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?

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!

No, that was just the deciding factor There was also:

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*

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.

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?

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?

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?

I've done enough damage here.

er...
I just don't see it. Voldemort has skin that is white and pasty, elongated fingers, horrible evil red eyes and a slits for nostrils. Not mention he's bald - but not in a good or natural way. Defintitely not on my christmas card list!

Lucius, well ... he has a charisma that is spine shudderingly wicked. Almost in a pleasant way. (If you discount the fact that he could AK you at the slightest whim) He's beautiful, in looks and sophistication - no two ways about it. He'd actually make a magnificent icon to Slytherin if he wasn't such an evil git. I think he's too weak to really admire. After all, he's chosen to follow someone who's a half-blood and who's less than human, all the while maintaining his staunch belief that only purebloods are the true inheritors of the wizarding world. I actually get where the Malfoy's are coming from. I understand their great dislike of Muggles in general - they could be excused by the fact that they have lived such a reclusive life when it comes to the non-magical world. I mean, back in the dark ages, there was a rather brutal and relentless and fundamentally flawed crusade to burn witches as heretics. I imagine that they gained at least some of their hatred for Muggles in those times. Its rather ironic to think that the Malfoys are currently bent on doing the very same thing to Muggles, although admittedly, wizards are in the minority, but their magical powers must even that out to a degree.

Slughorn? A very interesting Slytherin, and as Allie says, its nice to see a Slytherin that isn't quite what we had been led to belive up until HBP. He's undoubtedly selfserving, but most of us are, in some form or another. Not that we wouldn't give our lives for something we believe in. I'd die to save one of my kids life without even having to consider it. And you look at Lucius, he's definitely putting his life on the line in the service of Voldemort because he is under the delusion that the Dark Lord will somehow put wizards in what Lucius considers their rightful place. On top of the world. But we all know that Voldemort is out for himself, not for purebloods in general. Poor misguided Luisius. Though I still find it a tad difficult to swallow that he would follow a cuel and rather unbeautiful leader like Voldermort. I guess it just goes to prove what a "persuasive" person Tom Riddle is.

I am Slytherin. And I'm not upset by that fact. I don't believe in just black and white. Shades of grey are ever present in life. A true Slytherin would appeciate that fact. A Gryffindor would struggle to comprehend beyond the cut and dry, the black and white, the right and wrong, which only makes them somewhat naive - in a lovable sort of way, of course.

Good question Janet!
My first thought would have to be "cunning". I think it is the first and foremost survival mechanism in a Slytherin. After all, Slytherins are well known for looking out for their own skins, so I'd definitely think that cunning plays an enormous role in ensure their survival.

As far as the whole friendship issue Mason I'm going to take a stab in the dark and suggest that Slytherin can have friends - very important friends, but friends they can count on only so far. I'm not saying that Slytherin friends wouldn't place themselves in harms way for a fellow Slytherin - on the contrary - it appears they do on a regular basis, but I'm thinking that their motivation to do so is the key issue. Don't you think?

Lucius is a beautiful man. He has that sarcastic wit about him, and he has such a powerful presence about him.

I agree about the "cunning" being essential in Slytherin. However, I believe that a Slytherins main objective is a constant struggle to gain power. On the friends issue, I think that it is important to have friends and I don't see why being in Slytherin house would make it impossible to have some. They should have friends that they can trust and depend on.

I don't think that many of his followers actually know that he is a halfblood. I think that Harry hit something on the head in OotP when he pointed that out in the MoM. . . and I don't think that they believed Harry about it. Even when he was at Hogwarts, I don't believe that anyone, besides the faculty, really knew much about Tom Riddle. . .and now people would not recognize him as the former. He is described as good-looking, in his day: But now he's transformed into something evil in appearacne, as well as evil in demeanor.

As far as the "true friends" line in the song: I think it was more of "you won't find your true friends in Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Gryffindor if you are sorted into Slytherin . . .but you'll find them in Slytherin, your house." The poetic line could have been used for any of the houses, but I think she included it in Slytherin because it is not only true, but it also rhymes.

