Good and Bad Slytherins

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 175197

--- "Cathy Drolet" <cldrolet at ...> wrote:
>
> Sherry Bailey said:
> "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 ...
> 
> CathyD now:
> I never believed that for a moment.  The Sorting Hat
> never mentioned Slytherin until after Harry said, 
> repeatedly, "Not Slytherin, not Slytherin."  ...
> 

bboyminn:

Let us not forget that Harry had a second conversation
with the Sorting Hat in, I believe, CoS, in which the
Sorting Hat confirms that it felt that Harry would
have done well in Slytherin. 

To extend this point, I'm not convinced that Slytherin
should be vilified to the degree that it is. I'm
reminded of College Fraternities. I can very easily
see the same exchange between Sirius/James/Snape
taking place on the train ride to college.

"I'm going to be in Sigma Ki, just like my dad."

"Tuh...that's fine if you value brawn over brains."

"My family have all been in Lamda Phi, maybe I'll
break the tradition."

Fraternities, as well as Houses, naturally take on
a long range personality. You have the Jock Frat,
the Nerd Frat, the Party Frat, and as those here
who have experienced real-life House systems have
said, they do have a logical sorting. They do try
to place kids in Houses where they think they will
be able to get along. For example, you don't sort
a scrawny little brainiac into a House full of 
brawny jock, you might as well throw him to the
sharks as do that. 

Certain Fraternity Houses have a reputation as 
being continual trouble makers. But should we
vilify that fraternity for raising a little hell?
Or, should we look at it as 'boys being boys'?
And, do you think that Fraternity has the same
view of itself, that other seem to hold of it? 

Also, to the individual Houses and Fraternities,
they are absolutely convince that their House/
Fraternity is King of the Cool, and the other
House/Fraternities are a bunch of lame prats. All
that is natural. I think it is instinct to separate
ourselves into US vs THEM. I happens naturally in 
every High School in the country. Student separate
themselves out into nerds, geeks, jock, punks, EMO,
preppy, Krell Boys (brainy), saggers, etc...etc...
etc.... More importantly, we seek to find our
place in the world. We seek to find where we fit in
as a mean of exploring and discovering ourselves.

I suspect, amoung some, Slytherin has a bad reputation,
but I suspect that amoung others, Slytherins are seen
in a very positive light, and I'm not referring to 
strictly amoung Death Eaters. I also suspect that there
are those who acknowledge the 'bad' reputation of
Slytherin, but also see the advantages to Slytherin
personality. There are likely (legal) jobs that they 
are particularly well suited for. 

I too am disappointed that we didn't get our 'Good
Slytherin'. In fact, when the 'Good Slytherin' thread
was active, I was one of the ones who argue most
favorably to the likelihood that we would get our 
'Good Slytherin'. But the fact that we, the reader, 
didn't get him, doesn't mean he doesn't exist. It is
possible that JKR considered this sub-plot but simply
couldn't work it in without creating a distraction. 

Likely if JKR had a 'Good Slytherin', she had a specific
story line involving him (or her), and it wasn't so much
that she was unable to include a good Slytherin, but that
she simply couldn't work in the specific story line. So,
she dropped the whole idea and we are left with Snape,
Slughorn, and Phineus. 

I think one place to have inserted a token good Slytherin
was when the re-enforcements came rushing back in. Harry 
could have simply noted that he, much to his surprise,
saw good Slytherin students amoung them.

Still if she had a 'good Slytherin' subplot, when she
dropped it, she probably drop it completely, and didn't 
look for new places to insert a token. 

To some extent, I, once again, am relying on common
sense more that canon. But there's nothing wrong with
Common Sense. 

Steve/bboyminn