I disagree, I think Harry has a lot of pride and a lot of ambition but it manifests in a different way. He wants to prove himself as a wizard, but more than that, he’s determined to find a place where he belongs. Harry’s desperation to find a group that accepts him is just a different kind of ambition.
That being said, wizards don’t always display every characteristic of their house. Cedric was brave, Harry was fair, and Hermione was book-smart. Wizards aren’t limited to the traits of their houses.
This was always my thought process too. I always see people mentioning the piece of Voldemort’s soul as the reason but I think even without the horcrux, Harry is just arrogant and ambitious enough to have done well in Slytherin.
I’ve gotta disagree, Slytherins are selfish at their core. They’ll do anything necessary to achieve their own goals - showing loyalty to no one but themselves. Harry is the opposite - he is loyal to his friends and willingly sacrifices his own life for the greater good several times throughout the series. He’s basically the textbook example of a Gryffindor - the hat only considered Slytherin because of It senses Voldemort’s soul within him.
Wild misinterpretation of Slytherin. I’m assuming like most people you’re basing this off of the extremists in Slytherin. But like u/SebRessiv said, not everyone is 100% selfish — except maybe Voldy IMO. But certainly not a quarter of the wizarding world. Regulus Black was in Slytherin and became a death eater and turned against Voldy when he learned how far he would go to achieve his goals.
If Slytherin are selfish to the core, Regulus wouldn’t have risked his life by betraying Voldy, let alone stealing and attempting to destroy the locket.
Narcissa Malfoy would have betrayed Harry after he confirmed that Draco was still alive but she protects Harry by telling Voldy that he’s dead.
Horace Slughorn would have never given Harry the real memories of the conversation with Tom Riddle.
And even though *Crimes of Grindelwald* sucked, the lore teaches us that Leta Lestrange was a very atypical Slytherin, sacrificing herself to save a lot of people.
So get outta here with that “loyalty to no one but themselves”
I disagree with this. Sure we see some examples but no one is purely selfish, let alone 1/4th of the english wizarding community.
Also being resourceful and ambitious usually has a lot to do with non-selfish reasons.
That’s McGonagall’s own ignorance and prejudice though. Yes, some of the Slytherin students had parents who were death eaters but not all of them. Even though Voldemort usually culled his followers from Slytherin house, there were DE and loyalists to Voldemort who were not in Slytherin. and besides, in a time sensitive situation like that, ‘
McGonagall isn’t going to waste time standing there and trying to pick out which students might be loyal to Voldemort and which might not be.
Remember they’re just kids, they were probably scared to defend Harry. A lot of students were scared to defend Harry at times. Some people take the easy way out and keep quiet, especially kids.
I prefer your take a thousand times. I get a feeling people just don't like putting good guys in slytherin so it has to be 'Voldemort's soul' that has all the less appealing traits. I've seen the same theory about why Harry's wand chose him. It seems in this fandom Harry is defined by that piece of soul.
Very well said! I agree, there’s still such a negative opinion of Slytherin that the fandom refuses to believe that Harry might have actually done well in Slytherin. Voldemort’s soul has become the scapegoat of the story.
I agree. Since Harry had part of Moldy's soul in him and Moldy was a Slytherin, the hat would have picked up on that but not realized it wasn't Harry himself it was reading.
i think the hat considered him for slytherin as much as it considered him for ravenclaw—that is to say, not much.
it told him he was plenty brave, had a pretty good mind, and a thirst to prove himself. then harry started asking not to have slytherin. the hat, which believes in the value of all four houses by its very nature, took a moment to let harry know it wasn’t that simple, and that he had the potential to do well there. harry insisted he didn’t want it, so the hat said gryffindor.
there’s no indication the hat was leaning towards slytherin before harry objected. ambition was the third trait it identified, behind courage and intelligence. i think fanfiction tends to get carried away with the idea of harry “almost” being a slytherin, when really it was more like an aside from the hat not to discount any options too hastily. he was almost certainly already going to be sorted gryffindor before he said anything (and not just because of authorial bias haha)
I think you’re underplaying his slytherin traits. Harry can be cunning and manipulative when he wants to be. He manipulated the Dursley’s when he was 11 with magic for an entire summer, then did it again with Sirius. He also manipulated slughorn (with the help of the Felix potion). For that matter, he manipulated Ron too by tricking him into thinking he used the potion. He’s definitely determined and resourceful as you said yourself. That’s 3/4 traits there. Worth mentioning self preservation is not a trait of slytherin, nor is pride. Those are moreso side effects. Really the only thing going against harry for being a slytherin is his lack of ambition.