I would also agree that sly cunning is key to being a Slytherin. A certain amount of self-promotion and self-preservation are also mixed in . . .but you have to have the mind behind it all in order to achieve your goals. What about ambition, though? Would that be a better quality that cunning for a Slytherin?

We know that the serpent is the crest of Slytherin, but what do you think would be a good mascot besides? A fox, perhaps? I know it's not intimidating, but I'm trying to think similarities in mental constitution. . . A ferrett? (not poking fun at Malfoy, really. . .)

Lucius is the epitome of Slytherin, I agree. Even more so than Voldemort . . .I think he'd be his own stinking house. . . I think that he portrays the house characteristics quite well. He's put his ambition for greatness, and he's alligned himself with the most powerful wizard around. He's put himself in position to be quite successful, if that side wins (hopefully, it won't)! Probably a good strategic move on his part.

Edit: To keep things here in the Slytherin common room neat and tidy, I'm going to expound on Melissa's first sorting hat verse:

House Colors: Green and Silver

House Crest: Serpent

House Ghost: The Bloody Baron

House Founder: Salazar Slytherin

Head of House: Horace Slughorn (Previously, Severus Snape)

Locaton of Common Room: a low-ceilinged, dungeon-like room with greenish lamps and chairs. It is located under the lake

Sorting Hat Songs: "Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folks use any means
To achieve their ends."
"And power-hungry Slytherin
loved those of great ambition."
and, "For instance, Slytherin
Took only pure-blood wizards
Of great cunning just like him." (It's also interesting to note that Slytherin and Gryffindor, the founders, were good friends. Not something we can imagine now, huh?)

List of Slytherins past and present:
(unknown, but prior to the nineteenth century?)
The Bloody Baron

(years unknown, but possibly nineteenth century)
Black, Phineas Nigellus
Slughorn, Horace

(1936 - 1943) (or is it 1938?)
Avery (Riddle's contemporary)
Riddle, Tom Marvolo became Lord Voldemort

(c. 1970s)
Avery (Snape's contemporary)
Black, Bellatrix (c. 1970s)
Black, Narcissa (c. 1965 - 1972)
Black, Regulus (c. 1970s)
Lestrange, Rodolphus (c. 1970s)
Lestrange, Rastaban (c. 1970s)
Malfoy, Lucius (1965 - 1972)
Rosier, Evan (c. 1970s)
Snape, Severus (c. 1970s)
Wilkes (c. 1970s)

(1990s)
Bletchley, Miles
Higgs, Terence, At least a year ahead of Harry, since he played Seeker in Harry's first year.
Urquhart (HBP14), No more than a year older than Harry, since he was on the team in Harry's sixth year. May be younger than Harry.
Vaisey (HBP14), No more than a year older than Harry, since he was on the team in Harry's sixth year. May be younger than Harry.

1986 - 1994 [Y6 - Y14])
Flint, Marcus
Repeated a year without being kicked off the team, so actually left Hogwarts at the end of Harry's third year rather than his second.

1988 - 1995 [Y8 - Y15])
Bole
Derrick

(c.1989 - 1996 [Y9 - Y16])
Montague
Pucey, Adrian
Warrington, C. (c.1989 - 1996 [Y9 - Y16])

1991 - 1998 [Y11 - Y18])
Bulstrode, Millicent
Crabbe, Vincent
Davis, Tracey (witch) (HPM)
Goyle, Gregory
Greengrass, Daphne (HPM, OP31)
Malfoy, Draco
Nott, Theodore
Parkinson, Pansy
Zabini, Blaise

1992 - 1999 [Y12 - Y19])
Harper (male)

1994 - 2001 [Y14 - Y21])
Baddock, Malcolm
Pritchard, Graham


Hopefully you can all follow that. . .It's taken from the Lexicon.

I'm not thinking this is a disservice by JKR, but a lesson. She's teaching kids that certain prejudices and groupings don't always hold. I think she's showing us that our preconceived notions, and even our biases, can be flipped around. I think Slughorn was just a first step here. She's showing Harry, and all of us, that Slytherin's don't necessarily mean "bad." Yes, there needed to be a commanality in the evil that the good guys got to hate, but I think she's effectively showing us that one does not make another.

