[HPforGrownups] Re: Witch hunt

[shane dunphy]

No: HPFGUIDX 47527

Indigo wrote:
> >The Ministry of Magic seems, ironically, to have a witch hunt >mentality. 
>Sirius was convicted without proof that he was the guilty >party, but on 
>circumstantial evidence.

GulPlum responded:
>I definitely think that the whole notion of shooting from the hip and 
>asking questions later is very deliberately planted by JKR. The wizarding 
>world has lots of skeletons in its various magically-enlarged closets and 
>we've only had a little peek inside.


Me then:
I think that this whole thematic area within the books is a fascinating one, 
and probably one of the darker aspects of the Potterverse.  It certainly 
looks like the Judicial system within the WW is deeply flawed.  Sirius is 
sent to Azkaban on flimsy evidence, and the key is literally thrown away.  
Yet individuals like Karkaroff are allowed free for agreeing to spill the 
beans on their "friends", despite heinous crimes.  There seems to be a 
decided imbalance here.  Hagrid is sent down on similarly shaky 
circumstantial grounds.  There seems to be no standardisation, little legal 
precedence and the attitude seems to be one of punishment rather than 
rehabilitation.

Azkaban itself is depicted as a hell-like place where the Dementors are 
permitted to have virtually free-rein.  The effects these creature have on 
human-kind is described in vivid detail in the books, and it is tantamount 
to torture.  Hagrid tells us in PA that being in Azkaban made him feel like 
he was "goin mad...Yeh can' really remember who yeh are after a while.  An' 
yeh can' see the point o' livin' at all." (PA, Chapter 11, p 163-164).  We 
know from GoF that some prisoners cannot bear the influence of the 
Dementors, and simply die.  Why is this barbarous practice allowed to 
continue?  We know that wizards like Dumbledore are staunchly opposed to the 
Dementors, and believe that allying with them is dangerous.  It seems, 
however, that the weight of opinion is that they serve a purpose in policing 
the prison population in Azkaban.  This must be considered disturbing.

I think that what JKR is doing, and she does this regularly in the books, is 
to draw a parrallel between the WW and the MW.  There are large parts of 
Muggle society that are very wrong - the class system, prejudice, violence 
etc.  These things also exist in Wizard society.  The details may be 
different, but the problems are just the same.  Wizards may have magical 
powers, but they are still human.  In the judicial system in the books, we 
see the response of a society that has just been through years of fear, 
paranoia and suspiscion.  Maybe not unlike Europe after the holocaust, or 
America during the McCarthy era.  People are still afraid that mistakes may 
be repeated, and the best way to deal with that is to try and get rid of any 
loose canons.  The courts that we saw in the Penseive, the stories we hear 
from Sirius about the Dark Years, the existence of Azkaban itself, all back 
this up.  The term "witch-hunt" is not a bad one at all.  And I think that 
GulPlum is right.  I bet that there are many, many horror stories just like 
those of Sirius.  Don't forget, Barty Crouch was on a crusade for many 
years, determined to prove his loyalties.

Shane.



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