Let me start this off with two statements. Yes, I am someone who cares too much about Harry Potter. And yes, I’m also a Slytherin. Most people are pretty shocked when they hear that. I’ve heard everything from “you’re such a Hufflepuff, though” to “you’re not evil”. And that is where our bad rap comes into play.

Sure, Slytherin has turned out its fair share of dark wizards, but so have the other houses. Gryffindor Peter Pettigrew, for example, found himself pretty cozy within the ranks of Voldemort’s Death Eaters. Professor Quirrell also aligned himself with the Dark Lord, and he was a Ravenclaw

On top of that, not every Slytherin turns dark or carries the prejudice our house is known for. Horus Slughorn is about as far from malicious a character can get, even if he’s not the most competent in times of stress, and invited talented Muggle-borns such as Lily Evans and Hermione Granger into his exclusive Slug Club. Andromeda Tonks was disowned by her family for marrying Muggle-born Ted Tonks, and with him aided the Order of the Phoenix during the Second Wizarding War. And Regulus Black straight up defied Voldemort by trying to destroy one of his horcruxes.

And since when did there have to be a single type of wizard from each house? Cedric Diggory and Nymphadora Tonks defy Hufflepuff stereotypes with their bold actions while still sticking to their house values of loyalty and hard work. Luna Lovegood is far from the nerdy, aloof picture many people have of Ravenclaws. And Hermione Granger has a ruthless streak a mile wide despite being in Gryffindor.

Us Slytherins are more than our stereotypes as well. We’re some of the most ride or die people there are when it comes to friends. Not only that, but our ambition drives us to be achievement oriented and strong leaders. Just like anything, there are ways to twist those traits towards the dark side, but in and of itself they are not bad things. We’re also cunning and resourceful, which are two of the reasons Harry Potter himself would make a great Slytherin. In fact, the only reason he wasn’t sorted into Slytherin is he asked not to be.

Furthermore, our alumni don’t get enough credit. Merlin, perhaps the most famous wizard of all time, was a Slytherin. In the books, Draco Malfoy had such good grades he was second in his class only to Hermione. Even Voldemort, though he was a pretty terrible dude, deserves credit for the extremely high level magic and leadership he consistently displayed from as early as his Hogwarts years.

Perhaps another blow to our reputation is the location of our dorm. I know we kind of (read: we totally do) live in the dungeons, but it’s warm and cozy and we can’t help where Salazar Slytherin decided we were going to live well over a thousand years ago. Besides, the Hufflepuffs can live in the basement and not get judged for it, so why can’t we? Also we’re like a reverse aquarium because of the windows into the lake, and we see some pretty cool things swimming around out there.

Basically we don’t deserve the reputation we have. Slytherins are boss ass witches who are going to be your manager one day. You may as well get over your reservations about us because we won’t back down from our reputation.