Slughorn makes me uneasy

[hermionegallo]

No: HPFGUIDX 138345

lealess (snip):
> Slughorn is drawn as a hedonist and cultivator of what he thinks are
> talented students.  He is not only interested in Harry.  I suppose 
his character shows Slytherin scheming for position, as well as 
Slytherin elitism.  But seeing as how this character was no doubt based 
on a
> real-life gay man and may actually be a fairly good characterization
> of that professor, it disturbs me that people jump to the conclusion
> that he must also be a sinister pedophile.  His motivations may be
> more benign.
...Slughorn wouldn't even be at Hogwarts if Dumbledore
> hadn't dangled Harry in front of him, as a tempting addition to his
> collection of students with potential for big achievement.  I will
> never argue that Dumbledore's choices for professors have been the
> best.  Slughorn didn't seem to be the worst, however.

hg:
Here's the link lealess refers to (mentioned previously in this thread);

http://www.livejournal.com/users/threeoranges/142574.html

To quote a bit from the site:
"The very best circle in which a student could be was that organized by 
Francis Fortescue "Sligger" Urquhart, a don at Balliol College. Sligger 
himself was more a dilettante than a serious academic, and his serious 
energies were dedicated to the cultivation of his own special circle of 
young undergraduates, particularly those marked for future greatness. 
As Carpenter puts it, "he was attracted by good looks and titles"; if 
you had either of those, or some extraordinary talent, Sligger was 
bound to take an interest in you... Every available inch of mantlepiece 
and wall [where he lived] was covered with photographs of previous 
generations of undergraduates. Here he held 'open house' late each 
evening."

It's awfully hard to refute that.
HOWEVER.
Several weeks ago I did some research of my own and came up with 
another compelling character upon whom Slughorn could be based.  A bit 
less sinister a comparison, perhaps?

http://sky.prohosting.com/fizbin/athenaeum/magos/archives/oldwiz/goldin.
html

Horace Goldin:
"His real name was Hyman Elias Goldstein and he was born in Vilna, 
Poland on December 17, 1873 or 74. He emigrated to the United States in 
his teens and began learning magic from an amateur magician and later 
from the famous Albini (inventor of the modern Egg Bag Trick). Goldin 
was very influential in magic having developed a fast and effective 
mode of presentation with which he caused a sensation and which made 
him a headliner. This style was followed by many magicians of the time. 
>From 1901 Goldin toured the world and in 1921 he developed (with other 
magicians) his own version of Sawing a Woman in Half, inspired by 
reports of the Selbit version of this same illusion. His presentation 
and talents for exploitation and publicity made this illusion a 
sensation. Later (1931) he invented the Buzz Saw Illusion and boasted 
that he had finally eliminated all "magic boxes" from his show. 
Horace Goldin died on August 22, 1939."

Goldin was short, fat, pompous and hedonistic.  He was famous in 
London.  One act he toured was "The Tiger God" which was an elaborate 
show involving a tiger named Lily.  The silent, rapid-fire presentation 
referred to above arose from the slight handicap of his accent; as I 
understand it, he wasn't doing the tricks themselves so fast, but 
eliminating the patter brought a seeming torrent of magic.  I wasn't 
able to find too much on him on the internet, save for his 
autobiography, which is a hoot (I have found several books that discuss 
him in context of professional magic at the turn of the century, which 
round out my speculation that Slughorn is based on him, at least in 
part) -- but I think it's an important connection considering how JK 
has introduced us to muggle magic in this book, and, with the attention 
paid to Slughorn's hands in the text, quite apt.

By the way, Selbit mentioned above was named Tibbles.  He reversed his 
name and dropped a 'b' to sound more magical.  Anyone recall Mr. 
Tibbles?

hg.