CHAPTER DISCUSSION PS/SS 10, THE HALLOWEEN LONG

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 188427


> > Alla:
> > 
> > Tell me this. When you think about Gryffindor, would you call it a House of Peter Pettigrew?
> 
> Potioncat:
> That's just it, I would. Gryffindor didn't only produce Dumbledore, James, Lily and Harry Potter. It produced Pettigrew.

Pippin:
When I think of Gryffindor I think of the Trio's bravery, but I also think of Peter's treachery, Dumbledore's machinations, the Marauders' bullying, Maclaggan's oafishness and all the times when our heroes fell short of what we expected of them. 

Certainly in CoS, Harry's choice of Gryffindor over Slytherin is made to symbolize Harry's superiority to Tom, but as the story unfolds  it no longer seems to me that Gryffindors are superior generally. I still have more positive associations with Gryffindor than I do with Slytherin, but if canon tells us anything, it is that such associations are not to be trusted no matter how compelling they seem.

If the average Gryffindor was supposed to be as brave and moral as Harry, then half of them would be as brave and moral as Harry is, or even more so. That clearly is not the case.

Likewise if Tom or even Draco was the average Slytherin then half of Slytherin would be as bad as Tom or Draco,  or even worse. That doesn't seem to be the case either. 

Pippin