chapter discussions, SS/PS, chapter 5, Diagon Alley

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 187883


> Potioncat:
 What did strike me though, is that Draco isn't exactly wrong about Hagrid. In fact, he's darn right. I'm sure he's repeating what he's heard from his parents, but I wonder how many others might share that feeling? 
<snip> 

> I clung to the theory of the Good Slytherin up to the last page of DH. I was sure we had been set up to form our own bit of prejudice just to have it knocked down. I think JKR did intend Slytherin to be the bad guys. Did anyone feel differently about Slytherin House at the end of DH with both Snape and Slughorn coming through for Hogwarts?

Pippin:
Just as Draco isn't exactly wrong about Hagrid and is darn right about some things, Hagrid wasn't exactly  wrong about Slytherin. But does that mean that Draco isn't prejudiced against Hagrid? Is it fair to make claims that can't be substantiated ("ends up setting fire to his bed") and say nothing of Hagrid's courage or his loyalty, his devotion to Hogwarts or the high regard which many other characters have for him?


It's much the same with Snape and Slughorn and the other Slytherins.  To disregard their courage and loyalty, to believe the worst (and only the worst) which is said about them and ignore their devotion to Hogwarts and the regard which many other characters have for them, is, IMO, to do just as Draco did.

I'm laughing over the idea that there's no reversal re Slytherin House. 

Just compare what Hagrid tells Harry about Slytherin with what Harry tells Al.

"Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," said Hagrid darkly.  There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."
--
"Albus Severus," said Harry quietly, so that nobody but Ginny could hear, and she was tactful enough to pretend to be waving to Rose, who was now on the train,  "you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."

"But *just say*--"

"--then Slytherin House will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to chose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."

---

Hagrid's example of a Slytherin is Voldemort, Harry's is Snape. Hagrid says it's better to be a duffer than a Slytherin, because only Slytherins turn out to be dark wizards, Harry says the major consequence of Al being chosen for Slytherin will be that Slytherin gets an excellent student. Hagrid speaks "darkly" (ooh, a Tom Swifty), Harry speaks quietly, using reason, not fear. Harry, unlike Hagrid or Draco, respects Al's right to decide who the wrong sort are for himself.

The story doesn't end with anti-Slytherin feeling going away. But it does end with Harry speaking against it, whereas through most of the books Harry didn't see anti-Slytherin feeling as something that needed to be fought. 


Pippin