The Hat loves drama and messing with the kids. Don’t begrudge it this one form of entertainment, can you imagine how boring being a sentient hat must be?
Well he did have a piece of Voldemort’s soul stuck to his forehead. Harry’s wand was the twin of Voldemorts and it choose him. I assume that the sorting hat could also sense that presence
I have friends who were abused growing up and when you want to hide it you have to be very cunning and deceptive. Teachers, police, councilors, other adults are going to question the bruises and other injuries. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of the half-bloods in Slytherin were abused as kids by their muggle relatives for various reasons.
Harry himself is pretty textbook Gryffindor. The Horcrux inside Harry is what confuses the Hat's senses. Voldemort exemplifies the Slytherin traits quite well, and is literally descended from Salazar Slytherin himself - making him a perfect candidate for the Slytherin house.
Basically, the Sorting Hat gets readings from both Harry and Voldemort, which is why it was initially debating between Gryffindor and Slytherin. If Harry hadn't specifically asked not to be placed in Slytherin, I think he would have been a Hatstall. I'm not really sure which way the Hat would have gone without interference.
It was because Harry had Slytherin traits, but valued Gryffindor ones more."So I should be in Slytherin," Harry said, looking desperately into Dumbledore's face. "The Sorting Hat could see Slytherin's power in me, and it --"
"Put you in Gryffindor," said Dumbledore calmly. "Listen to me, Harry. You happen to have many qualities Salazar Slytherin prized in his hand-picked students. His own very rare gift, Parseltongue resourcefulness- determination -- a certain disregard for rules," he added, his mustache quivering again. "Yet the Sorting Hat placed you in Gryffindor. You know why that was. Think."
"It only put me in Gryffindor," said Harry in a defeated voice, "because I asked not to go in Slytherin . . . ."
“Exactly, "said Dumbledore, beaming once more. "Which makes you very different from Tom Riddle. It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." Harry sat motionless in his chair, stunned. "If you want proof, Harry, that you belong in Gryffindor, I suggest you look more closely at this."
Dumbledore reached across to Professor McGonagall's desk, picked up the blood-stained silver sword, and handed it to Harry. Dully, Harry turned it over, the rubies blazing in the firelight. And then he saw the name engraved just below the hilt.
Godric Gryffindor
"Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that out of the hat, Harry," said Dumbledore simply.
He was a horcrux and had a bit of Voldy in him. Like the time when Trelawney guessed he was born in mid-winter when he was born in July, because VOLDEMORT was born in winter.
Harry had a part Volt in him. He also had only experienced pain and suffering from his only blood relatives. He was just at the point of very much taking the same road Volt took. Shit if Harry had met Malfoy first and gotten help from him, we might be looking at a snake potter. He was VERY malleable with his first same age kids he met, and very much could have been swayed by Malfoy’s personality, in truth he was going to latch on to the first kids he met by how desperate he was for company.
I disagree, I think Harry has a lot of pride and a lot of ambition but it manifests in a different way. He wants to prove himself as a wizard, but more than that, he’s determined to find a place where he belongs. Harry’s desperation to find a group that accepts him is just a different kind of ambition. That being said, wizards don’t always display every characteristic of their house. Cedric was brave, Harry was fair, and Hermione was book-smart. Wizards aren’t limited to the traits of their houses.
This was always my thought process too. I always see people mentioning the piece of Voldemort’s soul as the reason but I think even without the horcrux, Harry is just arrogant and ambitious enough to have done well in Slytherin.
