Failed Friendships (was:Re:Draco, Narcissa and Harry)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 179891

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > <snip>
> > I think that Gryffindor and Slytherin were great friends while 
> > Slytherin was a bigot (and Gryffindor was brave <g>) points to 
> > the, in the end, non-issue of that aspect of Slytherin.  I'm not 
> > saying that Gryffindors don't see the bigotry as bad (just as    
> > they see Slytherins' practicing "dark magic" as bad, or          
> > their "ambition" as bad).  It's just, I don't see it as the      
> > *source* of the rift.  
> > <snip>

> >>Magpie:
> I think I see what you mean. Slytherins suck in many ways. They're 
> bigoted, but they are also petty, cowardly, mean, often ugly, vain, 
> cruel, and interested in dark magic (in the bad way).
> <snip> 
> You can't really separate out the bigotry from any of their other 
> bad qualities or show that it's at the root of it, since bigotry 
> doesn't make you any of these things. Bigots can be charming. The 
> books also aren't looking at bigotry in itself and getting to the 
> roots of it or trying to change it.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Exactly.  I mean, I doubt the Sorting Hat's song will have changed 
much when it comes time to define the houses.  Slytherin will still 
be the house of the ambitious, cunning and bigoted.  Of course, as it 
was during most (if not all) of Harry's time at Hogwarts, the 
Slytherins won't be allowed to let their bigotry run *rampant*. But 
it will still be a defining characteristic.  After all, there's 
nothing in DH to suggest that would ever change.  It certainly wasn't 
part of Harry's "quest".

> >>Magpie:
> At base everyone agrees on the idea of superiority of some groups   
> over others, the difference is in how you treat your inferiors. If 
> the Gryffindors are the bright shiny face of Wizarding society, the 
> Slytherins are the ugly side of it that needs to be regularly and   
> symbolically beaten. 
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
The WW is founded on bigotry and xenophobia; that's what makes it so 
dark and totalitarian, IMO.  Our first two introductions to wizards 
include a sneering at Muggles (McGonagall and then Hagrid).  So yes, 
absolutely the bigotry of the WW runs deep.  Slytherins are the shiny 
tip of the iceberg, which enables other characters to pat themselves 
on the back and congratulate each other on their openmindedness.  
Gryffindor is only bright when held up against Slytherin darkness.  
Which is why it's an impossible task to try and change that aspect of 
Slytherin.  It would involve a rather painful look into a mirror.  
And honestly, I'd say the same could be said for "dark magic". 

> >>Magpie:
> Slytherin ends the series in exactly the same position it was in   
> when Tom Riddle got to school. They're at peace, but why would they 
> be friends? Every reason Harry heard for not being friends with    
> Slytherins was proved in the book. The originally founding story,   
> intriguing as it is, repeats itself. What does it mean that         
> Slytherin is included as a founder of the school, and then         
> symbolically walks away to achieve peace? The hat talks about      
> being "sad" at Slytherin's leaving, but we never see any reason why 
> we honestly should be so. Slytherin is the House that's not really 
> a House. Having the absent founder is just yet another way that    
> Slytherin is defined completely by negatives.

Betsy Hp:
It's kind of hard to picture that wonderful friendship between 
Slytherin and Gryffindor before whatever went wrong went wrong, isn't 
it?  

[Cue dreamy aside] The best I can come up with is some version of the 
Snape/Lily debacle.  Perhaps Gyrffindor trudged through a fen, 
stumpled upon Slytherin doing some neat-o potion stuff and asked him 
to join with his buds, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, to form a school.  
And for a while Slytherin was properly thankful and ingratiating 
towards Gryffindor for rescuing him from his swamp.  But then he got 
too big for his britches, and obviously had to go. [/dreamy aside]

I also get the feeling that the hat desperately wishes to be in a 
different story.  The hat doesn't like sorting the kids and the hat 
urged the school to work together.  Unfortunately, no one pays all 
that much attention to the hat. (Okay, now I'm picturing the hat in 
flames thinking, "Finally!" and then being horribly disappointed at 
its rescue.)

But yes, Slytherin is left in the basement, their founder in the 
catacombs, their presence and their beliefs never examined.  Always 
pushed away and rejected and happy to be so.  Literally the shadow 
house.

Betsy Hp