Whither be Slytherins

[mooseming]

Like many I was surprised and disappointed when *no* junior 
Slytherins stayed for the fight, how much would it have hurt to have 
one lone voice, perhaps even an underage one that could be 
dispatched to safety.

I think the difference between Gryffindor and Slytherin is not 
good/evil, brave/cowardly but faith/reason.

Gryffindor represents making the choice of *right* over rational 
starting with Lily's sacrifice. Lily's choice is unreasonable in 
that she does not know it will save Harry. She acts on a Mother's 
instinct that whilst there is one thing left to do in defence of 
your child, no matter how futile,  you do it. The rational thing, 
one could argue, would have been to step aside and live to fight 
evil (and the causes of evil) another day. Revenge for her husband 
and son and protection for all those other children still in danger. 
To go on fighting so that Harry's death might not be in vain etc.

DH is riddled with references to not knowing the consequences of our 
actions or indeed the motivation for our actions. Now the cynical 
amongst us (you know who you are) may say that this is feeble 
attempt by JK to proffer a fig leaf to cover the rampant and 
unsightly nakedness of her woefully inadequate plot. Then again she 
could be making a significant statement about choices.

Some examples of those you-don't- have-a clue references.

CH12
"I don't know Harry, I don't know,
 there are an awful lot of things 
that could go wrong
 so much relies on chance."

CH15
"We thought you knew what you were doing!
.we thought you had a real 
plan!"
"Well, sorry to let you down" said Harry.

CH27 
"Maybe 
 maybe it's something you need to find out for yourself," 
said Hermione, with the faint air of clutching at straws.

"Yeah" said Ron sycophantically, "that makes sense."

"No, it doesn't." snapped Hermione.

CH 29
"So what's the plan Harry?"
"There isn't one"
"Just going to make it up as we go along, are we? My favourite 
kind." said Fred.

CH32
`He did not know why he was doing it, why he was approaching the 
dying man.'

At the end of DH several plot strands (blood, HRX, Hallows, 
sacrifice) come together in a seemingly random, unexpected and 
unpredictable way (some may argue, even post hoc, 
incomprehensible!). JKR's emphasis is not just on choices but on  
uninformed choices. The failure of Slytherins is to believe it is 
possible (desirable?) to predict the outcome of our actions, to know 
through rational thought and calculation how to bring about a given 
conclusion. Slughorn believes he can identify those who will be most 
useful to him in the future and rejects everyone else. Narcissa 
aligns herself with a dominant but malign force, perhaps believing 
it will be in Draco's interests.  Voldy believes he can conquer 
death.

DH is a testament to faith over reason.

CH24
`His instinct was telling him one thing, his brain quite another.'

CH28
`Harry kept quiet. He did not want to express the doubts and 
uncertainties about Dumbledore that had riddled him for months now. 
He had made his choice while he dug Dobby's grave; he had decided to 
continue along the winding, dangerous path indicated for him by 
Albus Dumbledore, to accept that he had not been told everything 
that he wanted to know, but simply to trust.'

CH33
"Souls? We were talking of minds!"
"In the case of Harry and Lord Voldemort, to speak of one is to 
speak of the other."

"One of us?" jeered Voldemort
.."the boy who survived by accident 
because Dumbledore was pulling the strings?"

"Accident was it, when my mother died to save me?" Asked Harry


"Accident, when I decided to fight in the graveyard? Accident, that 
I didn't defend myself tonight, and still survived, and returned to 
fight."
"*Accidents!*" Screamed Lord Voldemort.

Voldemort can see nothing but chance where Harry can see that what 
may appear as accidents might be the result of some unknowable 
bigger picture. Accepting, embracing death is part of that picture.

In JKR's world there can be no good Slytherins until they choose 
faith over reason, Snape in the end had faith in Dumbledore, 
Slughorn in Hogwarts, Narcissa and Draco in Harry. Is that 
sufficient? I don't know.

Why did JKR choose not to redeem a single youthful Slytherin, is it 
like Susan in the Narnia books who opts for lipstick and stockings 
(IIRC) over childish memories? A warning. A threat. If you're in 
Slytherin by definition you have no faith, you have to leave 
Slytherin before you *get* it.

Is it just a mess of plottage?

Regards
Jo