" I always knew Salazar Slytherin was a twisted old loony, but I never knew he started all this pure-blood stuff. Interestingly, Bellatrix Lestrange held feelings for Tom Riddle himself, which was a factor in her fanatical devotion to the Death Eaters although Lord Voldemort was incapable of loving her in return, the existence of Delphini suggests that there was at least some kind of intimacy between them.Īlthough Merope Riddle likely never attended Hogwarts and therefore wouldn't have been sorted into Slytherin at all, she was a descendant of Slytherin himself and fit the pattern of those sorted into his house, as she held deep and unreturned feelings for Tom Riddle Snr, who often travelled by her house on his carriage. Although some Slytherins, such as Tom Riddle, were incapable of feeling love at all, those that did were known to cherish their passion abidingly and unconditionally, although often tragically due to an inability to act appropriately on their feelings. Severus Snape and the Bloody Baron held abiding but unreturned feelings for Lily Evans and Helena Ravenclaw, respectively. They were often self-assured and confident of their own competence and can be very loyal.Īnother characteristic some Slytherins share was a tendency towards deep, unrequited love. Slytherins tended to take charge and possessed strong leadership skills. Dumbledore noted that all of these were qualities possessed by Harry Potter, who was a Gryffindor but was almost placed in Slytherin. This means that Slytherins tended to hesitate before acting, so as to weigh all possible outcomes before deciding exactly what should be done.Īccording to Albus Dumbledore, the qualities which Salazar valued in the students he had chosen included cleverness, resourcefulness, determination, and " a certain disregard for the rules". They also had highly developed senses of self-preservation. Slytherins tended to be ambitious, shrewd, cunning, strong leaders, and achievement-oriented. Slytherin's views at the time could be attributed to the persecution of witches and wizards at the hand of Muggles during that century. The chamber was opened twice and the Serpent of Slytherin was killed the second time by Harry Potter in 1992. When Slytherin departed Hogwarts, he would leave behind the Chamber of Secrets with the purpose of an heir opening the chamber one day and unleashing a means of purging the school of those who, in his view, were unworthy to study magic: Muggle-borns. Such an argument would be forever known as the origin of the feud between their two houses and also made them the houses that are most competitive. Slytherin later decided to leave the school when an argument started between him and Gryffindor, and they either duelled or started a civil war between the two houses. Slytherin's opposition over the idea to allow witches and wizards from Half-blood and Muggle-born heritage to enrol at Hogwarts during its foundation created great controversy at the school and it was the root of a feud between former friends Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor. The colours also corresponded with waters around lakes and lochs often being green, and silver being often associated with grey rainwater. Similarly, in Celtic mythology, water is seen as a portal to another world, leading some to speculate that the element was chosen to symbolise many Slytherins' hope for a pure-blood only community.
Slytherin corresponded roughly with the element of water due to serpents being commonly associated with the sea and lochs in western European mythology, as well as serpents being physically fluid and flexible animals. The patron ghost of the house was the Bloody Baron. There were two notable heads of the house Horace Slughorn took the role twice (first leaving in 1981 and then taking the role again from 1997 until leaving before 2016), and Severus Snape. The emblematic animal of the house was a snake and the house's colours were green and silver. However, a Muggle-born student from that house was considered to be quite rare. Students of any blood status could be placed in the house. The founder highly valued and favoured pure-blood students and the Sorting Hat admitted that it could be a factor when being sorted. Examples of these included Draco Malfoy's gang, Merula Snyde's gang, Pansy Parkinson's gang and the Death Eaters. Many Slytherin students tended to clique together, often acquiring leaders, which further exemplified Slytherin's ambitious qualities.
Those characteristics included cunning, resourcefulness, leadership, and ambition. In establishing the house, Salazar instructed the Sorting Hat to pick students who had a few particular characteristics he most valued. Slytherin was one of the four Houses at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, founded by Salazar Slytherin.