Harry Potter Outcasts

Throughout the book Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as well as the rest of the Harry Potter series, the author: J.K. Rowling, frequently elaborates on how the magical world sees pureblood wizards as superior to any other wizard, Muggle― a non-magical person― or magical creature; but is this pureblood superiority real, or is it actually an illusion? One point in contrast to this idea is how wizarding schools treat their students. While all students receive the same education, some students, in particular Slytherin, are treated like outcasts because Slytherins, as a general rule, are purebloods. Another important detail is that most powerful wizards readers encounter are not actually purebloods. In fact, almost all of the arguably powerful

For example, it is shown throughout all seven books that while Hogwarts offers the same education to all students, there is bias. One quote from the texts highlights this well: "'And Harry said it last night [...] if that means we're supposed to get matey with the Slytherins, fat chance'" (Rowling 5: 25%). The first thing the reader needs to know to understand the relevance of this scene is that Hogwarts has four houses, two of which are Gryffindor and Slytherin. Ron is a Gryffindor which are stereotyped to be "light." Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy is a Slytherin, once again, stereotyped to be not only "dark," but purebloods as well. Since the time the founders of Hogwarts retired, Gryffindor and Slytherin have been in a fued. Unfortunately for Slytherin, the other houses, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, also follow this stereotype. This forces Slytherins to be the outcasts and villains. However, Slytherins are not the only purebloods. The Weasleys are, in fact, purebloods as well. Because of their firm alliance to "light" and, by extension, Gryffindor, other pureblood families do not see them in a positive light: "'[...] if ever a family was a bunch of blood traitors it's the Weasleys'" (Rowling 5: 13%). Every Hogwarts house has some kind of downfall, but Slytherin's seems to be the one all students

No wizard's power can come close to the purity of the unicorn, seer abilities of the centaur, or fire of the phoenix. Dolores Umbridge: the nefarious toad woman, in particular makes her fear of these fantastic beasts, werewolves in this case, well known; " [...] remembering Umbridge's comments about dangerous half-breeds during her first lesson" (Rowling 5: 34%). Much later, when the very same toad-like Hogwarts High Inquisitor encounters the herd of centaurs that lives in the Forbidden Forest, one of the centaurs, Magorian, is quick to point out the wizards' inferiority. "''Near-human intelligence'? [...] We consider that a great insult, human! Our intelligence, thankfully, far outstrips your own―'" (Rowling 5: 85%). No wizard is superior to some of these creatures, much less a minority in the wizarding world such as purebloods. With goblins in charge of the economy and werewolves running rampant it certainly is not difficult to see that wizards hold little power past their