Harry Potter: 9 Ways Slytherin Is The Best House

The Slytherin House in the Harry Potter series is usually placed as the villainous faction at Hogwarts due to Harry’s place in Gryffindor. There are even some played-out tropes related to Slytherin where it plays the stereotypical “evil” role, thanks to characters like Draco Malfoy being bullies. However, at its core, the House embodies traits and mannerisms that are actually not supposed to promote malicious behavior.

Characters like Voldemort, Horace Slughorn, Severus Snape, among others, displayed many attributes of Slytherin that made them better wizards than most. There’s also the fact that Slytherin House has feats and achievements that people from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw didn’t match, and it’s worth looking into how Slytherin may just be the best House.

9 Slytherin Values Ambition And Doesn’t Compromise On Success

There were many times in the series where the main characters forewent personal achievements in favor of group effort. While that’s not a bad thing, there’s also nothing wrong with Slytherin’s preference for ambition and excellence.

The House takes in students who have a real thirst for success, whose main desire is to reach great heights. This is so that students reach their full potential and learn not to be too emotional. There’s nothing in Slytherin that forces anyone to divorce themselves from emotion entirely, and the main purpose of ambition and success is for students to learn how to be their best selves.

8 They Have The Best Record In House Cup Victories

There were only three confirmed victories for Gryffindor during Harry’s time at Hogwarts, with it being stated that Slytherin had won the House Cup for the last six years running before Harry arrived. All things considered, Slytherin actually had a far better record than the other Houses.

Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff never had the reputation for winning, while Gryffindor’s resurgence was only during Harry’s time at Hogwarts. As far as the overall history goes, Slytherin tasted a lot more success, with the House also confirmed to have won more Quidditch trophies before Harry’s time.

7 The House Has Some Of The Most Powerful Witches & Wizards

There’s a reason why the Death Eaters usually won over the Order of the Phoenix, and that’s because Slytherins tended to be a class above other wizards. The House’s track record speaks for itself, with the likes of Merlin, Voldemort, Severus Snape, Bellatrix Lestrange, Antonin Dolohov, Horace Slughorn all hailing from Slytherin.

In comparison, only Gryffindor comes close to Slytherin in this regard, but even then most of the characters, like Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Professor McGonagall, had lost to the aforementioned Slytherins.

6 They Have The Most Style & Charisma

Fans have been known to be taken with Slytherins even if they’re meant to be bad, with Tom Riddle, Severus Snape, and Draco Malfoy all having large fanbases. Fans even like to “ship” Malfoy with Harry due to his charisma. In fact, most Slytherins achieved success because of their charisma and influence.

Tom Riddle was known for swaying people his way to achieve favor — including teachers from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw, while Lucius Malfoy cultivated partnerships in the Ministry through his charismatic demeanor. This flair for style and charisma is an area that Slytherins particularly thrive in and other Houses just can’t emulate.

5 Slytherins Aren’t Foolhardy And Think More Logically

Since the series is told from Harry’s point of view, readers and audiences are encouraged to follow his manner of emotional thinking. However, Harry’s actions do often have grave consequences and he has the habit of “playing the hero,” as Hermione puts it.

On the other hand, Slytherins — who are largely accused of being selfish — actually use more logic in their way of thinking. As shown with Snape, Slughorn, and Voldemort, Slytherins don’t jump into conflict for the sake of fighting but take their time to analyze the benefits and disadvantages of doing so. Through this, Slytherins are able to come up with tactical thinking that is ultimately far more rewarding in the result.

4 Slytherins Possess Natural Talent

It’s not all that common to find witches and wizards who don’t need to work on their skills much, although quite a few can be found in Slytherin. Voldemort was a natural even before he knew he was a wizard, while Snape’s secret as the Half-Blood Prince revealed he was an ace as a teenager whom adult wizards didn’t match.

Bellatrix Lestrange could be the thing of nightmares, having been shown taking on multiple wizards at the same time and making short work of them, in addition to her Occlumency mastery. Unlike Gryffindors, who are also largely talented by nature, Slytherin House encourages wizards to hone their skills instead of relying solely on their gifts.

3 They Tend To Reach Great Heights In Their Careers

In alignment with Slytherins’ ambitious nature, people from the House have the best chance of reaching great heights in their careers. This was shown with Horace Slughorn, Dolores Umbridge, Severus Snape, Merlin, and Phineas N. Black.

Slytherins like Lucius Malfoy are also known to be big names in business, with Malfoy being so independently wealthy that he was sought by the Minister himself hoping for gold investments. According to the Sorting Hat, Slytherin House is the place that greatness is encouraged the most.

2 Slytherins Value Love And Loyalty To Causes They Believe In

It’s not an accurate belief that Slytherins aren’t loyal, as there were many characters in the series who were just that. The truth is that Slytherins showcase their loyalties only to those they are completely attached to, meaning their friends and family.

The Malfoys are the greatest proof of this, as they abandoned their Death Eater ways to survive the Battle of Hogwarts by staying together. Even Bellatrix Lestrange, who was unhinged, by all means, was fully devoted to Voldemort due to her love for him.

1 They Do The Best They Can, Despite Facing Prejudice From The Other Houses

The Harry Potter series largely showed Slytherins being cowardly and unscrupulous, but a reason for students turning out this way was because of the undue judgment. As it goes, children are deemed to be “dark and evil” simply for being sorted into Slytherin, thereby automatically facing prejudice from the other three Houses.

With this in mind, it’s remarkable how many Slytherins actually ended up graduating from Hogwarts, since they had to face these assumptions and unfriendly behavior from other Houses for years in order to make it through school. All in all, Slytherins deserve credit for overcoming unfair assessments and doing the best they can.

About The Author

Saim Cheeda
(1347 Articles Published)

Saim Cheeda is an entertainment writer covering all of Film, TV, Gaming and Books. He’s been a writer for Valnet since 2017, contributing 500+ articles for The Gamer, The Things, Game Rant, Comic Book Resources and Screen Rant. Apart from freelance writing, Saim is a lifestyle blogger, co-owning the blog 3 States Apart.

http://3statesapart.com

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