127
votes
Why do less-bright students end up in Slytherin?
Your House can represent traits you value, not necessarily have.
This is a good explanation for all the Sortings that that don't seem to match up with the student's traits. Peter Pettigrew could have ...
- 106k
105
votes
How can Ron know that Voldemort was in Slytherin if nobody knows his real identity?
The Dark Lord himself might have said he was in Slytherin.
When the Dark Lord was at the height of his power, though he might not have wanted to talk much about his father or Muggle heritage, he was ...
- 106k
66
votes
Why did the Slytherin team opt for size over skill, given their many defeats?
1) They kept size over skill because it was very effective for them in the past, and it seemed to beat most other teams even in the present. The Slytherin team was often in contention for the cup, ...
- 2,071
63
votes
How can Ron know that Voldemort was in Slytherin if nobody knows his real identity?
I don't think we can exclude the possibility that Ron - and more-or-less everyone, actually - simply assumed that he was in Slytherin. It obviously has a reputation for generating villains. Recall ...
- 631
58
votes
Why did the Slytherin team opt for size over skill, given their many defeats?
I think the main issue is ironically, not Marcus Flint as captain, but Malfoy.
There is something that you are overlooking in your base assumptions, which is that, while Slytherin have been losing to ...
- 1,856
47
votes
Why did the Slytherin team opt for size over skill, given their many defeats?
Quidditch practice keeps the school's worst troublemakers busy and tired.
It's a subtle tool for maintaining order at Hogwarts by enlisting the students' unknowing aid in their own policing. The ...
- 17.5k
42
votes
Why do less-bright students end up in Slytherin?
That's not entirely true. It's just that the less-bright kids who end up in the other 3 houses try to make up for it somehow, so you don't think of them that way. You think of them as "hard-working", ...
- 2,282
31
votes
Does "Dark Wizard" = "Bad"?
‘Dark wizard’ usually means ‘evil wizard who uses Dark magic’.
Everyone described in the books as a Dark wizard is also considered an “evil” wizard. Though the term “Dark wizard” is often used in ...
- 106k
29
votes
Why exactly did the Sorting Hat originally want to put Harry in Slytherin?
The Sorting Hat was picking up on the Dark Lord’s soul in Harry.
It’s hinted that the reason that the Sorting Hat was considering putting Harry in Slytherin was because of the piece of Lord Voldemort ...
- 106k
24
votes
Accepted
Why did the Slytherin team opt for size over skill, given their many defeats?
The problem isn't the Slytherin team, it's being up against Harry.
The Slytherin Quidditch team is actually fairly good in general, either despite or because of their brutal tactics. The problem, ...
- 106k
21
votes
Why did the Slytherin team opt for size over skill, given their many defeats?
Speaking from the point of view of someone who participates in a physical contact dependent ball sport.
When skilled players are lacking, do not underestimate the advantage of shear brute strength in ...
- 2,644
19
votes
Why do less-bright students end up in Slytherin?
In addition to @Bellatrix's comprehensive answer, inbreeding also plays a role. Most Slytherins are pureblood supremacists and elitists, so they prefer to marry with other pure-bloods from a select ...
- 299
18
votes
Why do less-bright students end up in Slytherin?
While just a fanfic, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality gave a surprisingly good explanation that I like as headcanon. As we know from canon, the Sorting Hat sorts people based off of not ...
- 418
18
votes
Why exactly did the Sorting Hat originally want to put Harry in Slytherin?
Destiny for greatness
Because you know what Salazar Slytherin looked for in his chosen students? The seeds of greatness (Pottermore)
Harry was destined for greatness. Both in-universe (by the time ...
- 344k
18
votes
Accepted
Could a ghost Parselmouth open the Chamber of Secrets?
Yes, ghosts can open the Chamber of Secrets.
Opening the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets requires only speaking in Parseltongue. There are no other barriers to entry - it is opened by a password in ...
- 106k
15
votes
Why did the Basilisk in Harry Potter only listen to the Heir of Slytherin?
