Harry Potter and the Slytherin Selection
Will Lestrange
June 2017
Have you ever found yourself wishing you could find a more realistic perspective on Slytherin House? I definitely have; this is why fan fictions which focus on Slytherins – and especially those in which Harry Potter is Sorted there – are one of my guilty pleasures.
Several years ago, I discovered an amazing in-progress series written by "DrizzleWizzle" which was dedicated to answering the question: "what if Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy became friends outside Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions... and then Harry went into Slytherin as a result?"
The idea was to have one story for each year of Harry's Hogwarts career; as of now, five are completed and the sixth has just been started. I will refer to the series by the name of the first story, "Harry Potter and the Slytherin Selection."
If you aren't sure whether or not the series is right for you, I recommend starting with the first story; at seven chapters (the site will claim eight, but the last chapter is simply an excerpt from the next story used as a teaser), it is a refreshingly short read... and it's actually HOL friendly, rated K+ (the later stories are slightly more mature in theme and therefore rated T for teenagers).
I found myself loving the series when I first started reading it; the perspective on Slytherin House was fascinating and this version of Harry seemed infinitely more interesting than JKR's Gryffindor version. An excerpt from the first chapter should give you a nice taste of what the story is like (they are on the Hogwarts Express):
"I can't wait to tell my mother and father," said Pansy. "Harry Potter, right here in my compartment!"
"It isn't a big deal," said Harry. Desperate to distract Pansy, he asked her the only thing he knew about Hogwarts. "So, what House do you want to be sorted into?"
Pansy's mood changed as if a switch had been flipped. "Slytherin, of course. As if any other choice would be acceptable." Pansy turned to Draco. "Was he raised by Muggles?"
"Actually, yes," said Draco.
Pansy spun to Harry. "No!"
Harry nodded. "Yes."
"Oh, was it horrible? Were they awful beasts?"
"How do you know my aunt and uncle?" Harry said, cracking a smile. Pansy laughed.
If you enjoy this type of humor, want to see a view of Slytherin House through non-Gryffindor-colored lenses, or if you simply wish that Harry Potter was more pragmatic and less prone to acting without thinking or planning, then this will be a great series for you. I should warn you a few things, though, about the series as a whole:
-Each story is significantly longer than the one before it (the fifth one, "Harry Potter and the Emerald Trance," is 62 chapters long – and took nearly two years for the author to complete.)
-Only the first story is HOL-appropriate; the later ones get edgier and darker as Harry's years move further on.
-The deeper you read, the more apparent it will become that in this universe, most Slytherins seem to have no true friends. Rather, Slytherin "friendship," even in-House, seems to be more like "pretending to be nice to someone to take advantage of them." And by the end, the fact that Harry was possibly the ONLY person in Slytherin who wished to make actual friends almost seemed to serve as proof that Harry belonged in Gryffindor instead of Slytherin. This sits with me as wrong, especially when the first thing we hear the Sorting Hat say about Slytherin is "Or perhaps in Slytherin, you'll make your real friends."
-Finally, the series was last updated, early into the sixth book, nearly a year ago... so there's a legitimate chance that it may have been abandoned. But don't let that small detail prevent you from enjoying the first five stories!
Have you ever found yourself wishing you could find a more realistic perspective on Slytherin House? I definitely have; this is why fan fictions which focus on Slytherins – and especially those in which Harry Potter is Sorted there – are one of my guilty pleasures.
Several years ago, I discovered an amazing in-progress series written by "DrizzleWizzle" which was dedicated to answering the question: "what if Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy became friends outside Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions... and then Harry went into Slytherin as a result?"
The idea was to have one story for each year of Harry's Hogwarts career; as of now, five are completed and the sixth has just been started. I will refer to the series by the name of the first story, "Harry Potter and the Slytherin Selection."
If you aren't sure whether or not the series is right for you, I recommend starting with the first story; at seven chapters (the site will claim eight, but the last chapter is simply an excerpt from the next story used as a teaser), it is a refreshingly short read... and it's actually HOL friendly, rated K+ (the later stories are slightly more mature in theme and therefore rated T for teenagers).
I found myself loving the series when I first started reading it; the perspective on Slytherin House was fascinating and this version of Harry seemed infinitely more interesting than JKR's Gryffindor version. An excerpt from the first chapter should give you a nice taste of what the story is like (they are on the Hogwarts Express):
"I can't wait to tell my mother and father," said Pansy. "Harry Potter, right here in my compartment!"
"It isn't a big deal," said Harry. Desperate to distract Pansy, he asked her the only thing he knew about Hogwarts. "So, what House do you want to be sorted into?"
Pansy's mood changed as if a switch had been flipped. "Slytherin, of course. As if any other choice would be acceptable." Pansy turned to Draco. "Was he raised by Muggles?"
"Actually, yes," said Draco.
Pansy spun to Harry. "No!"
Harry nodded. "Yes."
"Oh, was it horrible? Were they awful beasts?"
"How do you know my aunt and uncle?" Harry said, cracking a smile. Pansy laughed.
If you enjoy this type of humor, want to see a view of Slytherin House through non-Gryffindor-colored lenses, or if you simply wish that Harry Potter was more pragmatic and less prone to acting without thinking or planning, then this will be a great series for you. I should warn you a few things, though, about the series as a whole:
-Each story is significantly longer than the one before it (the fifth one, "Harry Potter and the Emerald Trance," is 62 chapters long – and took nearly two years for the author to complete.)
-Only the first story is HOL-appropriate; the later ones get edgier and darker as Harry's years move further on.
-The deeper you read, the more apparent it will become that in this universe, most Slytherins seem to have no true friends. Rather, Slytherin "friendship," even in-House, seems to be more like "pretending to be nice to someone to take advantage of them." And by the end, the fact that Harry was possibly the ONLY person in Slytherin who wished to make actual friends almost seemed to serve as proof that Harry belonged in Gryffindor instead of Slytherin. This sits with me as wrong, especially when the first thing we hear the Sorting Hat say about Slytherin is "Or perhaps in Slytherin, you'll make your real friends."
-Finally, the series was last updated, early into the sixth book, nearly a year ago... so there's a legitimate chance that it may have been abandoned. But don't let that small detail prevent you from enjoying the first five stories!