Yes, the House divide has been around for a very, very long time.
It surprises me that a fandom that has so much sympathy for Snape, who has a lot of issues and has done a lot of horrible things, has almost none for a frightened seventeen-year-old witch.
Ya know, I really do agree with all of this. It would have been completely unrealistic to see them do a complete turnaround. However, I DO think that at LEAST a couple Slytherins would have stayed to fight. I'm in a few sorting comms, and I brought this up to the Slytherins, and to be honest, most said, "I'd save my ass and run!" There were a few though, that said they'd stay and fight. One of which gave me the humorous response of, "I'd leave, but then come back with a machine gun." Bottom line is...realistically, a FEW would have stayed, right?
Either way, you're completely right about Dumbledore being biased towards Gryffindor. There was a Gryff bias through the whole book (which was to be expected I suppose, but nonetheless...) But yes. There should have been house unity from day one.
I don't think the Slytherins believed that a few students and teachers could actually stand long against to the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters, much less win. The Slytherins probably knew more about the terror the DEs could inflict and knew if they crossed that line, they were committing suicide. In their perspective, the Dark Lord had already won. He controlled the Ministry, the school and they didn't want to become the outcasts or the hunted in the new regime. No, they weren't going to be foolish and fight against the Dark Lord, even if they really wanted him gone inside.
She acted in a canon way, what's wrong with that? That doesn't make her a bad witch. It all depends on who you believe. Really, I don't find it hard at all to assume the line that Dumbledore and Grindelwald thought about, with wizards governing Muggles. It makes sense. The Death Eaters took it to an extreme.
And, yes, she was terribly frightened. She was protecting herself, those she loved, and those she was responsible for.
As for keeping your head down, Pansy and the Malfoys weren't the only ones doing that. I didn't see Arthur and Molly standing up right away to do battle--no, they stayed quiet and "behaved" so that their children would be protected. I would have, too.
People are now blaming Pansy because of how Slytherin house was treated. She's become the scapegoat of Slytherin House apparently! She stood up because she knew they were all thinking the same thing: Give up Potter or let's get the hell out of here!
I can't wait to write this scene from Pansy's perspective. As soon as I get my WIP done. (Chapter 17 now...)
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It surprises me that a fandom that has so much sympathy for Snape, who has a lot of issues and has done a lot of horrible things, has almost none for a frightened seventeen-year-old witch.
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Either way, you're completely right about Dumbledore being biased towards Gryffindor. There was a Gryff bias through the whole book (which was to be expected I suppose, but nonetheless...) But yes. There should have been house unity from day one.
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And, yes, she was terribly frightened. She was protecting herself, those she loved, and those she was responsible for.
As for keeping your head down, Pansy and the Malfoys weren't the only ones doing that. I didn't see Arthur and Molly standing up right away to do battle--no, they stayed quiet and "behaved" so that their children would be protected. I would have, too.
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I can't wait to write this scene from Pansy's perspective. As soon as I get my WIP done. (Chapter 17 now...)
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