Good and Bad Slytherins

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 175003

---  "tigerfan41" <tigerfan41 at ...> wrote:
>
> I could be mistaken but I was sure I saw examples of 
> good slyths. Not many to be fair but they were there.
> 
> Regulus may have started down the wrong path but his
> heart led him to the correct choice.
> 
> Phineas in his portrait gave his support to the school
> and it's head.
> 
> Professor Slughorn he may have been reluctant but 
> wasn't it he and Bill that went to fetch the 
> reinforcements for the final battle?
> 
> I'm pretty sure there were a few Gryphs that were 
> less than perfect in the series.
> 
> It's the system that the founders used to set up 
> the houses that leads to one being populated by a 
> large group of less that pleasing folks. Slytherin 
> prefered pure bloods but his real preference seems 
> to be more for those with no moral compunctions about
> the use of power. Blind ambition more than blood.
> 

bboyminn:

Remember when you were in high school, how important
certain things seems; the big game, who likes who,
are your clothes cool enough, are your friends cool
enough? Now think a few years beyond high school,
didn't all those 'life-and-death' things that mattered
in high school, suddenly seem pathetically unimportant?

I don't think Hogwarts is a model for the entire wizard
world. School life is dominated by petty concerns; the 
'big game' is life and death, the 'big dance' means 
everything. Your House, regardless of which House it is,
is most certainly the best, and naturally all the other
Houses are filled with clueless idiots and losers, with
a few small exceptions among friends you've made in 
other Houses.

What I am about to say, is not build on canon, but on
common sense and worldly experience. It seems 
unreasonable to me to assume EVERY SINGLE person in
Slytherin becomes a Dark Wizard. That's not exactly 
what Hagrid said, but the implication is the same.

How can anyone possibly think that Slytherins don't
leave Hogwarts and live perfectly normal lives. They
get jobs, they build careers, they establish 
relationships, just like anyone else. They are just
cunning and ambitious about how they accomplish it.

There is no reason to think that Slytherins don't 
interact with other citizens of the wizard world 
in a perfectly normal way. 

I mean, are you not going to buy you robes from 
Madam Malkin simply because she was a Hufflepuff?
Are you not going to drink Tom's ale simply because
he was a Gryffindor? Are you going to shun the 
Potions Shop simply because the shopkeeper is a 
Slytherin? I just don't thinks so. Those petty
schoolboy rivalries are mostly left behind in
school. 

Take Lucius Malfoy, ignoring for the moment that he
became a New Death Eater; he seems a respected 
citizen. He gives to worthy causes. To maintain his
fortune, he must conduct business as usual, and in the
process, he must interact normally with other citizens.
He must be able to function in the world. I'm sure he 
is ruthless, cunning, and arrogant in how he does it, 
but none the less, he functions in the normal wizard 
world. 

I'm sure the House alumni still maintain allegiance to
their old Houses, and still support the House Quidditch
team. But I don't think those games, or those old House
alliances, have the same 'life and death' fervor for
citizens that they have for current students. 

Once you are out of high school, the 'big game' doesn't
seem so big any more. Likely, you've move on to 
supporting one of the National or International teams.

I just can't see how any reasonable path of logic or
analysis or common sense can lead anyone to believe that
Slytherins do not leave school and live normal lives;
cunning, ambitious, but normal lives.

There are good and bad in every House. Loyalty can lead
you astray. Intellect can be misapplied. Courage used
wrongly can have very negative results. And cunning 
and ambition can be used in positive and productive 
ways. 

I do think there is probably a higher percentage of
Slytherins who are willing to skirt the boundaries
of ethics, morals, and laws to achieve their ends, but
only a /higher/ percentage. 

I have no logical reason to believe that there isn't 
also some percentage of Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and
Ravenclaws that are also willing to skirt the edges.

Again, that's not based on canon, that's based on
common sense, something that shouldn't be abandon
simply because we are in the wizard world.

Just a thought.

Steve/bboyminn