Slytherin House - LONG

[colebiancardi]

No: HPFGUIDX 177537

>"JP Smith" <johnsmithatx at ...> wrote:
>
> I don't think we should be so harsh on the Slytherins. I think 
> what the overall idea of the house is that they have the potential 
> to be bad people, more so than the others.  
> 
> In Sorcerer's Stone, The Sorting Hat says:
> 
> "Or perhaps in Slytherin
> You'll make your real friends,
> Those cunning folk use any means
> To achieve their ends"
> 
> Right there in the first book we know right off the bat what each 
> house admires as good traits for their members. It's very obvious 
> that above the others there are going to be more lecherous folk 
> in Slytherin than the others, simply by the traits they admire, 
> ambitious people always have the proclivity towards "evil". 

colebiancardi:

hmmmmm.....yes, they do talk about that Slyth's use "any means", but
how is that any different from what happened in DH's and the trio? 
They used "any means", the Unforgivables, to achieve their end as
well.  The "end" doesn't have to mean evil or wicked.  Could mean
something like ending world hunger.  

Now, don't get me wrong.  I am not a fan of "the end justify the
means" theory and in fact, I totally disagree with it.  Which is why I
am so hard on the trio in DH.

>johnsmithatx:
> Additionally, JKR never comes outright and says all Death Eaters 
> were in Slytherin. Correct me if I am wrong.

colebiancardi:

If I remember correctly, JKR wrote in the HP books that not all
Slytherins were DE's.  The only DE we know that isn't Slytherin is
Wormtail.  So, based on canon, it seems that Wormtail was the oddball
- everyone else did start out in Slytherin or they were nasty
foreigners from cold countries (Igor)

> johnsmithatx:
> Also, Slughorn wasn't such a bad guy, was he? Granted, not much 
> of a hero in the end. Let us not forget Snape, as well.

colebiancardi:  Slughorn was portrayed as a man who just wanted to
save his skin.  He seemed to have remorse, which saved him in the end.
 I like Sluggy - at least he is human and has some faults that people
can relate to (or at least to me)

Snape - my favorite character.  He made a mistake, made atones for it
and still in the end, got a horrible death.  I disliked that message -
a lot.  I didn't care that Harry spoke up for him - AFTER Snape was
dead - and named his kid after him (well, the middle name - I guess
giving one of his children Severus's name as a first name was too much
for Harry).  Snape DID use "any means" to achieve the "ends", using
lying and spying and leading a double life and yet he doesn't get to
live after all of that hard work.  Sure, DD died - but DD died because
of his own carelessness (the cursed ring) and DD got to choose the
manner in which he died.  Snape saved him from dying a horrible death
and gave him a peaceful one.  Also, DD was 150 years old - Snape was
what - 40?  And not much of life - 1/2 of devoted to leading a double
life.  One that prevented him from healing himself and trying to
establish a personal life.  People in RL can lose a great love and yet
they manage to go thru the 12 stages of grief and then move on to love
another.  The majority of adults who have gone thru the loss of a
loved one understand that doesn't mean that Lily's memory or Snape's
love for her would be dimished, but in JKR's world, you can only have
that "one great love" and if it is gone, you can never love again.

That concept is alien to me.

Would Snape's mission and sacrafice be any less if he had been able to
move on from the memory of Lily?  I don't believe so.  In fact, in the
end, he had moved on.  He protected the Order, he protected the
students at Hogwarts.  He risked his own soul by killing Dumbledore
because DD wanted to die peacefully and not risk Draco's soul.  That
went way above what DD ordered him to do after Lily's death - which
was to protect Harry only 

 


>johnsmithatx:
> Wouldn't it have been great if Harry's 
> true love had been a Slytherin? Magical Romeo and Juliet!
>
colebiancardi:  For some weird reason, I would have loved Luna and
Draco to get together.  But that is just me :)