Good blood/bad blood (was Greatest Fear/greatest Hope)

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 121408


Alla wrote:
"Oh, without any doubt many in WW have a problem with "blood" to one 
extent or another. It is just when we start to compare, Slytherin
ideology comes as that of the worst degree."

Del replies:
One problem I see is that there doesn't seem to be *one* Slytherin
ideology. There seems to be a spectrum instead, from those who simply
believe that purebloods are better but won't harm a Muggleborn, to
those who recommend a genocide on all Muggles and Muggleborns.

Originally, Old Salazar Slytherin apparently only wanted not to teach
the Muggleborns. He wasn't asking for their death, only for their
shunning, with is very similar to what Hagrid suggests concerning the
Malfoys. 

There's the Basilisk, of course. But he might have intended the
Basilisk to only scare the Muggleborns away from Hogwarts. As Tom
Riddle proved, using it to kill each and every Muggleborn at Hogwarts
was simply impossible. 

And finally, when talking about his parents and those like them,
Sirius explained that they thought LV had the right idea (ie :
pureblood superiority) but that they came to disagree with his methods
(genocide).

So it doesn't look like the pureblood mentality in general supports
the concept of a Muggle-genocide.

Alla wrote: 
"Besides Hagrid is one of those who was personally hurt by Slytherin.
No wonder he says things like that."

Del replies:
Hum, Hagrid was talking about the Malfoys, not about the Slytherins in
general. Has he been hurt by the Malfoys?
Moreover, even if he had been speaking about the Slytherins, that's
not really an excuse. Considering how magic was considered in the
Middle-Ages, I would say that Old Slytherin might also have had a very
good reason to distrust the Muggles and to refuse to accept them in
the school he'd helped found. IMO, a personal hurt doesn't justify a
general dislike.

Del