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harry potter - Was Salazar Slytherin's whole "Don't teach muggle-born" idea less-than-brilliant?


Leaving aside ethical and moral considerations, the whole policy of Salazar Slytherin's "we should not teach muggle-born magic-capable children" seems to be completely counter-productive to the whole "Let's not allow Muggles to know about existence of magical world" idea.


To wit, muggle-born wizards are obviously capable of performing magic (there were several examples in the book) even without wands/training, and many of them are powerful enough as far as their magical ability that it's likely to get noticed.


So, short of killing off every child that has latent magical abilities (or at least those with abilities beyond some threshold) or charming them so they are unable to do any magic, wouldn't refusal to teach them all how to PROPERLY use magic and what the rules are merely get a lot more chances for Muggles to see magic being performed which totally goes against the whole "Let's not allow Muggles realize that there are magic users around" that drives a lot of the Wizarding rules?


UPDATE Just to clarify - this question is about the idea of Salazar Slytherin himself and not the modern-day Death Eaters/Voldemort.



Answer



Context is everything: Salazar Slytherin lived in the High Middle Ages, a period where most Muggles would be intensely religious and astoundingly hateful and superstitious towards magic. Suffer not a witch to live and all that.


Muggle-borns raised in that environment could be extremely self-loathing, and might be willing to betray the magical community to the Muggles. Formal schooling for wizards was also just being established: Before that, the established system was one of apprenticeship.



Let's note that Salazar Slytherin had no problem whatsoever with half-bloods, only muggleborns. He might well have believed that Muggleborns would sort themselves: Those that wanted to be part of the magical community would seek out an apprenticeship with an established wizard, those that wanted no part of it could live apart. Their half-blood children would have been raised in the magical community and be safe to educate in Hogwarts.


Godric Gryffindor, who was a warrior, would want every able-bodied wizard to have a complete education, in order to be effective in the war against the goblins, irrespective of how safe or unsafe it was for the school. Gryffindors are all about taking risks for the Greater Good and Slytherins are all about self-preservation.


As for the Chamber of Secrets, Slytherin himself never used it, nor did his heirs... Until the insane Riddle. The basilisk could be there in case muggleborns did betray the school, as an emergency measure. The Heir could get rid of those not trustworthy so that the wizards could defend themselves from the witch hunters. If it was his intention that it would be used at a whim, some descendant of his would have done it shortly after the other Founders were dead. They did not.


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