Slytherin's Reputation was Re: CHAPDISC: DH, EPILOGUE

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 185674

Montavilla47:
> > > There is a Slytherin (I think it's Malcolm Baddock) who is
hissed by Fred and George as he is sorted into Slytherin.
> 
> > Shelley: 
> > Either way, it's Rowling who writes this passage in such a way to
say that if Fred and George don't like this individual, neither should we.
> 
> Zara:
> Poor montavilla cannot win, can she? If there is no Slytherin who
was hated on sight, then she is wrong. No one is unfair to them, they
have all earned their black reputations. If there is a Slytherin who
was shown to be hated on sight, he deserved to be.
> 
> *scratches head in puzzlement*
>
Carol adds:
In any case, Fred and George aren't exactly models of maturity or
common judgment. As far as I can determine, they're simply judging
little Malcolm based on his House and possibly the elements of his
name: "Mal" and "Bad" as a list member noted. (Someone should tell
them that Malcolm means a follower of St. Columba!)

I don't think they have any other basis for judging him since there's
no DE that we know of named Baddock, nor do we see any supporting
evidence for their judgment. It's just an isolated incident that we're
free to interpret as we like. Shelley sees them as right and
justified; I see them as bullies taunting a child they don't know
without provocation much as James taunted Severus for wanting to be in
Slytherin twenty years earlier.

Carol, noting that no other Gryffindors, including Harry, Ron, and
Hermione, are rude enough to boo a first-year, and no Slytherins that
we know of boo Gryffindor first-years