What is a Bully? - dare I bring up that tedius subject?

[Sirius Kase]

No: HPFGUIDX 43258

What is a bully?  We've seen lots of examples of nasty behavior that 
supposedly isn't bullying.  We know this because we know the motives of the
people involved.  At the risk of sounding like I'm in the Twins are Bullies
faction, I'd like to cite bboy_mn's example of what isn't bullying behavior.

> 'Kicking' Draco out of the cabinet was not an assault; again, it was
> an act of disrespect. They pushed him out of the compartment with
> their feet because he wasn't worthy of the consideration or effort of
> bending over and pushing him out with their hands. The kick was not,
> by any interpretation that I can see, a blunt force trauma kick. They
> push him out using their feet which is still technically a kick, but
> it is NOT an assaultive kick; a kick by definition only. By the way,
> that's is exactly what I would have done, and I'm about as far from a
> bully as it is possible to get.
>
> You can argue the point all you want, but the 'Fred and George are
> bullies' faction, will never convince me that Fred and George are
> intentionally vicious malicious mean spirited power-mad predators.
>
> That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
>
> bboy_mn
>
No one outside of that train compartment heard Draco's horrible remark and I
doubt that he will repeat it when his father or another adult removes him
and his friends from the train.  It will simply look like one gang was
flattened by a rival gang.  I don't expect that Draco's father will be at
all sympathetic to Harry and company even if they make a public explanation
of the incident.

Here's another incident.  This one doesn't involve the twins, but can you
interpret it as anything other than an unprovoked attack on the victims?
Sure, we know their reasons, but would anyone who wasn't extremely
sympathetic to Harry and company agree?

Two boys poison two other boys and lock them in a closet.  They don't return
to let them out, they are left for someone else to free.  We know that they
do this simply to get them out of the way, their presence would be
inconvenient.  They are not doing it to lighten up the atmosphere.  They
never publicly state the motives or even apologize  Nobody asked to be
knocked out and stuffed in a closet.  there is no indication that Crab or
Goyle had been mistreating Harry or Ron in the least.  C&G are victimized
for no reason that they can control.

Victims rarely understand their attackers true motives.  Uninvolved third
parties are even less likely to know.  Can you imagine what the person who
freed C&G thought of their predicament?  It depends, some would assume that
they deserved it for some reason, others would be shocked.

And on the train?  I wonder who discovered Draco and company?  Why would
they be sympathetic to Harry and company?  Harry has just been written up as
power hungry and insane.  Even if someone in the Wizard World knows to take
Rita's reporting with a grain of salt, that isn't any reason to excuse
Harry's group either.  No one knows what really happened other than the
parties involved.

So, who is a bully?  Is it based on the attacker's motives or how the victim
feels or responds?  Motives and feelings are unknowable to others.  The
third party observer may empathize based on how they would feel in the
situation, but that doesn't reveal how either the attacker or the viction
feel or think.  We do know that the "Good Guys" have better motives than
simply making their victims feel bad.  But is that a valid excuse?

BTW, we need to remember at all times that third party observers who are
characters in the book have a very different point of view than us readers.
The narrative has been written to be extremely sympathetic to Harry and his
friends.  If Harry likes someone, their actions are described in the most
positive way imaginable.  If the reader is lazy, he will always see the
"Good Guys" behavior as excusable.  Because of Harry's history, the
wizarding public is also inclined to like him and accept Dumbledore's
explanations.  But as the story wears on, I think that Harry is using up his
store of Good Will and will eventually use up much of Dumbledore's political
capital as well.  I mean, how far can you go based on something you did as
baby, being a sports hero, and the incredible explanations of a senile old
guy who has lost whatever ability he ever had to hire good teachers and run
a safe school?  If Dumbledore's pet continues to leave dead and unconscious
bodies in his wake, that must be troubling even if one is inclined to like
Harry.

Sirius Kase




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