What It Is To Be A Slytherin

What it is to be a Slytherin

We think-we used to think that someone cared.

At least I did. I remember my first year here, how I was young and innocent. Or as least as innocent as a Slytherin could be. I knew someone had to wish us well. I hoped, dreamed.

And I was fooled.

But weren't we all, when we were first taught about the houses? As soon as I heard the description of Slytherin, I knew that was where I would be. My mother waxed poetical when she described the faults of the other houses. But she could find little wrong to say about Slytherin.

"I want to be in Slytherin, mother."

She laughed bitterly.

"It was my old house, you know. We're very loyal to each other in Slytherin." Her face darkened at her own words, but she kept the pretence of being cheerful.

"Why, mother? I thought Hufflepuffs were the loyal ones."

"Necessity, Theodore. We would be anyhow, but what would have been a vague sense of belonging, that which every house has turned to a fierce protectiveness. You'll see. I wouldn't want to spoil it for you. But rest assured, you'll be well-protected in Slytherin."

Well protected describes it well. It is odd that the house of cunning and ambition is so loyal to its own, but it is. We wouldn't ever betray one of ours. We would never leave any of us to be fallen upon by the other houses.

I still laugh at my mother's words. What did she mean by not wanting to spoil it for me? I would have wanted to be prepared for the loathing that awaited me.

"Can I please sit here?" Whispered a little girl with long hair. I nodded, for after all I had no reason to be unkind to her. I recognized her for the niece of Madam Bones, and I knew she was a pureblood. She was kind, too. It was I who made the mistake.

"Which house do you think you'll be in?"I said.

"Oh, I don't know. Probably Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. I'm not very brave or ambitious."

I didn't care. I thought she was brilliant, and by the time we arrived at the school I had made my first friend. But that didn't last, it couldn't. It was not the moment that she was sorted into Hufflepuff that I realized that she and I could never be conpaniable. It was our first day of classes when I noticed that my housemates and hers dovetailed to opposite sides of the room. I smiled at her in passing, and she returned a grin. And that simple gesture in all my eleven-year old innocence was my downfall.

"What do you think you are doing?" said a pale, blond boy. I gave him a strange look.

"What do you mean?"

"Exchanging pleasantries with a Hufflepuff isn't exactly what one would consider normal behavior from any self-respecting Slytherin," he said, but in almost a bored tone, as if it was something he'd memorized and been forced by circumstance to repeat.

"My name's Draco Malfoy." He held out his hand. I shook it.

"I'm Theodore Nott."

The Sorting hat doesn't lie, in case you don't know. It never does. It is just others who twist its words, or leave parts out entirely. Never, in the six songs I've heard it sing, did it call us evil or demented. How, may I ask, does "cunning, ambitious, and calculating" equal evil? Does anyone listen to what the hat tells us anymore? I've seen fifth-year Gryffindors bullying first-year Slytherins for no more reason than they can. But of course the house of light is in the right. No one cares but the ones who are at fault for the simple reason of being what we are.

Does anyone know the reason that you make the best friends you'll ever have in Slytherin? It is as my mother said; necessity. There is a reason that there are virtually no interhouse relationships with Slytherins. It would not be allowed. Both parties would be immediately estranged from their house, their home for nine months out of the year. No one would be willing to risk that, even if they could persuade a member of another house to notice that they weren't evil. So we turn to each other for support, for friendship, while the other houses unite against us. And while we compete against each other, more so than any other house, we are also the most united. For without unity, our ambitions would never be achieved. And because none of us will ever make the first move to appreciate another house, we are condemned for the simple crime of being what we are.

If I could change the past, would I? I think not. No other house is so ambitious, so great as mine. After years of competing against the toughest adversaries that Hogwarts has to offer, you have sufficient practice that, while fulfilling your ambitions is not easy, you aren't shocked by the struggle. We Slytherins don't have a sugarcoated vision of the world. And it is wonderful having people around you that understand while you brag about your latest achievement. Our manner to each other when viewed by other houses might seem shocking, but it is ambrosia to us. I'll give you an example. Just two nights ago Draco threw down the proverbial glove when he informed Blaise that his Arithmancy project was better than hers. Instead of whining like a Hufflepuff, sulking like a Ravenclaw, or not caring like a Gryffindor, she stayed up until four in the morning making it good enough that she not only got higher marks than Draco, but she beat the whole class. And it was worthwhile to her. To all of us.

Perhaps the reason that we are so hated is because we are misunderstood. But no one in Slytherin particularly cares, either. We don't have an idealistic view of the world; not everyone loves us, and we know it. We remain happy in our own harsh company. Yet sometimes it becomes a distinct disadvantage to us. Information does not flow freely across the great divide that separates Slytherin from the other houses. When we are forced to work with them the work that is done is of awful quality. But the teachers have learned, and they pair us with Slytherins whenever they can.

And so have we. I don't even remember that Bones girl's first name because I haven't spoken to her in so long. I developed friendships with other Slytherins, and went my own merry way. So did she. I've developed quite disdain towards the other houses. I'll probably never say a passing word in greeting to them again, unless they start the gesture. And no one would ever do such a thing to an evil, slimy, dastardly little Slytherin. So why would I?