Uh, Rowling Why Does Slytherin Still Exist?

[@QuinnCurio]

* locks eyes with you at a hot topic * You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?

[@PlatinumAltaria]

Ma'am, this is Hot Topic.

[@squittens8337]

*cries into my doctor who themed novelty t-shirt*

[@Huntracony]

Well, that's a nice coincidence. I was just checking in on you like an hour or two ago and trying to find out if you ever released the original cut of your last video (which I don't think you have or will at this point).

[@sirrobertwalpole1754]

Maybe, but with you around it feels like my luck has finally come in clutch *winks slyly*

[@happyhydralisk6885]

I'm just here with my younger sister, I have no interest in anything in here please help

[@erincorcoran5936]

My theory: Slytherins just adapt to the spooky green lights of the dungeons, so the bright sunlit halls of the rest of the castle just make their eyes hurt and put them in a shitty mood.

[@taezer3687]

Love that

[@AnxietyRat]

Oh... Yeah, that 100% makes sense. Holy shit.

[@brutus3631]

Honestly that would make sense, green is very easy on the eyes so after sitting all day in green it WOULD hurt or at least be uncomfortable to go outside

[@deinnydoes5356]

There's an old tumblr post floating around that talked about their common room seeing into the lake so yeah. Chill out with the shimmer and critters of the lake above you or light headaches.

[@moshmosh6363]

i’d be pissed too if every other house got cool towers and i got a dungeon under a lake lol

[@Abitopia]

It’s funny with house quizzes that are so obvious “How do you write your homework?” - Bravely, and while roaring like a lion. - Cunningly & evilly, cheating using an all knowing snake. - In the library, writing full paragraphs for one word questions. - Loyally, helping your friends before doing your own. (And making full course meals for your friends)

[@TiaTam]

Where's the answer "I don't"? Lmao

[@Chillerll]

It’s a good quiz because I got my favourite house in the end

[@henryhere]

"a man's wallet falls out of his pocket and he doesn't notice, what do you do with it?" -keep it -proudly return it and brag about it later -humbly and respectfully return it -lecture him on how to prevent it from happening again and give it back if he can repeat the last thing you said.

[@kaminari1927]

Is there a "procrastinate until the due date" answer?

[@Riley-vy5qm]

Is there a "Writes correct answer with 0 explanation" answer? (I do this too much in every subject)

[@alisaurus4224]

“Gryffindor, Smart, Yellow, and Evil.” Yep, that’s it, those are the houses

[@davidtucker9498]

I honestly didn't even remember what color Hufflepuff was...

[@erinbathie-moore8478]

Yup. My howarts house is Yellow. The house where people are supposed to be kind, loyal and hard-working but the only one who was any of those traits in said house was Cedric Diggory

[@almosthuman2398]

@@erinbathie-moore8478 wowowow.... 2 MINUTES AGO??!! Damm that's luck

[@Firegen1]

This made me laugh so hard. As a non fan I picked yellow because it looks best against my melanin. Legit no other reason. Drove my fairweather fandom mates insane. "NO you can't be Hufflepuff, they suck! You have to Red Lion Main Storyarc!" If I have to play along to something I'm only minimally intrigued by at best, I'm keeping the best colour for my outfit, the motherfucking badger (which is a crazy gorgeous animal) and that it annoys the normies to be the pleasant one.

[@reenareynolds3126]

ravenclaws arent even smart XD

[@Oll1000]

To be fair, it's like having four cliques in any normal school. You've got the geeks, you've got the jocks, you've got the nerds. And then you've got the neonazis. Obviously.

[@misanthropicservitorofmars2116]

School really do be like prison

[@KossolaxtheForesworn]

ah the skinhead clique, it truly is like real life innit.

[@existenceispain_geekthesiren]

huh. that explains some things at my school /j

[@bloodyidit4506]

Actually that's not really far off, I've seen some shit. We called them the edgelords.

[@redline841]

Me in the racist factiom

[@theresamk6236]

Remember how bewildered Harry was when he realized in the 4th book that other wizarding schools didn't have houses? Why did the books not explore that further?

[@OTcrochet]

Because Jk fucked herself with ilvermorny and gave the US hogwarts houses like an idiot

[@sparksfly5877]

English and Australian schools have houses - however they’re a lot more prominent in boarding schools. House culture is for the most part non-existent elsewhere.

[@arno7163]

@@maryapapaya I'm Sri lankan and in the 2 schools I were in have houses, but it only mattered for intra school sports activities, so basketball competions, field sports culture festivals and swim meets

[@editazilinskyte3681]

@Paper Magpie the school i went to had "communities" named after famous activists Nelson Mandela(blue) Emily Pankhurst (Yellow) Martin Luther King (Green) Although there wasnt any way kids were sorted. It was still fun tho fighting for your house in sport days and such. We would sit sepperatly in assemblys. It did create some minor confilicts here and there bases on kids thinking their house is the best one.

[@theresamk6236]

I just think it would've been neat to explore it further is all

[@icarisk7013]

“Gryffindor, smart, yellow, evil” Ah yes, the only four personality traits

[@RallasterAsuremen]

There's is an irony that "Gryffindor" has a "Yellow" lion for an icon, has many "Smart" people...some of which are are "Evil".

[@josjoererg]

Ah yes, the only four genders

[@Eosinophyllis]

My gender is yellow tag urself

[@frankbacon1002]

I mean shit knowing some of JK Rowlings opinions about trans people she might even agree with that level of absurd reductionism

[@TrekBeatTK]

The bigger question is how a random sampling of 11-year-olds all conveniently distribute evenly among the four.

[@thea7169]

One comment my mom had about the series always stuck in my mind: Why wasn't Dumbledore a Slytherin? He is resourceful, ambitious and definitely excels at leadership, and these qualities made him one of the most successful and revered wizard in the wizarding world -- he is kind of exactly whom a Slytherin student would aspire to be. If Dumbledore had been revealed to be in Slytherin, all those disturbed little snakes would have been granted a balancing figure. Imagine growing up knowing that "Every wizard that has turned to the dark side has been from Slytherin," from the house you're now in, yet if Dumbledore had also been a proud Slytherin alumni it would have given a counterweight, a wizard to look up to that came from your house: Yes, every dark wizard has come from Slytherin, but some of the greatest ones came too. I feel like this might have been the purpose of adding Merlin to Slytherin, but it would have been a much greater move to add Dumbledore since he's an actual character.

[@morning7136]

There were dark wizards from the other houses too. Dumbldore wasn't in Slytherin because J.k thought The Slytherin traits mean evil and Dumebldore=good

[@disasterrook2656]

I legitimately forgot that Dumbledore was a ravenclaw because every peice of media hes been featured in since half blood prince shows that he spent most of his time leading up to being a young adult doing extremely slytherin things.

[@morning7136]

@@disasterrook2656 Actually he is a gryffindor lol, I know it dosen't make sense

[@buckybone89]

The counterpoint to this is "Dumbledore's dark as fuck, he's just good at hiding it"...tbf, the only real justifications for that are fanon concepts (magical power limiters, magical nobility, and other things along those lines), a modern definition of child abuse that absolutely was not reflected in the laws of 1980s Britain (and likely wouldn't have been enforced against a middle-class white family in Tory-dominated Surrey even after 1989), and a severe lack of clarity about just how much power he has in his various positions. More likely, Dumbledore's just a Transfiguration professor and a semi-competent administrator who got Peter Principle'd after he won a duel against a Dark Lord who wasn't really trying that hard.

[@annejia5382]

i think cause Dumbledore was like the main 3's mentor like he was supposed to be Aslan from Narnia so he wasnt slytherin.

[@wherefancytakesme]

The two wildest things in this universe to me: -A race liking to be enslaved -Goths being bullies

[@vale-kn6tu]

i like to think of the slytherins as “dark academia preps” rather than goths :p

[@creed8712]

@@vale-kn6tupersonally I await the day all the houses are recontextualized and Slythrrun become the Chav house

[@vale-kn6tu]

@@creed8712 LMFAOOOO

[@dukenukemforever6912]

@wherefancytakesme+ I guess you haven't heard about the Country called India. they loved being enslaved so much that they lived under foreign rule over 600 years.

[@Erowens98]

I mean, arent dogs technically "a race that likes to be enslaved"? After all, while we do treat them well usually, ultimately, they exist to do our work for nothing but food and shelter in exchange. And they love us for it (because we designed them to). Maybe house elves are what happens when you take dogs, give them hands, make them smarter, and yet somehow maintain their love for humans.

[@RichterTheRat]

Imagine being an 11 year old who asked the hat to put you in Slytherin just because you thought snakes were cool, or liked the color green.

[@heyokaikaggen6288]

The hat would tell you to bugger off because that's not how Sorting works

[@megaflamer]

I....would totally have been that kid, the slytherin house colouration would have left a strongly positive impression on me, man would that have been a bummer when everyone started treating me like the bad guy.

[@Abdega]

@@heyokaikaggen6288 “You ain’t a protagonist, you can’t tell me where to put you! That’s a Hufflepuff answer if I ever heard one! ‘I like snakes and green’ Get outta here and go eat crayons if ya like green so much!” - sorting hat maybe

[@RichterTheRat]

@@Abdega I laughed way harder at this than I should have.

[@anitaag39]

🧍🏻‍♀️me standing in the slytherin common room realizing im surrounded by ambitious racists whose parents are all part of sum weird blood cult where they worship sum snake faced old guy all just bc my dumb muggle ass likes green,,, calling my mom from the bathroom crying bc my new magic school also has magic racism built in and -please just put me in the miscellaneous house i promise ill change my whole aesthetic to yellow i swear plz

[@donaldwobamajr6550]

The Four Hogwarts Houses: Protagonists Racists Irrelevant So irrelevant that it doubles back into being relevant because we all talk about how irrelevant it is.

[@brandonadrien3476]

"So irrelevant that..." Oh, you mean Yamcha?

[@ryanmaclean1720]

Did Hufflepuff just play the biggest relevance con in all of pop-culture?

[@montereyjackcheesestick8912]

Is the last one Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw

[@ryanmaclean1720]

@@montereyjackcheesestick8912 hufflepuff

[@dukkemonterier3429]

@@brandonadrien3476 No. he means your overused unfunny TFS jokes

[@THATGuy5654]

"It's a boy!" "I shall name him Albus Severus George Hagrid Sirius Fred Dobby Ron Whomping Remus Draco Potter" "No."

[@emilycanfield2634]

Whomping...LMAOOOO

[@kraziiXIII]

Then we have the sweetest named child in the entire world: Lily Luna Potter. I always smile when I think of her because Ginny and Harry love Luna so much that they named their daughter after her and that makes me all kinds of teary eyed.

[@angusmarch1066]

You forgot to add "Platform 9¾"

[@ariyatabassumabdullah1143]

@@kraziiXIII And it's also kinda clever as "luna" also means moon, referring to moony aka lupin. It's like killing two birds with one stone but in a respectful and emotional way.

[@kraziiXIII]

@@ariyatabassumabdullah1143 This is a super sweet sentiment and I "Awww"ed at first, but considering Remus Lupin basically means "Werewolf McWerewolf" and his greatest fear is the full moon and his condition caused him severe poverty and physical and mental harm, I think it may miss the mark if they were trying to make it be an homage to Remus and Luna at the same time.

[@OfficialChrissums]

the idea that the sorting hat senses the racism in an 8 year olds soul and is like "imma make this kid a straight up klansman by year 3. Slytherin ya go" is sending me

[@spicysalad3013]

the sorting hat wants to watch the world burn if you ask me

[@MrBynwah]

I was seven when the kids in my neighborhood attacked me because I was friends with one of the black kids in the neighborhood. It was the first time I ever heard the racist terms for a white person that doesn't hate black people. If you've been fortunate enough to never be around the kids of racists, you are lucky. I promise you, a kid can be taught to be racist, I live in the American South, I've seen it firsthand

[@abdallahel-terry1263]

​@@MrBynwah true that some kids are worst than adults

[@agzane268]

Idk but it DOES work bc I'm racist and the sorting hat gave me slytherin so

[@bloodywolfwarrior]

11 year old not 8 fyi

[@TrueUnderDawgGaming]

It always did bother me (even as a child) that Slytherin was so clearly the "Evil house" at school. It felt so dumb that nearly everyone in that group was rude bullies. A nice twist would have been to have some secret villains at Gryffindor and some surprise heroes in Slytherin. *(To clarify for everyone reading this, I meant students going to school at the same time as Harry. Not the adult villains/heroes who used to go there)*

[@pumpkinspice7541]

Literally, though!! Harry himself was originally supposed to be a Slytherin, but was like “everyone says they’re evil and I don’t want to be evil”

[@Amanda-cm4fc]

But how do we know that “nearly everyone” in Slytherin were mean. What about the hundreds of Slytherin students who we know nothing about? Plus, James and Sirius were jerks at school. They were bullies and they were in Gryffindor.

[@ethanrumley8459]

People seem to forget that Pettigrew was in Gryffindor. And I really do wish that the books or movies would have mentioned how anyone from any house could've joined Voldemort.

[@MercuryA2000]

@@ethanrumley8459 Yea it really should've been something that was at least thrown out in the books. Like, imagine if the way Harry learned who Sirius Black was was because he's fighting with a slytherin and Ron chimes in with something about how only they turn dark. Then the slytherin just sneers and says "We all know that's not true, don't we Potter? After all, Black's the reason you have that little scar." Then Ron has to awkwardly explain that James's best friend, a gryffindor, betrayed his family and is one of the most infamous death eaters around. Or if halfway through Deathly Hallows the trio for whatever reason are in trouble and someone they either recognize as a slytherin, or who's wearing slytherin colors helps them. Ron, of course, spits that they're probably a death eater like all the snakes, and Harry just quietly says "Not Regulus." or Hermione reminds them that "Quirrel and Pettigrew were some of the worst we've seen."

