[HPforGrownups] Re: Fudge - Lockhart - Florences, Slugs - Why Harry Lived - Where Dumbledore Studied

[Susan Hall]

No: HPFGUIDX 19517

Catherine asked about law in the books.  I have just contributed an essay
called "Harry Potter and the Rule of Law; the Central Weaknesses of Legal
Concepts in the Wizard world" to a book which is a collection of essays
about various aspects of the canon, being compiled by a US academic, Dr
Giselle Anatol. and which, it is hoped, will be published by Greenwood Press
later in the year.  Catherine puts her finger on a number of issues I deal
with in the essay.  A lot of conclusions can be drawn about  the
spinelessness shading through to complete corruption of the MoM by the way
legal issues are tackled (or not) in the canon, and how wizard law is
contrasted with Muggle.  For example, the state of emergency surrounding
Voldemort's ascendancy is offered as the reason why Sirius didn't get a
trial, but Voldemort had fallen by the time of the apparent murder of
Pettigrew, and there is no apparent security risk in allowing Sirius a
trial.  In fact,you'd have thought that *if* all the evidence stacked up as
firmly as Fudge alleges in the pub, a nice splashy show trial would be just
the job for the Ministry.

I personally find it suspicious that, combined with the absence of trial,
Fudge is first on the scene and all the muggle witnesses have their memories
modified.

Anyway, if you compare the murder of Voldemort's father and grandparents,
the fact that WWII was going on at the time didn't stop the Muggle
authorities doing a proper investigation and exonerating Frank Bryce.

Susan