Why did the founders retain Slytherin's house?

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 117851


Pippin wrote :
"'Fraid so. Unless "the lot" includes werewolves and mixed race 
children, who seem to be conspicuously absent."

Alla asked :
" What do you mean by "mixed race' in this context?"

Del replies :
When I read Pippin's words, I thought of Fleur : 3/4 human, 1/4 Veela.
With one monumental exception (Hagrid), I can't remember that we are
ever told of such students at Hogwarts : students whose ancestors are
not all humans. And even in Hagrid's case, I'm not sure the school
Headmaster of the time (Dippet ?) knew that Hagrid was part-giant.
Nobody among the students seems to have known that before Rita
Skeeter's article came out, which makes me think that it was never
public knowledge. It seems to me like Hagrid and/or his father might
have ommitted some part of the truth in order to get Hagrid in Hogwarts.
As for Lupin, we know for sure that there was a cover-up.

But in Beauxbatons, they have a student who freely admits that she is
part Veela. And Veelas are not even creatures originated from France.
I  admit that it could be a preferential treatment due to the specific
powers of the Veelas, but it does raise the question of whether
part-humans are accepted in Beauxbatons.
The case of that school's Headmistress is interesting, though. Hagrid
is apparently convinced that she is half-giant, and her reaction seems
to confirm it, but still she strongly denies it. If her school was
open to part-humans, she should theoretically be less inclined to
hiding that part of her heritage than Hagrid is. Unless there's a
specific dislike of giants, or she's personally responsible for the
opening up of her school to part-humans (due to her own condition).

But anyway, the matter remains : we don't know of any Hogwarts student
being part-human and completely honest about it.

Pippin wrote :
" And what comes from the mouths of Gryffindor-educated children is
hardly better than Draco's spouting, though indeed they'd never dream
of saying things like that about Muggleborns. 

Hermione: "Don't trust him, he's a werewolf!"
Ron: "Get away from me, werewolf!"
Hermione: " I've never really liked horses." (referring to Firenze)"

Alla wrote :
" Oh, Pippin, Hermione deserves some credit though, does not she? 
After all she covered for Remus ever since she learned that he is 
werewolf. I think that even though she should not have said that,  she
could be excused because of fear for their lives."

Del replies :
But why did she cover for Lupin ? Did she do it because she was
personally convinced of his trustworthiness, or did she do it because
DD obviously trusted him ?
I personally think that it was a mixture of "innocent until proven
guilty" (but it took much less to make him guilty than it takes, say,
Snape), and trust in DD's choices.

Alla wrote :
"Ron...hmmm. Yeah, he could be smacked more than Hermione ."

Del replies :
Ah, but Ron's reaction is the most interesting one ! Coupled to his
reaction upon learning that Hagrid is half-giant, it illustrates
Pippin's point perfectly : the WW is racist. Ron was raised in a very
Muggle-tolerant home, and yet he was taught racism against the
non-humans. I also find Molly's reaction in OoP interesting, when
learning that her husband is sharing his hospital room with a
brand-new werewolf : she's immediately scared and concerned. The woman
lived with a werewolf for 2 months over the summer holidays, she's
just gone back to that place, she knows from first-hand experience
what it is (and isn't) to live with a werewolf, and yet she
immediately gives in to racist instincts when confronted with an
unknown werewolf.

Alla wrote :
"Yes, "I never liked horses" is very bad remark, very bad. :)"

Del replies : 
I never understood that one ! It doesn't make any sense to me. Unless
maybe JKR was precisely trying to show us that fighting racism
necessitates a major change of mindset ? Hermione is patronising the 
House-Elves because she sees them as small, oppressed and defenseless,
and yet she has no problem despising the Centaurs because they don't
seem to need help. She's not truly fighting racism, she's not trying
to truly change the feelings behind the attitudes. She only wants to
change *one* attitude, without even trying to understand where it
comes from or how it is perceived by most people on both sides.

Del