The good Slytherin

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 131394

>>Alla:
<snip> 
>I am OPEN to the idea of good Slytherin, really. I just do not see  
how Harry can have a better opinion of Slytherins , if all what he 
saw is Draco and his chronies.
>I am only objecting to the idea that Harry is biased to the 
Slytherins he saw. I AGREE with you that Harry did not see all 
Slytherins yet, I just disagree that  what he has a twisted POV as to 
what he already saw.
<snip>
>I do not believe that Harry was predisposed to dislike Slytherin 
BEFORE he met Draco. I believe that Harry dislikes Slytherins BECAUSE 
he met Draco and THAT I believe is a very rational thing to do.<

Betsy Hp:
Ah, I think I'm clearer on where you're coming from.  Yes, Draco did 
nothing to help his house in any of his meetings with Harry.  He 
(rather ignorantly) managed to push all of Harry's buttons in their 
first two meetings, and it was all down hill from there.

Of course, Draco was helped along by Hagrid and Ron and Professor 
Snape as well.  So, no, Harry's views weren't formed in a vacuum.  
But Harry (and his friends it seems like) have written the entire 
house off as Death Eaters in training and that's a mistake, IMO. (And 
apparently the Sorting Hat's too <eg>.)

Actually, that's why I'm thinking it's going to be big-bangy type of 
situation that will reveal the Harry's "good Slytherin".  Because 
Harry is so *set* in his dislike of the entire house I feel like 
it'll take something fairly spectacular for him to finally realize 
that being Slytherin does not automatically mean evil.

>>Alla: 
>Again, I AGREE  that Harry will see  that not all Slytherins are as 
bad as Draco is, but for now in my mind Draco is the typical 
representative of House Slytherin simply because I did not see 
anything to the contrary.<

Betsy Hp:
And this is a view I could *never* agree with.  Not in a universe as 
beautifully grey as JKRs.  For one, Draco is such a *bad* Slytherin.  
There's nothing cunning about him, so it's hard for me to judge him 
as a "typical" Slytherin (though I agree that Harry does see him this 
way).  For another, judging a house by the behavior of one student is 
just...  you can see that it's unfair right?  And *especially* since 
JKR has already taken such delight in knocking down stereotypes she 
sets up for the other houses (not to mention the twists and turns she 
likes to take her characters through) that I think it's slightly 
dangerous to think Slytherin will stay the cartoony, mustache-
twirling villains Harry has painted them as being.  And it's not that 
the Slytherins will decide mustache-twirling is so twenty years ago.  
I think *Harry* will have to let go of some of his preconceptions 
regarding Slytherin.

>>Alla: 
>Well, no, I guess the fact that some Slytherins drank to Cedric's 
memory could be seen as good sign, but it could also be seen as them 
being scared of Dumbledore.<

Betsy Hp:
Try *all* of them.  Dumbledore asks everyone to stand and raise a 
glass to Cedric, and *everyone* does.

"They did it, all of them; the benches scraped as everyone in the 
Hall stood, and raised their goblets, and echoed, in one loud, low, 
rumbling voice, "Cedric Diggory." (GoF hardback, scholastic p.721)

The Slytherins, many of them, do not stand for *Harry*.  But from 
their point of view Harry is a glory-seeking, suck-up, a constant 
thorn in the side of their head of house, an obvious favorite of 
Dumbledore, and a spoiled little rich kid who's always sporting the 
latest broom with which he's able to out-play their own Seeker.  
Heck, by the time school starts up again, one of Harry's own dorm 
mates doubts the story Dumbledore gave at the closing feast.  I doubt 
Seamus would have stood for Harry if the closing feast speech had 
been given at the beginning of their fifth year.

>>bboyminn:
>Hummm.... tricky business this good Slytherin thing. First I don't
think /good/ means good, I think it means /not bad/; not hopelessly 
evil.
>To illustrate, if Draco is redeemed, he will still be a jerk, he'll
just be a jerk who is not on Voldemort's side. The same is true of
other Slytherins, just because they don't support Voldemort, just
because they don't actively oppose Harry, doesn't mean that are all
going to break out into a rousing chorus of 'A Spoon Full of Sugar'.<
<snip>

Betsy Hp:
I totally agree.  We can see this in the "good Slytherins" already 
shown.  Neither Snape nor Nigellus would sing anything to anybody, I 
imagine <g>.  

However, I do take issue with the idea that no Slytherin could *ever* 
be sweetly good. (Actually, there's something a bit Slytherin in Mary 
Poppins herself, wouldn't you say? <g>)  I feel like all four houses 
are, in the end, rather neutral with the talents they look for.  I 
think you could sift through each house and find wonderfully good 
people and horribly bad people.  That's part of why I enjoy the 
books.  Nothing automatically predisposes someone to be good or evil.

But, just as various members of the other three houses have been 
varied in their reactions to Harry and his fight with Voldemort 
(Smith vs. Macmillan, Cho vs. Luna, Seamus vs. Neville) I'm sure 
there will be varied reactions within Slytherin house as well.  Some 
may welcome the chance to come on board, some may sneer at Harry a 
bit, some may decide to join Voldemort.  But what I'm hoping for is 
that not every new recruit for Voldemort is a Slytherin.

Betsy Hp