis action and character over blood, how and why
would Harry being related to Gryffindor apply to the story. Why would
it be necessary? 

I could see it occuring after the fact, sort of a 'congradulations
Harry on defeating Volemort and his evil horde of Death Eaters, and,
oh by the way, your great great great great great great uncle was
Godric Gryffindor; thought you might like to know'. 

I could be there but it can't be siginificant if 'who you grow to be'
is more important than the manor to which you are born.

The DA Club-
My feelings on the DA Club are well document here (repeatedly and at
great, and somewhat annoying I'm sure, length). But none the less,
here I go again.

I think the DA Club will be one of the most important things to come
out of OotP, and I think it will play a significant role in the next
book (go ahead, call that a prediction).

There are no Slytherins in the DA Club because no Slytherins were
offered the chance to participate. Had they been given a change to
choose, I think SOME of them would have chosen to join, and would have
 chosen of honest, genuine, and benign reasons. 

Now that the club doesn't have to hide, I think they will be encourage
to open it to the whole school. Or, I think they will have one of two
option is they want to continue. One is to restrict it to a Gryffindor
club, and the other is to make it a school wide club. I think, with
Dumbledore encouragement, and the encouragement of the other club
members, they will open it to the whole school, and hope the no or few
Slytherins join.


The Slytherins-
I, however, believe that many Slytherins will join, some with a
genuine interest and others with the intent of disrupting the club and
harassing Harry. BUT, and this is a big but, Harry runs the club, what
he says goes. So, undoubtedly, Draco and his immediate gang will join
and eventually be kicked out of misbehaving. 

That will leave a few Slytherins who aren't that happy with Draco's
arrogance and bullying, and who are able to see that a world run by
Voldemort will certainly be a hopelessly disfunctional world. And more
important to ambitious Slytherins, that Voldemort's world will not be
a prosperous world. 

In addition, I am one of the people who believe that not all
Slytherins are bad. Being driven and ambitious is not a crime or a
sin, and within ethical boundaries, it is something to be admired.

If we think about the Slytherins who have interacted with Harry in
some way, and weigh them against all the Slytherin we never see and
that Harry doesn't pay much attention to, then we see that a vast
majority of Slytherins are just kids like all the other kids. They
want to go to school and learn, the want to please their parents, they
want to accomplish something with their lives. OK, they may laugh at
Draco's jokes, but Draco is someone whose bad side you do not want to
get on, and it's human nature to laugh at a joke, as long as the joke
is not at your expense. The majority of them, I guess we could call
them 'the silent majority', are not likely to be Voldemort supporters,
if for no other reason than there is nothing in it for them. 

So when Draco and his 'hangers on' get kick out of the DA Club, a few
Slytherins will stay. Why? Because they are more interested in
learning than kissing Draco's hairy... er... better make that stroking
Draco's ego.

The school will never be 100% united, but no society ever is. Yet the
four house will unite under the DA Club and Harry's guidance, and when
the time comes, they will stand together.

As a side note: I wonder if Draco will try and form a Slytherin only
DA Club after he is kicked out of the DA Club?

The New DADA Teacher-
Aren't we out of candidates? Last year (OoP) Dumbledore couldn't find
anyone, and the Ministry had to appoint someone. I seriously doubt
that Dumbledore will take anyone simply because the Ministry
recommends them after what happened with Umbridge. 

So who do we know who wants to be DADA teacher, who is also available
and knowledgable? I think it has to be Snape in the next book with a
new Potions teacher to replace him. That has the advantage of allowing
Harry to continue potions, but oo-la-la the fit Harry is going to
throw when he finds out Snape is the new DADA teacher. It'll be worth
buying the book just to read that one passage. 

Just a few thoughts, again.

bboy_mn