Special treatment - yes or no

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 146052

Magda wrote:
> 
> Slytherin was poked in the collective nose - collateral damage in
> Dumbledore's efforts to reward the Trio and Neville for their
> actions.  I don't think Dumbledore did it maliciously - or even
> pointedly (or if he did, the message was aimed at Snape, not the
> Slyths).  The issue - as Magpie has eloquently stated in her posts -
> is not that the Trio and Neville didn't DESERVE the points.  They
> certainly did.  The issue is the last-minute-ness of the whole 
thing,
> the stripping of the hall of Slytherin colours.  The Slyths are a
> proud house; it was unnecessarily humiliating.
> 
> But I think Dumbledore also worked to take as much of the sting out
> of it as he could:


Potioncat:
Canon says the hall was decorated for the Slytherin victory, although 
I'm not quoting, I just read it. We are told that from Harry's view 
point. If JKR is saying that the hall was decorated according to the 
House colors of the new victor, then this is a very mean spirited 
event.

If on the other hand, Harry is coming in late (as he is) and 
incorrectly assumes that the colors reflect the new winner of the 
House Cup, we have a different event. We have the hall decorated in 
the colors of last year's winner, Slytherin. Slytherin also happens 
to be the leader at the moment.

At this meal at least it would make sense for the colors of last 
year's House Cup Winner to be flying until the new winner was 
announced. It's a big deal here that last year was Slytherin, but the 
same thing would happen if last year's winner was Hufflepuff or 
Ravenclaw. And I assume that DD would have awarded the points even if 
Gryffindor had been in the lead. (Not as exciting, perhaps.)

The fact that Snape was smiling or at least faking a smile makes me 
think we've made a bigger deal of this than anyone else has. Reminds 
me of a RL event involving a group of mothers and their young 
children...but that's another story.