Umbridge? No. In the absolute end, Umbridge was doing all that horrific stuff not out of ambition or lust for power, but because she honestly thought it was what was right. When all hands were against her, she persevered and just worked harder to get things the way she thought they ought to be. Her vision might have been warped and twisted, but she really truly believed in it, and was willing to work incredibly hard and face all comers in her defense of what was, in her mind, 'the right way', and in no way did she ever back down or even appear to. Stubborn, holding fast to her beliefs, willingness to work hard, loyalty to her causes and, more importantly, those who embody them ... that's Hufflepuff all the way down the line.
Besides, a decent Slytherin would likely have been a lot more cunning about it. A Slytherin would have seen that new teachers don't make speeches, and not made a scene herself. She'd have instituted change slowly, so that no one could see the true horror of what she was doing until it was too late. She'd have flattered and groomed more than just the more power-hungry and vicious of the Slytherins to do her dirty work for her in the Inquisitorial Squad. The Decrees would have been worded much better, and when that Quibbler article came out, she wouldn't have outright banned it from being read (as stated by Hermione, that's the best way to ensure it gets all over school, after all) - instead, she'd have talked to her Ministry contacts and had Xeno Lovegood and Rita Skeeter utterly discredited, and an article debunking everything would have come up in the Prophet the very next day, without ripples being raised in the school. Think about how Voldemort gained his power at the Ministry, not staging a coup until just the right time. That's what a Slytherin would have done at Hogwarts in book 5. But no, instead she just made her changes and dug in and to hell with anyone else.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2007-07-22 05:26 pm (UTC)Umbridge? No. In the absolute end, Umbridge was doing all that horrific stuff not out of ambition or lust for power, but because she honestly thought it was what was right. When all hands were against her, she persevered and just worked harder to get things the way she thought they ought to be. Her vision might have been warped and twisted, but she really truly believed in it, and was willing to work incredibly hard and face all comers in her defense of what was, in her mind, 'the right way', and in no way did she ever back down or even appear to. Stubborn, holding fast to her beliefs, willingness to work hard, loyalty to her causes and, more importantly, those who embody them ... that's Hufflepuff all the way down the line.
Besides, a decent Slytherin would likely have been a lot more cunning about it. A Slytherin would have seen that new teachers don't make speeches, and not made a scene herself. She'd have instituted change slowly, so that no one could see the true horror of what she was doing until it was too late. She'd have flattered and groomed more than just the more power-hungry and vicious of the Slytherins to do her dirty work for her in the Inquisitorial Squad. The Decrees would have been worded much better, and when that Quibbler article came out, she wouldn't have outright banned it from being read (as stated by Hermione, that's the best way to ensure it gets all over school, after all) - instead, she'd have talked to her Ministry contacts and had Xeno Lovegood and Rita Skeeter utterly discredited, and an article debunking everything would have come up in the Prophet the very next day, without ripples being raised in the school. Think about how Voldemort gained his power at the Ministry, not staging a coup until just the right time. That's what a Slytherin would have done at Hogwarts in book 5. But no, instead she just made her changes and dug in and to hell with anyone else.