[@imjustasconfusedasyou]

Yeah, like how on EARTH does the school lock Slytherin in the school when the battle of hog warts hallened?? And then in the famous A TROLL IN THE DUNGEON scene, dumbledore tells people to go to their rooms, but slytherin rooms are in the dungeons….

[@hecklinjekyll3959]

All the bad guys being Slitherin's really a missed opportunity. Imagine having different villains from different houses and examining all the houses and their traits and how they may turn into something less than pleasant under the right circumstances.

[@eleanorheslinga4918]

Not all the bad guys were Slytherin. Peter Pettigrew, Gilderoy Lockhart, Quirinus Quirrell, Igor Karkaroff, and Gellert Grindelwald were not in Slytherin. Most of them were though.

[@chiffmonkey]

That would require a nuanced view of good and evil that is given more thought than simply "If you're not a brave hero, an egghead or a housewife, you're evil."

[@inferiorinferno8859]

@@eleanorheslinga4918 Two characters you're talking about didn't even go to Hogwarts so what is the point about them not being Slytherin?

[@uhohmykokoro1616]

@@eleanorheslinga4918 True, but that’s three vs. the thirty other Slytherin villains and general assholes 😅. There’s a clear pattern here

[@foxxygradius7858]

Evil Ravenclaw: Pretty easy. Classic Felix Faust mentality, willing to trade anything for knowledge. Evil Gryffindor: Trickier. Maybe someone overzealous who charges around starting fights for stupid reasons. Evil Hufflepuff: I got nothing. Puts pot in brownies without warning you?

[@circeeldritchworkaholicwitch13]

Gryffindor: Main Character/Protagonist Slytherin: Antagonist/Villain Ravenclaw: Exposition Fountains Hufflepuff: NPCs you can barely interact with outside of rare quests.

[@teteiyus5762]

Ha! So true

[@acethemain7776]

Hufflepuff: that one dude who died but for the time he was alive you could fangirl over him

[@ChienaAvtzon]

@@acethemain7776 - Pretty much…. which is why so many people assumed Newt Scamander’s brother was a Gryffindor. How on earth could a WWI veteran, and the Head Auror be a Hufflepuff? That House is apparently only for duffers and dead pretty boys.

[@ladywaffle2210]

In Harry Potter, you can either be: -Protagonist -Smart -Background Character -Hitler

[@dushandvr5765]

Cedric was not npc

[@maddieb.4282]

If the house were really so cunning and ambitious why didn’t Voldemort face constant challenges to power, sabotage, and assassination attempts from his own supporters? It seems like there would be a lot of people wanting to overthrow him

[@justinwright1745]

Horcrux… as well as power. Dumbledore is said to be the only one who could go toe to toe with him.

[@yami122]

Because the real world shows that that's just not true when you get that Voldemort like leader other ambitious cunning normally backstabbing people will end up following that person Without trying to undermined them because the simple Reality of the situation is that undermining that Voldemort like person Simply wouldn't lead to them succeeding okay you assassinate your Voldemort or your Hitler or your trump(I'm not arguing that Trump is a do it or bad person i'm simply saying that his power and his political situation is similar to Hitler and Voldemort) then what you're not Hitler or Voldemort or Trump you're not as popular or as powerful So everything comes crashing down and you will have objectively less It's better to be the 7th biggest fish in the ocean than it is to be the biggest fish in a small pond and only that truly exceptional and powerful individual is going to make you 7th biggest fish plus there is also a second angle That populist leaders like the ones I mentioned tend to play their supporters against each other So that they're backstabbing each other and are unable to form effective alliances against the top dog let's take trump for example who commands a great deal of power and was for four years presidency and while he was president he allowed his subordinates to constantly argue in Bicker amongst themselves and everyone hated each other so there was no one who could form an effective alliance that could challenge Trump And you see the same with Voldemort Every member of his inner circle is on Thin ice If they fail they're demoted And how do they get promoted why by seeing someone else fail So there's just no trust among the death eaters everyone's trying to claim over each other and trying to be the first to lick the mud off his feet that they have no time to stop think and plan on being the one who's on top

[@yami122]

@@justinwright1745 You know I always found it really weird that the story hyped him up as being so powerful but then not really betraying him as any stronger than any other death eater he shoots the exact same green death spell anyone else shoots and doesn't really use that much magic that's any different or better See I always felt really hurt his character as he went from this mythical super evil wizard strongest who's ever lived too he uses the same spell as his minion over and over and over again sure he has his immortality but but it seems clear that shooting him with that Green Death Spell blows apart his body and makes him some pathetic ghost so in all practicality he seems just as easy to kill as anyone else just shoot him in the back in fact yeah what is stopping an angry death eater from shooting him in the back I don't think his Horcrux Will make him immune to the spell Clearly even with them he was still afraid to attack Hogwarts due to Dumbledore So obviously he's capable of being killed he just will then have that pathetic dose form that he might be able to come back from so honestly I can't really think of a single way that he's particularly stronger than any other wizard who knows the death spell

[@justinwright1745]

@@yami122 he’s definitely stronger lol. That death spell wouldn’t work if he has horcruxes. And whether it’s shown or not doesn’t really matter. There’s a reason why not a single wizard dared to even try when they thought Harry was dead. He killed snape easily, went toe to toe with Dumbledore, etc. Harry also was successful because Voldemort was not the true owner of the elder wand, and that’s thanks to snapes sacrifice.

[@sebastianchavez1225]

it would make sense for it to have happened at the start of his power surge so to speak, more than when he was the leader of his own cult/sect and had already proven that it wouldnt be worth the trouble

[@ImGoat1995]

Jk Rowling be like the founders of the Hogwarts houses are "Merida from brave", "Albert Einstein", "some guy we found on the street" and "HITLER"

[@Rio-chii]

Actually, Salazar Slytherin was named after a Portuguese dictator, whose surname was Salazar. He wasn't as bad as Hitler, but still did many shitty things.

[@ImGoat1995]

@@Rio-chii I was obviously joking in my comment. But also that's a cool fun fact thanks

[@owyemen9367]

@@Rio-chii so that's who the guy in potc 5 is supposed to represent

[@natirasohumana]

@@Rio-chii i mean "wasn't as bad as hitler" is relative. Salazar was a fascist too, Hitler's playbook and all.

[@theodor.thegreat3911]

@@Rio-chii oh come on Rowling! Coulda done better than that

[@nyx7694]

Ah, yes. The 4 houses: Jock (who can do no wrong) Nerd, Doormat, and Racist

[@WhiteCourtain]

lmao for real 💀💀💀

[@alicez285]

PLSSSSS DEAD LMAOOOOO

[@lambda5949]

Lmao doormat sounds about right

[@suyunana]

pls stop i’m not supposed to be awake at 4am MY ROOMMATES R GONNA WAKE UP STOP

[@murdermeharry8703]

Why tf did I laugh so hard at racist lmao

[@TungstenArm]

I find it hilarious that Fandom Slytherin is so different from Canon Slytherin- and so much more cool and fleshed out

[@Szobiz]

heh, imagine they being sorted on hufflepuff

[@isaiahnichols3125]

@@Szobiz we probably would be but u know what…idc lemme live my dark academia fantasy

[@cheshire9]

This is why I have turned to fanfics cause fandom slytherin is so much more fleshed out.

[@entertain7us148]

rowling hasn't had ownership over this universe since 2007

[@liennn5772]

@@isaiahnichols3125 go outside

[@pietroghsvf]

Harry Potter fans love the series so much that they desperately want the series to be better

[@danieladamczyk4024]

Like all fandoms.

[@SinHurr]

Glory to me, the 69th like.

[@l.josino]

​@@danieladamczyk4024ever heard of Good Media McWellwritten 😅

[@corryjamieson3909]

Still waiting for The potter fans to get their own Galaxy Quest movie, love letters are always appreciated.

[@aries333moon]

real

[@stashgrab7756]

A great example of doing this properly would be Avatar: The Last Airbender and the Fire Nation, which starts off by introducing them as the big bad of the four element groups, but very quickly begins gradually turning this upside on its head. The finale pretty much does exactly what isn't done with Slytherin house.

[@Junya01]

Also The Wheel of Time, red ajah Aes Sedai are often seen as the bad ones but they gradually get fleshed out. In fact what they do isn't inherently wrong, all a matter of perspective

[@garmadonthesensei59]

Spoilers!! 😂 I really liked how Sokka’s swordsman teacher was from the Fire Nation but ended up being a part of the White Lotus. Really great world-building and characterization 🤗

[@Junya01]

@@garmadonthesensei59 bruh you give more spoilers than OP, at least he didn't go into specifics 😂

[@garmadonthesensei59]

@@Junya01 Sorry!! That’s why I tagged it with spoilers 😅

[@chippyonline001]

Further turning it on its head, Hama the Bloodbender can arguably be seen as an antithesis to the usual practice of Waterbending, from its philosophy as a discipline to more tangible elements such as stances and motions (as Bloodbending seems to use more rigid movements) to perhaps the culture of the Water Tribe itself.

[@NomdePlume337]

I think the worst thing Rowling did to the Slytherins is that before the battle of Hogwarts when McGonagall said that whoever wanted to could stay and fight not a SINGLE Slytherin stayed to fight for the school

[@Phoenix-pm2qr]

Yep. Pure BS on her end

[@bucketofsunshine6366]

This is why I enjoy (some) HP fanfiction over canon. There are a number of talented writers who did so much more with the world and characters than JK could manage. I have to hand it to her for creating something grand, but she didn’t have the skill to build it up properly.

[@NomdePlume337]

@@Ojas97 no they were sent home before the battle began, then the majority of them joined the Death Eaters. Slughorn is the only Slytherin who fought for Hogwarts

[@dracomalfoy6886]

@@NomdePlume337 most of the students in slytherin would choose not to fight because their parents are Death Eaters, they wouldn't want to be there in the first place or would want to go to them, people like to forget that

[@aahana4931]

@@bucketofsunshine6366 no bc hp fanfic writers have no business being this good writing character dynamics and relationships

[@mrkitloin]

Ah yes, the 4 harry potter houses protagonist, antagonist, exposition, and yellow

[@Chzrm3]

LMAO

[@ilikewildcanines-xg7le]

for once someone made huffelpuff the punchline of the joke instead of slytherin😂

[@Malasawas]

Can't find any counter argument against this

[@StarPichu12]

@@MalasawasAnd you'd think a yellow would, they're particularly good finders

[@localreader3851]

​@@StarPichu12 what the hell is a Hufflepuff?

[@thecowboybebop2071]

We’re just gonna ignore that in the first fucking book Hagrid says “There’s not a Dark Wizard alive who wasn’t in Slytherin”

[@MorganKing95]

No, that was Hagrid's line in the book. Ron only said it in the movie

[@SunshineTheLover]

ive always felt that while not every slytherin is bad, theres a whole lotta Malfoys just bein forced to follow the family legacy

[@NaramSinofAkkad790]

Why don't muggle borns get a preliminary summer school before going to Hogwarts? The academic advantage magic born wizards would have in their first years at Hogwarts must be insane. Harry being overwhelmed by Snape's questions just shows how bad the wizarding educational system is.

[@unigon794]

Hogwarts really be expecting all muggle-born students to be like Hermione and catch up on years worth of knowledge on their own.

[@calemr]

Muggleborn children (Or Muggle raised, I guess, since Harry isn't a Muggleborn and faces this problem at the Dursleys) cannot practice over the school holidays. Because that's illegal. But the Wizard family ones can.

[@unigon794]

@@calemr Been a while since I read the series, and wow I forgot that detail. Magic born wizards not only get to practice magic but they also get the benefit of being surrounded by magical stuff and resources to learn from.

[@calemr]

@@unigon794 And in a logical world (Or a better written one.) This could then be tied into some of the ideas of pure-blooded-ness. "Look how much better at magic we are than the mudbloods!" Which has some serious parallels with real bigotry in America. Predominantly black schools getting underfunded, and then a couple of IQ points difference becomes a talking point by white supremacists, completely (possibly intentionally) ignoring the outside factors.

[@KotoCrash]

I try not to level too much criticism at the school system in HP not being perfect since it is a reflection of our own, imperfect one. A book where a bunch of kids go to a perfect school where every problem is solved ahead of time and things go fine is also a pretty boring story.

[@tartaglia11thofthefatuihar71]

It's worse when you remember that in the 1st book there is a kid that gets sorted into slytherin and then the whole school aside from the slytherins start booing and jeering the kid, Fred and George specifically mentioned. This is a kid that hasn't done anything wrong yet is being treated horribly. No wonder the slytherins choose to squad up amongst themselves, they're profiled before anything has happened. I'd hate everyone else too

[@Kaloapoele]

It kinda makes you think when they’re kind of modeled after white supremacy. Is she playing into the fantasy that bigots are victims of bullying?

[@lees2404]

@@Kaloapoele To be charitable, in my experience as a teacher, this is how kids act. I come from a very liberal area, and kids who support Trump or express bigoted beliefs actually do experience being bullied or excluded sometimes. Is it reverse bigotry? Hell no, but it can feed into a bigot's mindset that they are the "victim" even though they obviously aren't. The issue here is that adults aren't stepping in to do anything about the bigotry or the conflicts between students. I would say she isn't playing into the idea they are victims because she presents them as being evil and not really sympathetic. We don't really see any bullying of Slytherins in the books. You can also chalk it up to tribalism a lot of ppl buy into (like when people get into fights over their favorite sports teams).

[@lees2404]

@@Kaloapoele To be clear I am NOT saying bigots are victims, just that if they hold a minority opinion they may experience ostracism/exclusion which can in turn cause them to become more defensive / keep to other like-minded people, and think of themselves as victims. They obviously aren't victims because they are CHOOSING beliefs other people recognize as harmful, whereas a marginalized person is excluded and mistreated for their identity and have done nothing wrong.

