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The more I look at the list of qualities associated with the Slug Club the more I think that Harry's parents - and probably some of their friends - must have been part of it.

[Slughorn] also likes the company of the famous, the successful and the powerful. He enjoys the feeling that he influences these people. He has never wanted to occupy the throne himself; he prefers the back seat – more room to spread out, you see. He used to handpick favourites at Hogwarts, sometimes for their ambition or their brains, sometimes for their charm or their talent, and he had an uncanny knack for choosing those who would go on to become outstanding in their various fields. Horace formed a kind of club of his favourites with himself at the centre, making introductions, forging useful contacts between members, and always reaping some kind of benefit in return, whether a free box of his favourite crystallised pineapple or the chance to recommend the next junior member of the Goblin Liaison Office."
(Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 4, Horace Slughorn).

None of these three were stupid. In fact, all of them are described as being extremely bright. If it hadn't have been for the war they would no doubt have had glittering careers before them.

We know that Slughorn was at Hogwarts at the time. Did he recruit James, Lily or Sirius to the Slug Club? Why/why not?

Obsidia
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The Dark Lord
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6 Answers6

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This prop image of the Slug Club (seen in the background of Slughorn's study) includes Lily Evans.

enter image description here

Another photo contains a young Lucius Malfoy

enter image description here

Prop photos courtesy of Warner Bros. TheRoadtoHogwarts website

Valorum
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    Are there also quotes from the books corroborating these images from Warner Bros.? – NoDataDumpNoContribution Nov 03 '17 at 10:52
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    @Trilarion - I don't think so. It's not a big leap that Slughorn's favourite pupil would be a member of the club but I don't think it's explicitly spelled out – Valorum Nov 03 '17 at 11:13
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    There's a guy in the first photo who kinda looks like Sirius--4th face from the right, black robe. – MissMonicaE Nov 03 '17 at 14:36
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    This is far more upvoted than it deserves to be (says the hypocrite, but still). The canonicity of these images is dubious at best, especially when there's actual primary-canon book evidence to answer the question; and the bit about Malfoy is a) totally speculative and b) irrelevant, since the question doesn't even mention Malfoy. – Rand al'Thor Nov 03 '17 at 15:41
  • @Randal'Thor - The first image is seen in the HBP movie – Valorum Nov 03 '17 at 15:54
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    @Valorum - Yes, but the movies tend to take a backseat to evidence from the books, owing the the amount of creative liberties the movies took. (I still have nightmares from how they ruined the final battle). – EvSunWoodard Nov 03 '17 at 16:27
  • @EvSunWoodard - Unfortunately, trying to film the books faithfully would have resulted in a film series that was a hundred hours long and unwatchable crap – Valorum Nov 03 '17 at 16:34
  • @Valorum - I never said the movies were bad, (although the final battle really was terrible). I really enjoyed the movies. I just said that they stray from canon, which is why they are generally considered a secondary source, rather than a primary source. – EvSunWoodard Nov 03 '17 at 16:36
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    @EvSunWoodard - That's certainly one opinion. There are, however, other opinions that are equally valid. – Valorum Nov 03 '17 at 16:43
  • @EvSunWoodard I am so glad I never watched the movies at all. And yes, this answer doesn't really answer the OP at all, though I do also agree that it's no stretch to say Lily would certainly have been in the club. James had a knack for misbehaving, as did Sirius, and we know Slughorn may not have been so keen on that. Slight misbehaving would have been chalked up to youth, but they got into some pretty deep trouble on many occasions (almost killing Snape, for example). – Aurelius Aug 12 '18 at 18:10
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    @Aurelius - The answer does answer the OP. I'd like to be able to answer more if possible. Note that Slughorn collects the great and the good before they're great and good. That means powerful, well-connected children with obvious destinies. – Valorum Aug 12 '18 at 18:16
22

Lily was probably in the Slug Club.

Slughorn says Lily was one of his favorite students, and speaks very kindly of her. He says she was excellent in his class, and presumed Harry had gotten his skills at Potions from her instead of Snape's notes in his textbook.

“Humph. Yes, well. You shouldn’t have favourites as a teacher, of course, but she was one of mine. Your mother,’ Slughorn added, in answer to Harry’s questioning look. ‘Lily Evans. One of the brightest I ever taught. Vivacious, you know. Charming girl.”
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The only reason why Lily wouldn't be in the Slug Club is if she chose not to be. That also seems somewhat unlikely, as Slughorn would be unlikely to speak so warmly about someone who rejected his offer unless she did it very carefully so not to make him feel bad.

Whether James would be is less clear.

Slughorn does mention James and remembers teaching him, but doesn't speak nearly as warmly of her as he does of Lily.

James's most noticeable talent was probably Quidditch, since that's what everyone seems to mention about him first. He did seem to consider Quidditch a skill worthy of inclusion; unless he coincidentally chose her for another reason, Gwenog Jones, as the captain of the Holyhead Harpies, was in the Slug Club.

“And at the back – you’ll see her if you just crane your neck – that’s Gwenog Jones, who of course captains the Holyhead Harpies … people are always astonished to hear I’m on first-name terms with the Harpies, and free tickets whenever I want them!”

Sirius is also less clear.

As a member of a pure-blood family, and therefore also likely being thought of as having important connections, Sirius was likely at least considered by Slughorn. Slughorn does refer to him as a talented boy, but there's nothing really indicating he actually joined.

“The whole Black family had been in my house, but Sirius ended up in Gryffindor! Shame – he was a talented boy. I got his brother Regulus when he came along, but I’d have liked the set.”

In addition, Slughorn mentioned Regulus, Sirius's brother, as being a member of his house, but doesn't mention Sirius as being in his club.

