To think Dumbledore was a massive cheater?

[Slytherine]

Just finished watching the first Harry Potter film on TV and forgot about the injustice for the Slytherins at the end. I have changed my name in solidarity.

So the Slytherins get the most House Points (presumably fairly as most of the professors at Hogwarts could barely hide their disdain for Slytherin House so wouldn’t have been dishing out points to them for no reason) and are sat there enjoying their win of the House Cup, and celebrating with the room decorated in their House colours, and then former Gryffindor Dumbledore just decides (even though the school year was officially over!!) to throw out an unreasonable amount of points to Harry, Hermione and Ron drawing them level with Slytherin, and then a further 10 points to Neville pushing Gryffindor over the edge and into the win. And then, just to rub salt into the wound, publicly humiliated them by casting a spell to replace all the Slytherin colours with the Gryffindor colours and gives them the award instead and they all celebrate, including him and most of the teachers, and Slytherin has to sit there and just accept it??

AIBU to think WTAF and that was very unfair and he was biased by doing this and it’s no wonder the Slytherins were openly hostile and dismissive of him after that!? I’d be fuming if I were a Slytherin student and if I were a parent of a Slytherin student I’d be marching up to the school myself and having a word with the head.

@Kanaloa

I thought the whole idea of the houses wasn’t that well executed - we’re told in the beginning that certain traits belong to certain houses but then it isn’t actually backed up at all. For example shouldn’t Percy Weasley be in Slytherin? Ambition is his only character trait and he literally does everything he can to get ahead.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Weasley kids felt pressure to be in Gryffindor like their parents and older siblings. Can you imagine how much teasing Percy would have endured if he was sorted into Slytherin? Especially from Fred and George.

In Snape's memories of his first journey to Hogwarts, the conversation about which house they're hoping to be in suggests there is some degree of family expectation, which could cause pressure.

I've always wondered how many kids are like Harry, where the hat considers two houses and they ask to be put in one over the other. I could see Percy being one of those.

Percy does eventually show bravery, admitting he was wrong and treated his family badly and turning up for the battle of Hogwarts.

@Kanaloa

I thought the whole idea of the houses wasn’t that well executed - we’re told in the beginning that certain traits belong to certain houses but then it isn’t actually backed up at all. For example shouldn’t Percy Weasley be in Slytherin? Ambition is his only character trait and he literally does everything he can to get ahead.

I thought the house thing was very clever on a simple level. All those boarding school books with bullies in the dorm - problem solved by putting the kids in houses where the other kids share their priorities. It adds to the appeal of Hogwarts to an 11 year old audience.

Imagine if the sorting hat was sentient enough to play pranks. Like putting Draco Malfoy in Hufflepuff for a laugh…

I get that Percy was brave in admitting he was wrong - but so was Regulus Black. So was Snape. I still thought he shared a lot of Slytherin traits.

I get that perhaps like Harry many people chose to be one house or the other. But then why the big fuss about ‘all Slytherins are xyz, all Gryffindors are abc’ because actually lots of them share different traits. I think it could have been better if people actually went to the house they belonged in.

I also didn’t really understand the sorting hat saying Harry had a lot of traits that belonged in Slytherin. He isn’t really cunning or ambitious as far as I was aware.

In a way this is the problem with adults enjoying children's literature... we over analyse it.

All the characters could do well in different houses...
Luna is brave enough to be different- Gryffindor
Neville is extremely loyal-Hufflepuff
Draco is supposed to be very intelligent- Ravenclaw
Hermione is very ambitious- Slytherin
Tonks is courageous- Gryffindor

Dumbleton is sky and underhand...Slytherin!

I think the hat only takes your preference into consideration to a certain extent, maybe if it can see two houses pretty much equally. It won't just go with the house you ask for regardless I don't think. Apparently Neville took so long being sorted because he was asking for Hufflepuff, but the hat still put him in Gryffindor because it could see that was where he truly belonged.

It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities - Dumbledore in The Chamber of Secrets

I think the importance of personal choice is a huge theme throughout the books and would explain why a lot of the characters ended up in a certain house over a more obvious one.

I wish the importance of choice had been reflected better in the last books, with more made of some Slytherin students choosing to stay and fight at Hogwarts, for example, and perhaps at the end with the house system either being abolished, or changed so that students choose outright which house they want to be in, without the Sorting Hat's involvement.

changed so that students choose outright which house they want to be in, without the Sorting Hat's involvement.

That might do away with the idea of the houses being based on character completely, since a lot of students are likely to think they have the traits of one house when they haven't really.

Of course, that might not be a bad thing...

I also didn’t really understand the sorting hat saying Harry had a lot of traits that belonged in Slytherin. He isn’t really cunning or ambitious as far as I was aware.

I think Dumbledore explained that...saying Harry had a degree of recklessness and a certain disregard for rules. He also did have the potential for greatness, in fact he was destined for it really since he was going to have to have a showdown with Voldemort one way or another. Voldemort marked him as his equal when he went after him instead of Neville.

I also didn’t really understand the sorting hat saying Harry had a lot of traits that belonged in Slytherin

Maybe it was more that the sorting hat could detect that Harry had something of Voldermort in him?

