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While the Harry Potter books and movies don’t go into much detail about the serpent house, there are a lot of life lessons to learn from Slytherin.
The Harry Potter fandom has gone into great detail in describing the house of the cunning and ambitious.
Many ideas about their values and characteristics overlap and paint a clear picture of what it means to be a true Slytherin.
Here are some of the life lessons we can learn from Slytherin.
Read also: 11 Life Lessons To Learn From Gryffindor | How To Be A True Gryffindor
Read also: 12 Powerful Ways To Be Confident | Confidence Tips for Boss Babes
1. Strive for excellence but be subtle about it
Slytherins are an ambitious bunch. They strive to achieve excellence in whatever they do.
Unsurprisingly, this shows a strong dedication to their studies through personal effort and study groups.
However, unlike a certain know-it-all Griffindor, Slytherins don’t call attention to their knowledge and skills, at least not in such blatantly obvious ways.
Instead, they know exactly how often to raise their hand and when to show their skills to leave a strong impression.
2. With strong allies, you can take on the world
Slytherins stick together. Like Professor McGonagall said to the first years, your house is your family.
And considering all the ambition and cunningness Slytherins surround themselves with, it is hardly surprising that this group of people makes it far in Wizarding Brittain.
Here are just a few examples:
- Merlin (wizard extraordinaire)
- Tom Marvolo Riddle (Dark Lord)
- Severus Snape (youngest Potion Master in however long)
- Lucius Malfoy (influential politician)
Of course, there are also housemates like Grabbe and Goyle (who are much more Hufflepuff material, in my opinion).
But Slytherin is still a good example of how strong allies can help push you further.
3. Networking is a must
If you know the right people, the right doors will open for you much more easily.
The perfect example is Horace Slughorn, who started ‘collecting’ influential people early on in his Slug Club.
Helping them make connections easier guaranteed they would feel eager to provide favors for him.
Overall, Slughorn built a powerful network of contacts that served him well in life.
4. Control your emotions, or they control you
Harry Potter and Ron Weasly are perfect examples of people with horrible emotional control.
Their fuse blows at the most predictable comments, no matter how many times they’ve been through the same spiel.
Not only is that rather pathetic, but it also leaves you glaringly vulnerable to attacks.
After all, if you’re emotional, you don’t think clearly and are more likely to mess up.
That’s why true Slytherins strive to control their emotions early on. They study Occlumency, which includes regular meditation.
5. What happens in the family stays in the family
There are always those people who drag their family issues into public, searching for validation.
But to be honest, it damages your reputation and privacy immensely when people hear about who fought or cheated with whom.
Very little trust will be placed in you if you prove to be an unreality secret keeper, not to mention that it is incredibly easy to use the dirt on your family to hurt you or them.
Slytherins are scorned by the rest of Hogwarts and, as a result, big parts of the British wizarding society.
They can’t afford to show cracks in their own ranks.
That’s why intra-house issues are resolved inside the house and do not carry outside the common room.
For example, there is no way Draco Malfoy didn’t annoy big parts of Slytherin’s house with his foolishness and bragging. Yet to the other houses, it always seemed like Malfoy had the support of the serpents.
6. Prepare to face backlash – prepare to be misunderstood
Slytherins produced the last Dark Lord and multiple Death Eaters. Therefore, it is not surprising that the public would immediately stereotype all Slytherins as evil, no matter how inaccurate that might be.
Cunning and ambition are character traits often viewed with much suspicion by those without them.
As such, a true Slytherin should always prepare to face backlash.
They will succeed despite it, no matter what it takes.
7. Manners maketh man
True Slytherins have impecable manners. They know those good manners are the best way to make a good first impression.
Manners show that you are cultivated and that you respect others. And who doesn’t like to be respected?
In many western countries, there is little focus on manners nowadays. Instead, everyone seems to want to be ‘casual.’
Fortunately, this will only make us stand out even more if we appear well-mannered.
You should know how to address people of different ranks and if you visit a foreign country, make sure to research the various customs. For example, handshakes are not universal gestures of greeting.
Practice table manners too. Sitting next to a Ronald Weasly will ruin anyone’s appetite.
In the end, some people might see you as stiff if you act older than you are, but it is always easier to loosen up later than to try and convince somebody that you usually have better manners.
8. There is always an easier, more subtle, more effective way to do things
Slytherins are a bit perfectionistic. They are always eager to achieve more in easier and more subtle ways. They learn from past mistakes and improve upon them.
When was the last time you looked at your daily activities and tried to make them better, easier, or faster?
Life is about continuous improvement. If you don’t grow, you die. And those who grow the most succeed the most.
9. Set yourself up to survive every eventuality
Slytherins are, first and foremost, self-serving, and their well-being always stands higher than some cause.
As such, Slytherins set themself up in a way that guarantees they will survive no matter the outcome of certain events.
Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape are great examples of this.
Malfoy was cunning enough to go from one of the Dark Lords high ranking death eaters to a respectable and powerful member of the post-war wizarding world and straight back into being one of the most valuable Death eaters.
With his spying activities for both sides, Snape would have also done well, no matter which side won, had he not died in the final battle.
And Horace Slughorn, even though he had incriminating information on Voldemort, was valuable enough as potions master for the Dark Side to try and recruit him.
For us non-magical, this can mean setting up your income streams so that it won’t matter if a financial crisis hits or you lose your job.
10. Understand how humans think
True Slytherins are masters at manipulation. They know exactly what to say and what not to get people to do what they want without realizing they are doing so.
Think about how a young Tom Riddle gets Slughorn to talk about the creation process of Horcruxes.
And how Dumbledore (even though he was a Griffindor, there is no way the Sorting hat didn’t consider Slytherin for him) used Harry’s fame to get Slughorn to teach at Hogwarts again.
Perhaps you also know the story of Tom Sawyer, who talked the kids, that had been ridiculing him into painting the fence for a fee.
11. Whether through words, skills, or money, make sure you can defend yourself
You might not have to fear an attack from death eaters or corrupt politicians, but you should always know how to defend yourself.
This does not only include physical self-defense, although especially women can benefit from that.
It also means building a legal defense and learning how to negotiate through deals and accusations.
These two are most likely and hopefully the only ‘attacks’ you will have to deal with. Yet they can be devastating if you are not prepared.
And one life lesson to learn from Slytherin is to always be prepared!
Which was your favorite life lesson to learn from Slytherin?
If you aspire to be a true Slytherin, comment ‘SALAZAR‘ down below.
Until next time, Felicity Seeker!
