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Originally Posted by
SlytherinSissa 
Rowling didn't give any of them character and that bothers me. She lumped them all into the Pansy Parkinson category when, surely, not all of them are like that. I think the story would have been that much more powerful if that one Slytherin would have stood out and broken free of Voldemort's grasp. The message would have been greater.
I do agree with that. I think that would have been a nice for the kids to see that. Like you said, I'm sure at least one student wanted to stay behind to help but didn't ask to. But Slughorn didn't really stand up for his house or his students either.
In Chapter 23 of OoTP, Phineas Nigellus tells Harry:
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"We Slytherins are brave, yes, but not stupid. For instance, when given the choice, we will always choose to save our own necks."
So I guess the table leaving fits with that House's traits as set by JKR in other books. But it also contridicts her. JKR said that while most Dark wizards are Slytherins, most Slytherins are not Dark, and smaller groups of Voldemort's supporters are aligned with other Houses.
This would have been the perfect place to drive home the point that not all Slytherins are into the Dark Arts or are Voldemort's allies. I'm pretty sure the adult readers would know this but this would have been a perfect moral message for the younger readers.