Slytherin at different times & Great Hall moment (Re: DH as Christian Allegory)

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 173740

> Renee:
> That's an interesting take on the burning of the Sorting Hat; I 
> hadn't thought of this. Not an unlikely scenario. OTOH, it sounds a
> little like blaming Hitler for what he did to Germany, while it's 
> obvious that Hitler would never have gained power without the 
> support of the (or at least many) Germans. If no Slytherins, or
> only a few, had ever rallied to Voldemorts banners, his plans would
> have failed. Voldemort didn't create Slytherin House; it was 
> already there and the mindset we see in Harry's days does not 
> result from his influence. You could even argue that had he been in
> a different House, Tom Riddle wouldn't have turned out quite so 
> bad. That is, unless it's true that the books attest to Rowlings 
> belief in predestination... 

Jen:  I was probably guilty of exaggerating Voldemort's influence on 
Slytherin house in my first post; I tend to start in a more extreme 
position and work my way to the middle as I read other comments, lol.

You're right that some tenets of Slytherin house have been around 
since the beginning, including the pureblood ideaology.  However, I 
found it interesting that even in the Marauder's time the talk about 
Slytherin in the train compartment was different from what Harry 
heard.  They sneered at each other about brains and brawn, talked 
about following in their parent's footsteps and the like.  Even 
Sirius, while glum about coming from a family of Slytherins, didn't
accuse Snape of loving dark arts and pureblood ideaology if he wanted 
to be in Slytherin.  Severus and Lily maintain a Slytherin/Gryffindor 
friendship until the point at which, presumably, Voldemort started 
the first war and there was talk among students about DEs, dark magic 
and which side to choose.

Harry heard different things in his time, about how every  
witch/wizard who'd followed Voldemort came from Slytherin, and Draco 
told him his whole family was in Slytherin followed by comments 
about 'our kind' and the pureblood business.

Looking at those differences, while children/families of Slytherin 
house were already predisposed to find Voldemort's agenda more 
appealing, he also exacerbated the problems in the house by choosing 
his first followers from there (and then their children and friends 
following in successive generations) and in my view, corrupting 
whatever good there was for those who might have seen Slytherin house 
as valuing history, family connections and the like instead of 
*supremacy* of purebloods (although still elitism either way).  I 
don't have a lot of canon to back me up without seeing different 
generations, but I'm wondering if the the problem has been cyclical 
rather than constant, starting with Godric, Salazar, Rowena  and 
Helga coexisting for a long period until Salazar became more and  
more extreme in his agenda, wanting only children from all-magical 
familes at Hogwarts.   

> Renee:
> Quite a few, I suppose, but having primarily their own interest in
> mind and/or agreeing with the prejudices of their House, they would
> have lacked the incentive to go against him until something happened
> that shook them to the core. They weren't raised/predisposed do do 
> so in principle - and that had nothing to do with Voldemorts 
> influence on Slytherin House.

Jen: Yes, we see it's true that most who've opposed him are pushed 
into a corner to do so, not seeing the extent of Voldemort's agenda 
until it's too late to get out or options are limited at the very 
least. 

Before ending, I wanted to say a little more about members of  
Slytherin house and courage on the night of the battle at Hogwarts.  
I mentioned in my last post wondering if there were members who 
wanted to step forward but feared reprisal too much to do so.  
Somewhere in one of the many posts since then (!) there was mention 
that fear wasn't a good enough reason, that everyone feared and it 
didn't keep members of other houses from stepping forward; that lack 
of courage was considered the worst possible offense in Potterverse.  

I've been considering this idea, thinking about what makes Slytherin 
house unique at that moment in the Great Hall.  For one thing, 
choosing to fight would mean battling their own parents, extended 
family or friend's relatives.  That's got to be a very weird choice 
to make, one few of the children in other houses would face.  Another 
factor is those who have left their families or homes, who take a 
stand against the pureblood supremacy idea, aren't held up as role 
models - they're blasted off family trees and cast off to find their 
own way.  So unlike a Neville, who hears praise and validation for 
standing up to his enemies and friends, many Slytherins are likely 
to face scorn and abandonment, if not worse (not that all care, i.e., 
Sirius and Andromeda).  

I'm not sure if fear *is* a good enough reason in a world where 
you're supposed to choose between what is right and what is easy, but 
I do understand why those Slytherins who chose to oppose Voldemort 
did so in furtive ways rather than something public like standing up 
in the Great Hall.  Hopefully future generations of Slytherins will 
have more role models who act in public, like Slughorn battling 
openly and the Malfoys remaining in the Great Hall after the battle. 

Jen, who was cheered to hear JKR say tonight that the MOM at least 
was reformed by the time of the Epilogue.