A Complete History Of Slytherin House
written by Sabrina
The guide to the past, present, and future of Slytherin House, its founder, and its notable alumni.
Last Updated
05/31/21
Chapters
2
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7,331
Introduction
Chapter 1
Slytherin House, also known as simply Slytherin, is one of the four Houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland. The House is named after the surname of its founder, Salazar Slytherin.
VALUES
Slytherin's values are ambition, cunning, leadership, and resourcefulness. Another often unspoken value of Slytherin is purebloodedness; Salazar Slytherin is believed to be a subscriber to an early form of blood purity or pureblood supremacism. He viewed Muggleborns as unworthy of studying magic, which caused a rift between himself and the other Founders. (See Chapter 1.) Slytherin's views can be attributed to the widespread persecution of witches and wizards at the hands of European Muggles. (See Chapter 1.)
The Sorting Hat places students into Slytherin if they possess all of the above traits. Shrewdness and self-preservation are qualities also commonly associated with the House and often displayed by its members. Blood purity and lineage are also factors in the Hat's decision. Most Slytherin students are purebloods, though two of its most notable alumni, Tom Marvolo Riddle a.k.a. Lord Voldemort and Severus Tobias Snape were half-bloods. (Dolores Umbridge, one of the most hated witches in Britain, was also a half-blooded Slytherin. However, due to her war crimes and despicable nature, many Slytherins do not consider her one of their own and would gladly perform the Killing Curse on her if given the opportunity.)
Lineage is also taken into account: Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe, known for being cronies of powerful Slytherins such as Draco Malfoy, did not particularly display any characteristics that would place them in a particular House, but as their families were members of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, they were placed in Slytherin.
It is important to note here that not every student in Slytherin supports pureblood supremacy, but every member would still be affiliated with their founder's reputed ideals a thousand years later. Since nearly all pureblood supremacists and Death Eaters were Sorted into Slytherin, many of the house's members would still give that impression of that house during their time at Hogwarts. For example, in December of 1992, the password for the common room was "pure-blood."
RELATIONSHIPS AND REPUTATION
Slytherin House's greatest rivalry is with its fellow House Gryffindor. The members compete in nearly every aspect of student life, most especially the sport of Quidditch and the House Cup. There are nearly no Slytherin-Gryffindor friendships or happy relationships in modern memory, but there were two interesting exceptions to this rule: The friendship between the Slytherin wizard Merlin and the Gryffindor wizard Sir Cadogan(whose portrait hangs in the Divination corridor of Hogwarts) and the now-ended friendship between the Slytherin professor and war hero Severus Snape and the Gryffindor mother of the Chosen One Lily Evans Potter.
This rivalry was particularly strong during the First(1970-1981) and Second Wizarding Wars(1995-1998). During the outbreak of the second war, no Slytherin students joined the secret group Dumbledore's Army, though this is less the fault of the Slytherins than the fault of the Golden Trio(Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger), who carried a deep mistrust for Slytherins due to the animosity between them and the Slytherin student and Death Eater Draco Lucius Malfoy.
The anti-Slytherin sentiment also extended to the supposedly impartial teachers at Hogwarts. Headmaster Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore in particular favored Gryffindor and hated Slytherin. In the 1991-1992 school year, the Golden Trio and Neville Longbottom received countless points for "idiotic recklessness and the breaking of several dozen school rules," as an anonymous Slytherin put it. Awarded by Dumbledore, the points brought Gryffindor up from fourth place to first in the House Cup race at the last possible moment, when Slytherin House had already been given the Cup. After the headmaster's death in 1997, a few Slytherins spoke out about the animosity against them. Their claims were largely ignored, as Rita Skeeter used them in her book "The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore," a book filled with unfounded accusations and newspaper gossip.
