Loose Ends, (was Epilogue (was Re: Ron and Parseltongue)

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 183328


> 
> Pippin:

> Harry eventually befriends Luna -- but he never thinks of her as a
> Good Ravenclaw, or proof that not all Ravenclaws are like the ones 
who
> were afraid of him, or, heaven forfend, a model of what a decent
> Ravenclaw should be like. 

Potioncat:
Oh, I agree, and I never expected JKR to point out 'The Good 
Slytherin'; this was our creation all along. A few have suggested 
that Snape, Slughorn and Phinneas Nigellus could all be considered 
Good Slytherins.
 
 
 
> Pippin:
> But you'd only see it if you were disposed to be fair and if your
> experiences lent themselves to a fair assessment. They might not, if
> there was a subgroup of a group of kids who made it their mission to
> make life unpleasant for you, and a subgroup of adults, formerly
> members of that group, who were trying to kill you. Canon shows us
> exactly what that's like.

Potioncat:
You know, this actually reminds me of a couple of experiences I've 
had lately. It had to do with customer service issues. Nevermind, 
it's not canon.

>Pippin: 
> We know that  Harry  can be  unfair and not realize it. There's a
> subgroup of Slytherins who tried to make things bad for Harry and a
> subgroup of former Slytherins who tried to kill him. We know that
> the narrator does not give us a fair or inclusive picture of 
Muggles,
> and this is never corrected.

Potioncat:
And that disappoints me---in the same way I'm disappointed that Snape 
didn't survive. It doesn't make it a flaw in the writing. Essentially 
JKR wrote a Western. The Slytherin gang is terrorising the town (WW)
while the helpless, not quite brave enough townspeople (Ravenclaws 
and Hufflepuffs)live in fear. Then the Gryffindor boys show up, rally 
some of the braver locals, and have a big shoot out at high noon. I 
suppose to round this out, the Muggles are the Indians over the hill, 
sometimes involved, but mostly not.
 
> Pippin:
> Under those circumstances, should we expect either the
> narrator's or Harry's experience of Slytherin to be "realistic" ie,
> reflective of what we assume to be the fictional reality of JKR's
> world? Isn't it more realistic that it wouldn't be? 

Potioncat:
Very good point. The other character who is so anti-Slytherin is 
Hagrid. His Hogwarts-student experience was very similar to Harry's.