Salazar & Slytherin(was Re: Draco and Slytherin House (was: Harsh Morality)

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 121536


Alla wrote:
""Listen to me, Harry. You happen to have many qualities Salazar
Slytherin prized in his hand-picked students. His own very rare 
gift, Parseltongue - resourcefulness - determination - a certain 
disregard for rules," he added, his mustache quivvering again. "Yet 
the Sorting Hat placed you in Gryffindor. You know why that was. 
Think". -p.333,Cos, paperback.
 
I frankly do NOT see any sign of Dumbledore praising those traits.
Salazar prized them, yes, Dumbledore - nope."
 
Del replies:
He did call them *qualities*, didn't he?
 
This passage is very clear to me, especially when considered together
with Harry's Sorting. Each Founder favoured certain specific
qualities: courage, loyalty, cleverness, resourcefulness, for 
example. Harry has got many of the qualities that Slytherin liked, 
and also many of those that Gryffindor liked. The Sorting Hat said 
he was hard to place, and IMO that's because he has so many 
qualities that belong to different "Founder-sets". In the end, the 
Hat's choice was apparently between Gryffindor and Slytherin, at 
about 50-50. The Hat couldn't reach a decision on its own, which is 
why Harry's plea determined its choice : not Slytherin? All right, 
then it'll be Gryffindor.

Alla:

Isn't "quality" a neutral word? 

I will try to qualify again. ALL I was saying that it is unclear in 
this passage that Dumbledore was praising Slytherins traits in 
Harry. They may be positive or negative, depending on the situation.

And I am not quite sure that Harry has 50/50 inner Gryff and inner 
Slyth.

As Hanna pointed out Hat did NOT even mention Slytherin at all, till 
Harry started begging not to be put in there.
Who knows, maybe Hat was just having fun with him, asessing how well 
he would do in the other Houses, and of course everybody ahs some 
qualities of different houses in himself/herself, otherwise it would 
be even more simplistic personalities division than I think it is 
now.

I am just not sure Harry has it 50/50. Personally I think that he 
will turn out to be mainly Gryffindor, but it is JMO, of course.

Del:
Note: a certain disregard for rules is *not* a Gryffindor quality, as
someone suggested. If it were, neither Percy nor Hermione would have
been Gryffindors, and Neville would be considered a traitor to his 
own House for trying to prevent the Trio from breaking the rules.


Alla:

I was not exactly suggesting it, just thinking about it out loud. :o)

Well, true we have Percy in gryffindor, but Hermione learned fast to 
bend the rules for her needs, did not she?

For the record, I am not judging her, as I said many times I believe 
that breaking the rules for GOOD purpose can be very good thing, but 
I still think that "disregard for rules" can be Gryffindor trait.


Just my opinion,

Alla