ESE Slughorn Continued

[lady.indigo at gmail.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 139885

On 9/9/05, lebowjessica <lebowjessica at yahoo.com> wrote: 
> 
> This is Jessie after my reread of HBP and why I think Slughorn 
> is ESE.
> continued from my post on Horcruxes.


<big snip of huge theory, because my response will be just as huge>

I'm so glad I get to address this theory on here. A lot of what you've said 
here is almost word for word from John Granger at
hogwartsprofessor.com <http://hogwartsprofessor.com>,
and I thought it was pretty much nonsense then, too. A lot of the 'evidence' 
behind this theory ignores or twists the canon, which explains and even 
outright disproves some of it.

#1: Slughorn was not an 'admirer and associate of Voldemort', for one thing, 
he was an admirer of Tom Riddle and so was *everyone* else. We have it on 
word from JK Rowling that not all Slytherins are evil. And Dumbledore 
certainly doesn't seem bothered that Slughorn knows who Tom Riddle turned 
out to be (and we have no evidence that he knows the Heir of Slytherin 
thing, correct me if I'm wrong).

#2: I wouldn't be offended if someone said the DEs wanted to "apply my 
talents to coercion and murder", because hey, if I believed myself to be 
talented (and certainly if I had the ego Slughorn does) I wouldn't doubt 
that the DEs would want to use me and what I can do. It doesn't mean I'd 
want to be on their side. And yes, Slughorn recognizes the ring, but he 
doesn't seem to make the connection. If he did recognize it as a Horcrux 
that's now destroyed it's evidence *against* Slughorn being evil, IMO; he 
wants Voldemort gone. And if he's a Death Eater, wouldn't he have probably 
known the ring was destroyed already?

#3 is canon and I don't see why it's taken as evidence for anything. All it 
'proves' is that Slughorn is a less than perfect person with his own 
Slytherin form of agenda. The connection to Voldemort's collecting is flimsy 
at best; Dumbledore seems to have amassed a lot of magical items as well, is 
he evil? 

#4: There's no *proof* that Slughorn gave Harry the book, and even if he did 
I don't see how it says a thing about Slughorn being evil. If he wants to 
increase Harry's power and give him the ability to fight poisons, I'd say it 
points in the opposite direction. But again, I don't think Slughorn had 
anything to do with the book. Someone like Slughorn, assuming he'd want to 
help students succeed by letting them cheat (and that is what I continue to 
call it and I'm really not going to be convinced otherwise), would be sure 
to give a little wink-wink nudge-nudge in Harry's direction - 'remember me? 
I helped you out here. Reward me with candy later.' 

I'm not even going to address #5. Seriously, read the book. The reason he 
freaked out here is completely explained and it's perfect.

#6: If Hermione can brew Polyjuice Potion in second year, and Draco's almost 
as smart, why couldn't he do the same in sixth year? Not to mention 
willfully ignoring the canon here. If Slughorn's helping Draco out, why is 
Draco making such a big screaming deal about how Sluggy's ignoring him and 
all his connections? Including trying to get his attention in the middle of 
class and being ignored? Why would they go through this charade, exactly? To 
throw suspicion off? Nobody suspected them in the first place, and only 
Harry even suspected Draco.

#7: First of all, Slughorn would probably be far too clever to notice what 
was going on *normally*. But Harry just drank liquid luck. Second, what 
would Voldemort gain from giving Harry the memory, exactly? He could lay a 
trap for Dumbledore in the cave, but this could be done without informing 
Harry about how many horcruxes there are. Why isn't the canon explanation 
of why Slughorn won't talk sufficient? Thirdly, Slughorn had to be TOLD 
about the acromantula venom. By *Harry*. Therefore I doubt he was relying on 
it for anything. 

#8: ...So? While I disagree, and I think it's both embarrassment and *shame* 
that another of his prize students turned up on the wrong side, what does 
this tell us about Slughorn beyond the imperfections and *slight* moral 
deviousness we already know?

The only thing I find even remotely convincing here is how Slughorn would 
know how to produce a Dark Mark. But we're never explicitly told he knows 
how to do this. When he's reminded by Dumbledore, he only says he "knew he 
forgot something," and that there'd been no time to deal with it. He could 
have produced a false Mark in some way. Dumbledore certainly doesn't seem 
bothered by this little detail, which is something he's not inclined to 
forget about.

Dumbledore also calls Slughorn his old friend, something I don't believe he 
does lightly. It's not to butter Sluggy up; they each seem to have no 
illusions about the way the other operates. It's not in the past tense. I 
think that's important.

I also think that if Rowling abandons a highly realistic, interesting 
character for the old 'Slytherins are evil and watch out for the new 
teacher' ploy, I'll be starting to lose my trust in her.

- Lady Indigo