The relationships between Slytherin House and the two other Houses Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff was variable. During the great majority of Hogwarts's existence, Slytherins got along fairly well with most Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, and there were several inter-House friendships. This came to an end during the 1990s. In the 1991-1992 school year, most Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students supported Gryffindor's attempt to break Slytherin's seven-year streak of winning the House Cup. In Quidditch matches, non-Slytherins sided against the House whenever the Slytherin Quidditch Team played in a game. During the Triwizard Tournament of 1994-1995, most Slytherins supported the first of Hogwarts's two champions Cedric Diggory, further deepening the rift between them and the other Houses. Any good relations between Slytherin and its fellow Houses were ruined when the return of Lord Voldemort became public knowledge and the parents of many Slytherins became Death Eaters.
Slytherin House has an unfortunate reputation for producing Dark witches and wizards. Though this reputation is by no means unfounded, the general assumption is that all Slytherin students are destined to "go bad," as they say, or that all Dark witches and wizards were Slytherin alumni. Both of these assumptions are incorrect: Horace Slughorn, Andromeda Black Tonks, Leta Lestrange, and Merlin were four Light witches and wizards, and Peter Pettigrew and Quirinus Quirrell were members of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw respectively.
Further evidence against this reputation comes from the Battle of Hogwarts(1998). Older Slytherin students, after taking younger members to safety outside the castle, returned with their Head of House Prof. Horace Slughorn with reinforcements. Others decided to fight as part of Dumbledore's Army, though they went unacknowledged as members after the Second Wizarding War ended.
Faiza Shafiq, Daphne Greengrass, and Nigel Fawley began a campaign for Slytherin recognition in the Second Wizarding War when the 1999 lists of Dumbledore's Army, the Order of the Phoenix, and student war heroes were released to the public, none of them containing Slytherin names. The three campaigners had fought against Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters in the Battle of Hogwarts, and were supported by a huge number of Slytherin students that dubbed themselves "Merlin's Army." They also demanded that the names of Cassius Warrington, Colletta Andrey, and Alameda Rosier(who died fighting with Dumbledore's Army) be added to the Phoenix Memorial that commended the lost lives of those who had fought for the Light in the British Wizarding Wars. The wishes of Merlin's Army were not recognized until the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts in 2020.
VALUES
Slytherin's values are ambition, cunning, leadership, and resourcefulness. Another often unspoken value of Slytherin is purebloodedness; Salazar Slytherin is believed to be a subscriber to an early form of blood purity or pureblood supremacism. He viewed Muggleborns as unworthy of studying magic, which caused a rift between himself and the other Founders. (See Chapter 1.) Slytherin's views can be attributed to the widespread persecution of witches and wizards at the hands of European Muggles. (See Chapter 1.)
The Sorting Hat places students into Slytherin if they possess all of the above traits. Shrewdness and self-preservation are qualities also commonly associated with the House and often displayed by its members. Blood purity and lineage are also factors in the Hat's decision. Most Slytherin students are purebloods, though two of its most notable alumni, Tom Marvolo Riddle a.k.a. Lord Voldemort and Severus Tobias Snape were half-bloods. (Dolores Umbridge, one of the most hated witches in Britain, was also a half-blooded Slytherin. However, due to her war crimes and despicable nature, many Slytherins do not consider her one of their own and would gladly perform the Killing Curse on her if given the opportunity.)
Lineage is also taken into account: Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe, known for being cronies of powerful Slytherins such as Draco Malfoy, did not particularly display any characteristics that would place them in a particular House, but as their families were members of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, they were placed in Slytherin.
It is important to note here that not every student in Slytherin supports pureblood supremacy, but every member would still be affiliated with their founder's reputed ideals a thousand years later. Since nearly all pureblood supremacists and Death Eaters were Sorted into Slytherin, many of the house's members would still give that impression of that house during their time at Hogwarts. For example, in December of 1992, the password for the common room was "pure-blood."