[@SpriteZero]

@@lees2404 in most places if you support liberal beliefs then you get bullied

[@tartaglia11thofthefatuihar71]

@@Kaloapoele I'm doubt that she is playing into that, since J.K actively chose to make Slytherin the "evil house" but in this specific situation it's really sad to think that a new student (11y.o) on their first night at Hogwarts experienced bullying from the entire school for something they dont have active control over. Cause even if you change Slytherin into a different house like Hufflepuff that's a sad experience to have. And the adults should have really stepped in to stop this kind of behaviour from any house.

[@maekong2066]

the description of regulus black as “more of a moodboard than a man” is such a good representation of what fandom culture does to minor characters

[@saumyashukla5370]

honestly most of my interest in him comes from the fact that he was fancast as timothee chalamet

[@yellowrabbit19]

people love him for all the wrong reasons but hey at least they're having fun

[@MinReiSakato]

To be fair that is exactly what I love about fandom. It makes up for the inadequacies of the OG works by truly fleshing out what was bare bone often in a better way than the OG work did with its main characters

[@serena6418]

ugh literally but i love fanon tbh

[@nyxxova]

i honestly love it. rowling only gave us a few lines, so why not take them into our own hands? especially for the marauders era, theres just so much potential (but yes, the characters are kind of just made into stereotyped aesthetics lmao)

[@Goreblender]

I think part of the reason that Snape is so hilariously mishandled is that the series started out as a whimsical British children's novel in the spirit of Roald Dahl, where it is customary to have hilariously cruel adult figures and nobody really bats an eye at it. Then, later, when the story becomes more complex, we have to reconcile the caricatures that made sense within that old setting with an entirely new setting in which adults have realistic motivations and personalities.

[@ShadowSonic2]

Same problem with the Dursleys, they're so ridiculous and cartoonish that it's hard to take them seriously and that no one ever noticed their deranged behavior.

[@nuclearcatbaby1131]

As an abused foster child I am telling you those caricatures really do exist. I was raised by the Trunchbull.

[@maddieb.4282]

Great articulate and perceptive comment!!!!

[@Goreblender]

@@nuclearcatbaby1131 Seen. I am coming to learn that. I guess the reason why I still see them as caricatures is that, although it's not unrealistic for caretaker figures to be that abusive, in real life it is much more sinister and less... whimsical is the only word I can think of to describe it. The way the Dursleys treat Harry is not depicted with the gravitas that it would earn were it to happen in the real world. It is treated like a joke in the context of the novel--probably because the first book was aimed at children, and if it were to be portrayed with grim realism, it would be much too heavy for that audience. So it's not so much Snape's behavior itself which requires reconciliation, it's the stark tonal shift in how it is depicted.

[@nuclearcatbaby1131]

@@Goreblender It only seems like a joke because he has magic to make it all better. It still struck me as dead serious. Putting bars over his bedroom window. The insults from that bitch Marge. Pretending he was incurably criminal or mentally ill to excuse their poor treatment of him and hiding him out like he was something to be ashamed of. I've had to sleep in a closet that wasn't big enough to hold our bunk beds so I was forced to sleep on a cot because she thought sleeping on a mattress on the floor would make me too comfortable.

[@elizabeththompson8511]

i think a lot of issues like this with harry potter come from her setting things up that were perfectly fine for children’s books and being almost unable to add nuance without contradicting her previous books. Like, the dursleys. Do you guys ever see tumblr hot takes about how irresponsible it was of roald dahl to not write about the psychological problems matilda should have from being emotionally abused??? No, because people understand that they were cartoonishly evil because it was a book aimed at younger kids. but you can’t start writing more complex stuff and expect your readers to keep a simple mindset for other aspects of your story, like the dursleys/slytherins

[@MmmKayHuuNay]

I agree.

[@PineappleLiar]

Yeeah... it all does come off as Rowling wanting to have her cake and eat it too. Like the Dursley’s being exceedingly cruel is a one dimensional character trait they have for the first few books, but then they kinda stop mattering eventually and by the beginning of book 7 we’re supposed to believe that the relationship between the Dursley’s and Harry eventually was actually this nuanced thing where Harry and Dudley make amends before parting. And you’re just like...? Dudley never changed??? He just got scared by a Dementor once?? Like I guess it’s nice that Harry moved past and resentment for his neglectful childhood but am I supposed to feel good that token bully Dudley Dursley is getting away with 15 years of fucking with Harry for nothing??

[@oliviaspring9690]

Also the issue of expanding the world from a simple idea was not handled very well

[@allietiller1925]

I think that is kind of why the fandom tried to expand on the original story to make up for what it lacked to actually have that nuance.

[@hoodedman6579]

@@PineappleLiar I don't think that they really made amends, the book itself makes a big deal out of how little Dudley's final interaction with Harry actually was. Dudley is still supposed to be an asshole.

[@Hanyusha]

While it's awful to have an "evil" school house, personally it's even worse that Hufflepuff is essentially an NPC house. Not that Ravenclaw fares much better.

[@marissam3176]

Ravenclaws are the NPCs that just randomly spit lore.

[@Hanyusha]

@@marissam3176 Stay a while and listen!

[@EspeonMistress00]

@@marissam3176 As a Ravenclaw that's so hilarious

[@marissam3176]

@@EspeonMistress00 I’m also a Ravenclaw. Glad I could make you laugh

[@Anna13Tonks]

I don't they're that, you just view them as that. Both have great things to offer

[@bighatbondquo863]

The four Hogwarts Houses: Main Character, Villain, Exposition, and Irrelevant.

[@redballoon9007]

This. This is so accurate it hurts-

[@weepingangel3478]

What is Ravenclaw

[@NeptuneJr]

@@weepingangel3478 Exposition.

[@weepingangel3478]

@@NeptuneJr Sorry haven't watch movies in while and same for the books so don't remember much of ravenclaw

[@sanityidontknowher5057]

Eyyy, I’m Irrelevant! 😎

[@CurryHow]

The wildest part about Dumbledore’s sentence “I sometimes think we Sort too soon…” is that he ACTUALLY thinks Slytherins shouldn’t be that brave! Even Snape, the best they got, shouldn’t be there in the first place! What are Slytherins supposed to be then?

[@gr0nn_slange830]

Serpientes, por que son chismosos (chiste malo)

[@evilparadigm]

Slytherin could have been about dueling club, studies on Nobility and manners, cunning politics, preserving family knowledge on tricky, but not necessarily evil or illegal magic, and loving snakes.

[@aarosundvall]

But being rich and cultured wasnt considered evil back then.

[@bobfg3130]

Dueling club? Wrong! Gryffindor is far more suited for that. Also, why only focus on politics when it comes to cunning?

[@evilparadigm]

@@bobfg3130 Typical Gryffindor, dueling has been my family tradition since before your family became blood traitors. Dueling is an art, not the foolish wand waving you lion cubs call magic.

[@markcobuzzi826]

I think one way Rowling could have gotten around this was to have the actual Salazar Slytherin not be a fanatic for blood supremacy, at worst being slightly prejudiced during his time. Rather, Salazar’s first heir could have been the one, who took the Slytherin ideals of nobility, cunning, and honor of family to a twisted extreme… which culminated in the first heir building the Chamber of Secrets and hiding a Basilisk within it. There could have even been a subplot in the final book, where Harry, Ron, and Hermione are able to meet the ghost of Salazar Slytherin. Salazar could reveal that he is feels tormented by the crimes of his two heirs and views their actions as his own failure. He then gives the trio a piece of helpful advice for stopping Voldemort, believing it will help find peace for himself and restore Slytherin to the noble house he originally intended it to be.

[@bulbafett5001]

It would be interesting to watch the slytherins adhere to the Rules of Dueling and have their own strange etiquette that only they understand.

[@Rosso4654]

The Four Hogwarts Houses: Cool tower with amazing view Cool tower with amazing view Basement Basement

[@KoRnChEn]

You forgot that one in the basement is next to the kitchen.....because Hufflepuff apparently.

[@ReplicatorFifth]

@@KoRnChEn and its doubles as a indoor greenhouse...plants are the best!

[@MiniMeags]

Nah nah. Basement but next to the kitchen.

[@sandyqinyu4869]

Which ones are the basement again?

[@azaleahan5030]

@@sandyqinyu4869 slytherin and hufflepuff :)

[@JTonyArts]

The problem isn’t that all the bad guys come from Slytherin. The problem is that no good guys come from Slytherin. The first book gives those ideas that the Slytherin aspects MIGHT also be good traits, but Rowling never has the capacity to follow through with that idea in the rest of the franchise. The interesting idea is a cunning, ruthless, GOOD person.

[@JTonyArts]

I know this is part of the point of this video. It has just been driving me crazy for two decades.

[@angedenpeacelove_411-00]

Yup the written traits of Slytherin are not bad nor evil but Jo made every visible Slytherin a bigot. Not a ounce of nuance.

[@timothymclean]

Either would be bad on its own. Either Slytherin is the source of all evil, or Slytherin does no good in the world. Either of those would mark Slytherin as the token evil house, the bad guys. _Harry Potter_ either needed both good Slytherins _and_ evil non-Slytherins, or it needed to accept that Slytherin was the evil house instead of pussy-footing around it.

[@timothymclean]

@@angedenpeacelove_411-00 "Not all bigots are evil," JK Rowling say while sipping champagne with the TERF Baroness Winterbourne.

[@JTonyArts]

@@timothymcleanI disagree. There should be both good and bad Slytherins, as the skills and attributes of Slytherins are neither good nor evil and shouldn’t be. There should be good and bad Gryffindors, as Gryffindor traits can also be applied to bad as well as good. Being evil shouldn’t be about the house you’re in, but about the skin you’re in.

[@danidkg4071]

when i was younger, i would fantasise about going to hogwarts and being selected into slytherin and being the only nice one lol. people would go “and why are you in slytherin” and id just say “I like snakes”

[@excessivelyfangirlingbookw3339]

haha that'd be great. Also: "because I eat breakfast ambitiously."

[@Captain-Axeman]

Honestly, I wouldn't mind going to Slytherin. Just because it has a terrible start doesn't mean it cannot be fixed.

[@beatricewilliams3620]

I'm in Slytherin...

[@IronycheinPain]

here I am as a Slytherin and me going "I ambitiously draw stuff efrtgyu7i"

[@LookingForFrogs]

valid.

[@ethalis5649]

Can you imagine an algorithm in our world that would sort the children on their first day of school ? "Hmmm okay you sound ambitious, go sit with the neo-nazis at that table please"

[@mothlarvas5066]

isnt that literally the youtube algorithm

[@beatlecristian]

I’d be like what??

[@Zulk_RS]

There might be some story potential there. Think of a scenario where a kid who isn't really a bad kid gets sorted to Slytherine for whatever reason. Then everyone treats him as being evil because he's Slytherine even though really he's a good guy. Then in the story he just slowly turns evil not because "Oh he was evil all a long" but because everyone already was convinced he was going to be evil and treated him as such. Kind of like a self-fulfilling prophesy sort of thing that's caused by everyone's bias towards that house and the result just fuels that Bias further. Thinking "Oh. He was slytherine and he became evil" instead of realizing, "Oh we treated him as evil and turned him into what he is"

[@gabbycotto4024]

In a way, Rowling was being prescient: don’t you remember that Smithsonian PSA on “white supremacy” that claimed having rigid standards and caring about accuracy facts is “white culture”?

[@muzzycosmos9400]

Honestly the whole house thing it was not created by Rowling. Once the English schools were really Managed in this way with 4 big houses who gets points and at the end of the year, win the one with more point. The problem is how Rowling made a big personality separation for this system

[@JoCat]

funny thing I just recently binged the HP movies, good timing also 3 minutes in and I love the phrase "fandom propaganda"

[@MasterKronk7]

So Crap Guide to Fandoms gonna be a thing now? We’d watch it...

[@troublemaker1778]

@@MasterKronk7 Or Crap Guide to Harry Potter for that matter

[@PrismariLaura]

@@troublemaker1778 wip script for Slytherin's house: *Opening jingle* "Slytherins are one-dimensional wizard racists, you're welcome" *End jingle*

[@ashishthenayi3938]

i have noted it down. will probably need it in the future. can't wait to say, "that's just fandom propaganda!" Edit: lucky me! I got to use that phrase today as a reply to the comment that argued that air is the best element because it's everywhere. Boy am I glad I learnt that phrase. Also, ¯\_water tribe_/¯

[@henriquecarvalho7065]

Hi Jo! How are you doing man?

[@HyenaDandy]

The problem with Snape's redemption for me always came down to like... It being often discussed as if it's JUST about his mistreatment of Harry. But like... He was enough of a bully of a teacher that a 14-year-old boy whose parents had been tortured to insanity and was raised by an emotionally abusive grandmother had Severus Snape count as his greatest fear. Like yes, he was doing right by Harry the whole time, but like... That does not justify traumatizing all the OTHER children under his care. A situation like that can lead me to consider somebody to be not purely evil, and evidence that you don't need to be a good person to do the right thing. Snape reminds me of someone like Oskar Schindler. At any other point in history, he would have been justly thought of as an unimportant petty bastard who shouldn't have been allowed anywhere near a classroom. But because of when he was born and where he lived and the role he occupied in society, he found himself in a unique position to fight back against a far greater evil than he could ever have enacted, he rose to the moment and put his life on the line to fight it. It does not make him a good man, but it does make him a hero.

[@PheonixGSF]

Snapes treatment of Neville is quite an interesting topic in my opinion. We all know why Snape hates Harry. Harry is pretty much the second coming of James Potter, a man Snape makes personally responsible for a lot of shit that happened in his life. Snape is obviously unable to separate his hatred of James and the regrets he has about choices in his own life that are connected to the man from Harry. Greater than his hatred for James and therefor Harry however, is his love/obsession for Lily. Out of those two things Snape eventually forms a compromise for himself. While he can not bring himself to see past everything that Harry reminds him of and treat him like he treats every other student, he will see him protected from Voldemort. At pretty much any cost. None of this fits Neville however, so what is Snapes problem with him? Well, Snape is one of the few people that heard Trewlanys prophecy, allthough not quite in it's entirety iirc. And we know that this prophecy ended up referring to two children who both fulfilled the requirements. One being Harry and the other being Neville. So, if you ask me, Snapes feelings towards Neville go beyond simple hatred. Snape literally despises Neville for the simple and irrational thought that it could have been him and his parents instead of Lily. That is in my opinion the reason why Snape tries to turn Nevilles life into hell at every opportunity he gets. Obviously that's just my own personal interpretation of everything. I think it mkes sense though.

