In the books and movies, Slytherins are the bad guys - just about every bad guy we meet was sorted in Slytherin in their Hogwarts days, and their house history is full of prejudice towards muggleborns and muggles. In the Battle of Hogwarts, not a single Slytherin stays to help fight.

So, what do we think? Are all Slytherins inherently "bad" or do we feel the portrayal of Slytherins in the books leaves out the "good" Slytherins?

This question has been debated thousands of times by almost all HP fans, so I will probably repeat some arguments, but here it goes.

In short, no. If we overlook the stupidity of the idea of grouping children at an age where they cannot possibly have definite personalities, the so-called characteristics of Slytherins are just moral ambiguities.

Resourcefulness, ambition and self-preservation. These are some of the traits that might lead to a change in the status quo of affected people. Thus, people don't want that uncontrolled change. (At this point I realized I am debating whether these traits are inherently evil or not)

Moreover, public opinion is almost a self-fulfilling prophecy. If the public brands a group of kids as evil, shames their parents for being evil and attacks their pride which they value a lot, unsavoury outcomes are inevitable. One could bring the nature vs nurture debate into this but the effect of public opinion on pre- and pubescent minds is undeniable. e.g. H*tler youth. (Is the name banned, by the way?)

Once again, in short, no.

P.S. I am in no way condoning the acts of H*tler youth. I don't mean to offend anyone by it.

This is soooo well written. Exactly what I was thinking.

Nope, they are not. Anyone could be kind, caring, compassionate etc, and this includes Slytherins. They are described as shrewd and calculating but not evil; it's just that their choice of siding with Voldemort gave them the reputation of being evil.

One thing I'll say (and it's possible that I'm misremembering) is that while certain characters think poorly of Slytherins, it's not like they're ostracised. There's plenty of Slytherins that make it up to the upper echelons of power. Indeed, I think it's most of them. So someone like Ron might not like them, but that doesn't seem to extend to the wider wizarding world.

But to play devil's advocate, I don't think it's just an unearned reputation. The only password we ever hear to go into their room is "pureblood". Even if you're not anti-muggle, it's probably not a good idea to send a vulnerable 11-year old into an environment like that.