It's possible that Slughorn invited Sirius, but Sirius declined, since it doesn't seem like something that he, as a rebel who wanted no part of wizarding high society, would want to take part in.

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Obsidia
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    This is the best answer and should be accepted. A couple of small suggestions: 1) if James was in the Slug Club, wouldn't Slughorn have mentioned it to Harry? He talked about Lily all the time, and also (as you note) showed Harry his old Slug Club pictures. 2) The final paragraph about Sirius applies equally well to James. – Rand al'Thor Nov 03 '17 at 20:59
  • @Randal'Thor Thanks a lot! :) Good points - I'll add them in! :) – Obsidia Nov 03 '17 at 21:07
  • When did Slughorn talk about James? Could you add the quote perchance? – The Dark Lord Nov 03 '17 at 22:16
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    "Slughorn mentioned Regulus, Sirius's brother, as being a member of his club" THe quote just mentions Regulas was in Slytherin and Slughorn had wanted Sirius in Slytherin too – user13267 Nov 08 '17 at 07:57
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I think the only reason to believe they were not in it, would be personality. We have some definite facts on this subject.

We know that the Slug club existed both before and after they Lily and James were at Hogwarts. Voldemort himself was part of it, very early on, which would be roughly 50-60 years ago from the HBP. We also know that Gwenog Jones (captain of the Holyhead Harpies), was also involved in the Slug Club. Gwenog was born in 1968, while James and Lily were born in 1960.

Gwenog Jones Wikia Entry

So, the question is whether or not James, Sirius and Lily would have been invited. Slughorn says that Lily was one of his "all-time favorite students", and he is courteous enough to overlook her being muggleborn because she was so talented. James, a wealthy descendant of the Peverells (not to mention talented student/quidditch star) would have likely garnered an invitation. Sirius, a Pureblood from an old and rich wizarding family (also a talented student), also was probably on Slughorn's list.

When it comes down to personality it is less clear. Sirius tries as much as possible to distance himself from his family, so he may have distanced himself from Slughorn. Slughorn may have even decided not to have him be part of it, based on his attitude. (Think about Belby, who admits his father doesn't get along well with his famous uncle, and is never seen in the Slug Club again). After seeing that Sirious is unwilling to use his family as a leg up, he may have been passed over for the club, despite his talent. And, based on their friendship, I doubt either would go to Slughorn's parties without the other, they were somewhat of a package.

We know that Lily, gave Slughorn cheeky answers when told she should have been in Slytherin, but I doubt she would have been quite so rude as to decline the occasional party. I am willing to believe that should would have been part of the Slug Club, but there is no proof of that in the books.

And, of course, people like Lupin and Wormtail would have been passed over completely, Lupin has no connections and Wormtail is a useless weenie at best.

EvSunWoodard
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    Citations are always needed, – Valorum Nov 03 '17 at 15:54
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    @Valorum - Is it? Or is Citation always preferred? – EvSunWoodard Nov 03 '17 at 16:07
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    That's the kind of world-class pedantry that this site smiles upon – Valorum Nov 03 '17 at 18:10
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    "It can be assumed that Arthur and Molly Weasley are younger that the Marauders..." I don't think we can assume that, they may simply have not had the right connections to get roped into the original OOTP. If anything, I would assume that Arthur and Molly are older, since they already had five or six children (depending on when Ron was born) before James and Lily had their first. – MJ713 Nov 03 '17 at 18:37
  • @MJ713 - That's possible, I'm just looking at book quotes. Although, it isn't ludicrous to think that even if they were similar in age, that the slug club would have ceased to exist. – EvSunWoodard Nov 03 '17 at 18:43
  • I did a little more digging, and it's mentioned in Goblet of Fire that Molly left Hogwarts before the Whomping Willow was planted. So they're definitely older than the Marauders, not younger. – MJ713 Nov 03 '17 at 18:46
  • @MJ713 - Thanks for this, I will update my answer then. I forgot this tidbit. – EvSunWoodard Nov 03 '17 at 18:47
  • @MJ713 - actually did some of my own digging, and found something more definitive, so thank you! – EvSunWoodard Nov 03 '17 at 18:51
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Lily was Slughorn's favourite student, and I think it's obvious she was in the Slug Club, too. Even if James and Sirius had received an invitation, I don't think they'd accept it. As a reason for this I could imagine that, like Harry, they did not want to end up in his “collection”. Lupin was good at defending against the dark arts, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't in the Slug Club because he was a werewolf and Slughorn certainly didn't want to have anything to do with such a creature (assuming of course that Slughorn knew about Lupin's illness, but I think he did). And Peter was just untalented and boring. Just my opinion :-)

Mr Moony
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    Welcome to SF&F! your answer is mainly speculative and is based on your opinion. could you find some relevant sources and update your answer to be more reliable? – Shreedhar Feb 24 '20 at 13:32
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Lily was definitely in the Slug Club as Slughorn himself said this on many occasions (in the book The Half-Blood Prince) to Harry that she was his favorite student. However in the book there is no mention of James or Sirius ever being in the Slug Club. They surely were talented enough to be in it but as we have seen from book 5 that they were troublemakers like the Weasley twins, maybe that's the reason they never got an invitation from him (not that either one of them would have been interested to be honest). BTW this makes me think, can anyone decline the offer to join Slug Club?

Edlothiad
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dobby
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I think Lily and James may have been. But I don't think Sirius would have joined. He would have thought he was too cool to be a part of the Slug Club. Also, he wanted to distance himself as far away from Slytherin as possible. James would have joined because Lily was in it. Anything to be close to the woman you love. Lily was supposedly really good at Charms and would have made it into the club on merit alone.

Jessica Cifelli
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