"If we turn our heads and look away and hope that it will all disappear then they will - all of them, an entire generation of people. And we will have only history left to judge us."
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As promised then, we're going to try out some House threads, see how they go.
These threads are for people who have been sorted here first. They are for generalised discussions about the role of your house in the books, for discussion of the founders and anything else that you think is relevant to your house.
Please remember the VTM Forums Rules, which are linked in my signature. No one liners, off topic and personal conversations type posts are allowed.
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After consideration, I think a general overview of house "qualities" is in order. Each house, as shown in Book 1, is listed as having specific traits. Here is an excerpt from Book 1:
Or perhaps in Slytherin, You'll make your real friends, Those cunning folk use any means to achieve thier own ends;
Oh boy, Syltherins are a interesting group to say the least. My favorite Professor is head of the house after all. But, interesting is the group of known Slytherins. Including: Tom Riddle, Severus Snape, Slughorn, Malfoys, Millicent Bulstrode, Crabbe, Goyle, Almost all of the Blacks, except for Sirius. Someone I think is interesting is Zabini Blaise.
Let's start the discussion off by discussing the folks that we know are in each house, why you think they are there, and what you have in common with whom. (ie: do you see yourself in any of the Slytherins?)
Remember, this thread was put here as a "test" to see if things of this sort will fly. Make your posts well thought out, more than one line, and free from rubbish such as, "Draco is soooo hot. I am happy to be in the same house as him! "..... Let's think outside of the box folks.
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I am lurking around the forums now...seeing all the wonderful changes.
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Hi Slytherins! Um... I'm a Slytherin, too... of course, you all knew that I'm evil by now...
Of the characters that Melissa listed, I think nearly all have a certain ruthlessness that got them into Slytherin in the first place. Tom Riddle murdered his family and willingly split his soul to create Horcruxes -- certainly a vicious, brutal act that demonstrates the intensity of his desire to achieve immortality. While we don't know who as of yet, Snape definitely is double-crossing someone -- he doesn't give a darn about honesty or reputation or any of those good, moral things. Lucius Malfoy is in Azkaban while his son embarks on what is essentially a self-sacrificial mission (well, it turns out not to be self-sacrificial in the end, but what the hey) in the beginning of HBP -- enough said for that entire family.
The only member of the group who doesn't seem to have such a cold, cruel instinct and seeming liking for violence is Slughorn. He was a bit of a mystery to me at first, but I suppose there's a valid argument that like all of the above, he's basically out for himself. He spent several years hiding from potential Death Eaters, even when Voldemort wasn't out in the open, and he didn't go to Hogwarts out of the goodness of his heart in Book Six -- he went there because Dumbledore presented a logical reason: personal safety. As Phineas Nigellus says in OotP, "we Slytherins are brave, yes, but not stupid. For instance, given the choice, we will always choose to save our own necks." (Incidentally, Phineas is one of my favorite characters in the series. I've got a thing for nasty, sarcastic people. )
It's harder to discuss Millicent Bulstrode, Crabbe, Goyle, and Blaise Zabini because we don't know much at all about their characters (though they do lead illustrious lives in fanfic), so I'm not even going to go near them right now. One can safely assume, though, that they demonstrate similar personal qualities.
As for a comparison between myself and JKR's Slytherins... Oh dear goodness, I hope I'm nothing like them! I don't know... there could well be some Death Eater-supporters among you (after all, we ARE in the official Slytherin thread), but as for me, I like to think that I exhibit other Slytherin qualities that are generally overlooked in the face of the whole death-mania thing. While I don't think I operate purely out of self-interest, I'm sure it constitutes a small aspect of my personality at least (), and ambition... oh yeah, I've got that. The thing is, when you look beneath the Dark magic reputation, Slytherins do have a lot of qualities that can lead to great success.
(That being said, I've had a private word with the Sorting Hat and the real reason why I was put in Slytherin is because I wanted to abandon the injured kitten. )
...
Oh heck, what's the point in pretending I'm a nice person? I might as well show my true Slytherin colors!
When you really think about it, the only real losers at Hogwarts are the Hufflepuffs -- they aren't brave, smart, or ambitious! Come on, would you rather be with us or with them?! (I'm allowed a small amount of gentle teasing, right, mods? )
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Hey now, don't be knocking on my beloved Hufflepuff's, they've got their good sides.
I really liked the fact that Slughorn ended up being a Slytherin, it showed us a whole new side of the Slytherin's. While Slughorn isn't a particularly good person, he's most definitely not a I'm-Going-To-Take-Over-The-World-And-You-Can't-Stop-Me kind of guy, either.
It makes me wonder how many of the Slytherin's are like Malfoy (Tom Riddle, actually, but you get the point) and how many are like Slughorn...I think that Harry has done us a great disservice in his markedly biased opinions of Salazar's "Noble" House.
