[HPforGrownups] Re: Slughorn, slytherins etc.

[Bart Lidofsky]

No: HPFGUIDX 177860

Mike:
>And Sluggy's club is a two-way street, because he does bring his 
>present club members to the attention of his former members, or puts 
>in a good word to the right ear. But that's bad because he doesn't 
>include every student?! 

Bart:
True story #1: During my game designing days, one of the players in m group was an incredible negotiator. One of his more impressive feats was when, in a Monopoly tournament, he negotiated a three-way deal where all three players ended up with monopolies; it was only after the deal had concluded was it noticed that the player in question did not contribute anything to the deal, except making it (essentially, anything he traded out, he got back). Slughorn reminds me of this guy. 

True story #2: In 1987 or so, IBM came out with their PS/2 line of computers. In the meantime, Hayes, Inc. was the top manufacturer of modems (although US Robotics was rapidly catching up). The company I worked for planned to sell PS/2 Model 30 computers with Hayes internal modems. Only one small problem; the modems wouldn't work with our software. Even worse, they wouldn't work with the bundled in software provided by Hayes. As the communications programmer, I went in, and discovered the problem to be a bug in the BIOS of the computer. I created a work-around for our software, and passed it on to Hayes. It was included in all the software they made from then on, and every time Hayes had an event in the New York City area, I always got an invite, even after I had switched over to Internet programming. 

Now, back to the Slug. I see him as my friend from story #1. He is a skilled negotiator, where he always ends up getting a piece of the action, even if he contributes nothing but his negotiating skills, and does it so smoothly that the people involved don't even realize that he wasn't necessary. 

On the other hand, in his deals, everybody wins. When he negotiates an opportunity, the person who is actually providing the opportunity knows they are getting a highly qualified person, and the person receiving the opportunity gets a connection he or she might not otherwise have gotten. And, very much like my event invites, what Slughorn receives is valuable to him, but little or no cost to the person providing it. Essentially, the Slug Club creates opportunities. The only cost of joining is to cultivate a friendship with a man with whom one might not otherwise wish to associate. And, to many, it's demeaning to pretend to like someone you really couldn't care less about in return for personal advancement. 

JKR probably feels that way, because what I just described is, with the Death Eaters removed, the essence of Slytherin. It's an "old boy's club", so to speak; a place where you make connections early on, and use those connections to gain wealth and power later. Muggle-borns are not allowed in not just because of bigotry, but because they bring nothing to the table except unproven potential (note that the only two half-bloods we know of who got in were both extraordinarily talented and driven, even at age 11). 

Now, to digress a bit more, in my advisory capacity, I have come in contact with several professional strippers. Through their problems, and also from working with a strip club owner (in one of his other businesses), I've learned that, while stripping pays very good money ($500-$1000 per night, in New York), only a minority of the women who go into it actually enjoy it. The rest think they can live with it, become addicted to the income, but it gets to them, a little at a time; there's a VERY high rate of nervous breakdowns (I truly hope that I was able to prevent a few). 

Now, while being in the Slug Club is not quite the same as stripping, it has its similarities. Some may actually like the Slug. Some may not like him, but have no problem associating with him in return for opportunities. Some don't worry at all. And many would find it on the degrading side. I believe JKR is in the last group; at least her heroes look down on it (note that Ron is considered by the rest to be a little pathetic for wanting to get in). 

One of the many descriptions of the difference between the U.S. and Great Britain is that a Yank will look at someone in a Rolls Royce and say, "Someday, I'll be in one of those." and a Brit will look at the same person and say, "Someday, I'll get him out of there." While it's not at all universal, that appears to be the key to JKR's attitude towards Slytherin. They are indicative of the "old boy's club", as I mentioned, and that, in JKR's mind, is sufficient to make them something she has nothing to do with. Consider what Harry tells his kid in the epilogue, and see if it doesn't translate to, "If you get in Slytherin, it's because the Slytherins will want to network to YOU." 

Bart (who didn't even have to change the subject line)