Why did the founders retain Slytherin's house?

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 117790



Lets delve a little into that ever-popular topic, Slytherin House.  
We know that Salazar departed in a huff when the other founders 
didn't agree with his pureblood policies.  Why then, did the other 
founders allow his House to remain part of Hogwarts.  Here are a few 
possible reasons.  They aren't necessarily exclusive, so a 
combination of several of them is possible:

1) Because of tradition.  The world of circa 1000 A.D. was a very 
tradition bound place, and the founders thought it best to allow the 
original house system to remain in place even after Salazar fled.  To 
do otherwise would have encouraged questions about the other Houses 
or the House system as a whole.

2) Because they genuinely felt that cunning and ambition were 
important traits and needed to be represented in the House system.

3) Political realism.  They realized that many of the beliefs Salazar 
espoused were widely held in the wizarding world, and that, like it 
or not, they had to allow them to be represented at Hogwarts if they 
wanted their school to succeed.

4) Administrative convenience.  The school was easier to govern with 
four houses rather than three.

5) The most interesting possibility, as flypaper for Dark Wizards and 
racists.  They may have realized/expected that most students with 
Dark tendencies would end up in Slytherin.  By allowing the House to 
continue they insured such students would be easy to spot and 
observe.  Similarly, they probably realized that pureblood theorists 
would tend to find their way into Slytherin, and could be contained 
and observed as well.  This would predicate a certain cold-
bloodedness on the founders' part, as it would mean that the 
Slytherin kids were deliberately placed in a House pretty much 
guaranteed to play to their weaknesses and worst qualities.  In 
effect, they would be abandoning a certain number of individuals for 
the sake of guarding/forewarning against the rise of Dark Wizards and 
racists.

Lupinlore