Harry Potter: 15 Slytherins That Actually Did Good For The Wizarding World

Out of the four Hogwarts houses in Harry Potter, Slytherin gets the worst rap as the “evil” house but there are some good Slytherin wizards. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was founded in the 10th century by the greatest wizards of the age: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Each house boasts different admirable traits for its students, such as Gryffindor favoring the brave, but what Salazar Slytherin chose for his house was ambition, resourcefulness, determination, and cleverness.

Unfortunately, Salazar Slytherin was a prejudiced figure. It’s worth noting that when Hogwarts was founded, muggles and wizards didn’t have the best relations, often resulting in violence. Therefore, Slytherin only wanted to accept students of pure magical blood. This is eventually what drove Hogwarts founder Salazar Slytherin away from the rest of the founders, but his prejudice tainted the house for the future, and in turn, the house produced some of the most dastardly wizards throughout the ages. That being said, traits like ambition, resourcefulness, determination, and cleverness are not bad in and of themselves, and a handful of good Slytherin wizards prove the house isn’t all evil.

RELATED: 10 Slytherin Memes That Prove It’s The Sneakiest Harry Potter House

Albus Potter

As Harry Potter’s son and the only of Harry’s children to be sorted into Slytherin, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that Albus, one of the good Slytherin wizards, did quite a bit of good for the Wizarding World. One of the protagonists of Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, Albus made a number of mistakes, but he ultimately saved the day with the help of his friends and family. In doing so, Albus prevented Delphi from saving Voldemort in the past, a plot that would have restored the Dark Lord to his full power.

Scorpius Malfoy

The son of Draco Malfoy and Astoria Greengrass, Scorpius had a central role in The Cursed Child, where he is Albus’ best friend and was one of the good Slytherin wizards. It makes sense that he became a vital component in the scheme to save the world, and prevent Voldemort from coming back. Not only that, but Scorpius also saved Albus after he inadvertently got wiped out of the timeline by misusing the Time-Turner. If it weren’t for Scorpius there is a good chance that Albus wouldn’t even exist anymore. Like his father and grandmother before him, Scorpius managed to prove that not all Malfoys are inherently bad.

Lucius Malfoy

Even though Lucius Malfoy did terrible things in the Harry Potter series, he made one great choice when he defected from the Death Eaters alongside his son and wife, in a moment of courage that shows how Gryffindors and Slytherins are similar, and also making him one of the good Slytherin wizards. As well as abstaining from fighting in the final Battle of Hogwarts in favor of finding Draco, Lucius also gave valuable information and intel to the Ministry of Magic which led to the arrests of several Death Eaters after Voldemort was gone, ensuring that many of the Dark Lord’s most avid followers were imprisoned.

Vincent Crabbe

Vincent Crabbe was one of Draco Malfoy’s infamous cronies alongside Gregory Goyle. His good deed occurred in the final Harry Potter book in the Room of Requirement, although his status as one of the good Slytherin wizards was purely accidental. Crabbe set a dangerous Fiendfyre spell and lost total control over it, which resulted in his own death. However, in the process, Crabbe’s spell also destroyed one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes; the Ravenclaw Diadem. While Harry likely would have found another way to destroy it eventually, this move aided Harry in his arduous and time-sensitive quest.

Related: Why Crabbe Was Cut From The Deathly Hallows Movies

Abraxas Malfoy

Very little is known about Abraxas Malfoy, father of Lucius, but he was a respected wizard in his time at Hogwarts, held in high esteem by the sometimes questionable Horace Slughorn. Even Draco was aware of his grandfather’s popularity, as he tried to impress Slughorn enough to get an invitation to his club by mentioning him. Given that Slughorn didn’t want anything to do with Death Eaters or criminals, it is unlikely that Abraxas was evil, making him one of the good Slytherin wizards, at least not in any way that Slughorn could perceive. However, this didn’t mean that Abraxas’ son wouldn’t be led down a dark path himself.

Draco Malfoy

It took a lot for Draco Malfoy to outgrow his arrogant, prejudiced, and cruel behaviors, but he deserves credit for actually getting there eventually, making him one of the good Slytherin wizards. Malfoy experienced a lot of trauma when he was coerced into becoming an evil Death Eater, assigned to kill Albus Dumbledore, and afterward, he made a drastic turnaround when it came to Muggles and Muggle-born witches and wizards. This caused tension between Draco and his parents, but he made sure to raise his own son to not look down on the people he had been raised to hate, proving that he wasn’t a true Death Eater.

Phineas Black

Not much is known about the younger Phineas Black, except for the fact that he distinguished himself from his purity-obsessed family when he stood up in support of Muggle rights, which led to his father disowning him, making him one of the good Slytherin wizards. The father in question, Hogwarts headmaster Phineas Nigellus Black, had the dubious distinction of being the least popular headmaster in Hogwarts history. Phineas Nigellus hoped that all of his children would follow in his footsteps, but his eldest son and namesake rejected his views. In doing so, though, Phineas no doubt made the Wizarding World a bit of a better place.

