There has always been prejudices against the most magical (IMO) house at Hogwarts. What are your thoughts about the Slytherin house after this last book and have they changed at all?

Now what do you think? Did he mean the part Snape played or could he also know about the part Crabbe - even it was unintentional - played in destroying the Ravenclaw horcrux and even Narcissa lying to the Dark Lord?

I personally think Jo was a bit racist leaving everyone free to have their prejudices against the Slytherin house, despite what Harry said to his son in the last chapter. We are bound to be evil, and Severus would´ve been better off in Gryffindor?
Sometimes I wonder what the end would´ve been like without the internet ...

There will always be tensions, in my opinion. Whilst Slytherin gets it for being "evil", Hufflepuff gets it for being "duffers", Ravenclaw gets it for being "swotty" and Gryffindor is seen as "dorky". There's a way to put a negative spin on anything. As much as houses give a sense of community and unity, it also divides as there's the element of competition.

I assumed he meant that some Slytherins fought for Hogwarts. I don't see how he'd have known about Snape - no one did, for their own safety.

I think the point was there will always be prejudices, but what matters is how much precedent is given to them. Hence why Harry tried to impress that it didn't matter where he was put.

I'm sure Phineas would have said the same thing if Voldemort had won the war.

Remember that Slytherin house values ambition, cunning, resourcefulness and pure blood heritage. The book also suggests that power-hunger is a characteristic of Slytherins.

JKR also illustrates that not everything is black and white or good and bad. Their are good and bad people in all of the houses. Slytherin has their share of both.

JKR kind of answered this in the webchat the other day:

Well i have always loved the slytherins, only because i pretty much am one. So i just learned to love them more int his book than i ever have before.

that's a good argument, yeah i forgot that to mention in my thread, best redeemed characters, i only though of the Malfoys, and didnt think of Slytherin house.....

yes, i agreed to that, its like smaller parts or values that are scattered and were tend to be overlooked...

The thing is though, Slytherin House walked out after Morty made his last announcement. Of those currently in the house, the only one that stayed behind was Slughorn. I thought that was extraordinarily biased of her to do that, even though she did "dilute" it after the fact. Not everyone in Gryffindor is of good character and therefore not everyone in Slytherin was pure Slytherin, or what people thought of as such. She should have had a few people stay behind (again, not including former Slytherins such as Lucius and Narcissa or Draco that was just trying to save himself but was in the picture), even if it was just a handful. I mean, come on, I'm sure not EVERY Slytherin is a diehard Voldemort supporter. I'm sure there were some that thought ill of the situation. Now it's known as the house that followed Voldemort after the other three stayed behind. No wonder the reputation superceded generations. I would have liked to have seen more unity in that respect.

I went back and look at this part of the book. The Slytherins weren't given a chance to stay and fight. It's at the beginning of chapter 31.

The entire table left, with Filch, because McGonagall ordered them
out, "thank you, Miss Parkinson. You will leave the hall first with
Mr Filch. If the rest of your House would follow."

As Mcgongal said this the rest of the student body was pointing wands at
the Slytherin students.

I sure if they weren't at wand point some would have stayed to fight. I was surprised that Slughorn stayed behind though - he seemed like a duck and cover type of character to me.

Even so, none of the Slytherins had the character to stand their ground and fight. Even at wand point, I'm sure if just one Slytherin came forward and said they wanted to fight, they would be accepted by the rest because it certainly takes more courage to stand up against your friends than to face your enemies, as was proven in PS by Neville. I think that lonely Slytherin that would have stayed behind would have been afforded a lot of respect. I don't think it's that they weren't really given a chance but, at that moment, McG didn't really expect any one of them to stay behind. Should one of them had, I don't think she would have made that person leave. 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 think that the house doesnt really matter in the end. I mean Slytherins are more proned to be dark wizards and Gryffindors are more likely to fight these dark wizards but it really just depends upon the certain case. I mean ive made up a few characters in Slytherin, one case is the father of my characters Aron and Brasce Matthius. Hes a really powerful wizard that transforms into a good guy and does Dumbledore a service against Voldemort. Yet his son Brasce joins Voldemort because hes a coward inside and kills his twin sister.....but it really depends upon the person in my opinion.

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:

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.

He was hanging on the Headmaster´s office wall. I think he pretty well knew most of Snape´s part in the fight.

Kids don´t remember that part of the last chapter. There´s too much funny scenes to remember They will remember how the whole of Slytherin house followed Pansy ...
McGonagall has an authority that is hard to resist. I believe no student would´ve stayed behind if she had commanded the Gryffindors to leave ... And all the other houses pointing their wands at you doesn´t encourage staying much either. I think you´re right. But Slughorn had the amazing ability to regognize the ones likely to succeed. He foresaw Harry winning the final battle somehow?

