J.K. Rowling Has Advice For Slytherins

Now that the Sorting Hat is back, the Hogwarts Houses are a subject of conversation again. We all know the basic breakdown. For obvious reasons, most people hope they get sorted into Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. If you can’t be in Harry’s house, you might as well be in the cleverest of them all. The bottom rung, traditionally, are considered to be Slytherin and Hufflepuff, in that order. Let’s face it, nobody wants to be Hufflepuff. They are the janitors of the wizarding world. Like, the bootblacks even. The wizarding world needs ditch diggers, too. Slytherin is a special case. There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with the house per se, except for the whole “personification of racism and evil” thing. But they have some good qualities. According to the Harry Potter wikia, “Slytherins tend to be ambitious, shrewd, cunning, strong leaders, and achievement-oriented. They also have highly developed senses of self-preservation.” They’re basically the cutthroat CEOs of the wizarding world. Think Jordan Belfort, the Koch Brothers, or Elon Musk. Maybe not your best friend, but someone you’d want heading your corporation. Still, people don’t want to be sorted into the house. Must be something along the lines of “Slytherin is a racist house full of assholes.” Hmm. But if you do find yourself sorted into Slytherin, J.K. Rowling has some trenchant advice for you:

Curse them, indeed.