What's always confused me is the Sorting Hat's saying that Slytherin is where you'll make your real friends...
When you think about the Houses, Slytherin isn't the first one that brings to mind friendship and loyalty. (*hem hem* More like my Hufflepuff's, Allie )
What do ya'll think about that?
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"Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see." ~ C.S. Lewis
"It’s like expecting that the accidental shape taken by the splash when you upset a milkjug should give you a correct account of how the jug was made and why it was upset."~ C.S. Lewis
When you think about the Houses, Slytherin isn't the first one that brings to mind friendship and loyalty. (*hem hem* More like my Hufflepuff's, Allie ) What do ya'll think about that?
So then, you must be a Hufflepuff. Well, then what are you doing in the Slytherin Common Room??? Don't you have your own thread? Why don't you go bug them then. I am a Slytherin. Also, for your information, in my mind, and being in Slytherin, Slytherin does bring to mind- loyalty, friendship, commitment, etc... so thank you.
Alright, *sighs* Hello all fellow Slytherins!! Thank you Michelle for making it. How is everyone? So, is this a common room, just to chat, or do we need to talk about fellow friends Draco, Pansy, and company?
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Hey there, Padfoot08... good to see another Slytherin alive and kicking! I was starting to think I'm the only one.
At any rate, I believe the purpose of these new threads is to discuss the House you were sorted into by the official VTM Sorting Hat -- the House history, students and teachers in the House, personality qualities characteristic of the House, why you were sorted into the House, etc. -- without anything RPG or general chat-related. Canon and movie stuff related to the House, unless I'm much mistaken. Although I'm sure that any fellow Slytherins would welcome a PM for the more general chat aspect.
What's always confused me is the Sorting Hat's saying that Slytherin is where you'll make your real friends...
When you think about the Houses, Slytherin isn't the first one that brings to mind friendship and loyalty. (*hem hem* More like my Hufflepuff's, Allie)
Having seen all the analysis-type things that the others Houses seem to have been doing so far as characteristics of the Houses are concerned, my initial answer to that would seem a bit shallow, I'm afraid. I always thought JKR put in that thing about "making your real friends" because "friends" goes with "ends" and she just wanted the rhyme.
That being said, now that you've drawn that particular line to my attention (even though you're a lowly Hufflepuff ), I definitely agree with you that there's some irony there. I believe Dumbledore told Harry at one point (I don't even remember which book this happened in, though... and I call myself a fan!) that Tom Riddle never was after friends -- just a band of followers, the forerunners to the Death Eaters. You seem to get that with Malfoy as well -- there's no way I'd consider Crabbe and Goyle "friends" of Draco's... more like little minions who do his bidding. I guess the lack of friendship is a logical extension of the self-interest and ruthless drive to come out ahead that seems to characterize the House. It is sort of strange that JKR should choose to emphasize friendship in conjunction with the Slytherins when it actually is the House you would least associate with cohesiveness and caring relationships.
So basically, I've agreed with you in a very circular way. And I also would agree with you that introducting Slughorn at this point in the series was a very effective move on JKR's part; I continue to think that the Houses will unify to some degree by the end of Book Seven, and from the reader's perspective, there really would be no justification for Gryffindors and Slytherins to unite unless there were at least one semi-decent Slytherin character. I still have high hopes for Theodore Nott and the elusive Blaise Zabini, too.
Good points, and hope to see more Slytherins here soon!
(That being said, I've had a private word with the Sorting Hat and the real reason why I was put in Slytherin is because I wanted to abandon the injured kitten. )
Oh heck, what's the point in pretending I'm a nice person? I might as well show my true Slytherin colors!
No, that was just the deciding factor There was also:
QUOTE
Allie- Slytherin!- Oh dear Allie!!! You were such a tough one to pick for, I went back and forth a few times- and to be honest, it was the kitten answer that did it for me. You're a Slytherin. You don't feel the need to be nice to people you really don't want to be nice to, Your up for a laugh, you'd get your parents to buy you a broom, You're not about to go sucking up to Harry Potter and are upfront about his not-so-positive side. You're somewhat controlled by pride and you DON'T want to be in Hufflepuff (although it was very tempting to put you into there just to get a reaction )
Heh heh
I sorted myself into Gruffleclawrin--- because I feel that I'm a bit of everything. So there's definitely some SlytheRIN in me at the end and I can see some real traits in there of me- ambition is one and I can play a mean poker face which I saw a lot of Tom Riddle with.
I'm also a believer in don't get mad, get even. But at the same time I don't hold grudges after I've gotten even. However I can see that side of Slytherin coming through in that I like to be on top and can get competitive at times.
