Fred and George: The Bullies You Do Know

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 43175

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "ssk7882" <skelkins at a...> wrote:
quoting a clinical definition of bullying
> -- is there a real or perceived power imbalance between the 
victim  and the instigator(s), is the victim incapable of retaliating 
> effectively in kind, or is the victim unusually and specifically 
> vulnerable in the arena targetted by the behavior?<<

and asserting:
> I would say that their treatment of Percy definitely qualifies as 
> bullying.  


The Twins are *not* bullies, according to Elkins' definition, 
because the people they habitually pick on are not weaker or 
incapable of retaliation. In every case, when they harrass a 
weaker person, it's due to an error in perception on their part. 

The Twins aren't thinking of what they do to Ginny as 
harrassment . But they can't be  too much blamed for this, IMO, 
since no one else is any better at  grasping what's ailing  Ginny, 
and in fact it's Percy who bullies her into taking the PepperUp 
potion  which she doesn't need. 

The Twins choose Dudley as a  target because in their eyes he's 
not weak. They're not thinking of him as a helpless Muggle, 
they're thinking of him as a "great, bullying git," a person of such 
superiority that he fearlessly abused  the great Harry Potter , 
something which, in their world, no prudent person would dream 
of doing. Their error is pointed out to them.

What about the teachers, Molly and Percy? Are they being 
bullied? No, because they have greater status than the twins and 
are perfectly capable of retaliation.

 Quirrell, though he's nervous and stuttering, is in a position of 
authority over the twins, and canon explicity states that they were 
punished for the snowball incident.

Percy is older than the Twins and has authority over them as a 
Prefect, a Head Boy and an adult, successively.  Most of  their 
attacks on him are carried out by stealth, because they know 
perfectly well what would happen to them if they got caught. In 
fact we see Percy chasing them all over Gryffindor Tower when 
they steal his prefect's badge in Book One. Apparently he's not 
worried by their sheer physical superiority...a wand makes a 
good equalizer.

Molly is the one who wears the pants (if wizards wore pants) in 
the Weasley family, and she's the parent who's plagued by 
identity switches and fake wands. We never see them tease 
Arthur, do we?

The twins aren't bullies. What they are is *rebels.* They don't 
attack those whom they perceive as weak. They attack the 
strong, using guerilla tactics which will doubtless come in handy 
in the war ahead. 

Pippin