Lately I've seen a lot more Harry Potter being mentioned on my social media, which makes this girl one happy Potterhead. Maybe it's because Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them sparked people's interest again, or maybe it's because Harry Potter is just freaking awesome. Either way, I figured I'd seize this opportunity to defend my beloved Slytherin house since we seem to have a bad reputation in the wizarding world.
Like every other hardcore Harry Potter fan, I took the official Pottermore Sorting Hat Quiz the moment I learned it was available. In all honesty, I thought I might get sorted into Ravenclaw since I usually had pretty good grades and Ravenclaw House is known for its smarts. However, my result screen announced in green and silver that I was a Slytherin through and through, which I was totally cool with since Draco Malfoy is a Slytherin and I met Tom Felton (the actor who plays Malfoy) a few years ago. Unfortunately, due to biases expressed in the books and movies between the Hogwarts Houses, Slytherin is viewed as the "evil house." Except...evil isn't the adjective you should use to describe a Slytherin. Need help picking a better word? Here, try one of these:
Sure, there's a couple repeated words in there, but that's just to remind you of all the positive qualities Slytherins possess. Somehow words like "ambition," "determination," and "cunning" got mixed up with "evil" and even "power hungry." It's been years since the last Harry Potter book (though, obviously I've read them more than once), and every time I re-read them or even re-watch the movies (thanks ABC for those weekend marathons), I find myself getting more and more defensive of my House. And maybe that sounds a little nerdy, but oh well; if people can put together fantasy football leagues and act like their teams are real, I can act like my Hogwarts House is real too.
Having ambition just means we have a tendency to work hard to reach our goals. Being determined and cunning means that we know what we want and we'll figure out ways to get it. Maybe it's just me, but I fail to see how any of those things are bad and evil. So, rather than starting another Battle of Hogwarts, let's just all agree to get along and accept each other's Houses rather than using outdated stereotypes. Seriously; the Hufflepuffs didn't like being labeled as "just friendly," so what makes you think us Slytherins are cool with being called "evil?"
#SlytherinPride
