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Upon the Differences between Ravenclaw and Slytherin Students

***For most Harry Potter fans, the difference between “smart” Ravenclaw students and “mischievous” Slytherin ones seems too obvious; however, looking at how the Sorting Hat defined each house in Philosopher’s Stone, it is not so vivid that one can be so sure about how they differ. The Hat said the Ravenclaws have “…a steady mind,/ Where those of wit and learning,/ Will always find their kind;” while the Slytherins are “Those cunning folk [who] use any means,/ To achieve their ends.” So, what is the difference between “wit” and “cunning”? The two major differences can be illustrated in two points: the “unit” they act for and the way they do to get to their target.

What the former point means is as follows. The educational heirs of Rowena Ravenclaw know that their intelligence is to be used to help others. Ravenclaw, the co-founder of Hogwarts has used a tricky, yet honest and smart, way to teach her students her opinion. While other houses’ students need to remember a password to get into their dormitory, each of the Ravenclaws has to answer a riddle instead. If he gets the answer wrong, however, he must wait for another student to come to help him. Needless to say, this effectively teaches the young minds the importance of asking for help from others, no matter how clever one is. On the other hand, the Slytherins will act if and only if the action benefits *them. For example, even though Draco Malfoy didn’t want to fulfill his duty of killing Albus Dumbledore, he did fix the gateway in the Room of Requirement to help other Death Eaters to roam Hogwarts. He knew that he would be punished to death if he had refused the job, so he thought he had no choice, which was not true at all.

The other striking difference is the “means”, as stated in the Sorting Hat’s song, one uses to reach the goal. When confronted with Dolores Jane Umbridge, a cruel woman disguised herself in pink clothes and sweet voice, some of Ravenclaw students who are brave enough joined Harry and his friends to build Dumbledore’s Army, an organization to teach proper Defense Against the Dark Arts course. The motive is that they want to be “safe” from the Ministry of Magic’s plan to interfere the education at the school. At the same time, however, Malfoy and some other Slytherins chose to take Umbridge’s side out of the very same motive, that is, to be “safe”. Time has demonstrated which choice was morally better.

Just these two differences should be enough to show that, even though the Sorting Hat didn’t drew the line between “wit” and “cunning” clearly, we can recognize in the course of reading that there is a clear-cut difference between the Ravenclaws and the Slytherins. In conclusion, according to Dumbledore, it is one’s choice, in this case the “to whom” and “how” **aspects of both house’s students’ deeds, that makes one’s characteristics, not one’s ability.

* Corrected by Microsoft Word
** "-s" added later
*** A sentence is deleted due to Pantip.com's Nomjin's advice.

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Create Date : 18 มิถุนายน 2552

Last Update : 7 ตุลาคม 2554 22:04:57 น.

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