Only Parselmouths can control a basilisk, and the Heir was one.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them explains that only Parselmouths can control a basilisk.
“However, since Basilisks are ...
- 106k
15
votes
How can Ron know that Voldemort was in Slytherin if nobody knows his real identity?
Voldemort was indeed a known Parselmouth
Tom Riddle was a half-blood. The Riddle name did not belong to a known pureblood family. Therefore, Voldemort needed to show that he was great in some way, in ...
- 3,933
14
votes
Could a ghost Parselmouth open the Chamber of Secrets?
In Deathly Hallows, Ron opens the chamber by imitating the sounds Harry had previously used to open the locket:
Harry’s eyes dropped to the objects clutched in Ron and Hermione’s arms: great, curved ...
- 22.6k
13
votes
Why did the Slytherin team opt for size over skill, given their many defeats?
Your mistake is thinking it's a team sport.
In most games, the points difference based on goals is well below 150, meaning whoever catches the Snitch wins the match. As long as your team is good ...
- 4,583
12
votes
Accepted
Is there a reason why the Slytherin dormitories are in the dungeons?
Salazar probably just chose the location because he liked it.
Each house has their common room in a different location. The Gryffindor and Ravenclaw common rooms are both in towers, the Hufflepuff ...
- 106k
10
votes
Why did Hagrid say that all bad witches and wizards are from Slytherin?
Hagrid was generalizing - he probably wasn’t intending precision.
When Hagrid said “there wasn’t a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn’t in Slytherin”, he wasn’t likely intending precision or ...
- 106k
10
votes
Did Salazar Slytherin actually use the basilisk to kill anyone?
It doesn’t seem like Salazar Slytherin ever killed with the basilisk.
In the JKR writing on Pottermore about the Chamber of Secrets, it’s stated that Salazar Slytherin had decided before he was thrown ...
- 106k
9
votes
Why did the Slytherin team opt for size over skill, given their many defeats?
There are some good answers here, but one thing I haven't seen mentioned is the nature of Slytherin itself.
In other words, politics and social influence are likely to be more of a factor in ...
- 54.5k
9
votes
Accepted
Marvolo Gaunt's Wife
Dumbledore himself says in Half-Blood Prince that Gaunts had a tradition of marrying in their own family.
"Voldemort's grandfather, yes," said Dumbledore. "Marvolo, his son,
Morfin, ...
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9
votes
Why did Salazar Slytherin arm the Chamber of Secrets with a Basilisk?
Salazar’s reason is never truly confirmed.
It isn’t known for certain why Salazar Slytherin put the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. Though the often-cited explanation is that he did it so he or ...
- 106k
8
votes
Why do less-bright students end up in Slytherin?
If you have a clear idea on where you want to go, you go to that house.
Until Cursed Child came along, we never saw anybody unhappy with their sorting.
- 3,772
8
votes
Theoretically, would Harry have been able to control the basilisk, since part of the true heir of Slytherin survived inside him?
Harry might have been able to control the basilisk - he never tried.
Harry heard the basilisk in the pipes - but he never tried to speak to it, either when he heard it or when he was in the Chamber of ...
- 106k
8
votes
Accepted
Are there any good Slytherins besides Snape and Slughorn?
Merlin
From the Pottermore house entrance letter for Slytherin
"Here’s a little-known fact that the other three houses don’t bring up much: Merlin was a Slytherin. Yes, Merlin himself, the most ...
- 11k
8
votes
What do we know about the fight between Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor?
There’s some information, but few details.
The exact details of everything that happened leading up to Salazar Slytherin leaving Hogwarts aren’t all known, but in Harry’s fifth year, the Sorting Hat ...
- 106k
7
votes
Accepted
Who was Phineas Nigellus Black talking about?
It seems likely that he was referring to Slytherin House in general.
The members of Slytherin House are commonly most associated with dark magic, and the Dark Lord himself was a Slytherin. Slytherin ...
- 106k
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