[@HyenaDandy]

@@PheonixGSF I think that's reading too much into it. As Neville matures, Snape picks on him less, and it doesn't seem to draw much attention from other students as being un-Snapelike. Also with both him and Harry, WHY he hates them doesn't matter. His picking on Harry COULD be justified only by him knowing that, thanks to the prophecy, Harry will deal with a lot of shit and him hoping to prepare him. If it's anything other than a misguided version of a drill sergeant yelling at a cadet, it's unjustifiable. He's a grown ass adult and these are children he is charged with the care of like any other teacher. Hence why I'm saying that he's not a good person. But you can be a bad person and still be a hero.

[@HyenaDandy]

@@AA-xj6ho That being a good person is about having a consistent pattern of behavior. Being a hero is about doing the right thing in a crisis. Plenty of people I would call good people would fail to be heroes. And it's perfectly possible to be a hero who is not a good person. In both the real (Oskar Schindler) and fictional (Severus Snape) examples we have people who, over the course of their lives, behaved in pretty indefensible ways. But who, in a time of crisis, behaved in a way very few people around them could claim to, and saved an incredible number of lives at Great risk to themselves. I think it's important to separate the idea of common morality and heroic morality. Because you're right, I probably will never save the lives of 1200 innocent people. And I could easily say that sure, but that's because I'll never be in a position to. But one, I don't know that. And two, it would be dangerous of me to assume that purely because I am a friendly, honest, and generous person that, if I ever DO find myself in that situation of COURSE I would. Which would also allow me to assume that because I would, if I find myself in a position where I can but, for example, might die if I did, then I could shrug it off instead of doing what I should. For a case with lower personal stakes, look at Lester Kinsolving. He was not merely a conservative generally, but specifically an anti-gay conservative who ranted about the "Sodomy Lobby." But if you have ever heard the audio of Reagan's press secretary being asked about the AIDS crisis and mocking the reporter for asking, that reporter was Lester Kinsolving. I'm sure that plenty of people in that room who were chuckling along at Speakes's jokes were pleasant and kind people. Some of them likely were able to clear the very low bar of "Less homophobic then Lester Kinsolving." They were good people. But had they been willing to follow his lead and push for something to be done earlier, tens of thousands of lives would have been saved. But when they had the chance to actually take action, even when the most negative consequence of it would have been "Being made fun of by the White House Press Secretary," they didn't, and he did. And many of them probably went the rest of their lives not even really thinking about that. They could easily tell themselves that NOBODY was taking it seriously at the time, so they had no way to know, and conveniently forget that one guy WAS taking it seriously, and that guy didn't even LIKE gay people. They were probably much better, or at least less bigoted, than Lester for the other 364 days and 23 hours of the years 1982 and 1983 (365 days and 23 hours for 1984) but at the brief points in time where they could have saved many more lives than Schindler and the only thing they had to do was put up with some schoolyard insults, they didn't. And that is why I believe it's important to keep a distinction between 'good' and 'heroic.' Because when you assume a person was a moral exemplar because of the thing they did in a crisis, you also give people who have every reason to think of themselves as good people an excuse not to take action when it's needed.

[@KetwunsGamingPad]

It was just Neville having stupidity, Snape just doesn’t like that.

[@KossolaxtheForesworn]

properly writing snape snape to harry - I hate you because your dad was a bully and somehow managed to get with the woman I love and it makes absolutely 0 sense and I will resent you for existing. snape to every other child - oh dear, oh dear, gorgeous.

[@r3n3gad33]

Slytherin: Antagonists Gryffindor: Protagonists Ravenclaw: Quirky side characters Hufflepuff: Comic Relief

[@repenexus518]

You mean quirky side character. Luna is only one person (we don't talk about Gilderoy Lockhart).

[@shnc27]

gryffindor had all of these tropes alone

[@peachstar5789]

…I don’t think Cedric was-

[@dustingaethje1332]

@@peachstar5789 Cedric is the tokken cool Hufflepuff so that Rowling can say they are not all clowns

[@michaelufc1]

Lmao yeah

[@perrisavallon5170]

It's interesting to me that Avatar: The Last Airbender had basically t he same dilemma, but much better handled. You have the cool good guys in the Water Tribe (Gryffindor), the evil bad guys in the Fire Nation (Slytherin), the supportive and strong Earth Kingdom (Ravenclaw), and the pure-of-heart but ultimately irrelevant Air Nomads (Hufflepuff). But as the series got more mature, it started to confront and break these stereotypes. Hama was a waterbender that figured out how to use her power for some really horrifying stuff, despite the fact that she still had the calm-and-nice attitude of the Water Tribe. A lot of the Fire Nation villains are really just troubled teenagers that turn to the side of good at the end. And the Earth Kingdom was full of corruption in the parts of it that benefited from the war with the Fire Nation. The Air Nomads are still kind of generally good and irrelevant by the end, but at least there's more in-story justification for that due to the fact that they're all dead.

[@FireWolf05392]

You make some really good points, and that's probably why ATLA is such an enjoyable series. Instead of oversimplifying the conflict in the story and having Fire Nation people as purely bad guys or Water Tribe people as only ever being good guys, the series showed us as it progressed that the world isn't nearly so black-and-white. In real life, there are good and bad people to be found in any group, and the fact ATLA was willing to portray this worldly complexity instead of taking the easy route made its story more believable and satisfying to watch. Also, regarding the Air Nomads, there _is_ actually a point where they were arguably portrayed as not being without their flaws as well. You might recall the air-bending monks wanted to take Aang away from his mentor and father figure Gyatso because they believed he needed to intensify his training as the Avatar, which Gyatso was opposed to. Their intentions might have been good, but Aang was visibly upset that they wanted to do this to him. He was just a kid, and what they wanted to do was the equivalent of tearing a child away from his father. So you could say even the Air Nomads weren't purely "good" either.

[@SennaHawx]

Aye. One often overlooked aspect in ATLA is that the philosophies of the Water Tribes and the Air Nomads are the way they are, because of the possibilities of evil behind the elemental powers. Their philosophies often have the goal of not leading young benders down a path of acting cruel with their powers, which in the context of the story actually limits their bending abilities. Every time a bender adapts parts of the common teachings of another element, they develop a new form of bending. Like water bending teachings leading Iroh to redirect lightning or how Toph developed metal bending. TLOK introduces Lavabending in a similar way and basically de-constructs the elemental stereotypes of Book 1 even further

[@aldar8240]

@@virtheon to be fair, the air nomads mostly got the whole "moral purity" defense on account of there being literally five who weren't dead before that whole convergence thingy that brought up new ones

[@aldar8240]

@@virtheon that's true, but how much *do* we really know about the air nomads? we really only have Aang's accounts to go off of, and he likely wouldn't have learned about the bad stuff, if any, present in the tribe. on an unrelated note, why are they air *nomads* if they had like three centralized temples?

[@Dragonnotte]

@@virtheon Hi, there is an evil airbender in Korra. In the Avatar series (TLA and Korra), there is a evil character of each element. It's very interesting to watch :D

[@katnguyen9746]

Gryfindor: I'm the protag Slytherin: I'm the villain Ravenclaw: I'm the smart one Hufflepuff: I'm Batman

[@animorph17]

Bruce Wain would totally force himself to get sorted into hufflepuff just so nobody would ever suspect where the batshaped ninja superstar is hiding.

[@viv-hg2fs]

Lmao that's funny cause Robert pattinson (the guy who played ced) is actually going to be batman and ced was a hufflepuff

[@Monie71793]

😩💀

[@dinofelis9343]

@@animorph17 I once read a fanfiction where there is a conspiracy theory that all the "true" slytherins are actually in hufflepuff.

[@thecatfather857]

@@viv-hg2fs wat

[@alicegrimm1800]

When I was a kid I was obsessed with the fifth movie and mostly just watched that one without any of the others. And for some reason I was convinced that Umbridge was a hufflepuff, when I found out she wasn’t I was pretty disappointed. I thought her being bad was supposed to be telling us that just cause you’re in a ‘good house’ doesn’t mean your a good person, so a ‘bad house’ must not make you a bad person either. I also thought it was hinting at secret corruption in all the houses and they could just hide their hate better and do it subtly. Like how Hermione is weirdly left out of a lot of stuff in her own house, or Luna being bullied by hers. When I finally got around to the next movie I was so sure that it was gonna be revealed to harry by someone in slug club that lots of people in all houses believe in some level of blood supremacy, and they told him cause they thought harry might believe some bad stuff too. Sorry for the long comment lol, I just thought it was interesting how one misunderstanding on my part changed my whole perception on the world the characters were in. And maybe made me a little disappointed.

[@freddieadams8435]

What is Hermione left out of? Like she's an introvert inside a house of extroverts. She's not left out because if Harry or Ron aren't their she doesn't care

[@szatan9717]

​@@freddieadams8435 people call her a know-it-all constantly, aside from Ron and Harry she doesn't really have any other friends in her house (since people like Dean and Seamus are still more like Harry and Ron's background buddies, Ginny only knows her through Ron and they probably wouldn't hang out if not for that preexisting connection and with Neville she only really helps him out when he's getting picked on in class by Snape etc.). Like, there's literally a scene where the class is angry at Snape when he calls her a know-it-all and the narration says outright that they get annoyed at her for it too but they still get mad on her behalf just because they hate Snape that much

[@timothymclean]

It's so easy to project your own worldview and values onto a story that does not care about them.

[@EvilGuacamoleGaming]

Crabbe and Goyle shoulda been in Hufflepuff. Big, loyal, good friends, love to eat. It's a crime really. Imagine how much happier they'd have been.

[@marioluigi9599]

Yeah... until their families found out. Then they'd be murdered. Receive a nice honour death

[@EvilGuacamoleGaming]

@@marioluigi9599 I mean, why do you think they joined Slytherin? In order for them to have lived their best lives they needed to be safe to do so.

[@marioluigi9599]

@@EvilGuacamoleGaming Actually they hated hufflepuff and everyone that's in it. Bunch of fairies really to be bullied

[@vilwyn273]

They also weren't loyal at all. Didn't they turn against Draco in book 7?

[@EvilGuacamoleGaming]

@@vilwyn273 hmm. I mean, I'd say they started loyal. But enough time in Slytherin and you give up on loyalty and only have obedience to fear.

[@KingZydow]

I never did get over the dumbledore’s army thing. I couldn’t stand that ALL the slytherins didn’t join, totally betraying their houses values

[@randomcenturion7264]

Especially when you remember, these kids grew up with these people. And even if a good portion of them hold Pureblood supremacy views, you'd think most would look at Voldemort and go, "Nah, Fuck that." Hell, the only reason Lucius and everyone that isn't Bellatrix is staying is because they're too scared to leave now.

[@BoyKagome]

@@randomcenturion7264 We're the ones that read the books and made her money. Hard to say she wrote it wrong when she knew what to put to paper to get the cash.

[@Chris-rg6nm]

It's not like all the other houses joined. It was like 30 people. Plus all the Slytherins had connections to Voldemort.

[@chillvibed]

​@@randomcenturion7264 word. I thought they were slytherins? Why bow to another dark wizard for? They made a mistake making the slytherins into cowards.

[@cygnusereve4779]

Weren't Slytherins also isolated from Dumbledore's army.

[@emit5586]

It's almost as if putting highly impressionable young children into a house that's set up with an evil aesthetic, has an evil backstory, and is treated like it's evil, is bad because they're going to take on some of those traits... idk just shooting in the dark here

[@candlelighter1588]

But that’s something the writer chose to do and it doesn’t explain the lack of good characters

[@cristalat101]

*Labelling theory intensifies* *self-fulfulling prophecy intensifies*

[@youtbuecraert]

@@candlelighter1588 JK R*wling doesn’t get rights in this house, so she doesn’t get rights to her writing.

[@justinlindfors8512]

My theory is that Voldemort ruins the Slytherin name. Slytherin is not actually an evil house it's just that Voldemort basically runs everything behind the shadows!

[@Thumbdumpandthebumpchump]

@@youtbuecraert I mean you can say that all you want, but the text is the text.

[@Panic_Pickle]

This is such a consistent problem with the Harry Potter universe. Like in Fantastic Beasts, the cop who was on the verge of being put to death (like, in the execution chamber on the verge) at the slightest inkling that she might have messed up in her duties without a real trial, just… goes back to working for the same organisation at the end without any changes. Rowling is so locked into this idea that authority and current systems are good with bad actors in them that she can’t actually advocate for meaningful change, but consistently portrays problems that require it.

[@angedenpeacelove_411-00]

Look at it like this, why would she? She's basically a Malfoy and the Malfoys sure did love the community before the fall of Voldemort & Co.

[@catherinevaught1594]

I think a rather glaring flaw in the Hogwarts houses is that they're founded, or seem to be founded, upon 4 traits that aren't mutually exclusive. Bravery, Erudition, Loyalty, and Ambition.

[@Rio-chii]

Ikr. That's why I can't choose a house with which I can identify. I see both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw features in me, and I can't really choose one. That's why I prefer to identify with Ukrainian, since our flag has blue and yellow, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff's colors.

[@dalecal1129]

That's because the ""traits"" are so generic that literally anyone will see a part of themselves in every house. It's like cold reading, but somehow even worse.

[@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick]

I don’t think there’s an array of personality traits that ARE mutually exclusive.

[@INTJ10551]

@@Rio-chii Which do you value most?

[@Rio-chii]

@@INTJ10551 Borsch and freedom

[@lenusniq_9746]

I think that Slytherin as a house full of bad people maybe kinda worked in first two books - when we were in a realm of simple child book - good and evil etc. However, as soon as she moved to explore more complex stuff and just "darken" the story in general, she should have "lightened" Slytherin house - give them more complexity.

