34 Sly Slytherin Facts Every Harry Potter Fan Should Know!

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has four distinct houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin.

Slytherins have the worst reputation of all the houses in the 'Harry Potter' series. There were many witches and dark wizards who came out of Slytherin.

The emblem of Slytherin is a green serpent and the official house colors are emerald green and silver. Dark magic and pure-blood ideologies are associated with the Slytherins house.

Slytherin is one of the houses among the four distinct houses at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Salazar Slytherin was the founder of this house.

The house was founded by Salazar Slytherin and is composed mostly of pure-bloods (whose mother and father are from wizarding families). As the founder, Salazar Slytherin does not trust muggle-born witches and wizards.

So, to be a part of this house, he instructed the Sorting Hat to select students who have characteristics like ambition, leadership, resourcefulness, and are cunning. Here are some unknown Slytherin facts that every 'Harry Potter' fan should know.

History And Founder Of Slytherin

Hogwarts was founded a thousand years ago by four founders, Godric Gryffindor, founder of Gryffindor house, Helga Hufflepuff, founder of Hufflepuff house, Rowena Ravenclaw, founder of Ravenclaw house, and Salazar Slytherin, founder of Slytherin house. There was peace between the co-founders for many years after Hogwarts was built.

The pressure to admit pure-blood wizards to Slytherin affected the other three founders tremendously, and it especially affected Gryffindor. It created great controversy and civil war between the houses at the school.

Slytherin later decided to leave the school and never returned. Let's have a look at some interesting facts about Slytherin's history.

Salazar Slytherin founded the house and it was strictly instructed by him that the house should be composed only of pure-blood students.

The Sorting Hat is one of the cleverest, most intelligent, and sentient magical hats. It can decide the placement of students to one of the four houses based on their qualities.

'Pureblood' is the password to enter the Slytherin common room, which was discovered when Harry and Ron used Polyjuice potion to sneak inside.

During their enrollment, students attending Hogwarts have the opportunity to terminate their magical education at certain points.

When Slytherin left Hogwarts, he left the Chamber of Secrets behind, intending to reopen it one day. The Chamber of Secrets was opened twice by others. Finally, Harry Potter killed the serpent of Slytherin when the Chamber of Secrets was opened for the second time in 1992.

Salazar's locket didn't end up in Tom Riddle's hands, it was handed down to Voldemort's mother, who stole the locket and sold it to Borgin and Burkes.

To identify students who are from house Slytherin, they must have the crest embroidered on their robes, and the mantle is decorated with a portrait of a serpent in the common room.

The Slytherin common room is also known as Slytherin Dungeon. The common room of Slytherin is located in the Hogwarts dungeons, beneath the black lake. It serves as the common room only for Slytherin students. The common room has many low-backed black and dark green leather sofas with greenish lamps, dark wood cupboards, skulls, and buttons.

The common room password changes every fortnight, when it is posted on the noticeboard.

Technically, Peeves is not a ghost at all, as he was a poltergeist. This is a person whose energy gathers and forms from external stimuli.

Traits And Reputation

Draco Malfoy's gang, Merula Snyde's gang, Pansy Parkinson's gang, and the death eaters are a few Slytherin students who clique together and acquire leaders, which are later illustrated as Slytherin's ambitious qualities. Slytherins tend to hesitate before acting, which means they have highly developed senses of self-preservation.

Slytherins have other characteristics like unrequited, deep love. The feeling can be seen for Lily Evans and Helena Ravenclaw by Severus Snape and the Bloody Baron.

Slytherins tend to possess strong leadership skills, intelligence, cunning, and taking charge, and are achievement-oriented and loyal.

Slytherin's emblem animal is a green serpent and the house's colors are green and silver. The serpent is the animal guardian of the house.

All Hogwarts houses have a connection to a special element. Water is the main element of Slytherin. The fluidity and amorphousness represent the traits and actions of water. The serpent is commonly associated with lochs, which are often green, and silver is often associated with gray rainwater.

An Irishwoman, Isolt Sayre, one of Slytherin's descendants, founded the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Ilvermorny.

Salazar Slytherin did not believe that wizards and witches were born of muggle parents; hence, Godric Gryffindor raised his voice to fight for muggle rights within the wizarding community.

As per 'Harry Potter' mythologies, Hogwarts is the most haunted location globally and has a house ghost that acts as a mascot. Four different ghosts represent each of the four houses.

Gryffindor has the ghost of Nearly Headless Nick, Ravenclaw's ghost is Helena Ravenclaw, the daughter of house founder Rowena Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff's ghost is the Fat Friar, and Slytherin's house ghost is the Bloody Baron.

Not all Slytherins are evil and Slytherin's list of alumni is impressive. According to the final book in the series, Harry Potter's son Albus Severus was sorted into Slytherin upon arriving at Hogwarts.

House Head

Each house has a head professor at Hogwarts. The professor's responsibility is to look after and punish the students of their house. The headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, chooses a professor who possesses all the qualities required for each post.

