Of Sorting and Snape

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 175769

> houyhnhnm:
> 
> I think of the house at 12 Grimmauld Place more as 
> a magical object than a piece of Muggle real estate 
> and have done so since the personification in OotP.  
> >>Snape might refer to their work as cleaning, but 
> in Harry's opinion they were really waging war on 
> the house, which was putting up a very good fight, 
> aided and abetted by Kreacher.<<

Magpie:
Either way, it's an object. There are few objects in canon I imagine 
wouldn't eventually work for Harry no matter who they belonged to 
eventually.

 It doesn't care who 
> owns it and neither does Kreacher.  Kreacher had to 
> obey Harry when it was merely a matter of ownership, 
> but in no way would I call him loyal.

Magpie:
No, he wasn't loyal until Harry showed him a bit of kindness, at 
which point he became a loving slave. This doesn't resemble any 
interaction with a person I've ever had in my life--particularly a 
person who didn't like me and I didn't like back.

 Mrs. Black's 
> portrait is still on the wall and so is the tapestry.  
> Orion Black's enchantments are still in place.  It's 
> still a Slytherin house. I would say, rather, it is 
> Harry who takes on Slytherin qualities from the house 
> and the house responds.

Magpie:
So Harry found a way of reaping the "qualities" of Slytherin while 
still remaining above actual Slytherins. If it's a magical object, 
Harry just has to find the right trick and he makes it his own. Harry 
wins mastery of the house and now its submissive to him, as is 
Kreacher is. People aren't so easy. It's like Harry and Malfoy 
actually working together because Harry was using Draco's wand when 
he killed Voldemort.

The Order has actually been using the House just fine as a 
headquarters for years, of course. The metaphor of the house waging 
war on them is fairly limited. They are able to kill the vermin and 
toss out the dark objects. A few things on the wall don't mean much 
next to Harry's actual dealings with Slytherin antagonists. I can't 
say I'm surprised a Slytherin house eventually bowed to him. I 
woudln't have been surprised if the Malfoy's peacocks and eagle owl 
had wound up loving him either.

Montavilla47:
Or perhaps how much easier it is to deal with property than with
people. Which if you want to extend to real life conflict is down-
right creepy, because it makes me think about people driving out
other types of people and moving into their houses--in an ethnic
cleansing sort of way.

Magpie:
That's totally what it says to me. I can't find any way of using this 
as a metaphor without coming up against that very obvious image.

-m