Warning, angst alert! Please review!
Farewell
To any who read this: I write this so you can understand what you have done, I do not know the reason why I care enough to write this, perhaps as the last spark from the ashes that was once my heart, perhaps as my final good deed, or perhaps as the last wish of my broken innocence.
Whatever the reason, I will try to tell you what mistakes you made.
It is in my nature to challenge things, so I will challenge what you take for granted.
I will tell you a little of my life. My parents were Gryffindors, both of them, they were very proud of their house placement, and were very pleased when my elder brother was made Gryffindor too. But not as horrified as they were when I was made Slytherin. I was pleased and unsurprised by the sorting hat's choice, I knew I was a Slytherin at heart, so I was not pleased when my parents tried to remove me from the house, and when that failed, the school.
Dumbledore told them the sorting hat had put me in Slytherin for a reason, and that I would be happiest there. He was right, I was happy in Slytherin, I was fascinated by the history of the house and I gladly spent my lunch hours in the library, devouring book after book on the history of Lord Salazar and others. Two months later I received a Howler from my father. My brother had noticed the long hours I spent in the library and come to the conclusion that I was studying the Dark Arts. The Howler screeched out for all to hear the shame I had brought on the family, this had the result of my being frog- marched the Dumbledore's office to inform him of my sins, Dumbledore, like the rest of them, ignored my denials and I would have faced expulsion had not a roommate come to my rescue. And even then the headmaster was still suspicious and treated me to a long lecture on the wrongs of dark magic.
Students began to treat me coldly, as the teachers did, at first I believed that it was because of that Howler incident, until I realized it was because I was a Slytherin, for the other members of my house were treated little better.
If I had been hoping for some reprieve from the unpleasantness at home, I was wrong, for my parents were convinced I was a Dark Wizard and confined me to my room so that my Slytheriness would not rub off on them. I was taunted and teased all the was through my school years, coming close to suicide many times, not that I was alone, we do not have an easy life, we of the shunned house of Salazar.
And things have not changed, even now I see children bullied by their peers, their aggressors let off the hook because the victim was a Slytherin and therefor deserved what they got, but if they strike back, they are given thrice-fold the ordinary punishment due to their *dark* natures. Teachers seen being fair to a Slytherins is hated not only by their pupils but also by their colleagues though not in such an obvious way.
And people wonder why Slytherin house has turned out more Death Eaters than any other.
It is a vicious circle, a Slytherin, beset by hatred from his peers, teachers, and in some cases family, confused by the fact he is being taught that the Unforgivable are evil, yet he notices Aurors using them to fight an enemy he is told is evil, unsure of which side in the war is good, inspects his choices:
On one side is the Ministry, with Dumbledore leading, a force of so-called good, which has tormented him throughout his school years for his *evil* nature, which preach one thing and do another. They are the ones who point the finger and say "This is good , this is evil." And he is the latter.
And on the other hand are the Death Eaters, who the Ministry say are evil, they preach that there is no good or evil, only power. They kill muggles, who the Ministry likes even above their own kind who had the misfortune of being ambitious. It does not take a genius to realize that is not fair.
So when he is approached by a Death Eater and given the choice to be powerful and evil or weak and evil, do not be surprised at his choice. Then, due to the fact that the new Death Eater was a Slytherin, all other Slytherins are shunned, and so the cycle begins again.
I made that choice, do not begrudge me it, and realize that in continuing to treat Slytherins the way you do, you are simply giving the Dark Lord the servants he prefers, not those who are faithful through granted power, nor those who are faithful through fear, but those who are faithful because they have nowhere left to turn. I look out for my house as it is the only family I have left since my real one disowned me. That is the reason I have written this, so they can have a better life than I have had, with my lost dreams of love, of acceptation, of friendship, my name stricken from both my family records- for I am a taboo subject and they will not mention me- and the Ministry files.
All because I am a Slytherin,
All because I had a choice that was no choice,
All because I am Stephen Weasley.
