When talking about Harry Potter Hogwarts houses, it’s often Slytherin that gets the worse reputation. This is largely because of the way Slytherin is portrayed in the books. While it doesn’t make a lot of sense, Slytherin is basically known as the evil house that’s most likely to produce bad witches and wizards. The Hogwarts house system in and of itself might be flawed, but the truth is that it’s not just Sltytherins who have negative traits. Many fans have pointed out that Slytherin and Gryffindor are two sides of the same coin. This is why we’ve put together a list of five times the Gryffindors were the worst house and five times it was the Slytherins.
SLYTHERIN: THINKING THEY ARE SMARTER AND PURER THAN EVERYONE ELSE
Slytherins are not known for their humbleness. Given that the house traits are associated with being cunning, resourceful and ambitious, it makes sense that this group of people isn’t shy about their accomplishments. Overall, most of the Slytherin students that we meet in the books are full of themselves. They often treat others with disdain and look down on them. Their perception that they are better than everyone else isn’t hidden at all and is out in the open.
GRYFFINDOR: THEIR GENERAL ARROGANCE AND THINKING THEY’RE THE BEST HOUSE
While Slytherins might be arrogant as well, it’s a toss-up as to which house is more prideful. Gryffindors also suffer from thinking they are the best house. They might not be as outright rude to other houses (except for Slytherin), but they do have an attitude that they are the best. In fact, some families such as the Weasleys seem to think that Gryffindor is the only acceptable house, even though Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw are also great options.
SLYTHERIN: NEVER BEING FRIENDS WITH PEOPLE FROM OTHER HOUSES
One of the big problems with the sorting system at Hogwarts is that it creates divisions between students. By sorting kids and teens into four different groups, obviously there is going to be fighting and cliques. While the Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Gryffindors do mingle with one another to some extent, the Slytherins mostly keep to themselves. They don’t want to be friends with students from other houses, and other students don’t want to be friends with them.
GRYFFINDOR: THE FAVORITISM FROM THE PROFESSORS
This point isn’t exactly an indictment of the Gryffindors themselves, but it does point to a bigger problem with the house system overall. It’s not just the Gryffindors who think they are the best house. Most of the professors, except for Snape of course, seem to favor them. But, the biggest offender of this is Dumbledore himself. Why he might have a vested interest in Harry, the way this presents as favoring Harry’s house isn’t cool. As headmaster, Dumbledore should be impartial.
SLYTHERIN: THE QUIDDITCH TEAM'S POOR SPORTSMANSHIP
It’s no secret that the Slytherins and Gryffindors have a heated rivalry. They see each other as basically opposites, which is funny because it’s not really true. This rivalry is especially clear when it comes to Quidditch. When playing the game, the Slytherin team is known to play dirty. While the Grynffindors might get more intense as well, the Slytherins are most likely to display poor sportsmanship by doing things like targeting Harry. Overall, their aggression on the Quidditch pitch goes way too far.
GRYFFINDOR: WHEN THEY WOULD WIN THE HOUSE CUP AFTER NOT EARNING IT
This is another thing that happens in Harry Potter that points to bigger problems with Hogwarts and how it’s run. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, for example, Slytherin has earned the House Cup. Then, because of the actions of a few Gryffindors, everything changes and Gryffindor is awarded the House Cup. This was clearly an example of Dumbledore showing favoritism.
SLYTHERIN: DRACO MALFOY AND HIS CRONIES BULLYING PEOPLE
The biggest problem with both Slytherin and Gryffindor boils down to the actions of just a few students. Most of the students are just living their lives and going to school, but there are some who are the worst. Draco and his group of friends are huge bullies. They are children of Death Eaters and therefore hold extremely bigoted beliefs. They bully all kinds of people and create a horrible reputation for Slytherin overall.
GRYFFINDOR: WHEN FRED AND GEORGE PRANKED OTHER PEOPLE
Fred and George are definitely fan favorite characters. With their mischievous personalities and inventive streaks, it’s no wonder fans adore them. But while they might be fun characters, they aren’t perfect. There are multiple times where they test their jokes and pranks on unsuspecting people, such as Dudley Dursley. While they might not mean serious harm, their disregard for rules and respect for others is at times problematic.
SLYTHERIN: THE BIGOTRY
This is definitely the biggest issue with Slytherin. For some reason, a house that’s associated with pure bloods and hatred of Muggle-borns is allowed to exist. While not everyone in the house has these beliefs, many of them do. There are multiple instances of Slytherin students calling Muggle-born students "mudbloods", which is considered a slur. While most of the worst offenses come from Draco Malfoy and Snape, some of the other Slytherins seem to agree.
GRYFFINDOR: HARRY POTTER
Many of the issues with Gryffindor, at least while Harry is at school, have to do with Harry himself. While it's hard to blame him because it’s not like he asked for many of the things that happened, the truth is that by being this special, chosen one it created issues. Harry was definitely the person who was causing trouble and then getting out of it. Students in other houses would understandably be annoyed by this.