Horace Slughorn

Though Horace Slughorn was a social climber easily manipulated by Tom Riddle into revealing the secrets of Horcruxes, he eventually came clean about this to Harry Potter in a moment of Slytherin heroism which ultimately helped Harry to defeat Voldemort, meaning he’s one of the good Slytherin wizards. Even though Slughorn was at fault in the first place, Tom Riddle’s powers of persuasion cannot be underestimated, and for a man as vain as Slughorn, it was a big deal that he shared his most shameful moment with Harry to assist in the greater fight.

Related: Why Dumbledore Didn’t Use Legilimency On Slughorn

Narcissa Malfoy

Although Narcissa Malfoy had a reputation for caring little for anything or anyone outside of her own family, the Slytherin proved everyone wrong when she played a surprisingly crucial role in the defeat of Voldemort, making her one of the good Slytherin wizards. When Narcissa was given an opportunity to declare Harry Potter alive, allowing Voldemort to defeat him for good, she prioritized the safety of her son Draco above all else, and she disobeyed Voldemort by lying to him, a moment of humanity which ultimately resulted in Harry’s victory and Voldemort’s destruction.

Leta Lestrange

Leta Lestrange was a somewhat lonely girl at Hogwarts but eventually proved to be one of the good Slytherin wizards. When the only people that Leta seemed to truly care for in her life, Theseus and Newt Scamander, were in mortal danger because of Gellert Grindelwald, Leta chose to provide enough of a distraction for the two of them to escape, and she sacrificed her own life in the process. She certainly knew that her attempt to hoodwink Grindelwald would get her killed, but saving her friends was worth it for the least evil character on the Lestrange family tree.

Andromeda Tonks

The Black family is one of the oldest and purest wizard bloodlines in the Wizarding World, and they take pride in that. When a member of the Black family decides to defect in any way, then, the repercussions are fierce, and they are disowned, literally burned away from their family tree. This happened to Andromeda Black when she decided to marry a Muggle-born wizard named Ted Tonks. Nymphadora Tonks’ mother, Andromeda, and her husband Ted were also allied with the Order of the Phoenix, making her one of the good Slytherin wizards, showing just how much distance Andromeda Tonks got from her birth family.

Regulus Black

While Sirius Black’s younger brother Regulus Black seemed like he was more than willing to follow in the traditional Black family footsteps, as a wizard enamored with the Dark Arts and a true believer in Voldemort, he ultimately had a change of heart — making him one of the good Slytherin wizards. Though Regulus was a loyal Death Eater in the First Wizarding War, he had doubts when he learned of Voldemort’s Horcrux plan, and with the help of the house-elf Kreacher, he stole one of the Horcruxes, and attempted to destroy it.

Related: How Regulus Black Discovered Voldemort’s Horcrux Secret

Severus Snape

With a complex morality that fans still debate about today, Severus Snape is a divisive yet sad character, but it’s undeniable that his secret loyalty to Dumbledore and long-held love for Lily Potter led him to do some good, making him one of the good Slytherin wizards. Snape did a great job embodying the life of a dark wizard, but this was ultimately a years-long deception. He spent ages pretending to be loyal to Voldemort, all the while undermining him and waiting for the right moment to strike. In doing so, he provided the Order of the Phoenix with vital information to assist in their fight against the Dark Lord.

Salazar Slytherin

Salazar Slytherin certainly had some troublesome qualities but that doesn’t erase the fact that he was one of the founders of the greatest magical school in the world and one of the good Slytherin wizards. Salazar had unjust notions of how the Wizarding World should look, and he was unfairly prejudiced against Muggles and Muggle-born witches and wizards, but still, he shaped Hogwarts into what it would become. Slytherin house’s negative reputation may be in part because of its founder, but at the same time, Salazar Slytherin created a house that allowed those who prized ambition and cunning to maximize their abilities.

Merlin

It’s interesting that Slytherin has such a negative reputation among students because the wizard that arguably did the most for Muggle-wizard relations was actually a Slytherin himself. Famous in both the wizarding and Muggle communities, Merlin was a wizard who was open about his abilities and who did good for the world, making him one of the good Slytherin wizards. A huge reason for that is that he intentionally revealed himself to Muggles in the hopes that the Wizarding and Muggle worlds could eventually become one. His grand ideas and impact on wizards led to the figure becoming immortalized on a Chocolate Frog Card.

Jacob Kowalski

While Jacob Kowalski of the Fantastic Beasts franchise may be a muggle, he still boasts an incredible Slytherin connection — his snakewood wand in The Secrets of Dumbledore. The only other person to own a snakewood wand was Salazar Slytherin himself, though his wand boasted a basilisk horn core, whereas Jacob’s was hollow and, therefore, could not perform magic.

Slytherin’s snakewood wand boasted some healing properties, thanks to the tree that sprouted from his wand at Ilvermorny. Jacob’s wand had a similar purpose, in that it assisted him in saving the Wizarding World. Jacob Kowalski has played an integral part in saving the Wizarding World from Grindelwald, and while he may not be one of the good Slytherin wizards, his Slytherin connections to the Harry Potter house are undeniable.

NEXT: The 5 Most Admirable Slytherin Traits In Harry Potter (& The 5 Worst)