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

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 183378

> Betsy Hp:
> I'm not talking about segregation (I'm not that wide-eyed *g*).  

Pippin:

But segregation is what Salazar was all about. IIRC we're never told
that Salazar  advocated violence or terrorism against Muggles or
Muggleborns. Obviously the potential was there, as signified by the
Chamber, but no one knew that. 


There was "dueling and the clash of friend on friend" but no one ever
knew for sure that the Chamber even existed until Riddle opened it. 

Once they'd workd out the house compromise, there's no canon that any
of the Founders  objected to Slytherin's desire to choose his own
students as he saw fit. They  enshrined his criteria forever in the
Sorting Hat along with their own, so why would they object after
Salazar had departed? According to the Sorting Hat, the quarrel which
finally divided the school wasn't about racism in any form, it was
about which of the Founders should be in control, and all of them were
contending. 

I can't recall  the slightest evidence that any Slytherin until
Voldemort's day favored outlawry. One Araminta Melliflua tried to ram
through a bill *legalizing* Muggle-hunting -- no rebel she.

Slughorn is completely horrified that Riddle would seriously speculate
about the advantages of killing someone.  Whatever Slytherin values
were in those days, they didn't include murder.

> 
> Betsy Hp:
> You know of a venerable and well-thought of school that houses 
> students in a "Ku Klux Klan" dormitory, where the values and belief-
> systems of the Klan are taught and encouraged? 

Pippin:
Not these days, of course. But years ago, when segregation was
the norm and "Birth of A Nation" was painting the Klan as
heroes? Why not?

The whole racism thing is a bit of a red herring, as far as the
trouble between Slytherin and the other houses. If you took a
random quarter of the students, gave them blue ribbons, told them that
the blue ribbon group was special and awarded them privileges that
other students didn't have, I guarantee that some of the blue ribbon
students would be selfish and mean about it. And the next thing you
know, some people would be saying that all the blue ribbon kids are
like that. 


It would take more than heroics to change this. JKR shows this
with James and with Harry. As far as Snape's concerned, Harry is
James all over again, and there's nothing Harry can do about it, any
more than there was anything Scrimgeour could have done to convince
Harry that he was going  to die for him -- short of doing it.

The Slytherin kids can't change their rep by being brave or nice any
more than Harry could. Reasons can always be found to doubt the
evidence, and people always pay more attention to bad news than good,
as Rita knows. 

The Slyths can't even forgo their unearned privileges, (and as we saw
with Harry in HBP, what kid would want to do that?) because it's their
parents who are cushily over-represented in the corridors of power,
not them. 

It's not Draco's money that bought his team all new broomsticks. Both
Ron and Draco would love to get their least favorite teacher sacked,
but only Draco has a family with the clout to do it.

Anyway, that's why IMO JKR doesn't try very hard to convince us that
there are good Slytherins by introducing them. If we don't want to
believe that the evil stereotypical Slytherin is misleading,
counterexamples won't change our minds.



> Betsy Hp:
> There's nothing to suggest Slytherins are sorted for anger-issues, 
> just cunning, ambition, and most importantly, racism.  The Hat 
> doesn't create racism, true.  The Hat just makes sure it has a safe 
> and warm environment in which to grow.

Pippin:

Power-hunger suggests an emotional imbalance, does it not? Canon
doesn't show power-hunger growing in warm, safe environments. It grows
in cold, dangerous neglectful ones:  #4 Privet Drive, the Gaunt house,
Riddle's orphanage, Spinner's End, even the Burrow, where Ron and
Percy get less nurturing  than the others. 

Do you  think Snape would have been better off Sorted into another
House? Do you think he'd have been accepted there despite his
neediness and his grinding sense of inferiority? 

Lealess:
JKR has warned female fans against falling for "bad boys," meaning
certain Slytherins, but let's not think she is stereotyping.

Pippin:
I thought she was warning against it because the stereotype isn't
informative about either  real people or of the characters in the
book. It can be appealing to be desired by a scary person  in  a
fantasy or a romance novel. It's a safe way to deal with that fear.
But  in  real life when someone sets off your alarm bells, there's
probably a good reason for it. 

It's the same kind of thing as the camping trip, really.
In suspense novels, being on the run or in hiding is a thrill. Sounds
like fun -- but not if you actually had to do it, and no author was
available to skip you over the boring parts or provide you with a
never-failing magical supply of food. 
 
Pippin