A half-blood in Slytherin today would meet with bigotry, but was that the case in the 1930s and 40s?
We don't know for sure. While Salazar wanted to teach only students from magical families, some halfblood families (like Harry and Tonks' families) probably met his criteria. Yes, Malfoy makes a lot of loud-mouthed remarks currently, but I can't see the Sorting Hat deciding to offer Slytherin to only two halfbloods in a century. It would stuff too many students in the other dorms, for one thing.
How can it be considered sufficient to "not punish" an 11-year-old kid who's been mentally violated, forced to do terrible things, and very nearly killed?
This only one in a long string of happenings that make me think that the Wizarding World truly does not have the concept of emotional damage -- if you can't shake off a bad experience, you just aren't tough enough. Makes me wonder what the suicide rates for Aurors, Hit Wizards, and veterans of the First Voldemort War are. Pretty high is my guess.
, so Dumbledore knows about Lockhart's memory-modifying ways. And appears to be amused by his fate!
Dumbledore has this very worrying habit of tolerating bad behavior as long as it doesn't hurt *Harry* in the long term. He's quite cruel, in a jolly, 'why aren't you laughing?' kind of way.
It may not be the best of ideas to incorporate a major "free choice" theme into a story where you've also got real prophecies
And where a Hat can apparently see your destiny at the age of 11...
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Date: 2004-11-10 11:33 am (UTC)We don't know for sure. While Salazar wanted to teach only students from magical families, some halfblood families (like Harry and Tonks' families) probably met his criteria. Yes, Malfoy makes a lot of loud-mouthed remarks currently, but I can't see the Sorting Hat deciding to offer Slytherin to only two halfbloods in a century. It would stuff too many students in the other dorms, for one thing.
How can it be considered sufficient to "not punish" an 11-year-old kid who's been mentally violated, forced to do terrible things, and very nearly killed?
This only one in a long string of happenings that make me think that the Wizarding World truly does not have the concept of emotional damage -- if you can't shake off a bad experience, you just aren't tough enough. Makes me wonder what the suicide rates for Aurors, Hit Wizards, and veterans of the First Voldemort War are. Pretty high is my guess.
, so Dumbledore knows about Lockhart's memory-modifying ways. And appears to be amused by his fate!
Dumbledore has this very worrying habit of tolerating bad behavior as long as it doesn't hurt *Harry* in the long term. He's quite cruel, in a jolly, 'why aren't you laughing?' kind of way.
It may not be the best of ideas to incorporate a major "free choice" theme into a story where you've also got real prophecies
And where a Hat can apparently see your destiny at the age of 11...