Percy's Character Flaw

[gwendolyngrace]

No: HPFGUIDX 37309

Hi, all!

Demeter answered Debbie:
>
>    That plays off the theory that perhaps Percy was told endlessly
> that if he didn't behave, if he didn't follow the rules, if he didn't
> follow all the rules, then one of his little siblings would die. And
> so would 'mummy' and himself. Pretty scary stuff for a five-year old.
>

Actually, that's a slightly different theory than the one in A'jes'
Blue's fic, "In This World of Strangers: Catharsis." It sounds to me
like this particular theory subscribes to the idea that the "gap" has
to do with the war against Voldemort, and that the Weasleys were in
hiding for a while. That theory suggests there is no other child--that
Arthur or Molly or both were too busy fighting and/or staying alive to
make babies, and inadvertently put a lot of pressure on Percy to watch
his siblings.

In A'jes' Blue's fic, Arthur and Molly don't traumatize him about
following the rules at all. He comes to the conclusions about rules
himself, after the death of an older brother (Erec) born between
Charlie and Percy.

Other than Charlie's winning the cup 7 years prior to PoA, and a
comment Bill makes about coming back to Hogwarts for the first time in
5 years, we don't know anything about their ages. A'jes' Blue decided
to pair all the children, so that they broke into groups of two kids
no more than a year or two apart. Bill and Charlie. Erec and Percy.
Fred and George. Ron and Ginny. (Interestingly, she did all this
because she wanted Ron to be a seventh son, so "Ron is a Seer" fans,
take note.)

In her fic, Percy has some separation trouble when Erec goes to school
for the first time at the age of 5 (Percy is 4). He doesn't exactly
understand where Erec is, and sneaks off (breaking a major rule) to go
looking for him. Because everyone is out looking for the missing
Percy, they don't realize Erec is gone as well...until they find him.

In their own grief and remorse, no one sees or even thinks that Percy
might blame himself for Erec's accident. He takes that guilt and
buries it, reinventing himself as an obedient child and developing
what amounts to a complex about following rules. If breaking a rule
directly resulted in something Really Bad, then obeying the rules
should mean everything will be okay, right?

What A'jes' Blue picked up on is that Percy hides behind rules in
canon as well. He retreats to the safety of being told (by the rules)
what is permitted, and thus what is right. And so far, that attitude
has been rewarded. I think that's what the "Percy is Evil" folks pick
up on: the perception that one need not make any decisions but allow
an unspecified authority to dictate all policy. But I think a change
is in store for Percy.

The last thing we hear about Percy in GoF is that he's being
questioned by the Ministry in connection with Crouch's disappearance.
Percy, in his youthful desire to please, and his naivete, tried to
prove he was up to the tasks set before him, and got caught in a
bureaucratic nightmare because he thought he was following Crouch's
orders. I think he's about to see the kind of obfuscation and red tape
and incompetence the Ministry is capable of, and I think that will
disillusion him.

I also think Ron is wrong about Percy--he does put family first. When
he discovers Ron and Harry coming out of Myrtle's bathroom in CoS, he
tells Ron he believes that they had nothing to do with attacking Mrs.
Norris. He takes points away ten seconds later, but he *does* indicate
that he sides with Ron's story rather than the circumstantial evidence.

I think Percy will play an important role in the coming books, but it
may be more behind the scenes than in the foreground. Through reports
from Molly and articles in the Daily Prophet, we may learn that Percy
is working alongside his father to help from within the Ministry, or
else, he may become the scapegoat for Crouch and lose his job, freeing
him to work in the field. I think he's not an "in the field" type, so
if it were my decision, I'd keep him at the Ministry but use him as a
coordinator. Or perhaps JK will surprise us again, and reveal that
Percy's quite adept at duelling. I somehow doubt it.

But in any case, I think she's positioned him to grow up a lot as a
result of being kicked in the teeth by the world.

Gwen