Ah, fair enough. Looks like we more-or-less agree, then. Something would have to change for Harry to change his opinion from "Not Slytherin, put me anywhere but Slytherin."

I don't think it would necessarily have to be a massive change, but even small change is still a change.

 

You're assuming Snape is a rational individual who treats people based on their behaviour and character. I don't think this is true. Snape's opinion and treatment of Harry are completely unrelated to Harry's actions, his behaviour, or his character. Snape had an idea of what Harry would be like prior to his entering Hogwarts and anything Harry did or didn't do was twisted to fit this idea.

 

Exactly. This is Snape we are talking about, the same man who favors Draco and his goons, even though they are worse than the Marauders ever were.

 

Yeah, I have to agree that Snape is capable of (maybe, eventually) realizing that Harry's different from his perspective if that fact clubs him over the head enough times. Though how he would react to that is rather unclear; Snape doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would react well to having his perceptions challenged. Not to mention his Harry-hate is tied into a ton of unresolved issues from his childhood and early adult life, which makes all of his reactions inherently unpredictable. As mentioned, there are a ton of differenent directions you could take his PoV on Harry that would all be reasonable in such an AU.

On a semi-related note, I do have to wonder if Snape's reaction would have been different if Harry didn't look so much like his father. After all, everyone always says Harry's practically a clone of James aside from having his mother's eyes. If the DNA jumbled up sightly differently and Harry wound up with more of his mother's looks, would Snape have had a bit less of a bias against him? Or maybe Snape would have hated him more because it would twist the knife over the fact that he was responsible for Lily's death?

Ah, the fun of speculation.

 

IMO while Harry not having Lily's eyes could make it so he reminded Snape a bit less of Lily, the fact is that he's still the son of the only woman Snape's ever loved with another dude who used to pick on him.
It could have been less bad but I don't think it'd be different.

 

Snape treating Harry less badly is, by definition, different.

Now, obviously Snape wouldn't get completely over his Harry-hate just because Harry's hair or eyes were a different color. The man had a ton of baggage that would inevitably attach itself to any child of Lily and James. But I do find something intriguing in the idea that at least some of Snape's hostility towards Harry was based on the fact that Harry looks like James writ small.

It might be fun to write a story that actually plays out some of those tiny little changes that could eventually add up to something big. The idea that if Harry had his mother's hair color instead of his father's, it could actually end up making his life significantly different intrigues me.

 

I suspect Snape would have an aneurysm - the son of his hated rival and tormentor in his own House is just making a mockery of Snape and everything he's worked for. Notwithstanding his love for Lily.

 

If I had Snape as a teacher and he bullied me in some way, I'd probably crack and quit Hogwarts.

 

For a real answer? He would probably be in disbelief. He had built up this mental image of Harry being like his father and to have that swiftly crushed would just throw him for a loop, he wouldn't really know what to do. He would probably just let everything just play out, you know, keep his distance.

 

This is all making me wonder what would happen if Draco was sorted to Gryffindor.

Then again, I bet there's already a fic like this.

 

His father would hear about it.

 

If Lucius can't handle the shame he would probably have Draco transferred to Durmstrang.

 

Even the Malfoys have to have had some of their members placed in houses other than Slytherin. Hell, it's not as though Voldemort's supporters all came from Slytherin either.

 

'Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been - imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?' (PS5)

 

Given the way the hat works, the only way I could see it not putting Draco into Slytherin would be if Draco was a very different person. After all, canon!Draco really wanted to be in Slytherin.

It does occur that Draco isn't really all that much of a Slytherin when it comes to his traits, either. I mean, let's look at the classic Slytherin qualities:

1: Cunning. Not really, aside from a few bits of low cunning/opportunism.

2: Ambition. Draco doesn't seem to have much in the way of ambition, beyond "show up Potter and his friends."

3: Resourcefulness. Not unless you count being really free with Daddy's money.

Really, Draco's not much of a Slytherin at all. He's a pampered little shit whose ancestors were all good Slytherins who secured the family legacy and passed it down to him.

 

If Crabbe and Goyle can get into Slytherin, so can Malfoy. Remember that the Sorting Hat takes personal preference into account. But yeah, Harry is probably more Slytherin (more cunning and resourceful anyway, dunno about ambition) than Malfoy.

 

Yeah, that was my point. Draco got into Slytherin purely because he really wanted to be a Slytherin, not because he has any of the classic Slytherin virtues. Which means that a non-Slytherin Draco would have to have a totally different outlook on the houses.

 

Seriously, if Snape actually judged on character, he would loathe Draco.