Epilogue (was Re: Ron and Parseltongue)/Slytherins are Bad

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 183359

Lynda:
> Well, we can start with the statements concerning wands and move on 
to
> Harry's invisiblility cloak that does not deteriorate like others 
do. These
> statements are found throughout the series, not just in the last 
book.

Magpie:
I don't think they are. Earlier in the series we just know that Harry 
has an invisibility cloak. I don't remember anyone claiming that it 
was a special cloak or didn't disintegrate, since the cloaks 
themselves are rare and we never see another one. And wands, before 
DH, simply choose their master based on qualities they have. We never 
hear about someone else's wand becoming your own because you conquer 
them until DH. Since none of these things ever seemed like questions 
to me before DH, I can't consider them plotholes that would have been 
left had we not gotten the Deathly Hallows story. As far as I can see 
it's only in DH where the Hallows explained anything.

Potioncat:
Based on what the Sorting Hat says, minus the choosing for Pure
Blood, Slytherin should be the house of the over achievers. We should
see club presidents, Head boys, Multiple top marks on NEWTS, and
afterwards, we should see famous Healers, important Ministers of
Magic, spell inventors, etc.

Magpie:
If I were asked who the most ambitious characters in canon were I'd 
say obviously Percy, Hermione and the Twins. All those characters 
have a healthy ambition associated with natural talent plus hard 
work. Percy is the one character who gets a sort of cautionary tale 
about ambition but turns out all right. I think those characters 
demonstrate the "what's wrong with having ambition" idea better than 
the Slytherins who seem to represent ambition through cheating, 
croneyism, exclusive clubs and bigotry. Slytherins seem to be made up 
of sometimes conflicting bad qualities, which is reflected in how 
they're given the trait of ambition and even cunning, but when those 
qualities are needed for good things they are covered by non-
Slytherins, who wind up being better at them in the better ways. 
Though that's somewhat true for the other houses too--Hermione is the 
smartest (but correctly dismisses books and cleverness vs. courage) 
and most hard-working, many Gryffindors are smart, loyal and hard-
working. She didn't go the way of needing a member from each house to 
bring those qualities. Luna's kind of unique in showing up as someone 
from another house (though ostracized in it) who actually winds up on 
the B-team.

Potioncat:
I don't think Slytherin House gets a bad rap within
the books. There were times that Harry looked out at Quidditch games,
and most of the students were wearing green. So I don't think JKR
shows a WW distrust of Slytherin, although Gryffindors seem to
generally distrust them.

Magpie:
Really? I may just be forgetting something, but I far more remember 
games where everyone cheered for Gryffindor against Slytherin. I 
can't remember any time when other houses cheered for Slytherin.

-m