Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s video, we’re going
to be discussing Slytherin house. More specifically- we’re going to be discussing the morality
of some of its former members.
In the Philosopher’s Stone, Hagrid once famously remarked that “There's not a single
witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin.”. However, there are of course
a few big issues with Hagrid’s blanket statement. The first issue being that Hagrid is blatantly
exaggerating and generalizing- of course there were bad wizards who came from other houses.
The second issue with his statement is the wording- as many people have interpreted it
as ‘all Slytherins will become bad’, when what Hagrid really meant was ‘all bad witches
and wizards come from Slytherin’, which is also not true.
The fact remains that at the end of the day there are witches and wizards (who have come
from Slytherin) that ended up just fine- or at least had some form of character arc involving
a change in their moral compass. In today’s video, we’re going to be taking a look at
some of those characters.
7. Phineas Black
I know what you’re thinking- wasn’t Phineas Black the awful prejudiced ex-Hogwarts headmaster
that everyone hated? Yes, certainly, but that was Phineas Nigellus Black- this is Phineas
Black, his son. Just because he shared a name and blood with his father, it didn’t mean
that he ended up anything like him. In fact Phineas Black was a source of great shame
for his father. Why? You might ask. Well, as it turned out Phineas actually believed
in muggle rights- a belief that got him disowned by his father and removed from the Black family
tree. Phineas, as it turned out, was a genuine person.
6. Andromeda Tonks
Andromeda Tonks, born Andromeda Black of the house of Black, was an English witch that
married muggle-born Ted Tonks. Given that she came from the house of Black, a family
of pure-blood supremacists, it should come as no surprise that she was disowned by her
family for her marriage.
Together, her and Ted had a daughter- Nymphadora, who we know as a respected auror and member
of the order of the phoenix. Andromeda was certainly no evil witch.
5. Horace Slughorn
Horace Slughorn was an English pure-blood wizard born sometime between 1882 and 1913.
When he attended Hogwarts as a boy he was sorted in to Slytherin house- and because
he embodied many aspects of Slytherin house- he embraced it. When he was older, he even
became head of the house- a role given to one individual responsible for looking after
and disciplining the students of the house. Given Slytherins reputation for producing
dark witches and wizards- this role took someone with a firm hand- and though Slughorn can
seem quite aloof at times- he is incredibly sharp and even more powerful. With all of
that said, however, the only thing that Slughorn was really guilty of was being a bit of a
social climber. That, and wanting to be liked by many. Deep down Slughorn certainly wasn’t
a bad person- and the pivotal role that he played in the Battle of Hogwarts should be
more than enough for anyone to forgive his less favourable traits.
4. Merlin
Purportedly the most powerful wizard to have ever lived, Merlin graced the grounds of Hogwarts
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry just a few years after it opened its doors in 990 AD.
He was one of the first students there, period, and given the close proximity of his attendance
with the school’s founding, it’s likely that he was taught directly under Salazar
Slytherin’s tutelage. However, despite being taught under him, Merlin never allowed himself
to be tainted with Salazar’s negative perception of muggles and muggle-borns. In fact, Merlin
was a firm believer that the muggle and wizarding worlds should be able to co-exist in harmony.
He believed so strongly in his cause that he founded an organization in an effort to
help alleviate any complications associated with the coalescence of the two worlds. In
this time period there was a particularly large amount of conflict between muggles and
wizards. The wizarding world was essentially wide open, and muggles knew that witches and
wizards walked among them. However, rather than embracing them for their magical abilities,
muggles were exceedingly harsh when it came to dealing with magical folk. They treated
them like freaks- like spawn of the devil, and hunted them down in purges called ‘witch-hunts’.
What this tells me about Merlin’s character is that he was particularly pure of heart,
as he was able to take the moral high ground and still consider the greater good of the
world, when his own people were being persecuted.
3. Regulus Black
Regulus Black, aka R.A.B, aka the younger brother of Sirius Black, was a pure-blood
wizard born in to the House of Black. In 1972 he was sorted in to Slytherin, and- true to
the path of so many others before him, ended up joining Voldemort’s Death Eaters. However,
very much UNLIKE most others that had become Death Eaters- Regulus eventually defected
after learning of what Voldemort wanted to do to achieve power. He notably learned of
Voldemort’s horcruxes and even attempted to destroy Salazar Slytherin’s locket.
While Regulus is still a character with a certain degree of moral ambiguity, his actions
later in life suggest that he, unlike many other dark wizards, had a certain degree of
compassion for others. As he aged, he left the more selfish, darker side of himself behind
in pursuit of a more brave/selfless existence. Even when it came time to sacrifice himself
Regulus expressed genuine concern for the wellbeing of Kreacher and his family. Given
that Regulus was more or less estranged at this point- it further suggests that he had
become a good man.
2. Albus Potter
Albus Severus Potter, the son of the FAMED Harry Potter- was famously named after two
of the bravest men that Harry ever knew- ‘Albus’ for Albus Dumbledore, and ‘Severus’ for
Severus Snape.
Albus began attending Hogwarts in 2017, and, shortly after arriving at the school was sorted
in to Slytherin house alongside Scorpius Malfoy. What’s interesting about Albus’s initial
sorting, however, is that he never wanted to be in Slytherin at all. In fact, he was
so against being sorted in to the house that it was all he could think about leading up
to the sorting. Ironically, this likely resulted in his placement there, as when the sorting
hat was analyzing his mind all it could see was ‘Slytherin, Slytherin, Slytherin’.
Albus struggled during his initial time at the school- mainly because he had difficulty
with the pressure placed on him as a result of his father’s legacy. He was quiet, mostly
kept to himself, and developed a dry sense of humour in response to the pressure/bullying
placed on him from his peers.
But in spite of the pressure placed on Albus, and the bullying he received, he never succumbed
to it all- which speaks volumes to his character.
1. Snape
Severus Snape, born January 9th 1960 to a muggle father and witch mother, grew up on
a street called ‘Spinner’s End’ in the town of ‘Cokeworth’. The start of Snape’s
life was rough- and it didn’t get much better for him when he began attending Hogwarts.
For you see, Snape- who had developed feelings for a young girl by the name of Lily Evans-
ended up being sorted in to an entirely different house than her- placing a divide between the
young pair right at the beginning of their studies. Snape’s time at Hogwarts was rough-
he was bullied for being different- for being ‘weird’, and was particularly targeted
by the Marauders which included Harry’s father, James. In response to this bullying,
Snape went dark- and eventually joined Voldemort’s death eaters. There was a time when, certainly,
Snape was a bad egg- but upon hearing of Sybil Trelawney’s prophecy, and the danger that
it would place Lily Evans in, Snape had a change of heart- and changed allegiances.
However, despite changing sides, Snape acted successfully as a double agent - with Voldemort
believing that Snape was still loyal to him. In the end of Harry Potter, just after his
death, Snape’s character arc is completed and his true motivations are finally revealed
to Harry. Snape- who always seemed so evil- so awful- actually had a lot of good in him.
And that’s it for this video! Which Slytherins do YOU think deserved to be on this list?
Let me know in the comment section below
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Until next time
YER A WIZARD ARRY