It was foreshadowed in book 5 with the Hat's song, but never happened.

Even in the end, it seemed to me that Puffs, Claws and Gryffindors were united and friends like always and that Slytherin was the odd one out.

I personally don't blame the kids for not wanting to fight, after all they were against an immortal monster and his dark army, while they were only 17 years old inexperienced fighters. However, I feel there could be other ways to achieve Unity. Maybe have a couple of Slytherins in DA or something.

Did you feel House Unity was achieved? If not, why did you think Slytherin stood out so much as the odd one out?

 

House unity is for communists.

 

People are different. Unity is a lie.

 

Could you not argue that during book 7 the division in Hogwarts is not between the Houses, but between those who support the regime and those who are targeted by it?

 

I think that there was a moment in the last book, right after Pansy Parkinson commanded someone, anyone, to grab Harry so that he could be handed over to the Dark Lord. That was the moment when even the majority of Slytherins agreed with everyone else that 'Wow; some Slytherins just suck at that humanity thing.'

 

It wasn't only in book 7, in all books Slytherin seemed to be the odd one out.

Also, weren't pretty much all Death Eaters except Pettigrew in Slytherin?

Slughorn and Snape were Slytherins and against Voldemort but they were treated like exceptions to the rule.

The Slytherins didn't say anything so I don't know about that. Also, I think people are too hard on Pansy, she was a scared little girl.

 

Because Slytherin seems to exist to be the House that all the psychopathic little fucks are sorted into so the other Houses don't have to deal with them. And uniting with said psychopaths would probably be a bad idea. Shows what old talking hats know.

 

I maintain that Sorting is a stupendously terrible idea and the last time it was useful and relevant was a millennium ago.

 

It's really not honestly. It makes sense to divide the kids into groups or classes somehow. Every school in the real world does it, it's simply easier than trying to manage all the kids at once and it gives the kids who are away from all their family and existing friends a group that can act like a family. A lot of modern boarding schools have houses almost exactly like the Hogwarts ones, maybe they don't use a magic hat to decide who goes where but it does the same job.

 

In the real world it may be a bad idea (even though in schools, students will form cliques anyway), but in the HP world it doesn't appear to be. Slytherin was the only problem, the other houses were fine.

 

Its ilke groups in camps. Group Blue, Group Orange etc, it reinforces school spirit, competitiveness (which maintained to healthy levels is great for any environment), gives young children away from home a “safe” place and gives elder students some sense of responsibilities towards both the school and the younger students, makes administrative divisions easier, so it goes.

 

Guys, lets stop discussing about whether the House system is good and focus on the subject of the thread.

Why was Slytherin so different? The rest of the Houses seems united since day one. In Quidditch matches the other Houses were cheering for anyone except Slytherin, in the end of book 1 the other Houses were cheering because Slytherin lost (and it was actually mentioned that they were cheering at Slytherin's loss, not Gryffindor's victory), the twins were booing when some random 11 year olds got sorted into Slytherin, there was no Slytherin in DA (in fact many of them supported Umbridge), Hagrid says they're the bad house.

Why do you think Slytherin was so isolated? I understand they're somewhat morally ambiguous because many people don't view traits like "ambition" and "self interest" in a positive light, but they can't be all that bad, can they?

If Rowling foreshadowed House Unity, why didn't she go with it? Or was it never intended to happen?

 

Regarding the houses cheering Slytherin's losses, that can be put down to the fact that Slytherin had a very good record in Quidditch and House cups before Harry arrived. Winning competitions like that creates a mentality where people will be overjoyed at seeing them fail.

Think about the Premier League over the last twenty years. You'll often hear people claiming to be fans of "ABU" or "Anybody but United."

It's not that something was inherently wrong with the club to be so despised, it was because they won it way more than any other team.

 

That's only your interpretation. Also, the Slytherins didn't have a good record since Harry started attending Hogwarts.

 

Because they're practically "The Evil House."

Well, we never really see a good Slytherin (EDIT: In recent generations anyway). And the Sorting process filters out virtues like bravery, intelligence and loyalty, meaning Slytherins lack all three of those.

 

I don't think that just because you belong to a certain House you lack any traits of the other Houses. Harry was brave but also loyal. Hermione was brave but also loyal, intelligent and even ambitious.

It's only the SLytherins that are shown in a black and white way, really

 

Well they're books. Interpretation is kind of the point. Your rebuttal doesn't carry weight because a few wins from other teams doesn't extinguish the bias against a house that's won for years.

Regardless of that though your point is moot from the start because the majority of Slytherin fought against Voldemort in the Battle of Hogwarts.

Sequence of events goes like this:

1. Voldemort issues ultimatum.
2. Slytherins are escorted out of the hall and into the dungeons.
3. Voldemort brags about Slytherin already joining their side.
4. Slughorn leading the charge of Slytherins to aid the defenders and helping to tip the Battle.

That's what JKR wrote and what she intended to happen. In an interview she stated that it was one of the moments that made her smile while writing.

True house Unitu of course would take a generation or two but the sorting hat wasn't talking in those terms. The Slytherins fought the good fight as a majority in the end.

 

This was never mentioned in the books, was it?

 

Being cunning isn't necessarily a bad thing imo, it could imply that you're what people call "street smarts". Even character like Harry and Hermione were cunning sometimes.