RELATIONSHIPS AND REPUTATION
Slytherin House's greatest rivalry is with its fellow House Gryffindor. The members compete in nearly every aspect of student life, most especially the sport of Quidditch and the House Cup. There are nearly no Slytherin-Gryffindor friendships or happy relationships in modern memory, but there were two interesting exceptions to this rule: The friendship between the Slytherin wizard Merlin and the Gryffindor wizard Sir Cadogan(whose portrait hangs in the Divination corridor of Hogwarts) and the now-ended friendship between the Slytherin professor and war hero Severus Snape and the Gryffindor mother of the Chosen One Lily Evans Potter.
This rivalry was particularly strong during the First(1970-1981) and Second Wizarding Wars(1995-1998). During the outbreak of the second war, no Slytherin students joined the secret group Dumbledore's Army, though this is less the fault of the Slytherins than the fault of the Golden Trio(Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger), who carried a deep mistrust for Slytherins due to the animosity between them and the Slytherin student and Death Eater Draco Lucius Malfoy.
The anti-Slytherin sentiment also extended to the supposedly impartial teachers at Hogwarts. Headmaster Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore in particular favored Gryffindor and hated Slytherin. In the 1991-1992 school year, the Golden Trio and Neville Longbottom received countless points for "idiotic recklessness and the breaking of several dozen school rules," as an anonymous Slytherin put it. Awarded by Dumbledore, the points brought Gryffindor up from fourth place to first in the House Cup race at the last possible moment, when Slytherin House had already been given the Cup. After the headmaster's death in 1997, a few Slytherins spoke out about the animosity against them. Their claims were largely ignored, as Rita Skeeter used them in her book "The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore," a book filled with unfounded accusations and newspaper gossip.
The relationships between Slytherin House and the two other Houses Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff was variable. During the great majority of Hogwarts's existence, Slytherins got along fairly well with most Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, and there were several inter-House friendships. This came to an end during the 1990s. In the 1991-1992 school year, most Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students supported Gryffindor's attempt to break Slytherin's seven-year streak of winning the House Cup. In Quidditch matches, non-Slytherins sided against the House whenever the Slytherin Quidditch Team played in a game. During the Triwizard Tournament of 1994-1995, most Slytherins supported the first of Hogwarts's two champions Cedric Diggory, further deepening the rift between them and the other Houses. Any good relations between Slytherin and its fellow Houses were ruined when the return of Lord Voldemort became public knowledge and the parents of many Slytherins became Death Eaters.
Slytherin House has an unfortunate reputation for producing Dark witches and wizards. Though this reputation is by no means unfounded, the general assumption is that all Slytherin students are destined to "go bad," as they say, or that all Dark witches and wizards were Slytherin alumni. Both of these assumptions are incorrect: Horace Slughorn, Andromeda Black Tonks, Leta Lestrange, and Merlin were four Light witches and wizards, and Peter Pettigrew and Quirinus Quirrell were members of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw respectively.
Further evidence against this reputation comes from the Battle of Hogwarts(1998). Older Slytherin students, after taking younger members to safety outside the castle, returned with their Head of House Prof. Horace Slughorn with reinforcements. Others decided to fight as part of Dumbledore's Army, though they went unacknowledged as members after the Second Wizarding War ended.
Faiza Shafiq, Daphne Greengrass, and Nigel Fawley began a campaign for Slytherin recognition in the Second Wizarding War when the 1999 lists of Dumbledore's Army, the Order of the Phoenix, and student war heroes were released to the public, none of them containing Slytherin names. The three campaigners had fought against Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters in the Battle of Hogwarts, and were supported by a huge number of Slytherin students that dubbed themselves "Merlin's Army." They also demanded that the names of Cassius Warrington, Colletta Andrey, and Alameda Rosier(who died fighting with Dumbledore's Army) be added to the Phoenix Memorial that commended the lost lives of those who had fought for the Light in the British Wizarding Wars. The wishes of Merlin's Army were not recognized until the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts in 2020.