Personally I think that Slytherin has gotten the bad rap because they are 'the bad guys' of the books. I've said it before but if the books were written from someone else's perspective, or if *gasp* Tom Riddle had been a Gryffindor, then there'd be a completely didn't story. But thinking about it---- the first glimpse of Slytherin that we see is Malfoy being a snot, Hagrid saying they are bad and Ron telling Harry that all bad wizards came from Slytherin--- not exactly a good image that they've got is it?
Personally I don't see any problem with a little ambition *sniff*
Hey there, Padfoot08... good to see another Slytherin alive and kicking! I was starting to think I'm the only one.
Yea. I was starting to think that too. It is as if people think it evil or the like to be in Slytherin house. *shakes head in disgust* I believe it all to be stemmed from the line that Rupert says about "not a wittch or wizard who went bad, that wasn't in Slytherin." Honestly, get real! Nonetheless, What do you all think of the Snape/Hermione ship? I don't think that it would ever work, but if it could.... I think it would be cool. Really do not think that JKR would ever do such a thing. Hmmm... He is our dear head of Slytherin, therefore I thought it appropriate to ask. I've been wondering what fellow Slytherins were wondering about this.
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Thanks for finding that excerpt from my sorting, Pix! I was looking for it when I spotted these House threads yesterday, but I couldn't remember when I took the quiz and sort of ran out of patience with looking through the thread. Anyway, it's good to see that it wasn't just the kitten, which might have suggested that I really am a shallow character like Lucius or somebody. Actually, I probably shouldn't be calling him shallow at all, but I'll save that one for a different discussion at a different time. Personally, I agree with you that Slytherins get a horrible reputation for bad reasons. We see the action through Harry's eyes, Harry's a Gryffindor, Harry doesn't like Draco... all Slytherins are evil. Pretty poor logic, I think.
QUOTE (Padfoot08 @ Apr 12 2006, 04:31 PM)
What do you all think of the Snape/Hermione ship?
Mmm... I feel ambiguous on that issue. You definitely couldn't call me a Snape/Hermione "supporter," but then again, the only ship that I really actively support is Harry/Luna. I'm inclined to say that I don't like it because I don't like Draco/Hermione, Draco/Ginny, Snape/Harry, or any bad guy/good guy ship too much. I have no problem whatsoever with people supporting non-canon ships, but some of them are just too out there for me.
That being said, I've read parts of the Snape/Hermione threads on a few sites and I'll acknowledge that there are some compelling arguments for similarities between their personalities. While I don't read Snape/Hermione fanfic on a regular basis, one of the stories on VTM forums, Dream a Little Dream (written by Melissa), also created a plausible scenario in which Snape and Hermione "discovered" one another in a romantic sense. So I don't know, really... while I don't despise Snape/Hermione, the fact that I like it in fanfic only sort of speaks for itself.
With Hermione or not, though, I believe JKR has mentioned that Snape has been in love before. That should be interesting to see in Book Seven... he seems like such a nasty guy at this point, it would be neat to see how this mysterious relationship of his factors into his decision-making process. I wonder whether this person is dead or somewhere out there still? I know there aren't supposed to be any new characters in the rest of the series, which would seem to suggest that if the person in question is alive, we've already been introduced. A little love might be good for Snape -- he seems to be pretty much out for himself at the moment, and thinking in terms of the interests of someone else might set him back on the right track. Though I can't imagine who would love him after the end of HBP (aside from Melissa, that is! ). Your thoughts?
Wow. I was sorted into Slytherin. Haha...I really didn't expect that. I was actually hoping for Hufflepuff, but I <3 the Slythies too.
My favorite member of Slytherin has, of course, got to be Lucius Malfoy, as you can see by my username. I think I have a thing for blonde bad guys.
And not all Slytherins are evil, you know. Slughorn isn't (I think). But I can't say I like our Head of House very much. He gives me the willies. Now if Lucius was our HoH, I'd SING.
Yes I can tell. Then again, I understand how you feel. Lucius is great! *sigh* Stupid Narcissa. How can you not like our head of house??!! He is the hottest guy ( to me only only I guess). Well, sorry about you being sorted into Slytherin ( ), but we're glad you find your way here.
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Voldemort's the hottest Slytherin ever, huh? Well, it's definitely true that Harry always described him as "good-looking" when he was a kid, but personally, I don't know whether I'd go for the creepy red eyes these days...
like you can see, on my nick...I love Bellatrix Lestrange But i think that Narcissa is stupid [how can she be her sister...]
That's actually a really good point you've made there, about Bellatrix and Narcissa. In the second chapter of HBP, I really was shocked by the difference between their characters. I never actually thought of them as sisters calling each other "Bella" and "Cissy" before reading "Spinner's End," but once I started thinking about the pair of them growing up together... one has to wonder how they went their separate ways and what it must have been like when they were reunited -- with Bellatrix working alongside Narcissa's husband, not Narcissa.