That's true! It's about choices... If Harry had accept goes to Slytherin, he wouldn't be a bad guy. He would have the chance of choose what he want to be.
And, we don't even know if all the Death Eaters are from Slytherin. [ok..Hagrid says: ' there's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin', but it's stupid, because at that time, they still thought that Sirius was a bad guy and bla bla bla...and he was a Gryffindor]
And, of course that for the story its not important introduce all the people that had passed on Hogwarts, to show that there are nice and bad people in all the Houses... cause it would be a little boring

You've hit on something here that has always given me pause to think. . . Slytherins do seem to need to incapsulate a lot of the qualities found in the other houses. Slytherins, because of their ambition, do need to be intelligent. They do need loyalty (heck, look at the loyalty of some of the Death Eaters), they will need a certain amount of bravery . . .

I guess each house can claim this, too. There has to be a mix of each characteristic in each; but one characteristic dominates . . .which leads to the house in which you are placed.

Another thing that I'd like to talk about . . .The sorting hat told Harry that he would do well in Slytherin (though we know he makes a great Gryffindor). Do you guys think that is true? Would his talent propel him to be a wonderful Slytherin . . . or was that all just the Voldemort backfiring thing? I can see him being a good Slytherin, but he's already formed a basic dislike for the house based on preconceived notions.

That's the problem, people don't give a chance to Slytehrin, maybe cause Voldemort was from Slytherin, and kids grow up listening how horrible Slytherin is, cause Voldemort was there...
so the kid goes there thinking 'omg!! what my family is going to say, if a goes to slytherin'
and just the 'bad kids' and the posers [that want to look cool...] want to go to Slytherin, and it makes people feel that they were rigth and Slytherin is a bad place.


I agree with you, harry could be a great Slytherin...

Thinking about it, I think he would have been a fantastic Slytherin member.

His greatest ambition at the moment is to finish what those he loved died for- to defeat/destroy Voldemort. And what better place could he have done that by effectively becoming 'one of them'?

I don't mean in the sense of joining the Death Eaters and following Voldemort, but more in the fact that at the moment, they (Slytherin and Gryffindor) have been shown as being opposite sides.

Well you know the idea of 'knowing your enemy?' would it be a switch if the enemy came 'from within'? If the hero was more like the enemy than could have ever been thought?

And aside from that, we'd see the more 'good' side of the Slytherins.

That is actually a very good point, Pixymajik, but it still doesn't change the fact that Harry can't kill Voldemort. Personally, I don't think Harry could've done well in Slytherin. He could possibly have changed his views on Voldemort, done nothing to stop him and then watched the whole magical world crumble around his ears. Then also he could've stayed true to his parents and found an easier way to defeat Voldemort. I don't know, all these crazy thoughts of mine. But there is one thing which I'm sure all of you would agree with, Snape favouring Harry, it just wouldn't happen.

P.S: SLYTHERIN ROCKS!!!

Perish the thought! In some cultures being called a snake is a high compliment to be proud of. Snakes are seen are strong, rich and virile.

But I suppose some just can’t find themselves chumming to a snake. Please consider the cat. Triangle head, diamond eyes, long whip-like tail, fangs and a hiss. It’s possible to see a cat as the mammalian edition of a snake.

Addressing some interesting questions made previously on this thread—

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?

As a back-up plan for those just-in-case crisis.

Was he evil as well, even though he is considered a respectable wizard?

Evil? No. Just frustrated at the quirky direction his vision of the school was taking.

Why would he have felt the need to put that thing in there, just in case?

A Slytherin knows many things go wrong.

Why do they still include him now? Wouldn't that have been something detestable enough to remove him and his house from the school?

Salazar is still and will always be one of the co-founders of Hogwarts. That can not be changed. It wouldn’t surprise me if it’s creation was his own idea.

Murdering innocents because they don't fit his mould?

Don’t recall any murders. Salazar Slytherin abandoned the school and it’s students long ago.