[@fenjamaus02]

Yup, I 100% agree. Would have been nice but alas... Well, at least we got fanfictions where people handle These things better than the actual author.

[@sarahnade8663]

@@fenjamaus02 Well looking at that interview, I think Joanne really doesn't understand her own fiction. She's just not that bright a women and unconsciously holds a lot of bigotry. Frankly at this point I'd say its worth dumping Joanne's cannon entirely and just going with the better written fan cannon.

[@xarmanhsh2981]

YOU ASK TOO MUCH

[@greywolf7577]

She did a little bit with Slughorn.

[@princeapoopoo5787]

Rowling does slowly roll out more morally ambiguous, or even good Slytherins, but at the same time she continued to paint so many other members (most of them really) of the house in such cartoonishy evil ways. It is frustrating, really, because I find a lot of the "good/neutral" Slytherins to be pretty neat characters.

[@amalphia63]

What Rowling fails to realize that she probably accidentally wrote in that Slytherins are REALLY good at working together. The reason they win the House Cup so much is because they all have that same ambition and work together to achieve it. it's also in the Quidditch matches when you see Slytherins collectively coordinated to get through the other team and to the goal. Their entire House is better coordinated with each other than most of the school.

[@KossolaxtheForesworn]

slytherin ambition to win < drunk dumbledor showring griffindor with points

[@mello4989]

I took a quiz and my house is Slytherin tbh theyre not evil they're just more self-focused and competitive.

[@conormurphy4328]

@@KossolaxtheForesworn when the slytherins stop wizard hitler from coming back to life they can win the house cup

[@kakyoindonut3213]

Slytherins: "we can be the best if we work together" Griffindor: "fuck you harry you ruined Griffindor"

[@evilallensmithee]

@@mello4989 bwahaha, you know most historical philosophers have defined that as the core what evil is?

[@davidn2612]

I love how Quinn came to KZbin for just a couple years, made a huge impact, and then just left. What a badass

[@notlid]

fr :,)

[@ShadowSonic2]

They made a new video in their community page a few days ago.

[@somehoe1787]

Are we not gonna talk about how "The Cursed Child" could have saved the Slytherin house if it had been a good, proper, and well-written book? Harry Potter's son getting sorted in Slytherin and becoming BFFs with Draco Malfoy's son? It had potential...

[@Sizdothyx]

"Cursed Child" was not a Rowling book. It was merely made with Rowling's "blessing". The schizos behind that mess should never be allowed near anything ever again, for everyone's sake.

[@linusmota9712]

It was all fun and games until they put a Voldemort bastard and the plot turned into Justice league: Flashpoint

[@generalharness8266]

@@linusmota9712 Hang on what?

[@linusmota9712]

@@generalharness8266 yeah, the big twist is that Voldemort and Bellatrix had a daughter that was born a few days before the battle of hogwarts and a major plot point is that she used the imperius curse on Cedric Diggory’s father to make Albus and Scorpius to go back in time and stop Cedric from dying, this creates a bad future where Harry is dead, Voldemort rules and there is a small resistance made by Ron, Hermione and Snape

[@mikespearwood3914]

@@linusmota9712 Rony? Is Ron female or trans in that alternative timeline? XD

[@mitrimind1027]

I feel like all houses should have a good and bad side. Like Griffindor being brave and loyal, but that could also make them prideful and too trusting of authority.

[@bryguy1502]

Or less so. After all, wouldn’t a prideful person go against an authority that doesn’t let them do as they please?

[@eureka7876]

@@bryguy1502 Yeah, exactly like Harry and his gang, and his father's gang so frequency did.

[@Xehanort10]

Too trusting of authority fits Percy Weasley to a T. He naively believed all rules were right and good and thought everything the Ministry of Magic did was right just because they were the magical government.

[@johanloubser8138]

Hufflepuffs are loyal and hard working, but too trusting in authority and have a huge tendency to follow the crowd and not stand out too much, even when that would be beneficial to them. Slytherins are ambitious but they're also ambitious. Ravenclaws appreciate knowledge but look down on the uneducated. Please expand or criticise as needed

[@Saltyoven]

Hufflepuff can be loyal and hard working, but they also often have the flaw of naivete, ravenclaw being brilliant, but antisocial, and we know slytherin already.

[@Nyarlathoteplol]

An idea I've heard raised is that Slytherin's problem was created by self-selection. Back in book one, the sorting hat considered putting Harry in Slytherin, but decided against it because of Harry's desire to not go there. If the hat's decisions can be that easily influenced by the kid being sorted, then it's easy to see how this could have snowballed. Slytherin started getting a bad reputation sometime in the past. Kids who were put off by that reputation told the hat not to put them there, and it complied. So, Slytherin started disproportionately taking kids who weren't bothered by the bad reputation (at best) or actively liked it (at worst). And then their behavior only made its reputation worse, and strengthened the self-selection problem. It would only take a few decades of this for Slytherin to become House Bad Guy rather than the House Cunning And Ambitious that it originally was. In that case though, the question becomes "why did the professors allow things to get that far?" And, to be fair, I doubt Rowling put anywhere near this much thought into it herself.

[@introspectiver1787]

One problem. The kids are 11 years old. Very few children that age like or seek or know bad reputations. Even those who seem to be "bad kids" more often want to fit in so you would see instead the opposite (kids not wanting to be in Slytherin, like Harry)

[@blueraindrop2544]

@@introspectiver1787 But the slytherin kids are from slytherin pureblood families. Whos gonna pressure you more, some rumours or your family consistently pressuring you saying stuff like "were better"

[@Prior2Popular]

That’s a good effort, I’d believe that. The whole sorting thing is flawed to begin with, but it’s a fun little thing that’s very entertaining

[@introspectiver1787]

@@blueraindrop2544 Rumours. Always rumours. Why do you think peer pressure is a thing, why is it that children (specifically teens and near-teens) will often prefer to listen to their friends, celebrities, etc over family. Because once a child is removed from the home environment, the influence it has over their mental development decreases drastically. If everyone else tells them that being in Slytherin is the equivalent of being an outcast, no child will want to be an outcast (because most children want to fit in).

[@fulldisclosureiamamonster2786]

​@@introspectiver1787 I mean, what you said is technically true, but you're overestimating the mental capabilities of pre-teens, particularly ones who don't have access to nor would have any desire to use the Muggle Internet, to see exactly how full of shit their families are and reject Slytherin and the opinions that have been drilled into them since birth by their environment, their families, and their peers, entirely in the span of a single train ride.

[@inflame1306]

It's kinda funn how they managed to get dozens of pure evil 11 years-old every year

[@flickscout6195]

racist 11 year old cod players?

[@lauramax93]

“Luna’s weird. She’s a weirdo. You ever seen her without those radish earrings. That’s weird.” I lolled waaay too hard for too long 😂

[@m.donez8]

💀

[@jakekorando7187]

Don’t bring that up. Please. Love the acknowledgment of Luna, but no. Not Riverdale. Not the Jughead speech. No no no no no no no no.

[@materialgirl4896]

_that reference is_ *cursed*

[@CJCroen1393]

@@materialgirl4896 Yes, but it's not _wrong..._

[@overgrownkudzu]

same

[@PR0MAN01]

It's the one thing I'll give The Cursed Child credit for. It actually tried to make Slytherin more nuanced by having Harry's son be one.

[@chendror872]

True (too bad Harry's son was a brat for most of it)

[@Jake-pr7js]

@@chendror872 scorpius wasnt at least

[@chendror872]

@@Jake-pr7js yes Scorpius must be protected

[@pramada9431]

@@chendror872 scorpius protection team

[@gracehaven5459]

Ah yes, otherwise known as the one redeeming quality lol

[@francescapaladini5763]

The problem is, she basically tried to methaporize the "stereotyped high school groups" in school houses decided by a magical hat. Gryffindor are jocks and popular kids, Ravenclaw are nerds and bookworms, Slytherin are rich/elite kids and their goons, and Hufflepuff are the "normal" kids.

[@davidfreeman3083]

I'd say Slytherin is more like the 'special' but sometimes 'weird' kids. Voldemort and Snape wasn't really rich

[@LegioXXI]

​@@davidfreeman3083 But they had the attitude of rich kids ;) I mean, Snape even gave himself a pseudo-title of "Prince" and Voldy was the popular kid with connections everywhere.

[@francescapaladini5763]

@@davidfreeman3083 Technically, Tom Riddle was the heir of Slytherin, so elitish enough, and according Sirius' snarky comments, Snape was the "protégé" of the rich Lucius Malfoy. Also, his mother, Elaine Prince, was a pureblood important enough to land on the newspaper because she married a muggle. No really matter if people didn't know about their ancestry, the hat could read the Voldemort's part in Harry's head, he probably could read all of those things too.

[@itsuplike9947]

Im a book worm/ nerd, however, i got slytherin from the past 3 house quizzes I've took

[@Phoenix-pm2qr]

@@itsuplike9947 Slytherns would rank as the 2nd smartest house, so not a bad placement.

[@tehphoenix7441]

It would have been kinda interesting if houses treaded some traits. Like this for example: - Red: brave but reckless - Yellow: endurant but indecisive, usually lucking initiative. - Blue: wise but uncreative, usually taking already made solution instead of making own. - Green: creative but prideful, prefering to make stuff on their own but lucking respect or patience to learn from others.

[@Sercil00]

I would have loved if the trio had gotten split up in the first book, with Hermione going to Ravenclaw and Ron going to Hufflepuff, then Harry going to Gryffindor. They could have had a fourth friend who belongs to Slytherin, who completes the trio with unique flaws and strengths that fit to the house. That way, all the four houses would be kind of represented by the "Potter gang", and Slytherin wouldn't just be the house to put the "on watchlist" kids in.

[@gadgetts5342]

Trio = 3

[@im4ft622]

@@gadgetts5342 trio = 4

[@patrickcorby1423]

@@im4ft622 trio = 5

[@fukkitful]

That would be a quartet. Unless your not counting Hermione since she's a female.

[@Sercil00]

Yes. I am aware that a trio stops being a trio when you add a fourth member. But thanks for your incredible wisdom.

[@ohapplesauce]

Something that really bothered me in the movies is that we don’t see any Slytherin students participate in the whole “Dumbledore’s Army” group that Harry organizes. I literally looked at every single person and saw just the other three houses. You’re telling me that all of the Slytherin students went along with Umbitch’s rules? Or was she waiving the rules for Slytherin students?

[@MissCaraMint]

I suspect it’s more that the other houses at this point didn’t feel they could take any chances on the Slytherines just in case they did like Umbrige. I mean they are kids. It takes maturety to see that Slytherine is just another group of kids like themselves.

[@parkjiminismylight6441]

Probably they didn't wanted to invite any slytherin to the party. Seems like Slytherins only could get along with other slytherins because other houses wouldn't want to involve with then that much. For me that's exclusion. 🤷‍♀️

[@CleverGirlAAH]

Yeah. You'd think they'd be far more rebellious. Especially against regimes who dictate your every move. Surely there are moral anarchist Slytherins. (like me lol)

[@weefyeet6177]

It's even funnier when you realize that the DA was ratted out not by a Slytherin but by Cho's friend.

[@parkjiminismylight6441]

@@CleverGirlAAH yeah, but anarchist usually understand that there's power in union. But obviously that's not possible with the other three houses so that would leave them only with other slytherins. Same kids who are most likely to be involved due to family ties so it would be hard to know who to trust and since others outside your house wouldn't trust them well... makes kinda sense they didn't much. 💔😔

[@295Phoenix]

JK Rowling: Slytherins are not all bad! Her own books: Every Slytherin is evil minus one who's still racist.

[@Seth9809]

Why did she retcon her own story in a podcast?

[@lastfullast8819]

Andromeda was a racist?

[@295Phoenix]

@@lastfullast8819 Don't remember that character. Bet there was something wrong with 'em though.

[@Lunacorva]

@@295Phoenix Actually no. Andromeda, in the ONE paragraph she was in was nothing but kind. Problem is you wouldn't know she was a slytherin unless you checked the wiki and as you pointed out she was so forgettable most people don't even remember she existed.

[@sorakh4119]

@@Lunacorva So she isn't relevant at all and is barely a character then. What a shame, a genuine good slytherin and they aren't even important.

[@SikenServent]

Simping Snape lol I made a joke about that to my sister and it made her think for 5 seconds before she said "fuck.... Snape probably died a virgin....."

[@randomericthings7506]

I like how the movies made Snape out to be more of a strict teacher who’s detached themselves emotionally to avoid feeling the pain of losing someone they loved ever again. It also helps in the movie version he asks for Dumbledore to hide all the Potters, not just Lilly. In the movies Neville’s fear of Snape comes across as more comedic. While with the books it’s awful. Book Snape came off as someone who enjoyed tormenting students. Movie Snape came off as someone with a cold attitude that came off as rude. We also see movie Snape go out of his way to protect Harry, Hermione, and Ron in “Prisoner of Azkaban” showing that he does genuinely care about his students and its not just about Lilly. Also being played by Alan Rickman helped.

[@lordanonimmo7699]

I wouldnt say he "cares" as much as a adult and especially a teacher would protect child students if they werent super awful wich book snape is. In the movies he is more like someone who cleary doesnt like what he is doing but does it and in the end helps them,and sometimes is petty like trying to get remus fired.

[@SvobodovaEva]

Book Snape is trash. But then again, most of the characters show really disgusting behaviour in the books.

[@kaminsod4077]

​@SvobodovaEva Yeah book Snape gets zero sympathy from me, and I'm glad he died choking on his own blood.

[@TheJoeschmoe777]

I dunno, I kinda wish they kept Snapes initial desire to only keep Lily safe in the films. It would show how much he's changed since then.

