Andromeda as good Slytherin WAS: Disappointment

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 177600

Carol earlier:
> > >
> > > True, we do have no evidence that Andromeda was a Slytherin
other than her cousin Sirius's comment, but there's no
counterevidence. As for "characters you write yourself," we don't have
to do that with Andromeda.
> > > <SNIP>
> 
> Magpie:
> If you say that Andromeda married a Muggle-born and was a Black and
 left her family, you're sticking to canon. You want anything more 
detailed about what that was like or what she's like, you're filling
it in yourself. 
> 
> But whether she's "good" or not is that the point. We know she left
her family to marry a Muggle-born, and that she's Tonks and Ted in
getting Harry out of the house. She's not a bad guy. <snip> However,
she is still barely on the page and that is why she doesn't seem like
a real good symbol for any hope or sign about Slytherin one way or
another. <snip>
> 
> BuBut this isn't about whether Andromeda really left her family for
a Muggle-born or not. That pretty much seem accepted as canon by 
everyone. The disagreement is over whether a character this tiny can 
really carry this much weight. Even if you want to make her the poster
child for how Slytherin's going to change at some point after 19 years
after we've met her, she still can't tell you about how it could
happen, because we don't really know the story.  
> 
Carol responds:

Having just quoted the available canon on Andromeda, I'm not going to
repeat myself. However, I certainly did not write the character I
presented. JKR did. That character married the likeable Muggle-born,
Ted Tonks and was disowned by her family for so doing. Canon. She is
good at "householdy spells" and healed the injured Hagrid. Canon. She
loves her daughter. Canon. She and her husband together worked with
the Order to provide a safe house as part of the polyjuiced Harry
plan. Canon. She loves her daughter and feared for her safety. Canon.
She provided a safe house for her daughter and her daughter's husband
after her own husband was killed and her daughter's baby was born
there. Canon. She watched the baby while Lupin and "Dora" fought at
Hogwarts. Canon. Andromeda has "kind eyes." Canon. She's Sirius's
favorite cousin. Canon.

Her husband's use of affectionate nicknames for his wife and daughter
(canon) and their mutual concern for their daughter (canon) indicate a
close family relationship. Inference. Andromeda lost both her husband
and her daughter (as well as her son-in-law) Canon. She probably
suffered terrible grief as a consequence. Inference. The "happy
orphan" that JKR intentionally depicted in the epilogue (interview)
was probably raised by his grandmother rather than by his young
godfather, Harry. Inference. 

I think that the inferences are justified by the canon. Nowhere do I
see any evidence that Andromeda was a bad person or that she resembles
her sisters in personality or values despite a superficial physical
resemblance to Bellatrix. (She shares Narcissa's one good trait, love
of family, especially her child.)

I agree that Andromeda is a minor character. However, she must be in
the story for a reason, and the only reason I can think of is to show
that not all Slytherins are evil. She's clearly a foil (in the sense
of a character who mirrors and contrasts with another character) to
both her sisters. (How nice that the good sister is the middle one and
not the youngest, in contrast to the tale of the three brothers, which
follows the standard fairytale formula of youngest equals best.)

Add her to the list we already have: Snape, Regulus, Slughorn, and
possibly Phineas Nigellus as good Slytherins, Kreacher as redeemed
Slytherin hanger-on who certainly held the pureblood superiority
values of his owners, and the semi-redeemed, not-as-evil-as-we-thought
Malfoys, and that's a pretty good indication that there's hope for
Slytherin House, especially since these people are the Slytherins we
know best (excluding Crabbe and Goyle).

If you don't agree, I can't convince you. But I'm not making up
Andromeda's story. It's right there in the canon I cited in the
previous post, along with a few legitimate inferences which are the
only parts I'm "filling in." I'm not saying that she's a full-fledged
character or that we know her thoroughly, but she is certainly a good
guy in terms of her actions, her loves, and her loyalties. And the
fact that she chose the good side when one sister became a DE and the
other married one is very much to her credit. 

Carol, who said nothing at all about Andromeda as "poster child"
nineteen years later and notes that the future of Slytherin lies with
Scorpius Malfoy's generation