The theme park attractions - has been analyzed greatly. But with so many ever-evolving aspects, there's always more to discuss.
One core element of Harry's magical school that still deserves more unpacking: Slytherin house. Based on the archaic division system at Hogwarts, Slytherin comprises one-quarter of the entire Hogwarts school. And yet, there are major tenets of it that make absolutely no sense.
Snape In Charge
One questions fans have is why Severus Snape would be allowed to be head of house. Draco Malfoy as a prefect makes sense because the Malfoy family has a lot of pull with the school, but there's really no reason for Snape to be in charge of Slytherin.
Not only was he a former Death Eater, but he was also actively toxic to his students. There is no plausible academic setting in which "Dumbledore vouched for him" would be a able defense to any sort of greater oversight committee.
Salazar Creates The Chamber Of Secrets
Granted, Slytherin house was built by someone who was also unsavory. Snape may not be a good guy, but the history of Slytherin is populated with leaders who were even worse than him. The founder, Salazar Slytherin, was always up to no good.
For example, it was he who devised the Chamber of Secrets as a way to teach certain students in peace away from the watchful eyes of his three co-founders. Putting aside the notion of why they'd want to work with him anyway, how did they never notice this massive bit of infrastructure that also contained a basilisk? It's nonsense.
The Right Amount Of People
This is a nonsensical element that might apply for Hogwarts, as a whole, and not just Slytherin house. But seriously, whenever the houses gather in the Great Hall, there is always a perfectly even amount of students at each table!
What's the Sorting Hat up to here? Does he sort a whole bunch of clever students in Ravenclaw and heartful students in Gryffindor and then look at who he has left to sort and see that he's eight kids behind in Slytherin? Are the kids with surnames beginning towards the end of the alphabet just thrust into Slytherin because they need to make up the numbers? There can't always be the same amount of easily divisible kids, right? It seems strange to imagine the houses are always perfectly equitable.
Parkinson Speaks For Them
In the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Lord Voldemort commands Hogwarts to hand over Harry Potter in order to spare the lives of all students. As a result, Pansy Parkinson offers up Harry immediately and requests someone grab him.
In response to this, Professor McGonagall swiftly orders Pansy and all Slytherins to be led away from the school. In what world is Pansy the speaker/ambassador for Slytherin house? There must have surely been Slytherins who wanted to fight and yet, McGonagall swiftly and absurdly lumps them all with Pansy.
House Cup Standings
One more question fans have is how this house has consistently fared so well in the House Cup standings.
If the professors are so readily against them, is Snape just juicing their numbers? By all logic, Slytherin should be perpetually in last place if they're so cruel and despised.
Quidditch Tomfoolery
Another more innocuous side of Slytherin that makes no sense is the level of influence that the house has in the school's quidditch league. For example, they're able to claim the pitch (when it's already reserved by Gryffindor) for practice, simply because they employ a new seeker.
It's nonsense that Slytherin is able to somehow lay claim to practice time because of a new teammate and that Snape was able to allow it. Surely there are protocols in place for the field.
Live In The Dungeons
Also, the Slytherins live in the dungeons. It's really a bit on the nose. Ravenclaw and Gryffindor have lavish dorms and Hufflepuff has a quality dorm that is more similar to the quaintness afforded by something like Hobbiton.
Yet, whereas Hufflepuff's common room is in the "basement," the Slytherin house is found in the "dungeons." Why? Do the leaders of Hogwarts want the Slytherins to be surrounded by evil and depravity? It doesn't make any sense and it's weird.
Snake Emblem
The official stance is that the animal symbol of Slytherin is a snake because Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth and he had a connection with snakes, unlike any other animal.
This does seem a little strange, or at least, it's not explained very well. Was Slytherin the origin of the house animals? Or was he just an outlier, who had a special animal to pick? Did the other founders have connections with their animals as well? It seems more like this was just another way to portray Slytherin as conventionally "evil."
Ambition And Slyness For All?
The four houses of Hogwarts are typically regarded for how they divide the students into groups that are defined by prominent qualities. Slytherin, while often referred to in shorthand as the evil house, is associated with ambition and slyness.
Yet, it's also the house of Crabbe and Goyle? Who are bumbling grunts content to simply follow Malfoy's lead? This makes the "ambition" argument feel very thin and really positions Slytherin as an evil house, first and foremost.
Penchant For Evil
That brings the list to the thing that makes the least amount of sense about Slytherin. Why is there a house at Hogwarts dedicated to housing the evil students in the first place?
It would seem like, instead of grouping them in such a way, efforts would be made to ensure everyone is given an environment to grow and develop in good directions.
