Likeable Slughorn (was: Villain!Dumbledore )

[montavilla47]

No: HPFGUIDX 177864

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Zara" <zgirnius at ...> wrote:
> zgirnius:
> I would add to this, that it does not work like that. If he did not 
> include in his little club the kids with the connections and the 
> money, it would become just a club for the good students, sort of 
> like the Math Club I was in in high school, which existed to amuse a 
> small group of (talented) nerds and allow us to have 
> some 'leadership' experience to tout on college applications. (Tee 
> hee - I got the amazingly impressive title of copresident because I 
> was one of two seniors in the club that year. Guess who my 
> copresident was...).
> 
> By including both the kids that are going to be successful out in the 
> big world by virtue of their connections or wealth whatever Sluggie 
> does, and the talented kids who may have neither, he is furthering 
> the success of the talented kids in a way that simply inviting them 
> to parties with other talented kids would not. He is facilitating the 
> process whereby those talented kids *become* connected.
>

Montavilla47:
Exactly!  And I'll admit that there's something that appeals to me
in that arrangment.  (It's my Capricornian nature.)

Slughorn is considerably better than someone who unilaterally
excludes Muggleborns, no matter how talented.  He's also
smarter, because those Muggleborns *are* likely to end up
grateful to him (unless they end up resent him for the amount
of butt-kissing they have to get into his club in the first place.)

So, yes, Slughorn does show how Slytherin can function as a 
positive force in people's lives.  

But JKR is *so* careful to show the downside.  Are those of you
who like Slughorn really okay with the way he treats Ron?  Are 
you comfortable with Hermione trotting off to the Slug Club
while Ron is excluded?  Do you not see how that's teaching her
that Ron is essentially not worth her... not worth *her*?

I agree that both Ron and Draco end up looking pathetic when
they try (and fail) to get the slightest scrap of approval from
Slughorn.  But it isn't just Ron's jealousy that contributes to the
breach between him and Hermione in sixth year.  It's also that
Hermione gets sucked into Slughorn's value system and that
causes her to devalue Ron--

I just realized that this may be part of the reason she confunds
McLaggen.  She isn't content to let Ron fail or succeed on his 
own merit, but plays kingmaker.  Her "help" is based on the 
premise that he can't earn the position on his own.  It does
help, because he doesn't have to go into a second round with
McLaggen, but he did save those five goals on his own.  

Also, I don't see anything (at all) virtuous in Slughorn's 
rejection of Draco.  It's not just that I happen to like Draco.

At the time Slughorn rejects Draco, he doesn't know that
Draco is a Death Eater.  He only knows that Lucius Malfoy
is one.  So, he's rejecting Draco because of the connection
to his father (which overrules the connection to Draco's 
grandfather, which seems to be positive).

This is where I'm going to go out on a limb, but I think it's
a strong limb.  

If Voldemort had succeeded in the first war, I think 
Slughorn would have gladly reaped the benefit of his
Voldemort connections.  He would have been sad, of 
course, that cheeky little Lily died.  But he would have
continued sitting on his cushions, strengthening the
Death Eater network, and enjoying the box of 
crystalized pineapple that Voldemort sent him every
Christmas.

I don't think it was the ideology that turned Slughorn
off the Death Eaters.  It may have been partly the 
violence.  But I think the main reason he's anti-
Death Eater is because they *lost.*

Montavilla47