We know that Narcissa can be nasty and prejudiced enough (see all of her various encounters with Harry in Diagon Alley, at the Quidditch World Cup, etc., over the years), but the bottom line is that she doesn't strike me as quite as cruel a person as Bellatrix. We've seen her maternal side surface on several occasions when Draco has been asked to do stuff for Voldemort and we know that she didn't want to send her son to Durmstrang because it was too far away from home. She isn't a Death Eater even though the men in her family are, and given the environment in which she grew up, you'd think she would be.
Bellatrix is much more given to violence. She seems to be much more suspicious (the scene with Snape in the beginning of HBP, for example), and much more bitter and angry. She says that she would sacrifice her kids for Voldemort, if she had them. Then again, she doesn't... so maybe we'll never fully understand that aspect of her personality. We've never seen her in a situation with her husband or anyone who she probably really cares about.
Either way, it's interesting that the sisters didn't go the same route. Your thoughts on why that might have been?
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Hello, my fellow Slytherins! I'm just going to jump right on in!
QUOTE
Either way, it's interesting that the sisters didn't go the same route. Your thoughts on why that might have been?
Do we know the birth order? Crazy as it sounds to some people, that definately plays into personality differences in siblings.
I also think that Narcissa has a more preservation stand-point than Bellatrix. She's got her son to care for and provide for, after all. Perhaps he is cold and calculating, but she does have a better reason for being the way she is: She must protect Draco, whatever the cost. She couldn't do it for her husband, and he probably wouldn't have wanted her to. But she'll surely do everything she can to keep Draco above ground. Bellatrix, by contrast, really has only herself to think about. Heck, we don't even know what's become of her husband! That's nice, isn't it?
As far as Slytherins-thanks Mel for posting that verse from the Sorting Hat-what do you guys think is their dominate trait? Success? Domination? Untrustworthyness? Cunning? (Any other synonyms?)
What was Tom Riddles goal in life? To achieve immortality (and take over the world of course . . .we're pinky, pinky and the brain brain brain brain. . .) Er, sorry. That just slipped out.
What was Lucius Mafloys? To make a name for himself amongst the most powerful wizards?
What was Slughorn's? To surround himself with success stories and enjoy the perks of knowing them?
What is Malfoy's? To be a better wizard than his father?
We know that the kitten thing landed Allie in Slytherin (poor kitty ), but what about the rest of you? I think I landed there because of my sarcastic answers. And my quest for owning the biggest and brightest stuff. And for my desire to dominte. Heh. I'm actually not surprised that I was sorted into Slytherin at all. My patronus, which I was assigned, even fits in with it-though I'd be too scared of it to ever conjure it!! It's a basilisk. *shivers*
While I'm on a roll here, why do you think Salazar went so far as to build a chamber of secrets in the first place? Was he evil as well, even though he is considered a respectable wizard? Why would he have felt the need to put that thing in there, just in case? Why do they still include him now? Wouldn't that have been something detestable enough to remove him and his house from the school? Murdering innocents because they don't fit his mould?
That's exaclty what i think... I never imagine Bella trying to save her children, incluinding because she says that if she had a son, she would be happy, about that... And after all, Draco is her nephew, and the only thing that she does to help him, is teaching occlumency ...
And the most interesting thing is that they have another sister [Tonks' mother...i can't remember her name] , that is completely different of Narcissa and Bella...
It really shows, how people are different, and that, the fact that they grew up together doesn't mean nothing...
And you can see, that Draco, worries about his family too....
Sometimes, I believe that, they were raised, to get a good husband and be a good wife, and it was ok to Narcissa, but Bella, wanted more, she doesn't seems the kind of person, that likes to depend of the others...
And about Voldie, yeah, i know that he looks a little weird, but i believe that he still has something, you know? And on movie 4? He has a weird face, but his body...oh...that's hot!!!
The Slytherin House Thread
Apr 11 2006, 11:15 AM
Each house, as shown in Book 1, is listed as having specific traits. Here is an excerpt from Book 1:
"..... 
Let's think outside of the box folks. 
Oh dear goodness, I hope I'm nothing like them! I don't know... there could well be some Death Eater-supporters among you (after all, we ARE in the official Slytherin thread), but as for me, I like to think that I exhibit other Slytherin qualities that are generally overlooked in the face of the whole death-mania thing. While I don't think I operate purely out of self-interest, I'm sure it constitutes a small aspect of my personality at least (
), and ambition... oh yeah, I've got that. The thing is, when you look beneath the Dark magic reputation, Slytherins do have a lot of qualities that can lead to great success.
