Slytherins come back WAS: Re: My Most Annoying Character

[lealess]

No: HPFGUIDX 180251

-- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "pippin_999" <foxmoth at ...> wrote:
>
> 
> > > Magpie:
> > > 
> > > Albus Severus will certainly have to find out what 
> > > Slytherin means for himself by actually going to Hogwarts, but
> > > I don't see any indication in this scene that he'll have to
> become any more enlightened than Ron is.
> > > 
> > > Pippin:
> > > Ah, now I see it. So, Harry should have pushed Albus to make the
> > > enlightened choice and go into Slytherin, not because Albus 
> > > wanted to, but for the greater good? I really think Harry had 
> > > had enough of that. 
> 
> Lealess: 
> > *Scratches head*  A person agrees that Al will have to find out 
> > for himself about Slytherin/cooties.  A person offers an opinion 
> that the Epilogue does not contain hope of enlightenment about 
> Slytherin House.  Where does Harry pushing Albus to go into
> Slytherin come into it? 
> 
> Pippin:
> It comes in with the idea that something should be done
> so that Albus would "have to" become more enlightened than Ron is. 
> 

Oh, I see.  You read "have to" as a demand, whereas I read it as a 
condition, as in, "You'll have to experience that yourself before you 
understand it" or "You have to have fries with that shake in 
order to really have the full fast food experience" -- not an order, 
but a statement that one thing relies on another thing.

> I may have misunderstood what that meant, but I thought my
> interpretation was straightforward: Albus must become more
> enlightened, not by his own wishes, because we agree that's not what
> he wants, but for some reason which outweighs Albus's opinion of
> what is good.

I don't think we can change what already is in print, unless we are 
JKR.  It doesn't make sense to make demands on a book that such and 
such must happen.  I can't speak for Magpie, but I don't think s/he 
was making a demand that Al needed to think one way.  Al expresses 
his fear of being in Slytherin.  Otherwise, he is largely an 
unknown.  But, I may be misunderstanding your meaning, too.

> SNIP discussion of Harry changing his mind about Slytherins, but 
let me just say...

I can see where people think Harry underwent a sea change in his view 
of Slytherins, but my reservations grow out the fact that change was 
undercut on the page.  First, the Slytherin in question had to 
become "good," i.e., non-save-your-neck/Gryffindor-brave, for Harry 
to appreciate him.  Second, there's still that caveat, the "choice" 
*not* to be Slytherin, at least for Al.  Third, just because Harry 
tells his son essentially that Harry will still love him if Al 
becomes a Slytherin doesn't mean Harry likes Slytherins in general, 
or has even changed his mind about them that much, aside from the 
bravest one, Snape.  Of course Harry will love his son no matter what 
befalls him.  And finally, Draco is on the platform, but we see 
nothing but Gryffindors staring at him and him nodding in deference 
to them... not really a revolution to me.

Which isn't to say that the book has to be different for some 
reason.  I can't make those demands on the book.  It's already 
written.

I hope this is making sense.

> SNIP

> IMO, giving people choices includes giving them the
> right to make bad ones. YMMV. 
> 
> 
> Pippin
>

I completely agree with you.  Sadly, nobody we know of but Harry knew 
there was a choice to be made in terms of sorting, especially since 
choices show who you are!

Three posts -- I think I'm done for the day.

lealess