I think Dumbledore was a Slytherin.

[Drakie Cakie]

I mean, most expect him to be a Gryffindor because that's the main House mentioned in the books, but after reading DH, I think he's a Slytherin. He's manipulative, sneaky, clever, and quite a bit selfish if what he said about himself and Grindlewald was true.

What do you think?

 

[Shi-koi]

I'd have to agree. He wasn't very Gryffindor-ish was he? I think he was either a Slytherin, or a Ravenclaw, which is how he managed to rationalise his behaviour and views of doing everything for the 'greater good'.

 

[LilMeady]

I don't believe he was a Slytherin. Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. There is a fine line between the houses so just because he was nseaky, manipulative and such does not automatically put him into Slytherin. He could be a Ravenclaw because he thought everything over and attempted rationality. Or he was a Gryffindor with Slytherin tendencies. I hardly see a Slytherin type being like Dumbledore, preaching how important love is and such.  

[Sirius Black-Snuffles]

I do believe Jo has said he was Gryffindor. And I don't see it hard to believe. I mean, he did have to defeat Grindelwald--his love. That takes a very brave person.

Perhaps he had some Slytherin tendencies, but if you take a good hard look at yourself and people around you, no one is truly one thing or another.

Besides which, look at Peter Pettigrew. He wasn't much of a Gryffindor later in life, yet, there he was with the Marauders.

I'm tired and sick, forgive my incoherency. It sounded good in my head. ^_^  

[Pearls of Dimond]

I don't recall Jo saying he was Gryffindor, but I'm happy to believe you if you find it.
Another example: Severus Snape. I know not everyone agrees with me, but even Dumbledore said that he thought Severus was sorted too soon and ended up better than what was given to him.
I've thought he was in Ravenclaw for a while now.  

[Kiera Greyback]

That is quite possible.

I mean, look at Regulus. He was a Slytherin, did some bad things, realized the error of his ways, and made the ultimate sacrifice to right things.

Sound familiar?  

[[Ren The Ryoko]]

In the Goblet of Fire film, when Dumbledore is in Harry's dormitory he says: "I never liked these curtains. Set them on fire in my fourth year"


I think it's incredibly hard to actually sort people, and it doesn't help that the qualities of each house seem to CHANGE from book to book. Slytherin house seems to wobble from "Oh, those rich a*****e kids" or "ambitious and cunning" to "all the whinny cowards we hate", and it's really frustrating.  

[Kiera Greyback]

[Ren The Ryoko]

In the Goblet of Fire film, when Dumbledore is in Harry's dormitory he says: "I never liked these curtains. Set them on fire in my fourth year"


I think it's incredibly hard to actually sort people, and it doesn't help that the qualities of each house seem to CHANGE from book to book. Slytherin house seems to wobble from "Oh, those rich a*****e kids" or "ambitious and cunning" to "all the whinny cowards we hate", and it's really frustrating.

With Slytherin you've pretty much got a house full of this. In a word, schismatic. What you posted made me think immediately of Raskolnikov and Hamlet for some reason.

Anyway, I'm a huge fan of that sort of archetype, so I don't have a problem with it, but yeah, I can see how Slytherin could get on readers' nerves.  

[[Ren The Ryoko]]

Kiera Greyback

[Ren The Ryoko]

In the Goblet of Fire film, when Dumbledore is in Harry's dormitory he says: "I never liked these curtains. Set them on fire in my fourth year"


I think it's incredibly hard to actually sort people, and it doesn't help that the qualities of each house seem to CHANGE from book to book. Slytherin house seems to wobble from "Oh, those rich a*****e kids" or "ambitious and cunning" to "all the whinny cowards we hate", and it's really frustrating.

With Slytherin you've pretty much got a house full of this. In a word, schismatic. What you posted made me think immediately of Raskolnikov and Hamlet for some reason.

Anyway, I'm a huge fan of that sort of archetype, so I don't have a problem with it, but yeah, I can see how Slytherin could get on readers' nerves.

I like Slytherins generally. I just really dislike the way JKR pigeon-holed them as bad guys inherently a lot of times.  

[The Insane Azrael]

I like the fact that she has them as the bad-guys.

They are as a majority, powerful, cunning, and cutt-throat.
Those qualities by default, are likely to put you at risk for doing wonderfully terrible things. After all, absolute power corrupts corrupts absolutely. This is why slytherins like spoiler? Snape are so amazing, or the Malfoy's so complex. They are raised and molded around a certain pure-blood ideology, that they are better and that they have to do anything to prove it. Every house follows an Archtype or even a stereo type.

The Gryfindors are also, very brash, very rude, and very rowdy and defiant by nature. Take into account the fact that they are sorted when they are about 11-12 and well.....At that the age, most children lack certain complexities because they have not yet been exposed to life.

However, Dumbledore did show a lot of brave qualities and there are many illusions, if not confirmations that he was in Gryfindor house. Particularly the line about him setting the drapes on fire.