Good and Bad Slytherins

[lytabunny]

No: HPFGUIDX 175054

I haven't had time to read the whole thread, so please forgive me if 
I duplicate.

Slytherins. Never forget that HARRY almost got sorted to Slytherin! 
So HE would have been a "good Slytherin" if he hadn't been biased 
against that house by Ron on the train, and begged the Hat not to put 
him there. (Heck, maybe he'd have led a Slytherin reform movement!)

What characteristics does the Sorting Hat use to determine to send 
one to Slytherin? Not everything is mentioned, of course, and I am 
straining to remember without looking them up, but bigotry (a 
preference for Pure Blood) seems to be one, a desire for personal 
power and the ability to use it efficiently seems to be another. The 
capacity for GREATNESS as a magic user is another. 

It seems to me that within the framework of the storyline, the "Type 
A" personalities who want power and have high level magical abilities 
(not counting Crabbe and Goyle, of course!) go to Slytherin and then 
often turn "bad" partly because JKR knows that a lot of REAL people 
who seek power do become ruthless and narcissistic in their pursuit 
of it. We are seeing the world from Harry's viewpoint. As a 
Griffyndor, Slytherins are the enemy (whether right or wrong.) 
Therefore Harry doesn't make friends with or know any except the 
aggressive ones like Draco or the sidekicks who do Draco's bidding. 
There are cliques like that in all schools. It's a skewed prspective, 
but a totally understandable one. Just because they aren't discussed 
does not mean that there aren't noble Slytherins. Or cowardly 
Griffyndors (Pettigrew!), or stupid Ravenclaws or mean Hufflepuffs... 
everybody has a variety of personal characteristics, and nobody knows 
exactly what the tipping point is for the Hat's decisions.

Sherry Bailey