looks determining character

[nrenka]

No: HPFGUIDX 139658

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Irene Mikhlin 
<irene_mikhlin at b...> wrote:
 
> I'm amazed. Repulsive? What's repulsive about him (unless you get 
> some sort of sinister vibe about his club, which we've discussed 
> before)?

Okay, I'll bite.  I don't find Slughorn deeply repulsive, but I do 
find him to be somewhat representative of a type I don't care for, 
partially out of personal experience.

Slughorn is the man of connections.  He latches on to students of 
talent--but he also looks for social connections, people with famous 
reputations, etc.  He grooms students, and then subsequently benefits 
in terms of his own comfort/reputation/whatever from their successes.

This is a very familiar type in old British academia, when getting 
into school was far more based on 'who's your daddy' (which is a 
founding principle of Slytherin House) than anything like talent or 
skills.  It's not too far gone (if at all) in many American 
institutions, as well.

As an academic, I absolutely loathe his type.  Pleasant enough 
teacher (at least he's not a bastard), but not about the academics.  
He's more than a little like the undergrads I see who major in 
extracurricular activities.  If you can't Do Something For Him, he's 
not interested in you; those who suck up to him benefit.

He certainly does represent a far more genteel side of Slytherin 
House than the strain of Voldemort, which has had such a strong 
presence in the House for years.  But if we were thinking of him 
according to Dante, he'd be in the vestibule: those who avoid taking 
sides end up nowhere at all.  It's not as overtly damaging as some 
actions, but it's the kind of thing that gets entrenched (although I 
do note that Sluggy is more open than he might have been to 
Muggleborns and such) and becomes cancerous in society.
 
> A fat jovial old guy, a bit on the vain side, so what?  How can he 
> be more repulsive than Umbridge? Than Gaunt guys? Than Kreacher?

I wouldn't say he is.  Slughorn does, however, give me the faint air 
of sliminess, a particular kind of self-interest.  He's not the kind 
of rampaging evil that Voldemort is, but he's part of the nexus of 
acceptable societal attitudes (note his attitude to the Dark Arts, 
which got even more connected to an idea of amorality/those with 
power and innate quality should be able to use them) which helped to 
produce the mess.

-Nora knows the perfect academic satire of the Slughorn type...