The Houses again (was Re: DH as Christian Allegory

[David]

No: HPFGUIDX 173589

> Julie wrote:
> So for me it's not Slytherin House per se, but what it has
*become* that is the  problem, though the real bigger problem
is that no one, from the Headmaster and teachers at Hogwarts,
to all the other "good" people in the WW, have not a  single
compunction about dumping these kids into the "Death  Eaters
in Training" house.

Daimauwr replies
When I first entered boarding school we were selected in to
"houses". Primarily for the purpose of sporting and scholastic
competition. Like Harry I was 11 yrs old and travelled by train
(However my journey was nearly 2000 miles and took 4 days and
nights.) Our houses were determined by which building we were
domiciled in, even though as we grew older we were often
reassigned to a more senior house.

Because JK's stories are all about the interplay of the students
(as well as facing major evil)and the houses are based on the 4
founders from nearly a 1000 years previous, IMO we start with
the status quo of the Sorting Hat. After all this is a MAGIC
school and the start of Harry's story.

I would find it difficult to imagine Draco in Ravenclaw or
Gryffindor for one simple reason - IT DOESN'T FIT WITH THE
STORY LINE. We tend to forget that 7 books have come from
one person's very fertile imagination. Beyond DH, without
the houses, there would be no competing in Quidditch, no
points deducted, no house winner at the end of the year.

As for all Slytherins being condemned to the grave - BS. Every
person is judged by the Hat by 'reading the latency of the mind'.
I personally ended up in year 4 in a dormitory called the Poison
Belt, for no other reason than that I gravitated to breaking the
rules and spent more time on sport than academics. But in my
final year I had achieved residence in a 2 person study (one
of only 2 allocated to our house).

So for all the bleeding hearts out there who wanted a different
version to that which JK wrote - "get over it" - it's her story
not anyone elses.

And for the record - I loved every book with DH being the best
IMO.