Tom Riddle is here-Hogwarts Slytherin Side

Knowing a Slytherin

Draco handed the papers to Tom, waiting for him to read them. Tom gave the boy a bright smile and ruffled his hair fondly. 

"Thank you Draco, dear." Draco did not smile, but Tom could see the lights in his eyes shine brightly.  "Sit," He said softly, and Draco did, he sat on the floor, placing his head in Tom's lap, to which Tom did nothing, but place a hand down and stroke his head softly. 

It would seem there are some misunderstandings between the three houses, and the one. The one of emerald and silver, and the ones of blue, red, and yellow. It is understandable. The amicable hatred that is held towards the Slytherin house by the others, misunderstandings are bound to happen. But, This has gone on way too long. I am afraid, I simply cannot let it go on any longer. 
So many cannot understand the sheer intricacy of the Slytherin house, and to those I say, they simply could not see. They could not observe, to see the true inner workings. I suppose us Slytherins are crafty that way, always hiding what is truly happening under a cover of something different. 
I shall not explain everything, as there are some things that only those truly supposed to be placed in Slytherin, only those who actively were placed in Slytherin, would be capable of understanding, because Slytherin is not merely a house of silver and green, it is not just the house of the Great Salzaar Slytherin, with a snake as it's symbol, and it most certainly is not filled with evil, dark wizards. I shall explain, and perhaps those of you with meager intelligence will be capable of putting the pieces of the puzzle I shall give you together. However, do not think, if you do manage to place the missing pieces together, that us Slytherins will simply forgive and forget, it is not in our nature. Nor do we want your sadness or pity. Save that for yourselves. 

I suppose I can begin this knowledge of Slytherins with something everyone knows. The traits. It is known that in order to be placed in Slytherin, or any house for that matter, one must have or portray certain traits. For Slytherins, it is simple. 
Resourcefulness.
Cunning.
Ambition.
Determination.
Self-Preservation.
Fraternity.
Cleverness.
For some reason these traits are not considered personality traits that make up part of a person, but something that is twisted into believing to be horrible. To be cruel and manipulative. Why? 
For instance, let us take the other houses. 

Hufflepuff, they value a certain type, despite what many may believe.
Hard Work.
Dedication.
Patience.
Loyalty.
Fair-play. 
Justice. 

Then you have Ravenclaw. 
Intelligence.
Wit.
Wisdom.
Creativity.
Originality.
Individuality.
Acceptance.
Cleverness.

And finally, you have the Gryffindors.
Loyal.
Brave.
Determination.
Daring.
Adventurous.
Chivalrous.
Courage.

And yet, out of these four houses, only slytherin traits are associated to bad things, despite the fact that some of the traits over lap. They have determination, like Gryffindor, Cleverness, like Ravenclaw. So why is it a good thing in those that are placed in Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, yet seen as horrible traits to have when they are in Slytherin? How does this make sense again? Perhaps I am simply missing something here.

Now, Slytherins are not the only ones with the potential to do bad things. Sure, us Slytherins may have a more lax view of where rules are placed, and more often than not we willingly cross these lines, not for a lack of seeing them, but for a lack of seeing the need for them, or seeing as these rules being too strict, too confining, or too idiotic to actually follow. Yet, Slytherins, despite having a reputation for bad wizards, we are not the only ones who are easily corrupted to the dark side. There are others too. Not meaning to be rude, but a Hufflepuff is too easily forgiving, and loyal, and if they become loyal to the wrong person they can find themselves on the wrong side way too easily, and corrupted to that darkness. Gryffindors are outright reckless at times, and despite the belief that they are all moral, there are times when this morality, is blinded by their determination to get something done, and it is not always necessarily about the morality in doing the act, but the fact that it was the 'brave' thing to do. They risk their life over menial things, and often times, they can be the most prejudiced of the lot. Ravenclaws, they can come off as rude and snobby a lot of times, and often stay indoors and care little for the workings of others. They too can be tempted to the dark side, with promises of knowledge and wisdom. Therefore, why is it so expected that Slytherins are hopeless, that it is simply in their nature to become evil, to become dark, and so shocking when other house members do? Just because a person is not in Slytherin automatically means that they are the pure ones, the one who would never fall to darkness? How does this make sense? 

Now, let me explain a few things to everyone. It is not that Slytherin traits are bad, but that the perception is askew. Let me explain. Despite the recklessness, and often short-tempers of gryffindors, despite the easy going and naive nature of hufflepuffs, despite the rude outlook of ravenclaws, why is it that slytherin is so different? I shall tell you. However, let us first take a look at what makes a Slytherin, a Slytherin, and then I shall explain the rest.

What does make a slytherin? It was explained early, Determination, Ambition, Cleverness, Fraternity, Cunning, Self-Preservation, Resourcefulness. These are traits that no matter what Slytherin you look at, they likely have all of, to varying degrees. As already spoken, these traits can overlap with Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw, and even sometimes Hufflepuff. 

Now we come to the main theme of this. The reason that this is being written. To clear up all misunderstandings and prejudice. The centre of this essay of sorts. Why Slytherins possess these traits, and what these traits mean. This, I hope, will change your belief from thinking that these traits are associated with evil, and hopefully, you will be capable of understanding that these traits, they are more because they were forced, not desired, but cultivated from a need for them. None of us, automatically are set to go into one specific house. Take families that have always been in Ravenclaw, suddenly placed in Hufflepuff, or, similar to Sirius Black, slytherin families, where a person was suddenly placed in Gryffindor. Naturally these do not happen as often with other house changes, but they still do happen. And, I shall tell you why.