Sorting Hat - Slytherin Truth

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 115824


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "scoutmom21113"
<navarro198 at h...> wrote:
> 
> Bookworm:
> I'd like to agree with you and think that Salazar's
> reputation has been distorted over the years.  But that doesn't 
> explain *why* he built the Chamber in the first place, hid it from 
> his supposed-friends, and wait for an heir to come along and
> "purge the school".   That would have taken much more
> planning and effort than a quick revenge spell cast as he stormed 
> out of the school after an argument.
> 
> Ravenclaw Bookworm

bboyminn:

Well, even if S.Slytherin wasn't a psychotic evil overlord, he still
had a strong justifiable bias against Muggle, perhaps even a hate of
muggle, but that hate was not based on who they were but what they had
done. At that time of pursecution of magic people, muggles were very
cruel, and given that they killed more of their friends and neighbors
than true magic folk, one could even look at THOSE muggles as evil and
something to be aggressively fought against.

So, it's possible with the other three founders letting muggle-borns
and mixed-bloods into the school, Slytherin was a little paranoid and
worried. If he feared what in his mind was the great likelihood of a
betrayal, he may have built the Chamber for the time when the
anti-magic muggles came kicking down the door of Hogwarts. That would
give him a safe haven inside the school, and a secure base to fight
from. Also, with Hogwarts lacking it's own army, Slytherin might have
thought a one-creature-killing-machine like the Basilisk, which he
could control, might make a nice equalizer. 

In addition, the Chamber may have given S.Slytherin a place where he
could teach his own personal phylosophy of life to special students,
hold rallies, and conduct private research. 

Again, I'm not implying that Slytherin was a saint. He may have had
his own warped philosophy, and may have been actively rallying against
muggles. In a sense, muggles had declared war on magical people and
Slytherin may have felt the wizard world should do more to fight back.

BUT none of that adds up to the person we see Tom Riddle describing
when he talks about Slytherin. Hating muggle for pursecution, is far
different than purely hating muggles, and a eagerness to defend the
wizard world against muggle attacks again is a blow against muggle
/actions/, not against muggles for the sake of muggles. 

Voldemort seems to think it is OK to torture and kill muggles for
sport. That's much much different than Slytherin (speculative) wanting
to defend himself against muggle pursecution.

So, Slytherin's position could have been pretty radical and agressive
without being irrational or racist. In addition, Slytherin's position,
if it was as I speculate, as you can see, could very easily be twisted
to suit people like Voldemort and the purebloods.

If you catch my drift.

Steve/bboyminn (was bboy_mn)