Or, âthe negative treatment of Slytherin House in canon."Â
To me, "the Problem of Slytherinâ (which Iâve nicknamed based on the infamous âProblem of Susanâ from CS Lewis's Narnia) is one of the major flaws of the series. Not as bad as my issues with DH, certainly, but something that detracts from the series as a whole.Â
Again, this is a somewhat unpopular opinion: there are plenty of people who feel that the portrayal of Slytherin was fine as-is, many who argue that it was inevitable because of the booksâ first-person Gryffindor-centric POV, and some people who believe that an ambition-oriented House is more likely to produce evil people than one that values intelligence/wit, hard work/patience, or bravery/fame, particularly given Salazar Slytherinâs penchant for conflating greatness and blood purity, making a House that seems pre-made for prejudice.*Â
*I think that Slytherinâs orientation on blood-purity could have been written as something that was a rational response to his historical period, but I donât think that JKR intends it to be viewed that way. If mass persecutions were occurring and lots of wizards were dying, then you could make a case for hiding/not accepting Muggle-borns - but again, this is something thatâs more grounds for an AU fic based on what we know of Rowlingâs Wizarding history, in which witch-hunting/problems didnât get to be significant until three to four centuries after the Foundersâ era, and in which the dangers weren't that significant in any case. (Yes, thatâs no consolation to Nearly Headless Nick, but weâre led to believe that persecutions werenât that terrible a danger in the great scheme of things. In canon, Salazar Slytherin is not Wizarding Magneto, who believes that wizards need to create a wholly separate society of their own because the real world has given them concrete evidence theyâll never be accepted otherwise - although, again, I do believe that Salazar Slytherin-as-Wizard-Magneto, a man with some valid points but extreme views and methods, could successfully exist in fanfic.)
But, even given the idea that Slytherin held an indefensible, reactionary opinion for his own time, I believe that the books could have - and should have - written Slytherin differently. Because, as it is, there is a huge problem with the general portrayal of Slytherin characters, and, moreover, with the idea of House Unity and that entire theme, which became so important in OotP.
This is long, so Iâm placing it behind a cut.
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