muggle baiting vs. muggle torture

[houyhnhnm102]

No: HPFGUIDX 155401

Sydney:
 
> What I wonder is, why on earth aren't the twins in 
> Slytherin?  They are by far the most Slytherinish of 
> the kids we've met, certainly way more so than Crabbe 
> or Goyle, or even Draco who could stand to brush up 
> on his cunning and ambition.

houyhnhnm:

The frivolous nature of the twins' consuming interest in 
life might make them un-Slytherinish.  The running of a 
joke shop might not fit the Slytherin definition of ambition. 

It's Ron I've been wondering about lately.  I just can't 
see Gryffindor as a House of good chess players.  I'll 
bet Gryffindor hasn't won a wizard chess tournament 
since Hufflepuff won the Quidditch cup.

Apparently the Hat entertains entreaties from the head 
upon which it is sitting.  It did in Harry's case.  I 
can see a lot of reasons why Fred and George might have 
asked to be put in Gryffindor.  Popular older brothers 
on whose reputations they could coattail would be one.  
Less competition from other minds equally cunning might 
be another.