[HPforGrownups] Re: Slytherin House WAS: Sportsmanship in Harry Potter

[silmariel]

No: HPFGUIDX 151846


> Silmariel: I think they're not so bad as the Slytherin legend has made
> them. As a whole House, of course. Even Draco, till HBP, was pretty
> pathetic as a villain. Too much ado about nothing. 'Cause Harry always
> wins.

>   Joe:
> So it's okay Malfoy to be horrible as long as he's a complete moron at it?
> Sorry but just because you stink at being a racist bully doesn't make it
> okay.

Silmariel:
Huh? Ah, you are talking of real life. Pathetic, as a villain. Lame. Moron. 
Uneffective. Lowering the hero's value by not being a challenge. A bore. A 
mere annoyance. Not dangerous. Too much ado about nothing. He sucks at being 
a villain, yes. He's not even a killer in cold face. And he is laughable, he 
never wins.

How I wish he'd be better at being a Baddie.

> Silmariel:
> JKR: But they're not all - don't think I don't take your point, but - we,
> the reader, and I as the writer, because I'm leading you all there - you
> are seeing Slytherin house always from the perspective of Death Eaters'
> children. *They are a _small_fraction_ of the total Slytherin population*
> (emphasis mine, silmariel). I'm not saying all the other Slytherins are
> adorable...
>
>   Joe:
> What she is saying is that they can be rotten people and not be evil.

Silmariel:
<g> No, she's saying everything is needed to keep the harmony, including 
Slytherin caracteristics, and the problem is fragmentation.

I love the 'because I'm leading you all there' - not all, not all.

> Silmariel:
> Now, to be fair, I don't see Draco as a bully for his interactions with the
> trio, maybe for Neville, but yes for this:
>
> "A short distance away, Draco Malfoy, followed by a small gang of cronies
> including Crabble, Goyle and Pansy Parkinson, was pushing some
> timid-looking second years out of the way so that he and his friends could
> get a coach to themselves." OoP - ch 10 Luna Lovegood
>

Joe:
> Exactly why isn't it bullying when Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle? Can you only
> try to bully some people? No offense but that doesn't make any sense at
> all.

Literary wise, yes, it is a matter of opinion to see them as bullies or as 
antagonists. Been there, done that, we have countless threads on Draco/Harry. 
But I'm not used to see in the discussions the piece of canon I provided, so 
it could be a new aspect, like rain in the desert.

Silmariel