Do Slytherins deserve their bad reputation?

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 167616

> Coriandra2002
> I'm inclined to believe they do.  Here's why:
> 
> 1) The password to the Slytherin common room (in the second year at
> least) is Pure Blood, which is typical of the attitude of most the
> members we've met so far.
> 
> 2)  Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson were chosen to be fifth year
> Prefects.  If those people were the only suitable ones available, 
if
> doesn't much about the House overall.
> 
> 3)  Every member of Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad was a Slytherin 
and
> not member of Dumbledore's Army was.  I doubt very much that this 
was
> a coincidence.
> 
> Of course, this is just my impression. All the Houses have a few 
less
> than stellar members.  If I was being sorted, I'd be whispering 
like
> Harry, "Not Slytherin, please not Slytherin."

Magpie:
It depends on what you mean by "bad reputation." As the books have 
gone on JKR has gotten more explicit about Slytherin being a house 
where blood matters, yes. Draco and Pansy were obvious choices for 
Prefects since they seem to be the leaders in their year--but 
Prefect isn't necessarily a prize for being a good person. Sometimes 
people are probably made Prefect because the school thinks it would 
be good for them as well. 

In terms of how they are within the school, though, there's also 
years of their reputation probably influencing how they get treated 
and how they act, which creates more of a reputation, which changes 
the way they're seen etc. It's been going wrong for years. This goes 
to your second point--no Slytherin would have been approached to 
join the DA by anyone involved, and Umbridge offered the house a way 
to gain an advantage that other houses would probably not have been 
looking for to begin with. So yes, Slytherin does seem to earn its 
bad reputation, but that doesn't mean the way Slytherin is viewed by 
others shows total understanding either. HBP seemed to show that 
Slytherin had value as a house and as a type. But as the shadow 
house it's been repressed and become more negative.

-m