[@Emily12471]

In the movies, Snape is a strict, if sometimes harsh Teacher who does not act to the harm of his students, though he does have his biases, I.e. Harry Potter In the books, Snape was just straight up evil

[@BryndenStrom]

J.K. basically created the „good house“, the „evil house“ and the other two because 4 be better than 2

[@InquisitorThomas]

@amoremudmud I’m glad someone else acknowledges that Hufflepuffs are rotten to their core.

[@anarchomando7707]

@@InquisitorThomas obviously Slytherins are honest with their cruelty hufflepuffs are insane, you can't be that nice without trying to rule the world.

[@sand747]

These replies are as unexpected as the Spanish inquisition lmao

[@anarchomando7707]

@amoremudmud expanding the joke

[@Firegen1]

@@anarchomando7707 How dare you be so right! People pleasing is a power play, one day my many stakeholders will notice. 🤣 *laughs hard in I get called out for being too nice, a lot*

[@noplace3571]

In a story that's all about choices and change, it's unfathomable to me that the Slytherins get 0 opportunity to do that. Only Harry can choose not to be bad, because Dumbledore said so and a Pheonix gave him a sword or something. The Slytherin's entire future is decided by a hat when you're 11

[@dragonicdoom3772]

It was such a missed opportunity to have the main trio be a quartet and have each member be from one of the four houses. So Harry is the Gryffindor, Ron the Hufflepuff, Hermione the Ravenclaw and a 4th member from Slytherin. That way it reflects the Sorting Hat's warning, that the 4 houses need to stand united in order to defeat Voldemort.

[@annejia5382]

that might be one of the top details jkr was avoding to do, cause it was gonna push even more in big picture of how it is similar with the king peter, queen susan, king edward and queen lucy.

[@Brightstarvids]

@@annejia5382who r those?

[@annejia5382]

@@Brightstarvids c.s. lewis' chronicles of narnia

[@Treblaine]

Doesn't the plot hinge on them meeting after school in their respective "houses"?

[@DMDXan]

It's better Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin What is a Hufflepuff?

[@martinhodges572]

"Good Slytherins are almost non-existent until you get to the Cursed Child stage play. They are largely hypothetical fandom creations." Like the Cursed Child stage play.

[@youtubeistryingtocensorme]

FUCK THE CURSED CHILD STAGE PLAY! CURSED CHILD IS A DISGUSTING ABOMINATION THAT SHOULD NEVER BE MENTIONED IN THE SAME BREATH AS HARRY POTTER!!!

[@ericamcqueen5607]

@@youtubeistryingtocensorme Holy shit is it really so bad? I have never seen it, what did Rowling do now?

[@youtubeistryingtocensorme]

@@ericamcqueen5607 Rowling didn’t write it. She just gave it the go ahead. The play was written by someone else and completely butchered the characters. Turned Hermione dumb, turned Harry into an asshole, over use of time turner and Voldemort had a kid. 🤮

[@ericamcqueen5607]

@@youtubeistryingtocensorme Okay, two things: Didn't they destroy all time turners in book 5? Why does Voldi have a kid? He wanted to live forever, it's not like he needed a heir. I'm sure he would have seen him as a possible danger source. Who was the mother anyways?

[@youtubeistryingtocensorme]

@@ericamcqueen5607 exactly? Amazing everything you said was correct. Except the part about good slytherins being almost non existent. Who do you think the mother was? Who’s the only death eater you know that’s a chick?

[@nickpoenisch4563]

I've gotten Slytherin on multiple quizzes, and it's very telling to me that everyone says "no! you're not a Slytherin, you're nice!" But I am cunning, and loyal, and ambitious, so i think i fit. But i guess I'm not blood-racist enough

[@greyLeicester]

I am none of those and still get sorted into Slytherin over and over again no matter how many times I alter my answers... I am a clear Griffyndor with Hufflepuff traits

[@excessivelyfangirlingbookw3339]

Ignore the haters :D If you feel like a Slytherin, then you are one. Others can't look into your head - you can. Be a proud *and friendly* Slytherin!

[@personone1382]

i once saw a sorting house quiz that said slytherin = negative. i- what??? are we talking about the same franchise here??? harry potter himself was almost sorted into slytherin ._.

[@excessivelyfangirlingbookw3339]

@@personone1382 oh wow, that's harsh. "negative" is somehow even worse than "bad"...

[@thiswillnotdo6027]

throwback to when i was like 12 and did the quiz with friends, got slytherin and my friend was like omg that means ur evil im telling ur mum and i started crying LMAOOOO

[@Alex-cw3rz]

It's not just the houses. You can tell how powerful someone is by their height, build and attractiveness. Ugly, short and fat=stupid, tall thin and handsome = powerful. There is not one character that falls out of this. Even Voldermort who looks like a snake now, was attractive beforehand. It's bizarre.

[@maddieb.4282]

Isn’t Molly Weasley described as short and stout?

[@maddieb.4282]

And characters like Neville are certainly described as ugly or funny looking with creative ways to describe their looks

[@OGXenos]

​@@maddieb.4282Tbf Molly mostly just acts like a typical mom until she absolutely obliterates Bellatrix. Molly got that sleeper build.

[@anth636]

What about tall, fat and average looking?

[@GrimDoesMineCraft]

What about slughorn? He’s tall sure but is also absurdly obese, yet he’s an extremely talented potion maker (Felix Felicis), transfigurationist (armchair), and otherwise magically powerful (contributing to the defence of hogwarts)

[@GreenGretel]

_"In The Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army didn't make use of any Slytherins. [...] In fact [the Slytherins] seemed to team up with Dolores & Filch. Inexplicably, everyone in the House tied to all-magical families and ambition doesn't care that their school, which they need to make themselves more powerful, is turning into some type of Muggle school where they don't practice magic in class. This is a very clear betrayal of what their House stands for, and just their general cultural values."_ Holy shit, it never really occurred to me how ludicrous that was before now. I guess it's because Slytherins were always depicted as such one-dimensional bad guys by Rowling, that it's just assumed they'll always naturally be on the side of ~evil~ even if that particular evil goes explicitly against their stated identity/goals/interests.

[@stop.juststop]

If you think in terms of politics, it makes sense. The two major political parties in America always pick candidates that claim they are going to do things that their party wants done. When they get into office, they typically do what the special interests who spent high dollar on their campaign want. Yet the part members still defend their guy. This may help with understanding the alliance with Umbridge. Plus, most people enjoy power. The alliance allowed them access to power they hadn't previously possessed and allowed them to use it against their enemy. Why wouldn't they do it.

[@rebbyberard8150]

I kind of feel like them siding with umbridge is an attempt to obtain privileges from her. Regular students cant use magic, but if you're one of her club you're likely to get away with it, if not get specific approval to do it. Its ridiculous to think all slytherins would go that route, but draco is essentially just trying to get enough power to fly under the radar so he can be a little shit without getting in trouble for it

Yeah, they wouldn't renounce to the one thing they hold dearest: the magic Even if they're all racist and hate muggles, they hate them because they are incapable of using magic, and I'm supposed to believe that this group of people who base your worth on the ability to use magic of your family are just okay with getting that magic away from them? And following an education that gets them away of said magic So dumb

[@reveranttangent1771]

It didn't occur to me either

[@ryanmaclean1720]

honnestly I would have found it more interesting if either they were given a reason to do this like say be the only ones allowed to use magic or have the only house that would be even slightly ok with this: Hufflepuff, be the people to be the "bad guys"

[@devilbuster20xx37]

I like how the existence of Merlin in the HP universe implies that, at some point, people really thought that strange women in ponds distributing swords were a good basis for a system of government.

[@seansilv25]

Exactly. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate of the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony

[@samuele7098]

Yeah! I mean, if I went around saying I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me they'd put me away!

[@dhk7986]

@@samuele7098 Shut up! Will you shut! Up!

[@allenharper2928]

Help! Help! I'm being oppressed! Everyone come see the violence inherent in the system!

[@thecpmr6276]

@@immanuelcunt7296 wait, I thought "people should choose their own leaders" IS a deep idea. See A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs court.

[@imsquiddly6836]

“There shouldn’t be a wrong place to put a child” * looks at garbage disposal *

[@josephineward6645]

*narrows eyes at oven*

[@ShineStarTiny]

Into the microwave they go

[@pumbat.4329]

into the toaster they go

[@alexwynters600]

@@pumbat.4329 I would ask how you make them fit into a toaster, but if you're already considering toasting them then I suppose the obvious answer wouldn't that out of the question...

[@jeandehuit5385]

@@alexwynters600 Maybe it's a toaster oven?

[@comicritical1696]

It's a testament to this channel that this video came out 3 years ago am I still periodically come to check and see if there's a new upload I missed

[@hannahkirk4182]

I always liked the idea that ginny should have been sorted in Slytherin. It would give them a protagonist and fits with her personality. Also a good way to give her a bit more story.

[@aprilmichel7816]

I see the appeal but I think it's a wee bit of a cop-out. She would never be considered a 'true' Slytherin because she's a member of an extremely non-racist family that all go or went to Gryffindor; if she was the only good _student_ Slytherin, it doesn't really matter because family holds more influence than members of her house that she probably wouldn't get along with well (and it's not like the Weasleys would give up on her, although an unfavourable reaction from, say, Ron or the twins would be interesting and not out of character); if she was the sole catalyst of change within the Slytherin house, the change would still come from the outside. Just give us a member of a pureblooded family that disagrees with the genocide mumbo-jumbo. Someone who would be willing to challenge Harry on his (not totally unfounded) biases Show that they have it hard in their house but they are not completely friends-less because other people don't mind, don't care about said mumbo-jumbo in the first place, or see more value in the friendship and connection than in an ideology. Now if _that_ character eventually became acquaintances with Ginny, that would be cool.

[@chuforeichi]

No. I dont like mary-sue Ginny.

[@AshleySimmons593]

@@aprilmichel7816 what does racism have to do with the houses?

[@aprilmichel7816]

@@AshleySimmons593 It's kind of the whole schtick of Slytherin, isn't it? Blood purity is as close to racism as it gets.

[@AshleySimmons593]

@@aprilmichel7816 but it's not based on race it's based on whether or not ur muggle lol. Racism doesn't just mean discrimination, it's discrimination based on *race*.

[@grahamvanpatten9508]

If Rowling could’ve handled slytherin like ATLA handled the Fire nation all would be well

[@iridescent28]

Thank you for reminding me how great ATLA is 🤣

[@kamijaeger4365]

Well, unlike those who wrote ATLA, Rowling is a bad writer

[@brittanyhayden8914]

If you want great Fire Nation worldbuilding a magnificent fanfic is Embers by Vathara. It gives me such diehard Fire Nation feels. Actually, the cultural worldbuilding for all the nations is... Amazing.

[@BambiLena666]

@@kamijaeger4365 You said that, but then Kora happened and Im still questioning by what stroke of luck or fate did ATLA even happen. Watching Kora and their interviews about the show legit gets me into conspiracy mode of someone else being the real writers for ATLA.

[@azzzanadra]

@@BambiLena666 aaron ehaz left before korra

[@enzodasilvazani9969]

I feel like Rowling trying to justify her claim that Slytherins aren't all bad by aparently just making up a scene that didn't happen in the books in a fan podcast kinda exemplifies a whole lot of her problems as a writer.

[@davidtucker9498]

^This!

[@charmedx3219]

Or it was in a draft, but the editors encouraged her to edit it out. However I do feel that Rowling's stumbling means she is now aware of the blatant floor in the stories.

[@Xehanort10]

She's like Disney desperately retconning the Star Wars sequel trilogy to make it seem like it wasn't an unplanned mess.

[@nickchambers3935]

Kind of weird that the hosts were like "ah yes, that scene! who could forget that iconic scene that was definitely in the books!" when it literally just did not happen and they'd never heard of it until that moent

[@enzodasilvazani9969]

@@nickchambers3935 To be fair i'm pretty sure this was way before people started turning on Rowling's writing, so i guess i can see why the hosts didn't think to question her at that point.

[@jeffreyatlee8785]

She knew that giving Slytherin redeeming qualities would have made Gryffindor the bad guy house

[@aguywithalotofopinions412]

Well James was still a dick

[@Tadicuslegion78]

Slytherin kid: *blinks* Dumbledore: 10 billion points to Gryffindor

[@Xehanort10]

If Harry and Ginny fucked in the middle of the Great Hall Dumbledore would give Gryffindor infinity house points.

[@jaschabull2365]

If you're sorted into the house whose mascot never blinks, blinking is an utter failure to be an upstanding representation of your house. Wait, scratch that, snakes in the Harry Potter universe do blink for some reason.

[@londonfleurina2388]

@@Xehanort10 And you remembered to use a condom Harry! One billion points to Gryffindor!

[@calvinmark2112]

“Once again, Harry, you have managed to break all of the rules, put everybody at Hogwarts in great danger, cost us millions of dollars in property damage and everybody here hates you and wants you expelled. 100 billion points to Gryffindor!”

[@30vamshi]

Griffindor kid: blinks Snape: -10 billion points to Gryffindor

[@archer4424]

I think a lot of the “slytherin isn’t actually the evil house, guys!!” stuff is just projected disappointment. The series would’ve been so much better if they ACTUALLY WEREN’T just the evil house, and people are fuckin sad that they don’t get that well-rounded, interesting, engaging story about “their people.” And I get that. As much as I want to say that hufflepuff isn’t just the “friendly kitchen plot-device” house, we are. That’s how we were written. And same goes for slytherin; even if we don’t want them to be the evil house, that’s literally how they were written. And honestly? I like that the fandom just said ‘nah fuck that, I wanna take this and make it actually good storytelling/world building/etc’ and extrapolated the houses’ meanings and whatnot so goddamn far from how they’re canonically written that people forget this is all headcannons. Maybe that’s just me but idk, I think it’s cool.

[@vinnae]

Yep, exactly. Harry Potter as a universe is only really interesting when you go beyond its canon and actually make it have depth. As it is, Rowling's books are rather shallow and they massively miss the potential of the very universe she created in the first place.

