Pranks -- Envy -- Ghosts -- Library Policies

[ssk7882]

No: HPFGUIDX 34917

My favorite subversive, Eric Oppen of "Frank Longbottom Was
Judge Dredd On Acid!" fame, wrote:

> Somebody above (forgive me for not remembering who; I get this list
> as a digest) said that she didn't like the Weasley twins, Gred-and-
> Forge.  

That was me.  No, I really don't care for the twins at all, although
I do appreciate their kindness to Harry.  But I can't help it.  I 
simply _loathe_ practical jokes, and pranks, and pranksters.

Well...all except for those named "Eric Oppen," that is.  

> It occurs to me that they _might_ be prime candidates for the role 
> of Next Evil Overlord.  I've never been fond of practical jokers---
> remember, Batman's _worst_ and most frequent enemy is called the 
> Joker.  Sure, they're popular and well-liked _now,_ but apparently 
> so was Tom (Lord Voldemort)Riddle when _he_ was at Hogwarts.

Ah, and you will notice that both Tom ("I Am Lord Voldemort") Riddle 
*and* "Gred-and-Forge" have been known to play word games with their 
own names.

Coincidence?  Oooooh, I don't *think* so.

> I'm not saying that they _will_ turn evil---I'm just saying that the
> possibility is definitely there...

At this point, I'd call it a well-nigh canonical certainty.

Barb, on the other hand, remains unconvinced:

> Plus, if pranks were a sign of basic inner rottenness, it is
> doubtful that JKR would have related Sirius' youthful indiscretions,
> which make him look far worse than the twins (Snape could have been
> killed).  And yet, he's just a peach of a guy now.  

Indeed, it is quite clear that JKR labors under the sad delusion that
practical jokes are <shudder> funny.  I do believe, in fact, that 
she's even been suckered into believing that they are fundamentally 
good-humored.  "No harm in it, honest."  "It's all in fun."  "What's 
the matter, can't take a joke?"

Bah.

Of course, *we* know that in actuality, the practical joke is a 
particularly vile and passive-aggressive form of sadism which 
operates by forcing its victims to actively *collude* in their own 
degradation by pressuring them to swallow down humiliation with a 
shaky laugh and a strained smile.  *We* know that prank-pulling is 
really nothing more than a form of bullying which hides its true 
malice behind an unconvincing mask of jollity and good-humor.  *We* 
know that there is really nothing in the least bit amusing or good-
natured about the practical joke, that far to the contrary, it is 
just one of the many means by which the socially popular assert their 
dominance over their less charismatic peers.

But apparently JKR doesn't.  And since she's writing the books, not 
us, the pranksters get to be the canonical Good Guys.

Pah.

I know that I, for one, *detest* practical jokers.  My hatred for 
them runs all the way to my very marrow; I will bitterly resent them 
until the end of time; I will...

> If anything, it's folks who carry grudges to the nth degree that
> consistently get painted as evil in the HP books, not pranksters.

<Elkins blinks, then looks away from the computer screen, suddenly 
terribly preoccupied with the apparently difficult task of lighting 
her cigarette>


Actually, I'd say that it's not so much grudge-holding as *envy* that 
is the Grand Sin of the Potterverse.  Holding grudges is certainly 
bad, but envy (itself often one of the underlying reasons for the 
grudge-holding) seems to me to be the Potterverse's real corrupting 
force.  Its effects on Snape are obvious, but there's also Crouch Jr.,
whose hatred of the other DEs seems to be primarily motivated by his 
bitter envy of their relatively suffering-free lives, and Draco 
Malfoy, whose envy of Harry seems at times to be pushing him to 
something close to *derangement,* let alone Darkness.  And while 
Pettigrew has never 'fessed up to envy as a prime motivating factor 
in his betrayal of the Marauders -- preferring to stick closely to 
the Cowardice Defense -- I think that most readers assume that envy 
played a not-inconsiderable role there, as well.

Envy's the real spiritual killer in the HP books, I think, and I 
found it interesting that both Ron and Harry spent large portions of 
GoF -- the "turning point" of the series -- wrestling with it.  
Harry's problems with Cedric are really far more envy-based than 
jealousy-based, IMO, and of course, Ron's difficulties with envy are 
painfully apparent.

I find myself wondering when Hermione's going to have to stare down 
envy.  


----
ON GHOSTS

Unc Mark and his niece, who sounds like a wonderfully compassionate 
and caring individual, were wondering if poor Moaning Myrtle could 
ever be laid to rest.  He queried:

> What would Myrtle's unfinished business be?

Why, she has to stop holding grudges, of course!  She has to forgive 
Olive Hornby and all of those other rotten kids for picking on her 
back when they were students.

Maybe Snape could give her a few pointers there.  <snerk>


----
ON LIBRARY POLICIES

On the question of Hermione keeping the Moste Potente Potions book 
out of the library for months on end, Jake wrote:

> Well, maybe the Hogwarts library has a more liberal checkout
> policy.  You can keep the book until another student needs it...

I don't know if this is typical of all British universities, but when 
I briefly attended the University of Wales, the library allowed books 
to be kept out for the entire year, provided no other student 
requested them.

Hogwarts' library probably works the same way.


--- Elkins