I was waiting that Blaise Zabini would react somehow, but he wasn´t even mentioned in the Book. What a waste of a potential character!

Maybe that´s why she told that she had written herself into a box? Then she decided to ignore the box and write the Slytherins as enemies at Great Hall, but mostly harmless in the last chapter?

I absolutely agree with your last paragraph here.

That would imply all the portraits did. And some of them have other positions within the wizarding world. Wouldn't that be dangerous?

I think the Headmaster portraits had to stay loyal at the current Headmaster. Which makes the fact Rowling has said about Snape leaving his position before the end a bit peculiar.

Besides, Phineas did tell Snape where Harry was so that he could give him the sword. He must´ve known at least something. I don´t think he thought Severus was going to finish off the Boy Who Lived with the Gryffindor sword.

I think you're right. I believe that the portraits of the ex-headmasters and headmistresses give help to the current headmaster only.

As for Phineas' motives? I guess we won't know for sure. But he could have been taking about his helping. I do wish Snape would have gotten bigger credit in the end for all of his scarfice.

JKR's comment was a bit odd.

I didn't take it when Snape left (well flew out the window) that he vacated or adbandoned his position of Headmaster at Hogwarts. But I'm re-reading now... so maybe that would change.

I see this again as one proof of how biased she is when it comes to Slytherin house. Dumbledore surely had the school for himself even when he was suspended, but Snape "abandons his post" simply by flying out the window?

That doesn't mean they couldn't express dissent. Phineas did several times in Half-Blood Prince.

He may have had his suspicions, as did we all, but I don't think for one minute that the plans between Dumbledre and Snape would be bandied about so openly.

I never said he couldn´t have disagreed. I think he helped Snape because he liked him. You know, their opinions about students might have had some similarities

Maybe there is also a charm that ensures the pictures cannot tell anything they hear in the Headmaster´s Office to other people? They are, after all, mere pictures. Their subjects have gone ... on.

My views of Slytherin changed a bit. I think now that there are some good witches and wizards that are sorted into Slytherin. They're not all malicious and arrogant. I especially loved when Narcissa lied to Voldemort. I was so happy and I seriously love her now. I know she just did it for her son, but it was so amazing. There will always be people who's views on Slytherin are always "Evil Evil Evil." But, hey we can't change them. In our hearts, we all know Slytherin does have good in it.

I agree that it's sad none of the Slytherins stayed behind in the end even though they were told to leave. But right now we don't have enough information, do we? McGonagall had a good reason for sending the whole house out of the hall. We don't know most of what went on at Hogwarts during that whole year. There could have been good students, they could have all been bad, or there could have been good students pressured by the Pansys of the house to stick to the bad side. Who knows!

It's sad that no one stayed in the Slytherins, I mean some could have stayed if they really wanted too. They didn't have to listen McGonagall because most of the other houses stayed and help to fight, didn't they? Well all in the end I don't blame the Slytherins for leaving, part of me does!
Oh well!!
Still loved it!!

To be a Slytherin is very different to being a Deatheater!
I agree Slytherin will always get it in the neck because it is both creative and yet traditional values house!
Slytherin house is so full of confusion do they want to be a traditional values house or the most magicaly creative house at Hogwarts?
JK Rowling has done Slytherin no favours in the end of book seven!
Albus Potter your personal choice counts so you do not have to be in Slytheirn even though your character fits it well!

Well, firstly, Rowling wasn't being "racist" against Slytherin House because Slytherin House isn't a race. So, that doesn't make sense. Personally, I think that Slytherin is typically portrayed as and generally meant to be the house where all the "bad" people come from. And if it is, so what? No skin off of my nose. The houses, after all, are fictional. So it can't really be that insulting to people who consider themselves Slytherin for Rowling to show some sort of prejudice against the house, or affinity for other houses.

They're her books, after all. Just my two cents.

^right on. I think Rowling always meant for Slytherin to be the house that everyone hates. I mean, book wise, they had they're chance to stand up for themselves and say they really aren't evil after all, and they all, well Pansy anyway, turn on Harry. And then they all leave! I personally have nothing against Slytherins, but they didn't really do anything to deserve a trophy.

Well i think that in the books there had to be the clear villain and the clear hero. and the hero and the villain had to come from somewhere. so slytherin and gryffindor where the places they had to come from.

I mean it does suck that JK didn't give the slytherins a chance to step up and fight or go the traditional route of a slytherin. i wish she would have given them a choice at least

she made so many references to things in life and how she tired to relate modern and age ole problems to the wizard world, and she really dropped the ball on this one

I don't think the right word there is racist...but anyway, I believe that people do blame Slytherin more often than not, and Snape should've been in Gryffindor