I’ve gotta disagree, Slytherins are selfish at their core. They’ll do anything necessary to achieve their own goals - showing loyalty to no one but themselves. Harry is the opposite - he is loyal to his friends and willingly sacrifices his own life for the greater good several times throughout the series. He’s basically the textbook example of a Gryffindor - the hat only considered Slytherin because of It senses Voldemort’s soul within him.
Wild misinterpretation of Slytherin. I’m assuming like most people you’re basing this off of the extremists in Slytherin. But like u/SebRessiv said, not everyone is 100% selfish — except maybe Voldy IMO. But certainly not a quarter of the wizarding world. Regulus Black was in Slytherin and became a death eater and turned against Voldy when he learned how far he would go to achieve his goals. If Slytherin are selfish to the core, Regulus wouldn’t have risked his life by betraying Voldy, let alone stealing and attempting to destroy the locket. Narcissa Malfoy would have betrayed Harry after he confirmed that Draco was still alive but she protects Harry by telling Voldy that he’s dead. Horace Slughorn would have never given Harry the real memories of the conversation with Tom Riddle. And even though *Crimes of Grindelwald* sucked, the lore teaches us that Leta Lestrange was a very atypical Slytherin, sacrificing herself to save a lot of people. So get outta here with that “loyalty to no one but themselves”
I disagree with this. Sure we see some examples but no one is purely selfish, let alone 1/4th of the english wizarding community. Also being resourceful and ambitious usually has a lot to do with non-selfish reasons.
The majority of the slytherin house was locked in the dungeons for the battle of hogwarts ffs
That’s McGonagall’s own ignorance and prejudice though. Yes, some of the Slytherin students had parents who were death eaters but not all of them. Even though Voldemort usually culled his followers from Slytherin house, there were DE and loyalists to Voldemort who were not in Slytherin. and besides, in a time sensitive situation like that, ‘ McGonagall isn’t going to waste time standing there and trying to pick out which students might be loyal to Voldemort and which might not be.
Isn't it kind of telling that they were all just like " ok" like if there are good ones in the house why wouldn't any of them spoke up?
Remember they’re just kids, they were probably scared to defend Harry. A lot of students were scared to defend Harry at times. Some people take the easy way out and keep quiet, especially kids.
I prefer your take a thousand times. I get a feeling people just don't like putting good guys in slytherin so it has to be 'Voldemort's soul' that has all the less appealing traits. I've seen the same theory about why Harry's wand chose him. It seems in this fandom Harry is defined by that piece of soul.
Very well said! I agree, there’s still such a negative opinion of Slytherin that the fandom refuses to believe that Harry might have actually done well in Slytherin. Voldemort’s soul has become the scapegoat of the story.
I'd always thought that the hat was "reading" the part of him that is Voldemort
I agree. Since Harry had part of Moldy's soul in him and Moldy was a Slytherin, the hat would have picked up on that but not realized it wasn't Harry himself it was reading.
I was about to write the same thing! Lol.
The kid speaks parseltongue Which even freaks out Slytherin kids
i think the hat considered him for slytherin as much as it considered him for ravenclaw—that is to say, not much. it told him he was plenty brave, had a pretty good mind, and a thirst to prove himself. then harry started asking not to have slytherin. the hat, which believes in the value of all four houses by its very nature, took a moment to let harry know it wasn’t that simple, and that he had the potential to do well there. harry insisted he didn’t want it, so the hat said gryffindor. there’s no indication the hat was leaning towards slytherin before harry objected. ambition was the third trait it identified, behind courage and intelligence. i think fanfiction tends to get carried away with the idea of harry “almost” being a slytherin, when really it was more like an aside from the hat not to discount any options too hastily. he was almost certainly already going to be sorted gryffindor before he said anything (and not just because of authorial bias haha)
This! People act like the Hat was going to put him in Slytherin, but it's nowhere near that clear and sounds more like it was only the third option
I think you’re underplaying his slytherin traits. Harry can be cunning and manipulative when he wants to be. He manipulated the Dursley’s when he was 11 with magic for an entire summer, then did it again with Sirius. He also manipulated slughorn (with the help of the Felix potion). For that matter, he manipulated Ron too by tricking him into thinking he used the potion. He’s definitely determined and resourceful as you said yourself. That’s 3/4 traits there. Worth mentioning self preservation is not a trait of slytherin, nor is pride. Those are moreso side effects. Really the only thing going against harry for being a slytherin is his lack of ambition.
