Many years ago, I, like so many of you out there, found myself enchanted by J.K. Rowlings story of Hogwarts, Harry Potter, and wizards and witches. I found myself reading these books over and over again, both in print, and listening to them in audio form as I drove back and forth to work each day.
The story of love, friendship, struggle, and adventure were undeniably good, but there were parts of the story that left a bad taste in my mouth, and troubled me greatly. The biggest of these was how Rowling depicted Slytherins.
When most people think of House Slytherin they think of Malfoy. A spoiled, stuck up, rich, bully who torments, and belittles Harry Potter and his friends.
Now I am sure every house has their own “Malfoy’s” within it’s ranks, but Malfoy is not a good example of what the Slytherin house stands for or represents.
Slytherins are ambitious, driven, goal oriented, charming, focused, assertive, intelligent, cunning, and are willing to do what must be done by any means necessary.
Slytherins always know what they want, always. The only thing that holds them back is lack of knowledge on how to achieve it, lack of opportunity, and/or lack of security. Don’t worry, they will always achieve what they want, or at the very least give all they have in it’s pursuit.
While the impression was made in the books, Slytherins are not gratuitously mean, arrogant, or uncaring. In fact they are the opposite. They treat others with respect, because they care about the impression they leave with others.
Furthermore Slytherins are extremely loyal, sometimes to a fault, to their family, friends, and loved ones.
Slytherins don’t get their hearts broken. They get caught off guard, and their walls taken down. However, they quickly bounce back and then they build them back stronger than before.
One of the things that always bothered me the most about the way Slytherins were depicted in the Harry Potter novels was right before the battle of Hogwarts. Voldemort has just finished speaking to all the students and teachers present inside the castle, demanding Harry Potter show himself. A Slytherin student suggests that they detain Harry, and hand him over to The Dark Lord.
It was the response to this statement that shocked me. Flich is instructed to lock all the students in House Slytherin in the dungeon. This blatant over reaction of discrimination never sat right with me. I always imagined that the students in Slytherin eventually broke free of the dungeon, and came to Hogwarts aid when they were needed most.
My point is, not all Slytherins are bad, just as not all Gryffindors are good. Take James Potter and his merry band of friends. Throughout most of the novels James seems to act more like Malfoy than Harry. Bullying, and abusing Snape throughout his school years.
I am a proud Slytherin, and had I been at Hogwarts I would have proudly fought against The Dark Lord in defense of my school and friends.
If you too feel as I do, comment below. Tweet this out to your followers. Let’s get the word out, that House Slytherin is not all composed of Malfoys, and Voldemorts. Lets bring pride back to this noble house!