Welcome to Harry Potter Theory. Today, we’ll be discussing the many reasons why Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, famed Headmaster of Hogwarts and former Gryffindor student, may have been more well-suited to Slytherin House.
As fans, soon after Harry Potter received his letter of acceptance and we were first introduced to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, we also learned about the magical institution’s four founding members and how they decided that the student population would always be divided into four houses, which would represent the characteristics and traits most valued by each of those founding members. As the majority of you watching this will already know, the four founding members of Hogwarts School were Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin, with the corresponding houses being named after each of their surnames. And while later instalments of the series eventually focused on students from the houses of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, the beginning of Harry Potter certainly had a lot more emphasis on Gryffindor and Slytherin. What’s more, there was a very obvious dichotomy presented between the two, with all of the protagonist characters—aka the “good guys”—being Gryffindors, and all of the antagonists—or “bad guys”—being Slytherins. From Harry to the compassionate and friendly Weasley family who helped him find Platform 9 and ¾, and the world-famous Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, everyone who was presented as good and heroic in the first few years of Harry’s time at Hogwarts was a current or former Gryffindor student. By contrast, each of the BADDIES that we met during Harry’s first few years were all Slytherins, including the bully Draco Malfoy, the cruel Professor Snape and, of course, the most evil wizard to have ever lived—Lord Voldemort. And who could forget what Hagrid told Harry before he entered his first year at Hogwarts:
“There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one.”
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