Exactly. Another point is that, as a muggleborn, Lily had not been planning (or having her family plan) for most of her life what House she would be in. She was pretty much coming to the process cold. She might have thought that the proper way to behave was to simply let the Hat do what it wanted. After all, Severus didn't tell her to ask for Slytherin; she probably didn't know that was an option. Sev could have said, "Now, you'll be going ahead of me, so be sure to tell the Hat you want Slytherin. I know you're plenty smart enough. Then I'll do the same when it's my turn, and we'll be together."
By the way, I am not one of those who believes there are no muggleborns in Slytherin. The defining characteristic is ambition, not purity of blood. If, as JKR has said, only one quarter of the wizarding world is pureblood, Slytherin would take them all if it insisted on blood purity, and there would be none left for the other Houses--which we know is not the case.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2014-06-13 11:23 pm (UTC)By the way, I am not one of those who believes there are no muggleborns in Slytherin. The defining characteristic is ambition, not purity of blood. If, as JKR has said, only one quarter of the wizarding world is pureblood, Slytherin would take them all if it insisted on blood purity, and there would be none left for the other Houses--which we know is not the case.