Slytherin house is composed of pure-blood students, and the head of the house is Severus Snape, until the end of the sixth book. To enter this house, the students must have special traits such as cunning, resourcefulness, and ambition. Below are a few known heads of Slytherin.

Salazar Slytherin: He embodies all the qualities required to become the head of the house. Salazar Slytherin had a strong feeling that only pure-blooded witches and wizards should be given admission into the house.

Horace Slughorn: Horace was Potions master from the '30s until 1981 and was close with Tom Riddle.

Severus Snape: Severus was Potions master between 1981 and 1995 and served as a death eater for a while. Many students disliked Snape as he was a difficult teacher.

Horace Slughorn: Horace also served as Potions master from 1996 to the present. He returned to Hogwarts after being convinced by Dumbledore and Harry Potter.

Known Slytherins

There are 179 Slytherins named in the book series, and many Slytherins are students at Hogwarts. They are some of the truly most incredible and well-known witches and wizards.

Not all of the students are evil; many Slytherin traits are admirable and they are often highly skilled. Below are a few of the best students from Slytherin, ranked by their grades.

Tom Riddle or Voldemort: Tom was the most dangerous, but most model student, Hogwarts ever produced. Tom was a perfect student with great grades and was given the role of Head Boy.

He is the most famous member of Slytherin and the most powerful dark wizard. Tom Riddle is a half-blood Slytherin, who later turns into Lord Voldemort, the main villain for the entire series.

Severus Snape: Severus was one of the best students of Hogwarts. Severus Snape was the head of Slytherin house and served as Potions professor.

He was highly intelligent and a student who was interested in the Dark Arts. Fans thought that Severus was against Harry Potter, but he turned out to be in love with Harry Potter's mother and had been helping Harry throughout.

Horace Slughorn: Horace was not the purest of heart but he was not evil. After Snape, he was best known for teaching Potions at Hogwarts. He also ran Slug Club parties, where he would invite his favorite and most famous students. Horace Slughorn is who first told Tom Riddle about Horcruxes.

Draco Malfoy: Throughout all the books and movies, Draco Malfoy serves as a rival to Harry Potter, but he is intelligent. He was one of the best-known students from Hogwarts. He was very arrogant, rude, and selfish in his early years but redeems himself later on.

Blaise Zabini: Blaise was famous for his good looks. He didn't seem as unpleasant as Malfoy's group.

Pansy Parkinson: Pansy was a friend of Draco, who was her big crush. Pansy was mean-spirited and rude to others.

Millicent Bulstrode: Millicent is just another Slytherin student who was brutish, living up to the stereotype. She was a member of Umbridge's inquisitorial squad.

Vincent Crabbe: Vincent was not an intelligent student. Crabbe was a follower of Malfoy and not a leader at all. He was known for being foolish.

Lucius Malfoy: Lucius Malfoy was a very high-ranking member of the death eaters, and Draco was his son. Lucius and his family finally defected from Voldemort at the end of the wizarding war.

Bellatrix Lestrange: Bellatrix Lestrange was very well known for being a high-ranking member of the death eaters and was one of the most dangerous dark witches of all time.

Merlin: Merlin was an advocate of muggle rights and was a member of King Arthur's court. He was arguably the most famous person in the wizarding world.

Narcissa Malfoy: Narcissa Malfoy was one of the most powerful and dangerous dark witches of all time and is the mother of Draco Malfoy.

Peter Pettigrew: Peter Pettigrew was initially sorted into Slytherin, but later, he was admitted into Gryffindor. He was turned into a rat, which is how he remained for 12 years, living with the Weasleys.

FAQs

Who was the smartest Slytherin?

Merlin was considered to be the smartest Slytherin among all members.

What is Slytherin's motto?

'Slytherin will help you on your way to greatness' is the motto of Slytherin.

Is it rare to be a Slytherin?

Salazar Slytherin highly valued and favored pure-blood students into the house, so it is rare for muggle-born students to end up as Slytherins.

Who was the founder of Slytherin?

Salazar Slytherin was the founder of house Slytherin.

Are there any muggle-borns in Slytherin?

Muggle-born students from Slytherin do exist but are considered very rare.

Who was the strongest Slytherin in 'Harry Potter'?

Tom Riddle was probably the most powerful Slytherins ever.

What is Slytherin house best known for?

Slytherin house was best known for creating dark witches or wizards.

Did any Slytherins fight for Hogwarts?

None of the Slytherin students fought for Hogwarts. However, they were escorted to the dungeons before the start of the battle of Hogwarts.

Are Slytherins loyal?

Slytherins can be very loyal, devoted, and dedicated if they want to be. They are only loyal to particular people.

What is Slytherin Pride Day?

'Harry Potter' fans celebrate Slytherin Pride Day on March 21 each year.

What are the Slytherin colors?

Green and silver are the Slytherin colors. Green represents serpents, while the silver is a sly nod to finishing second.

How many Slytherins are there?

There are 179 Slytherins named in 'Harry Potter.'