The good Slytherin (mild TBAY)

[JJ Pandy]

No: HPFGUIDX 131669


<lots of snipping to focus on Slytherins interacting with Harry)>
> Del replies:
> Many problems in your reasoning:
> <snip, snip> 
> Of course, the next question is then: how come Harry never interacts
> positively with a Slytherin? Good question, I grant you that THIS is
> suspect. However, if you take a look at the "political" situation in
> Hogwarts, you'll see that this is very unlikely, because of one 
thing:
> Malfoy.
<snip, snip, snip>
> What other Slytherins could positively interact with Harry? Harry
> doesn't belong to any club, except for Quidditch, which is a
> *competitive* club, so inter-House befriending is pretty hard there
> (romance is another matter). Slytherin and Gryffindor sit on 
opposite
> sides in the Great Hall, they live as far away from each other as 
they
>  could (Gryffindor up a tower, Slytherin in the dungeons). Any
> Slytherin who would want to befriend Harry would have to do so in 
the
> open, they would have to go out of their way to go and see Harry, 
and
> that would inevitably be told to Draco at one time or the other.
> Considering Draco's power, I have no problem seeing why no Slytherin
> would bother trying to befriend Harry. I mean, it's not like they 
have
> a *reason* to purposely befriend Harry, do they?
> 
<lots of snipping>


JJ's reply:

I believe Slytherins do not interact positively with Harry not just 
because of Malfoy, but also because of Snape.  Snape is Head of the 
Slytherin House and I think it is obvious to all students (even ones 
as thick as Crabbe and Goyle)in the Potions class that Snape does not 
like Harry.  A Slytherin student may not be or want to be friends 
with Malfoy, but have good reason not to get on the bad side of their 
Head of House/Potions professor.  I'm sure older and younger 
Slytherin students have heard stories of Snape and Harry's hate-hate 
relationship, in addition to Malfoy and Harry's hate-hate 
relationship in the Slytherin Common Room since Malfoy does love to 
raise his voice to be heard - add that to Quidditch team loyalty - 
and I can see why a Slytherin may not want to just walk up to Harry 
and strike up a friendly conversation.  Besides, at this point, I am 
sure Harry would be suspicious of any Slytherin trying to act 
friendly towards him unless he actually witnessed that Slytherin 
doing something nice for another non-Slytherin (like helping Neville 
pick up books he dropped).

JJ   :)