It could have been done without this dramatic switch. While “even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin,” Draco Malfoy looks “stunned and horrified” (HP/SS, 306) and surely cannot be the only one to feel betrayed that the headmaster is leading three-quarters of the school to cheer against the remaining quarter. Disturbingly, the author presents the scene without any hint of sympathy for the Slytherins.
