Oh yes, I'm the last person to think Slytherin=DE. ^^ I should clarify that I meant Harry as a leader *within* Gryffindor. As in, day to day matters, not jumping on thestrals or going into the forest or for that matter leading the DA. He does not have automatic authority on the Quidditch pitch, his dorm room, or his common room. Contrast that with Draco, who has no competing alpha wolf in Slytherin, to the point where I think it goes beyond Harry's POV / JKR's narrative focus to show that Draco is a leader within Slytherin.
The closest thing Gryffindor gets to leaders is the Weasley twins. Gryffindor as a whole is broken up into small autonomous units, not just the Trio. There may not be enough evidence to show that Slytherin isn't equally cliquish, but I think it's more of a hiearchy -- everyone in the same boat. Gryffindor on the other hand is Dean-and-Seamus, Lavender-and-Parvati, with several singles like Neville.
To me, it's the social interactions which would translate into the patronage and/or nepotistic society of the Wizarding World, not the formalized groups like the D.A. The Order of the Phoenix, which took group pictures and generally "hung out" in addition to their work, IMO started as Dumbledore's circle of friends, rather than allies. Since he's friends with pretty much everyone, that's some powerful networking there.
In HPOP, Harry is so often publicly flying off the handle that by then the vindication of Cedric's death may not have been enough to pledge people's hearts to him as a leader. Their training, yes; but Harry's only getting his first taste of charisma. He may exercise it more later. A leader is only as good as his Zacharias Smiths... and his Severus Snapes.
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Date: 2004-03-21 08:55 pm (UTC)The closest thing Gryffindor gets to leaders is the Weasley twins. Gryffindor as a whole is broken up into small autonomous units, not just the Trio. There may not be enough evidence to show that Slytherin isn't equally cliquish, but I think it's more of a hiearchy -- everyone in the same boat. Gryffindor on the other hand is Dean-and-Seamus, Lavender-and-Parvati, with several singles like Neville.
To me, it's the social interactions which would translate into the patronage and/or nepotistic society of the Wizarding World, not the formalized groups like the D.A. The Order of the Phoenix, which took group pictures and generally "hung out" in addition to their work, IMO started as Dumbledore's circle of friends, rather than allies. Since he's friends with pretty much everyone, that's some powerful networking there.
In HPOP, Harry is so often publicly flying off the handle that by then the vindication of Cedric's death may not have been enough to pledge people's hearts to him as a leader. Their training, yes; but Harry's only getting his first taste of charisma. He may exercise it more later. A leader is only as good as his Zacharias Smiths... and his Severus Snapes.