Slughorn makes me uneasy

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 138431

> >>Del:
> Betsy,
> I hear your very good points about Slughorn's victims being too
> physically old for him to be paralleled to a RL pedophile.         
> However, I already agreed that Slughorn is not a *sexual*         
> predator, so the fact that his victims are sexually mature is     
> irrelevant.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
I think the reason I keep harping on this is because I *do* see a 
sexual attraction (or the vibe of one at least) from Slughorn for 
Harry.  I don't think it's unhealthy or overtly predatory, but I do 
think Slughorn is responding to Harry, at least partially, as a 
handsome, charasmatic, sexually attractive, young man.  

> >>a_svirn:
> <snip>
> And whether he loves kids in general, or some of them in particular
> I agree with Del: his, well, fondness, for Harry is indeed        
> expressed by JKR in a very suggestive language. And, as you       
> yourself noted, it does look like she "borrowed" him from Evelyn  
> Waugh's "Scarlet Woman" where homosexual Dean of Balliol "Sligger" 
> never missed an opportunity to pet the Prince of Wales and        
> otherwise shower him with attention.

Betsy Hp:
Yes, that's what I see as well.  Both with the connection back to 
Sligger (which makes a lot of sense to me) and with the way Slughorn 
interacts with Harry.  He's *flirting* for goodness sake.  However, 
I don't see it being a problem *because* Harry is sixteen years 
old.  He's quite close to sexual maturity now and people around him 
are responding to it.  Romilda Vane, Ginny and yes, Slughorn.

> >>Del:
> <snip>
> Let's just say that Slughorn is someone I would be wary of letting 
> my teenage child get *too* close to, not for his physical safety, 
> but for his emotional one, and even more his magical one in the   
> case of a wizard.

Betsy Hp:
I don't have any children so I'm not sure how I'd respond myself.  
I'm sure it's not a barn full of fun for parents to realize that 
their children are suddenly being seen as sexually attractive adults.

So, since I have no personal experience on that side of the equation 
I'll have to look to Dumbledore.  And Dumbledore not only purposely 
leaves Harry alone with Slughorn, he sends Harry out to get 
something from Slughorn that Slughorn is not that willing to share.  
Since I have a hard time picturing Dumbledore in a pimp hat I think 
he must realize that while Harry is Slughorn's "type", Harry is, in 
the end, quite safe.  (Though Dumbledore does warn Harry to not 
get "collected".)

> >>Lealess:
> <snip>
> 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.

Betsy Hp:
I think it's a combination of two things: first we have an adult 
responding to Harry as a goodlooking young man, and second that 
adult is male and men are stereotypically the aggressor in sexual 
relationships. Since we've known Harry from his infancy onward I 
think it's hard to make that leap into near adulthood (and major 
kudos to JKR for doing so).

Personally I think Slughorn is quite benign.  I do get the sense 
that he finds Harry attractive, but I never got the sense that 
Slughorn was interested in anything sexual occuring between the 
two.   

> >>Lealess:
> When Harry pursues Slughorn, the professor backs away. I am not   
> sure a pedophile would have done that.

Betsy Hp:
This is exactly why I don't get a "darker" read on Slughorn's 
character.  Not only is he not pursuing children, he deliberately 
avoids Harry at a time Harry is making himself vulnerable to 
Slughorn.  Harry needs something only Slughorn can give him and it's 
*Harry* who must pursue Slughorn, and it's *Harry* who gets Slughorn 
drunk and in a vulnerable position.  Slughorn avoids doing the same 
to Harry.  Yes, he wants Harry in his club but he only asks.  He 
never threatens or blackmails or does anything that, IMO anyway, 
could seem a bit beyond the pale.

Personally, I think it was important for Harry to pick-up the 
ability to use his attractiveness.  He's going to need every skill 
avaliable to him to hunt down the remaining horcruxes and I think 
part of the reason Dumbledore sent him after Slughorn's memory 
wasn't just because Slughorn was more vulnerable to attractive young 
Harry than he was to distinguished old Dumbledore, but because 
Dumbledore wanted Harry to gain a sense of his own charisma (for 
want of a better word).

(Something that I think Dumbledore, from the giggling old witches in 
OotP, was not above using himself, from time to time.)

> >>Lealess:
> One more thing: 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.

Betsy Hp:
I'd add that Dumbledore wasn't just trying to hire a professor, he 
was also looking for a new Head of House.  Knowing that Snape was 
only going to last a year at Hogwart (the DADA curse) I think 
Dumbledore was desperate for someone who'd look after the Slytherins 
when Snape (and Dumbledore, IMO) were gone.  Also, Dumbledore seems 
fully aware of Slughorn's peccadillos, and he seems to look at them 
as something more amusing than threatening, IMO.

Betsy Hp (who snipped out the rest of the horcrux discussion because 
she feels she's reached the point where "agree to disagree" comes in)