[@taylortierney6542]

I agree, the general onesidedness of the houses is one of the many lackluster areas of Rowling's writing. That said, I find it weird how people associate and identify with the Hogwarts Houses as if they were real things. You did it yourself, saying that "we are (a friendly kitchen plot-device). That’s how we were written" in regards to Hufflepuff. A lot of the desire to write a more complex and diverse Slytherin (or other houses) isn't coming from a disappointment with the quality of writing of the books, but instead seems to be coming from an odd parasocial relationship with a fictional dormitory at a fictional school, and a disappointment that the fake house at the magic school, that was picked either via aesthetic sensibilities, or a silly multiple choice quiz, doesn't have some deep complex culture, and also one of them is the one founded by a racist, and populated entirely (canonically) by racists. While I support fan content, and a lot of it is quite fun, all these slytherin blogs and moodbaords and whatever the fucks, all doing their best to ignore the fact that every single Slytherin who appeared in canon was a bigot to some degree or another feels...iffy. It reminds me of fans of the Empire in Star Wars fandom. Lots of people like the Empire's aesthetic, which is valid enough, Rebel troopers look incredibly dorky, and the stormtrooper costume design is iconic, but a lot of people over the decades got _really_ invested in their apprecation of these obvious SPACE NAZIS. The name "stormtroopers", the hugo boss-esque officer uniforms, the ON SCREEN GENOCIDE, shits pretty blatant, but despite that there's lots of Imp fanboys who will insist that their was a lack of nuance in the depiction of the Empire in the OT, and actually there should ahve been a lot more depth to the conflict. Some of these people are, being _very_ charitable, just really embarrassed by the fact that as a kid they liked the obvious bad guys, and some of them are proto or explicit fascists themselves. HP's blood racism isn't as neat a parallel with anything IRL as the Empire's fascism (aside from book 7, which gets pretty 1940s Germany-esque), but there's lots of HP fanfics I've read over the eyars that have uncomfortably felt the need to make up a bunch of extra traditions and cultural values the purebloods have which those arrogant uneducated muggleborns are ignoring and/or destroying, creating the idea of a cohesive identity that doesn't exist to jsutify racism, which does have some pretty obvious real world parallels.

[@SP-hb4mk]

You could justify it being through Harry's POV, therefore his bias comes into how the other houses are portrayed, but... yeah, I don't believe that 😅

[@sampepper7682]

The fandom kinda took over Harry Potter after we found out JK was a terf(Cause Harry is hella Bi so a lot of us relate to him and stayed in the fandom for a long time) so I feel like I enjoy the fandoms verson of Slytheren more then JKs

[@sprouting_lady]

Yeah, I agree. I feel like the disappointment around Slytherin being so one-dimensional is a part of the larger issue that I have found with the books as an adult: they set Voldemort up as the Big Bad Evil Guy andthe single catalyst responsible for everything, in a very childish and cartoonish sort of way...even though the books painstakingly construct a world that is fairly realistically facing the kind of deeply entrenched and violent racism that you might expect from Jim Crow-era America, and it's fairly obvious that another dark lord will surely fill the power-vacuum there if significant steps(like dismantling Slytherin House as we know it) aren't taken. The books exist in this really awkward space between dealing with a very realistic and serious subject(racism and bigotry), while handling them in the actual story in a way that is extremely simplistic and childish. Reading the Earthsea books as an adult, and Le Guin's commentary about painstakingly avoiding solving the problems in her world with a traditional "defeat the BBEG" slugfest, it strikes me how much better the series could have been by simply addressing the fact that the wizarding world as a whole is ridiculously racist and needs to change for a happy ending. Like, at all.

[@Nocomment552]

Harry should have just named his son Hagrid Hagrid Potter. That man has been with him since the beginning.

[@TheDancerMacabre]

Yes, but he's of inferior class! Can't even use magic! Kidding, kind of? I'm just saying Harry is just as bad as everyone else.

[@axthxticemma1203]

Lol what

[@pmedler]

Or like serious minny potter

[@mjm3091]

@@TheDancerMacabre Would fit Al and him being a called a squib son of Harry Potter.

[@WisteriaDrake]

Actually, Hagrid is his last name, so it would be Rubeus Rubeus Potter.

[@Tommedian]

One point I saw somewhere: “If there wasn’t a single dark wizard that didn’t come out of Slytherin, that means there wasn’t a single dark wizard who didn’t come out of Hogwarts”

[@none-of-this]

That's literally what I thought, I was like so technically every evil wizard comes out of hogwarts how does one not question the school and how is it still running

[@theencolony5595]

The issue is the "wizarding world" depicted is solely the UK. We see schools in France and Bulgaria, do they have their own versions of Voldemort trying to take over the world?

[@agustinmarinangeli]

Well, we all know there's four types of kids: brave, smart, evil and miscellaneous. Great analysis btw :)

[@brotbrotsen1100]

Let's be real for a moment, all kids are evil.

[@sirkiz1181]

@@brotbrotsen1100 as a kid I can confirm that I am indeed very evil

[@Rurusa11]

im proud to say i'm miscellaneous

[@WakingDreamer01]

Miscellaneous 4 life!

[@frankwest5388]

Also I just realized on rewatch of this video. Dumbledore, out of all people, says that "he sometimes wonders if we sort to soon". He is literally the one person, with the power to change that age. He is the schools headmaster, preventing fraternization and bullying is literally his job. He is the equivalent of an on duty fireman looking at a burning house, wondering if someone could get the people out.

[@lexa2310]

Lmao.Great comparison. 🤣

[@mechengr1731]

Im gonna give Dumbledore a minor pass on this. The house system goes back to the very founding of the school itself. The houses are a way to honor them. The entire infrastructure of the dorms is based on the students being sorted their first night. The wizard families are shown to be extremely rigid in their traditions. Changing the sorting process, or eliminating it altogether, would ruffle a lot of feathers, all the way up to the top of the Wizarding world. Dumbledore already had his critics, imagine the field day they would have if he tried to get rid of the cornerstone of the school's history. I think the sorting process is wrong. Being exposed to people with different background and views can be extremely healthy. Imagine how different the story could have been if Harry, Ron, and Malfoy were in the same dorm room. Hermione with Pansy. They could, at minimum, go from being these almost 2d villains, to more fleshed out characters. Maybe Luna would have been introduced sooner. Its all very interesting to think about.

[@alwaysdisputin9930]

IMO, Slytherin exists so that the good wizards could shape society in the next decades. IRL, there's a saying: 'the hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world' = _"The person who raises a child determines the character of that child & so influences the type of society that the next generation will create."_ Hogwarts could've banned all things Slytherin but dark magic gives a lot of power (eg even Harry ends up using imperio) thus the dark wizard families would have formed their own school. Thus the ban would've been superficial (about as effective as the failed 'war on drugs' IRL) & the good wizards would've lost their ability to push their muggle-friendly morality onto the next generation

[@lexa2310]

@@alwaysdisputin9930 They are not talking about banning but sorting later as in in second year or even third.

[@alwaysdisputin9930]

@@lexa2310 Yeah that's a good point, but still I think the dark wizard families have a strong bargaining position & can basically get what they want (as long as it's not illegal things such as teaching the unspeakble curses). Thus putting 1st years in Slytherin is part of a compromise

[@edopronk1303]

It would probably help if Rowling just admits things. "I wrote it first as a children's book, with clear good versus evil. I started a little diversification in book 6 and 7, but afterwards, with you good fan ideas, I would like to have started that earlier or more clear in the series" It would have been a logistical nightmare, but with having Hermione in Ravenclaw and Ron in Hufflepuff and then the trio together would have given the other houses more development.

[@stoneheart8231]

Or with Harry in slytherin as he was most suited according to the sorting hat. Obviously this would’ve meant the entire series would have to be rewritten, but it’s an interesting idea.

[@z_zenith]

That would be a great fanfic, in fact there probably is one.

[@malinasworld]

In my mental version of HP that’s exactly how it is- Harry’s Slytherin, Hermione’s Ravenclaw and Ron is Hufflepuff.

[@purpleisdebeste]

I don’t think Ron should be in Hufflepuff

[@z_zenith]

@@purpleisdebeste I think it would be great as he could be the first in his family to not be in Gryffindor, it would make a lovely side story and would give Draco some more insults.

[@hada__02]

Re: Slytherin returning to the final battle: the fact that JK either seemingly forgot what she did or didn’t write in her own books, or knowingly lied about the content of her stories in such a casual manner is just… so revealing about her entire personality and thought process. Instead of reflecting for even a moment on what she could have done better when writing her stories, she chooses instead to rewrite her own world’s history on the fly in response to justified criticism. This just goes to show that she is completely incapable of considering the fact that she could have done better. The level of success that she reached must do something to your brain, making it impossible to consider the fact that you made mistakes and succeeded regardless.

[@aaronaticx]

I scrolled so far for this, glad I'm not the only one shaking my head at that part

[@f_mva]

this is very true and also the exact same thing she does with the lack of representation in the original story. "oh dumbledore was gay all along" no he wasn't. she just realized decades later that saying that would be a good look and so she did, even though she obviously never had that intention when writing the story. massive fucking hypocrite

[@szatan9717]

​@@bryanthekingnoob9997 yeah like, idk how it was with her since HP was so popular at that point, but publishers often have a set number of words/pages/whatever so if that was the case perhaps it was planned but she decided to cut it when she had to cut *something*. Also i feel like seeing as the difference between the third and fourth book is that the latter is nearly twice as long as the former page-wise and that the last two are slightly shorter perhaps they let her loose for a while and by the end they said "aight jo back it up a bit"??? But still it would take up so little room and there were so many other things you could have cut down of shortened. It's clear that even if she planned it to happen she didn't really care for it

[@hamdepaf6686]

Well to give her some leeway, I think this is more of a case where she did have drafts and ideas of that happening and than forgot what she actually did put into the book. In the podcast she may just have made that mistake and nobody there had enough memory of what was really in the book to correct her. That being said, other examples show that she is not very good at admitting faulty writing on her part... to put it lightly. (And I don't know of a case where she did reflect on the Slytherin being written plain badly)

[@hada__02]

@@hamdepaf6686 bold of you to assume she writes multiple drafts :P

[@elenaprodromou6658]

i had about 3-4 different “wouldn’t it be cool if [character] was in [different house]” comments until i realized that yeah, the fanon version of houses are so much better and rowling’s characterization really is lacking

[@Xehanort10]

It's like in Deathly Hallows in a Pensieve flashback to Goblet of Fire where Dumbledore tells Snape "Perhaps we sort too soon" basically implying Dumbledore thinks Snape should have been a Gryffindor. Bravery doesn't mean people should go there Albus you senile old git.

[@shayla106]

@@Xehanort10 Also the fact that children are only sorted once is so dumb because people are constantly changing, shouldn’t they be changed every year at least?

[@hideakisorachi3953]

one of the things I wished changed is that at least a few of the slytherins remained to fight at the battle of Hogwarts. all of the houses were standing together to fight for their school, and some slytherins showing solidarity wouldve been so cool to see. but nah, they just all left 🧍🏽‍♂️

[@hideakisorachi3953]

@@shayla106 you're absolutely right, and I notice that children/teens change at a way quicker pace than other age groups. like I'm a completely different person every couple months based on what's currently happening in my life

[@excessivelyfangirlingbookw3339]

@@hideakisorachi3953 agreed. Even McGonnagall made them go into the dungeons, like "you're bad, if you know it or not. Now let the good guys fight."

[@justanotherredheadattheend955]

And this has even more horrifying implications when you consider Labelling Theory. Even a Slytherin kid from a well-adjusted family, or who disagreed with or questioned Pureblood rhetoric, would arrive at Hogwarts to find that a) there are very few other Slytherins like him, and b) many, many people, both adult and peer, aren't going to give him a chance. He'd be spending the majority of his developmental years in a place that reinforces that he's the bad guy both from inside and outside his House. It would be insanely difficult for a young person to resist that constant feedback, and its very likely that he would either be genuinely converted (Not helped, I'm sure, by the judgement of their Muggle and Half-Blood peers, and acceptance by Purists), or just be worn down into moral defeat. Hogwarts is a brewing pot for Death Eaters and Supremacists; even if you didn't come in one, there's a very serious chance you're going to leave one.

[@Tom_Cruise_Missile]

It's insane how much being surrounded by people who agree with you can do to you at an impressionable age. Source-personal experience

[@danceluvr]

this is a part of snape’s backstory that i think would have been a much more interesting route to explore. impoverished and abused kid who is immediately bullied by the “good” guys due to the house he was in and then indoctrinated despite being a half blood himself. it would make for a much more interesting storyline and solid redemption arc than a cliche unrequited love thing. rowling said herself he joined the death eaters to impress lily - that’s literally not a sensible character motivation considering she was muggleborn. i love rickman and i think snape had a lot of potential as an antihero character so it makes me sad that she went such a lame route.

[@Tom_Cruise_Missile]

​@@danceluvr A perfect example of a bad writer whos internal vision of a book isn't translated onto the page.

[@LaughingJokerProd]

@@Tom_Cruise_Missile In honesty, its what an editor is meant to help with. If a writer CAN easily transpire their thoughts clearly on how a character acts and why, that's a good writer. If they can't do it, its fine, that's what an edititor is for, to help the writer's message as clear as they can without changing the character too much that the writer's other intents are lost.

[@snakeking5009]

That assumes that he wouldn’t be sorted into another house.

[@dragonknightleader]

I would have liked in book two, when Harry and Ron sneak there way into the Slytherin common room, that instead of just entering into an environment that simply reinforces all the Slytherin stereotypes, they instead find a found family kind of situation with kids who have no one but each other, because at home they really have no childhood due to the kind of lives their family forced them into, and outside the dormitory they were beset upon all sides by a student body who was stigmatized against them. It would have shaken Harry and Ron's beliefs about them and possibly lead to Harry at least reaching out, because of all the people in that damn school, he could have related at least on some level where their family life was concerned.

[@sev1120]

Especially Ron, whose entire life has been an anti-slytherin echo chamber thanks to his parents and family.