@Claudethecat

I also didn’t really understand the sorting hat saying Harry had a lot of traits that belonged in Slytherin

Maybe it was more that the sorting hat could detect that Harry had something of Voldermort in him?

Yes possibly! I read an interesting thing I’d never noticed - Trewlaney is making her predictions as says to Harry ‘an I right in saying you were born mid-winter?’ He stupidly says ‘I was born in July’ and it’s played off for laughs as it’s hot and he’s feeling a bit daft so his mates all have a snigger.

But Voldemort was born in winter, in December - so it’s entirely possible that’s why Trelawney was confused. Perhaps it’s the same with the sorting hat.

I know they’re children’s books and films, and I did love reading them to my children, but the plot holes! The whole point of the Goblet of Fire challenge was to get Harry to touch the cup, which had been turned into a portkey to whizz him off to the graveyard for a showdown. So why not just make the portkey his sock, or a piece of toast or something? Boom, job done! And no need for that vampire one to die. Admittedly, it would be quite a short book though.

I presume it was so they could kill him, send his body back and it would be put down to something in the maze killing him.

It must have been such a boring task to watch though! In fact, the second one would have been pretty dull too.

Well even Lord of the Rings has a crater sized plot hole - why didn't Frodo et al get the giant eagles to fly them to Mordor? Would have saved all that meandering around! But as you say @MissMatty2hats
that would have made for a very short book

But it’s not like Voldemort made a secret of wanting Harry dead, and I’m guessing he wouldn’t be worried about the police getting involved! He’s definitely not averse to blowing his own trumpet, he would have wanted the glory.

@Claudethecat

Well even Lord of the Rings has a crater sized plot hole - why didn't Frodo et al get the giant eagles to fly them to Mordor? Would have saved all that meandering around! But as you say *@MissMatty2hats* that would have made for a very short book

I was wondering this too!

@MissMatty2hats

I know they’re children’s books and films, and I did love reading them to my children, but the plot holes! The whole point of the Goblet of Fire challenge was to get Harry to touch the cup, which had been turned into a portkey to whizz him off to the graveyard for a showdown. So why not just make the portkey his sock, or a piece of toast or something? Boom, job done! And no need for that vampire one to die. Admittedly, it would be quite a short book though.

I bet someone has written fanfic where Hufflepuff is in fact full of moody vampires pretending to be loyal and hardworking and harmless. 😀

@MissMatty2hats

I know they’re children’s books and films, and I did love reading them to my children, but the plot holes! The whole point of the Goblet of Fire challenge was to get Harry to touch the cup, which had been turned into a portkey to whizz him off to the graveyard for a showdown. So why not just make the portkey his sock, or a piece of toast or something? Boom, job done! And no need for that vampire one to die. Admittedly, it would be quite a short book though.

Also, as you’re masquerading as a teacher couldn’t you just say ‘Harry please stay behind after class, your test was absolutely shocking’ then force him to come with you? Everyone would believe it because he’s not exactly top of the class.

I know you can’t apparate in and out if hogwarts but you could go through the fire or (as he’s a relatively small teenager) just knock him out and carry him away. I feel like Voldemort simply isn’t a very capable and intelligent supervillain and that’s his big issue.

@MissMatty2hats

But it’s not like Voldemort made a secret of wanting Harry dead, and I’m guessing he wouldn’t be worried about the police getting involved! He’s definitely not averse to blowing his own trumpet, he would have wanted the glory.

I don't have my copies to hand, but I thought Voldemort wanted to come back without anybody realising he was back at first.

@MissMatty2hats

But it’s not like Voldemort made a secret of wanting Harry dead, and I’m guessing he wouldn’t be worried about the police getting involved! He’s definitely not averse to blowing his own trumpet, he would have wanted the glory.

I think at this point no one was supposed to know that Voldemort was back though. He wanted to build his army back up again and then only come back on to the scene once he had the full force needed, without Dumbledore/anyone opposed to him knowing. Harry surviving scuppered that though- I think there is some talk in the beginning of OOTP about this being Voldy's plan. I'm sure he would have taken full credit for Harry's death once he had announced his return

Cross post with @PolkadotsAndMoonbeams

Voldemort has that classic Bond villain thing of insanely over-elaborate plots or standing about making a big performance about how clever and evil he is instead of just offing Bond/Harry without further ado.

Also, Voldemort prefers to only try to kill him at the end of the school year so Harry can study throughout the year. He cares deeply for Harry's education.

I watched this with the kids at the weekend and noticed the same OP. Even worse, Dumbledore lets them believe they have won and then right at the end changes to Gryffindor almost to rub it in.
What a knob.

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

Also, Voldemort prefers to only try to kill him at the end of the school year so Harry can study throughout the year. He cares deeply for Harry's education.

Lol he should show up to parents night one time then - the minute he hears about how Harry does all his homework last minute and can basically only do expelliarmus and cast a patronus he’ll be right up to killing him in the first week of September.

Although having worked in schools perhaps there is some intelligent thought there - in September we were all bright and on the ball but by May/June anything could happen and I’d still be saying ‘26 more days till summer hoooolls!!’