Slytherins are bad (was:Re: Severus as friend)

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 183334

> > >>Zara:
> > In Salazar's day, and even in Harry's, there was nothing illegal 
> > about the notion that certain families were better and more
> >  important than others. <snip>

> Betsy Hp:
> There's no law against the Ku Klux Klan, either.  Doesn't mean 
> schools actively maintain a loving and safe environment for those 
> tiny little eleven year olds who just *adore* the Klan and 
> everything they stand for.  Why does Hogwarts? Why *did* Hogwarts? 

Jen: I read Slytherins as having more power in their world than the 
Klan or Confederate sympathizers have in ours.  Families like the 
Malfoys & Blacks used money and power to influence the highest levels 
of the MOM and the governors of Hogwarts.  A West Point grad hoping 
to start the "Students for the Confederacy" group has to fight 
against grads of equal power & influence who don't want such a group, 
not to mention all the citizens who would actively oppose the group 
if they got wind of the idea.  Lucius goes straight to the top, 
whether that's threatening the governors at Hogwarts or bribing 
Fudge.  The West Point grad or the Klan member would need to bribe 
the US President in order to stand on equal footing with Lucius in 
his world. 

The bottom line is the WW just doesn't have *that* many members vying 
for power.  First off, only a human would hold the necessary 
influence so that cuts out the non-human groups.  Then it's shown 
that the pure blood agenda is appealing to a much larger group than 
just those who openly espoused pure blood superiority.  Those two 
factors alone made it possible for Slytherin house & its followers to 
flourish and continue.  Actually, that was a big part of the story to 
me after DH, that a small & mostly Slytherin group was able to seize 
power because they'd spent years using their money/influence/magical 
power to ensure their agenda was never out of favor.

> Betsy Hp:
> I wasn't really thinking of "wild-eyed reformers."  I was thinking 
of the Founders deciding, after Salazer did his, "screw you guys, I'm 
> going home," exit, to close down his House (who'd argue that they 
> didn't have valid call to?  they were the *Founders* for goodness 
> sake!) especially as it espoused values they weren't that thrilled 
> with.  (Or so they *claimed*... ::wink, wink, nudge, nudge::)

Jen: I don't see any reason why they couldn't.  I think they didn't 
because they got tripped up by the "Magic is Might" problem that 
plagues wizards & witches - belief in the superiority of magic over 
logic or common sense.  They were a little too attached to the clever 
Sorting Hat & the ritual of it all to see the danger inherent in the 
system.  Or perhaps the other Founders saw the problems of Sorting 
since the hat mentions it during the song in OOTP, but they weren't 
wary enough to actually stop or change it.  Then later generations 
revered the Founders & system too much to give it up either.  The 
tragic human flaw of fooling oneself by hoping for the best outcome 
instead of listening to the warning bells.