[@TheKillbot555]

@@sev1120 Except Ron and his echo-chamber parents were completely right and slytherins are just bad

[@lt.swampfox7339]

​@@TheKillbot555 the fans wish the Weasley's were wrong about "Slytherin = Bad"

[@LiNestHetalia]

​@@TheKillbot555 well that's thanks lazy writing, but whatever

[@russetwolf13]

They even build up like Harry is actually more Slytherin than Gryffendor, and then just drop it.

[@coletidwell2806]

"and im sorry was one of the flavors of kid evil?" -Evan Kelmp

[@cold_cuppa_jo]

Family on 6!!!

[@derekdrake8706]

That scene where Slytherin gets locked up instead of given the chance to fight for the school always bugged me. You KNOW there's an entire generation of future dark lords stewing in their resentment during that battle.

[@sleek4546]

Lol please this made me laugh 😭😭😭😭

[@regiman222]

Plus they're locked up down there while the 'heroes' are up there killing their parents.

[@jasmina.8473]

@@regiman222 well, the heros peacefully live in the school. and the parents came to murder them.

[@himum3429]

@@jasmina.8473 Yh I know but they're not gonna see it that way.

[@ericmurotake5180]

I think the bigger concern is the reliability of Slytherins. Their core tenets are cunning and ambition. They're more likely to switch sides as the wind blows or try to escape, putting them in greater danger.

[@karenlin4215]

Dumbledore's line "we sort too soon" got me thinking. What if the system was changed so in the first 3/4 years you were "houseless" before at the start of next year you were able to be "sorted"

[@PineappleLiar]

I think, given the very eclectic theming of Harry Potter’s Wizarding World, that the house sorting system should have had an element of chaos about it to make the whole thing less a terribly stratified bigotry simulator and more of a surprise shifting from one house to another, so that all the students get a chance to learn the importance of each of Hogwart’s four ideals. It could be fun! Say, after the first two years, at the start of their third year students get put under the ‘Unsorting Hat’, which places you in the house you have the least in common with (cause that’s an area you need to grow in). Then in fifth year you flip a coin to determine which of the two remaining options you have you go into. The seventh year would obviously be the last remaining house, which is a bummer that it doesn’t get the same amount of time as the others, but it’s got the senior year slot so some benefits. In this set up the first two books of the series could mostly be the same, then in third year you get to see the solid three of Harry-Ron-Hermione split up. Ron would go to Ravenclaw, of course, and I think it’d be very interesting to see Harry go to Slytherin. I know the Sorting Hat initially said he fit there, but I think by third year Harry has overcorrected, and is extremely NOT Slytherin by that point. Hermione is tough to decide, as she’s hardworking, ambitious, and smart all together. For plot convenience I think Hufflepuff makes sense, as she might still have loyalty issues from being bullied as a kid. Draco would go to Gryffindor, in this situation, which makes me wonder if it’d just end up with all of Slytherin house just being transplanted into Gryffindor for years 3-4. Probably not, as Crabbe and Goyle would end up in Ravenclaw, at least. Oh, this would also facilitate some Harry-Neville bonding, as Neville is also definitely going to Slytherin too. Oh no, I’m reaching fanfic AU levels of consideration on this, I have to stop before it’s too late.

[@egg_bun_]

Omg YES. THERE'S SO MUCH POTENTIAL HERE

[@dantrott9702]

I think the bigotry indoctrination may have been the intended purpose as to why that didn't happen. Dumbledore wasn't fully in charge of the school. Lucius Malfoy was on the board. Racist hegemony likes to perpetuate itself. Early sorting may have been forced and maintained by racists who desire a racist breeding ground. Maybe thats giving rowling too much credit though.

[@aaroncallahan119]

@@PineappleLiar dang it. Now Im gonna search Google for fan fiction about this.

[@madisondunstan406]

@@PineappleLiar this idea is going to live in my head rent free for the next 3 years at least

[@adamgrogory]

Regarding the point about characters not fitting in their houses: Personally I completely subscribe to the idea that the Sorting Hat just sort of dicks around and says whatever it feels like without actually taking personalities into consideration and that the different houses act the way they do mostly just because it’s their stereotype and a tradition amongst them. They’re put in a box and acclamate to it. The houses are more or less just a fun gimmick, like having different team names in a school baseball game or something

[@Nai_101]

Interesting take

[@funnyfunnyvalentine7991]

That's what I think too

[@fightingmedialounge519]

That's odd considering it acquiesced to Harry's choice.

[@ziggy6191]

I think the hat sorts you into the house you "need" to grow as person, not exacly personality that much? More like values instead, it would be impossible to sort a bunch of people based on personality with just 4 houses anyway

[@DaggerPrince]

come on now.... all the gryffindors really do act like gryffindors. luna is exactly how a ravenclaw would be and always was, even her dad. and lets not talk about voldemort.

[@JackofWhitechapel]

I was always curious..... exactly what the hell were all those other Wizarding schools we saw in the goblet of fire doing when all this magical war stuff was going on?

[@elgordobondiola]

Maybe they got Brexit faster in that universe and they were like "not my problem Brits"

[@JackofWhitechapel]

@@elgordobondiola best theory I've heard so far

[@KossolaxtheForesworn]

"we need you to sign this voucher cos this year we will have the hunger games and you child may die, we will take 0 accountability." okay timmy, I think its the time to pull you from hogwarts.

[@JackofWhitechapel]

@@KossolaxtheForesworn nah it's fine rub some dirt in it

[@DefyReality-ll2cg]

They were doing what they do on a normal school day which is teach/learn as Voldemort's war never left Britian.

[@Skibbi198]

Honestly the "average" Slytherin is one of the off-screen kids we never hear about.

[@lugoorstar]

But they are also the one's who don't care about magic practice if they get "power", and the only one's who defacted from the rest of the school in training/war.

[@CosmicCreatorCat]

There's just no reason to believe in something just because we don't see it, especially given the point made above.

[@abiade9614]

I’d imagine so

[@abiade9614]

@@CosmicCreatorCat you’re right. But if that was a point used by Rowling to prove this other than making up scenes it’d be more believable. Plus in dire moments of action however small, something like a slytherin student opposing their families would definitely be seen. Or when their school is taken over. It’s just goes to show the slytherin house is full of scapegoats to use for evil/bad things.

[@rahmatumar1156]

I think Slughorn is the perfect example of average Slytherin guy

[@LibertarianLeninistRants]

the only person who was canonically "brave" enough to get rid of the house system in Hogwarts was Voldemort...okay maybe not in a good way, but its kind of ironic

[@josephwatson1931]

The thing wrong with the house system was the way it was administered. It wasn't inherently bad. Changes 1. Common rooms are common - open to all houses, but dorm areas are not. 1. Okay to eat at other house table except opening feast and Quoddich Saturday. 2. Interhouse friendships encouraged. Also see #1. 3. Encourage positive house aspects. Downplay negative aspects. 4. Snape must be fair and reasonable to all houses. He should look to how Flitwick does things. For potions he should get advanced student helpers. 5. The Ministry is not to send politicians to Hogwarts. No more Umbridge disasters. 6. Prefects must be fair to all houses. 6. Membership in the Death Eaters or other criminal organizations must result in expulsion or suspension while the student gets out of the criminal organization. Fixing Defense Against the Dark Arts: 7. First year DADA - emphasize moving through the Muggle world safely with particular emphasis on obeying traffic lights.Should learn immobulus and be able to use it to get away from violent persons. NEVER GET INTO A STRANGER'S CAR. 8. Second Year - Safe travel in the Muggle world. Using public transportation. Obtaining passports. How to use airlines. 9. Third year safety around magical creatures. Repelling Boggarts. Werewolf safety. 10. Fourth Year DADA - Basic defensive spells. The difference between Charms, hexex, jinxes and Curses. Should learn Stupify Expelliarmus, Protege. Banishing. 11. Fifth year and up - increasingly advanced defensive magic. Remedies such as chocolate for Dementor exposure. For those who can the Patronus Charm. Should learn Vanishing, countercurses

[@Szolrykor]

@@josephwatson1931 the whole rest of the castle is open to all houses already. And you can already eat at other house tables (Luna Lovegood ate with the Gryffindors), people just don't want to.

[@Suo_kongque]

@@josephwatson1931 along with the prefect thing: Each house should have 2 prefects. 1 that look over their own house and the other that is shuffled around to watch other houses. Every week the two can switch their role, if they so desire.

[@Victoria-_]

@@Szolrykor This list is so perfect!

[@kannonball5789]

@@josephwatson1931 A couple problems, 7 and 8 aren't remotely close to Defense Against the Dark Arts. However, those would be perfect for Muggle Studies. It could even be made a require course for that purpose.

[@palomaalmiron6790]

kids were literally sorted into jock, nerds, preps and ethnonacionalists edit: to everyone taking this comment seriously, learn to take a joke lmao

[@screenwatcher949]

shiiit that was the dicotomy in my highschool

[@A.S._Trunks]

#relatable

[@froggy3268]

Her minor isn’t a jock tho

[@justahugenerd1278]

@@froggy3268 and hermione also shouldn't have been a gryffindor let's be honest

[@tedarcher9120]

@@screenwatcher949 you weren't a nerd, were you?

[@GamePlayMetal]

It's so funny when people try to analyze and justify Snape's actions when the truth is so painfully obvious and simple: Rowling made him a horrible piece of garbage in every aspect, at the risk of making him cartoonishly evil, just to have a Shyamalan-esque twist in the last book. That's it, really.

[@timothymclean]

I get the sense that how Rowling wrote Snape changed through the series. In the first book, he's a creepy nasty teacher who you're supposed to think is working for the villain, but surprise! It's actually the slightly less creepy teacher in the turban! The obviously evil teacher was on Harry's side all along! In the last book, Snape is a morally nuanced figure. He's done great evil for high-minded reasons and great good for self-centered reasons. He's sympathetic, despite being racist; he helps Harry despite resenting him. Snape recognizes the harm he's done and is trying to make up for it, to help people, to do more good than he ever did harm. These two are supposed to be the same character, but each muddles the other. If Snape is supposed to be morally nuanced, he shouldn't bully children so hard. If Snape's distaste for Harry comes from the complex relationship he had with the elder Potters, his poor treatment of Harry shouldn't be so simple. I don't think Snape's muddled writing was the result of Rowling planning some enormous Shyamalan-esque twist. I don't think it was the result of Rowling planning at all.

[@XiaoYueMao]

im quite confiden snape was originally written to be evil and totally on voldies side, but then decided later that, actually, some slytherins need to be good (hence the introduction of slughorn), but snape was so evilly written before she had to make a 180 that didnt really work out in practice

[@facundopollacino7956]

Bien hecho Rowling.

[@maxthepaladin2147]

​@@XiaoYueMaoI always described my attitude to Snape as "I liked what he was supposed to be, but I can't make myself like the character he actually was". I think what you said may be part of the reason

[@Mr.JoopMan]

Me: So is the existence of Slytherin an issue with Rowling’s writing or a problem within Wizarding Society? Quinn: Yup.

[@Petaurista13]

It's neither and both same time. It's both lore-wise, but it's not even flaw if you consider who first books were addressed for.

[@ifenewsome505]

lol

[@Jirodyne]

@@ducdashot1239 I agree. Slitherian could have been shown better, with better characters. The problem that JK runs into, and promotes, is that she needed an Antaganus that wasn't the big bad evil king too soon. So created Malfoy. And in the beginning kept it simple. He was just basically the School Bully.... But he's also the ONLY Slitherian character we meet. His two stoogies are just there for muscle, and really in a real 'magic world', wouldn't even be needed. But for a very long time, Malfoy is the only Slitherian we see, and he's a bully. Not the worse thing. A bully could be redeemed. But then more actual evil gets put onto him. He isn't just picking on people, he's literally helping the guy who will kill everyone. And then we find out the only people ever produced from Slitherian, and every other kid we meet who is slitherian, are all evil, siding with Voldemort, and willing to kill people. They aren't 3 dimensional characters who just happened to ended up in Slitherian and could be good people, just go about doing the right thing in other unique ways. No. They are ALL evil people, doing evil deeds, and willing to murder people.. Just to murder people. I mean literally, they have no motivations beyond that. Voldamort kinda has Motivation, he feels wronged and wants to hurt who he feels wronged him. But others are evil... Just for the sake of being evil. They kill, just to kill. They aren't ruling anything. They don't want money. They don't want control. They don't want to be left alone and killing those who try to stop them first. They just kill, for the sake of killing. And every, single, one of them are from Slitherian, and the only slitherians we know. besides some random background people who don't matter. There is no.... Character. No Motivations. No backgrounds. Malfoy is a bully... Just cause he's a Bully. His father is evil, just cause he's evil. There is nothing else there. Harry, Serious Black, and Snape are the only 3 people, I believe actually have characters. They have Motivations, Goals, and Character. Even Harmonine and Ron, I don't feel like have characters. They read, and feel, the exact same, from book 1, to the final book. Even their 'romance' literally feels heavily forced, and not real. And sadly, even the 3 I mentioned, 2 of them not the main character, most of their character and motivations are from 'Off screen', or from seeing the memories to give them. The world, and characters, aren't very well written. And it's easy to see why, when you look at any JK interviews done now that the books are done.

[@purpleisdebeste]

The last one, because that section came after implying it’s a correction?? I think?

[@Jirodyne]

@Skarbie Well No no, you got it wrong. Republicans are the Hufflepuffs, as they don't fit any of the other 3, and mostly just want to stop Democrat stupidity. The Right as a whole used to be Griffondor, willing to stand up for freedom and personal rights tho now there are very few of them left alive, willing to stand up to Tyranny, such as the BLM Riots and the literal traitor tyrant in office illegally. They complain and bitch, but won't actually stand up, they aren't brave as they were 50+ years ago. And Democrats and the Left are Slitherians. Lying, cheating, evil corrupt people literally trying to bring communism into america, and winning thanks to the Right not standing up and the left owning all institutes of power, and injecting racism and racist ideals into the country to divide us for their Voldamort leader, China.