Farewell
To any who read this: I write this so you can understand what you have done, I do not know the reason why I care enough to write this, perhaps as the last spark from the ashes that was once my heart, perhaps as my final good deed, or perhaps as the last wish of my broken innocence.
Whatever the reason, I will try to tell you what mistakes you made.
It is in my nature to challenge things, so I will challenge what you take for granted.
I will tell you a little of my life. My parents were Gryffindors, both of them, they were very proud of their house placement, and were very pleased when my elder brother was made Gryffindor too. But not as horrified as they were when I was made Slytherin. I was pleased and unsurprised by the sorting hat's choice, I knew I was a Slytherin at heart, so I was not pleased when my parents tried to remove me from the house, and when that failed, the school.
Dumbledore told them the sorting hat had put me in Slytherin for a reason, and that I would be happiest there. He was right, I was happy in Slytherin, I was fascinated by the history of the house and I gladly spent my lunch hours in the library, devouring book after book on the history of Lord Salazar and others. Two months later I received a Howler from my father. My brother had noticed the long hours I spent in the library and come to the conclusion that I was studying the Dark Arts. The Howler screeched out for all to hear the shame I had brought on the family, this had the result of my being frog- marched the Dumbledore's office to inform him of my sins, Dumbledore, like the rest of them, ignored my denials and I would have faced expulsion had not a roommate come to my rescue. And even then the headmaster was still suspicious and treated me to a long lecture on the wrongs of dark magic.
Students began to treat me coldly, as the teachers did, at first I believed that it was because of that Howler incident, until I realized it was because I was a Slytherin, for the other members of my house were treated little better.
If I had been hoping for some reprieve from the unpleasantness at home, I was wrong, for my parents were convinced I was a Dark Wizard and confined me to my room so that my Slytheriness would not rub off on them. I was taunted and teased all the was through my school years, coming close to suicide many times, not that I was alone, we do not have an easy life, we of the shunned house of Salazar.
And things have not changed, even now I see children bullied by their peers, their aggressors let off the hook because the victim was a Slytherin and therefor deserved what they got, but if they strike back, they are given thrice-fold the ordinary punishment due to their *dark* natures. Teachers seen being fair to a Slytherins is hated not only by their pupils but also by their colleagues though not in such an obvious way.
And people wonder why Slytherin house has turned out more Death Eaters than any other.
It is a vicious circle, a Slytherin, beset by hatred from his peers, teachers, and in some cases family, confused by the fact he is being taught that the Unforgivable are evil, yet he notices Aurors using them to fight an enemy he is told is evil, unsure of which side in the war is good, inspects his choices:
On one side is the Ministry, with Dumbledore leading, a force of so-called good, which has tormented him throughout his school years for his *evil* nature, which preach one thing and do another. They are the ones who point the finger and say "This is good , this is evil." And he is the latter.
And on the other hand are the Death Eaters, who the Ministry say are evil, they preach that there is no good or evil, only power. They kill muggles, who the Ministry likes even above their own kind who had the misfortune of being ambitious. It does not take a genius to realize that is not fair.
So when he is approached by a Death Eater and given the choice to be powerful and evil or weak and evil, do not be surprised at his choice. Then, due to the fact that the new Death Eater was a Slytherin, all other Slytherins are shunned, and so the cycle begins again.
I made that choice, do not begrudge me it, and realize that in continuing to treat Slytherins the way you do, you are simply giving the Dark Lord the servants he prefers, not those who are faithful through granted power, nor those who are faithful through fear, but those who are faithful because they have nowhere left to turn. I look out for my house as it is the only family I have left since my real one disowned me. That is the reason I have written this, so they can have a better life than I have had, with my lost dreams of love, of acceptation, of friendship, my name stricken from both my family records- for I am a taboo subject and they will not mention me- and the Ministry files.
All because I am a Slytherin,
All because I had a choice that was no choice,
All because I am Stephen Weasley.