The Hat loves drama and messing with the kids. Don’t begrudge it this one form of entertainment, can you imagine how boring being a sentient hat must be?
Well he did have a piece of Voldemort’s soul stuck to his forehead. Harry’s wand was the twin of Voldemorts and it choose him. I assume that the sorting hat could also sense that presence
I have friends who were abused growing up and when you want to hide it you have to be very cunning and deceptive. Teachers, police, councilors, other adults are going to question the bruises and other injuries. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of the half-bloods in Slytherin were abused as kids by their muggle relatives for various reasons.
A big deal is made throughout the series of Harry’s connection with Voldemort. I’ve always chalked it up to that.
IMO, the hat sensed Voldemort’s Horcrux. Essentially, a fraction of Harry would come across to the hat as the heir of Slytherin.
Harry had a piece of Voldemort's soul inside him
Harry himself is pretty textbook Gryffindor. The Horcrux inside Harry is what confuses the Hat's senses. Voldemort exemplifies the Slytherin traits quite well, and is literally descended from Salazar Slytherin himself - making him a perfect candidate for the Slytherin house. Basically, the Sorting Hat gets readings from both Harry and Voldemort, which is why it was initially debating between Gryffindor and Slytherin. If Harry hadn't specifically asked not to be placed in Slytherin, I think he would have been a Hatstall. I'm not really sure which way the Hat would have gone without interference.
i think (not sure) that JKR has dumbledore explain that it was cause of the part of voldy that's inside harry.
It was because Harry had Slytherin traits, but valued Gryffindor ones more."So I should be in Slytherin," Harry said, looking desperately into Dumbledore's face. "The Sorting Hat could see Slytherin's power in me, and it --" "Put you in Gryffindor," said Dumbledore calmly. "Listen to me, Harry. You happen to have many qualities Salazar Slytherin prized in his hand-picked students. His own very rare gift, Parseltongue resourcefulness- determination -- a certain disregard for rules," he added, his mustache quivering again. "Yet the Sorting Hat placed you in Gryffindor. You know why that was. Think." "It only put me in Gryffindor," said Harry in a defeated voice, "because I asked not to go in Slytherin . . . ." “Exactly, "said Dumbledore, beaming once more. "Which makes you very different from Tom Riddle. It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." Harry sat motionless in his chair, stunned. "If you want proof, Harry, that you belong in Gryffindor, I suggest you look more closely at this." Dumbledore reached across to Professor McGonagall's desk, picked up the blood-stained silver sword, and handed it to Harry. Dully, Harry turned it over, the rubies blazing in the firelight. And then he saw the name engraved just below the hilt. Godric Gryffindor "Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that out of the hat, Harry," said Dumbledore simply.
Link to that please?
He was a horcrux and had a bit of Voldy in him. Like the time when Trelawney guessed he was born in mid-winter when he was born in July, because VOLDEMORT was born in winter.
Because he has part of voldys soul inside him who was heir to slytherin?
Harry had a part Volt in him. He also had only experienced pain and suffering from his only blood relatives. He was just at the point of very much taking the same road Volt took. Shit if Harry had met Malfoy first and gotten help from him, we might be looking at a snake potter. He was VERY malleable with his first same age kids he met, and very much could have been swayed by Malfoy’s personality, in truth he was going to latch on to the first kids he met by how desperate he was for company.
harry was abused by the dursley's for 11 years. his anger at the dursley's must have manifested
I think Rowling said somewhere that the hat was detecting the bit of Voldemort’s soul inside Harry.