Fans of the Harry Potter series have been assigning themselves to one of the four Hogwarts houses for decades, and with the approaching release of the video game Hogwarts Legacy, they will finally be able to live out their fantasy of belonging to that house. So far, the game has teased the ability to select the preferred house, giving players access to the common rooms and specific characters. So whether a fan calls themselves a Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin, the new title will have a place for them.
While each house has positive and negative qualities, no house has developed the "bad guy" reputation like Slytherin. Of course, this doesn't mean every Slytherin is evil, but their ambition can easily take them in that direction. The Harry Potter series had various Slytherin characters, from teachers and mothers to ministry officials and Death Eaters. Each individual was unique, and their quotes from the books and movies perfectly sum up their cunning personalities.
Bellatrix Lestrange
"How Dare You Speak His Name! You Filthy Half-Blood!"
Bellatrix Lestrange was born into the Black family, one of the oldest and purest in wizarding Britain. She married into the Lestranges, whose history in the Dark Arts went even deeper. Therefore, Voldemort's mission to return power to the "best" of the wizarding world caused Bellatrix to revere him as a god.
Bellatrix's quote summarizes her reverence for her lord and her disgust against anyone whose magical lineage isn't pure. Ultimately, it was her only value, and she died for it.
Phineas Nigellus Black
"Never Try To Understand The Students. They Hate It. They Would Much Rather Be Tragically Misunderstood, Wallow In Self-Pity, Stew In Their Own —"
Phineas Nigellus Black was Sirius' great-great-grandfather and has often been regarded as the least liked headmaster Hogwarts had ever seen. He was known to be cruel in punishment, especially when it came to the Muggle-born students.
While Professor Black had died long before Harry attended Hogwarts, he became acquainted with the old headmaster's portrait that hung at Grimmauld Place and in Dumbledore's office. Phineas Nigellus wasn't all bad and could be helpful, but he had little interest in healthy student relationships.
Horace Slughorn
"Ten Galleons A Leaf To The Right Buyer! ... Not That I'm Familiar With Any Such Back Alley Transactions, But One Does Hear Rumors. My Own Interests Are Purely Academic, Of Course."
Horace Slughorn is an excellent example of an ambitious Slytherin without an affinity for Dark magic. Where other Slytherins used their cunning to gain power over others, Professor Slughorn aimed only at achieving a life of luxury and comfort.
To maintain his lavish lifestyle, Slughorn had no problem bending the rules here and there to develop personal relationships with potentially powerful students and to participate in likely less-than-legal means to earn money. While he claimed to be ignorant of the ways of the black market, Slughorn often demonstrated that there was very little he was genuinely clueless to.
Narcissa Malfoy
"Is Draco Alive? Is He In The Castle?"
Narcissa Malfoy became one of the more sympathetic villains, but this wasn't because she wasn't wicked. On the contrary, Narcissa never demonstrated any remorse for the deaths of others and seemed to be no more empathetic than her purely evil sister, Bellatrix.
However, Narcissa was relatable because while she gave no regard for others, she would do absolutely anything for her son. She was a mother first, and if she had to betray the most powerful wizard in the world and save her enemy to ensure Draco's survival, she would do it without hesitation.
Lucius Malfoy
"And You Must Be Miss Granger. Yes, Draco's Told Me All About You. And Your Parents. Muggles, Aren't They? Let Me See. Red Hair...Vacant Expressions...Tatty Secondhand Book...You Must Be The Weasleys."
Death Eaters are drawn to power for several reasons, but for Lucius Malfoy, everything came down to status. The Malfoys were rich and powerful, and they all knew it. Lucius' greatest ambitions were within the Ministry, and he saw Voldemort as the perfect way to clear "unworthy" wizarding families out of government.
However, since Lucius was ultimately only loyal to his ambitions, he assured his own downfall. He continuously let his powerful master down as he sought his own success, resulting in a fall from grace that he would never recover from.
Draco Malfoy
"Famous Harry Potter. Can't Even Go Into A Book Shop Without Making The Front Page."
Draco Malfoy's quotes proved he was a true Slytherin with a weakness for the Dark Arts, but the end of the Harry Potter series revealed that he wasn't a purely bad person. Ultimately, he was the product of his family's legacy and learned from his father that there was nothing more important than power.
Draco often pretended that his hatred meant he had the ability to murder, but that was never true. Instead, much of Draco's hatred came down to envy. Famous Harry Potter had the kind of influence the Malfoy heir desperately craved, yet he was still infuriatingly good.
Cornelius Fudge
"He's Not Back."
For the first few installments of Harry Potter, the Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge was jovial and good-natured, even a little silly. Harry liked him well enough, but that all changed when the Slytherin alumn felt threatened.
Like many Slytherins, Fudge valued power. However, he was more like Slughorn in that he preferred to enjoy his power in comfort, not blood and turmoil. Therefore, when his cozy life was threatened, he responded with denial and anger, becoming an entirely unrecognizable person, which resulted in the Ministry doing some of the worst things to Harry.
Dolores Umbridge
"Deep Down, You Know That You Deserve To Be Punished."
Dolores Umbridge is likely the single most despised Slytherin of all time, far outranking Voldemort in many fans' eyes. Her lawful evil morality alignment meant that she was infuriatingly secure that her actions were right, even though they caused devastation for others.
Umbridge believed in severe punishment because she felt everyone, especially those less powerful than her (children and Muggles), was truly bad and in need of control. She believed that all humanity was evil and deserved punishment because that was what she observed in herself.
Severus Snape
"I Have Spied For You And Lied For You, Put Myself In Mortal Danger For You. Everything Was Supposed To Be To Keep Lily Potter's Son Safe. Now You Tell Me You Have Been Raising Him like A Pig For Slaughter —"
Severus Snape is likely the most morally complicated of the Slytherin characters in Harry Potter. Raised under an abusive Muggle, the idea of wizard domination was extremely seductive to him. His hate and resentment made him the perfect candidate for a powerful Dark wizard, but love got in the way.
When Snape first joined Dumbledore, he did not care about the lives of others. However, in repentance for his part in Lily's death, he chose to protect the child that he hated. Snape's best quote in Harry Potter shows that slowly, over time, this selfless act turned him into someone who, while flawed, truly valued life.
Voldemort
"You are a fool, Harry Potter, and you will lose everything."
Tom Riddle was raised in a loveless orphanage surrounded by Muggle children, and even before discovering he was a wizard, he knew he was better than them. Finding out that he had magical abilities only increased his sense of grandeur, and attending Hogwarts showed him that even in the wizarding world, he was something special.
However, Voldemort's hubris would be his downfall again and again. Because he lacked empathy, Voldemort was incapable of imagining someone understanding things that he did not. He gave no value to concepts within magic that he could not comprehend. So when Dumbledore and Harry put their faith in love, Voldemort thought them weak. Unfortunately for him, his inability to understand love assured his own death.