Slytherin is the Hogwarts house associated with the line “Those cunning folk use any means,” a description of its founder Salazar Slytherin and the house’s traditional reputation. The wording appears in the Sorting Hat’s song in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
The four Hogwarts houses are named after the school’s founders: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. Slytherin values ambition, resourcefulness, determination and cleverness, while its members are often stereotyped as likely to pursue power.
The line is sometimes mistaken for a formal house motto, but Rowling presents it as part of the Sorting Hat’s verse. Slytherin is also associated with green and silver and with the serpent as its emblematic animal.