Just as Sorting Hat said: “You could be great, you know, it’s all here in your head, and Slytherin would help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that. . . .”
I don’t understand. How could he be great in Slytherin? In the novel, everybody hates Slytherin and Slytherin hates everybody. Of course Harry would be bullied, by other schools and even some of his Slytherin classmates since the master of Slytherin, Snape, would treat him “specially”.
No offense, I don’t hate Slytherin, but J.K Rowling just made it hard to survive as a Slytherin student with no family background in the novel. Even Harry himself didn’t want to be sent to Slytherin. So I can’t imagine how Harry Potter could be great as a Slytherin and why it would be a good choice for the famous Sorting Hat, smarter than every hat, never yet been wrong.
by Victoria_eve
18 Comments
The hat was picking up on the piece of Voldemort that was attached to Harry. So Tell me you didn’t read the books without telling me you didn’t read the books. Sorry lol. Not being mean but that’s where all his issues come from. The parseltongue specifically which he loses after the horcrux dies
Man. It’s almost as if she’s not a very great writer, in hindsight.
Rowling is a charmingly inept writer in so many ways, but the way Hogwarts has three regular school houses and one fascist youth organisation really cracks me up.
The entire idea of Slytherin was half baked.
Why would a school keep an evil house around?
Because Harry’s skills would have been for good or evil and it’s an active choice he made. See Star Wars and Anakin Skywalker
The hat meant “great” as in “great man”, i.e. powerful. This is a common theme in stories where the hero must restrain his shadow after being tempted. Harry’s muttering is that struggle, although against the world rather than himself. It’s the same trope that’s being used every time a villain asks the hero to join them, although obviously being done to varying degrees of efficacy.
Harry is ambitious, as evidenced by his later aspirations which I won’t get into here. He’s also very confident, head-strong and self-possessed. He also is willing to subvert and break rules when necessary. All of these traits, I argue, would be enhanced by being placed in Voldemort youth (except for the breaking rules part, arguably. But maybe he is one of the *special ones* among the special; we can continue the supremacist analogy if your want)
That he chooses to forgo [gaining such in service of his ambition] those things by asking to not be in Slytherin, then the hat realizes that he would rather seek power for justice’ sake rather than its own and places him in Gryffindor.
Then she changed her mind and it’s because of magic
idk
It’s a book for children written by an inept author whose brain has been beset by rot and black mould.
Greatness is not the same as being good. Think of greatness as meaning: powerful, notorious, and it makes more sense.
It’s playing off the “selling your soul to the devil” idea that you can achieve power with the help of dark forces that you may not be able to achieve otherwise.
While in practice Slytherin is the house of racism and fascism, in theory it’s about ambition, cunning, and legacy. If Harry had been in Slytherin then his house mates would have been people with important families with a ton of connections. Also, stuff like the quidditch cup and the house cup seemed to go to Slytherin as well. So yeah, they were evil and none of the other students liked them but that seems like it’s because it was mostly rich kids with connections who valued high achievement. Even if they weren’t evil supremacists their classmates were bound to hate them. And while yes, Harry wasn’t evil and his main claim to fame was taking down Voldemort, he was one of the most famous wizards alive and his dad was a pure blood with a historically important, wealthy family.
But also it’s SO JKR can show that Harry is humble and values friendship because when he was 11 the hat said he could be great if he joined the evil kids but he said no, he’d rather go with his friends. Unlike every other 11 year old who would have chosen to hang out with assholes over the only kid who’s ever been nice to him because of vague promises of greatness (/s).
Rowling’s mistake was taking houses in British boarding schools and adding to that the idea that students are divided among those houses on the basis of their personalities. It’s a stupid idea. One, children change hugely between the ages of 11 and 17, they’re the formative years. It makes no sense to form divisions based on personalities at age 11 that could very well change by age 15. Two, “brave”, “smart”, “derpy” and “asshole-y” are never the sole defining characteristics of any person. You can be brave and smart, or nerdy and asshole-y.
He could be Voldermort’s right hand in his youth, for the experience. Then, at around 19, he would pull a Uchiha Sasuke and kill Voldermort, setting himself as the new Dark Lord.
He’d be great, greatly evil, but great still.
First, you have to distinguish the house values at their core and what they turned into after centuries of bigotry. Being ambitious and cunning in an of itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You want something and are ready to build up a smart plan to achieve your goal. You can fit the values of the house but not the reality of it.
Second, to be honest, I’m not sure Harry would have been bullied in Slytherin. Used ? Yes. But if you’re seeking power and the most famous wizard in recent history becomes your housemate, still young and malleable, seeking advice and guidance in a world he doesn’t know, you don’t bully him. You earn his friendship and his trust, make him an asset to boost your popularity, shape his view of the wizarding world. Slughorn had no problem trying to add Harry to his collection, and had he been sorted in Slytherin, I’m certain most students wouldn’t have made an antagonist out of him – up until Voldemort popped back up, obviously.
Would it have been great for Harry ? It could have. Just like I think Hufflepuff, a house of friendship and hardwork, could’ve been a fantastic fit for him, as a newcomer who needed friends and a solid network to adapt to a new world. Slytherin could have played on the side of Harry who was angry at being powerless for years at the Dursleys. Would it have been the right path ? Probably not. But it could have been the right fit for some parts of Harry’s personnality.
Finally, there is also the explanation that Voldemort was attached to the back of Harry’s head and influenced the perception of the Sorting Hat.
Because it’s a fun book whose worldbuilding can’t survive any kind of scrutiny.
Because he >! wasn’t just Harry.
He was part Harry, part Voldemort.
The part of him that was V would’ve flourished in Slytherin !<
Just like Neville and Ron should have been Ravenclaws, Hermione definitely should have been Slytherin. But JK didn’t even pay attention to her to own character designs and just decided to slam characters into houses they didn’t belong in for the sake of the story.
Do I think Harry, based on the traits of Slytherin, would have made a good Slytherin? Not right away, but I do think he’s a good balance of what Gryffindor’s and Slytherin’s (again, based on house trait descriptions) are.
And, tbh, as much as I love the Wizarding World, JK missed out on a major opportunity to explore what it would have been like to have them in separate houses and coming together to defeat the Big Bad of every book.
If you look at the qualities of Slytherin – Harry fits quite a few of them. Like ambition, resourcefulness, determination, leadership qualities … I think he would have fit in had he decided at the very beginning to become friends with Malfoy. After all, he actually comes from a wizard family and he is wealthy. He is portrayed as a kind of underdog, that’s probably how he sees himself too, but he is actually upper class.
Also, everybody hates Slytherin isn’t exactly correct either. We follow Harry’s POV the whole time and HE doesn’t like them. We don’t really see how the every day life of the students in this house is going. Because Harry doesn’t see it.
Thought this was a post to a writing circlejerk sub for a moment.