Sins of Hagrid -- Subversive bigotry

[moongirlk]

No: HPFGUIDX 33970

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "christi0469" <christi0469 at h...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "ssk7882" <theennead at a...> wrote:
> > 
> > Jo replied:
> > 
> >  > Dudley an innocent child?  He's a horrid, mean, bullying brat.
> > 
> > Yes, but Hagrid had no real way of knowing that at the time, now,
> > did he?  He may have inferred it from the overall unpleasantness
> > of the family, but that's every bit as bad as people judging
> > Hagrid himself on the basis of his giant parentage.
> 
> 
Christi responded:
>  But Hagrid did have ways of knowing about the Dursleys. <snip 
explanation of his ways of knowing. Hagrid probably had very good 
reason to 
> dislike the Dursleys, and Dudley specifically for beating on Harry 
> at every opprotunity.

That was my immediate thought on the subject as well.  With all the 
debate about whether Dumbledore knew of Harry's treatment or not, I 
came to the conclusion that probably he did know, but didn't have a 
choice about it because a. the Dursleys were his only living 
relatives, b. Harry was in a lot of danger and would be harder to 
find in the muggle world and c. being with blood relatives has 
something to do with protecting Harry.  All those wizards that Harry 
had come into contact with while living with the Dursleys, and of 
course Mrs. Figg, were watching and reporting back.  I like to 
imagine that Hagrid not only knew what Dudley was like, but had been 
fuming for years at his bullying treatment of Harry, so when he saw 
the kid trying to take Harry's birthday cake, he took action.
> 
>  Or his comment about the Malfoys having 
> > "bad blood" -- which really is _rich,_ you know, given the 
> > big-boned skeletons hiding in Hagrid's own family closet.
> 
> 
>  I'm not sure where this comment is made, so I cannot defend it 
> based on context. We do know that Lucius Malfoy was and is a DE, 
and 
> that Draco has been trying to Hagrid and Harry in trouble. Hagrid 
> may know things about the Malfoy line that we don't. It is wrong to 
> assume that no Malfoy could ever be good because of bloodline; 
> however Lucius and Draco can certainly be counted as enemies of 
> Hagrid, and viewing the whole family as bad is a natural, if 
flawed, 
> reaction.    
> 

Isn't "bad blood" often a figure of speach as well?  I don't remember 
the statement that was made either, but in general when I have heard 
the term bad blood it has not been an actual comment on blood or 
genetics.

> 
> > Or, for that matter, his assurance to Harry that he'll surely 
> > grow up to be a great wizard, because "with a mum an' dad 
> > like yours, what else would yeh be?"  
> 
> 
>  Given Hagrid's great regard for James and Lily this comment makes 
> sense, especially if there is a strong genetic component to magical 
> ability. Harry's parentage does not garantee he would be on the 
side 
> of good, but James and Lily's abilities could be an indication of 
> Harry's potential magical ability (and we know Squibs are rare). On 
> the other hand, expecting children to be talented because of their 
> parents ability can be unfair. Hagrid's reasoning may be flawed in 
> this regard, but he does seem to have come up with the correct 
> conclusion.

More important, to me, is the context of the statement.  He's making 
an attempt at reassuring a frightened 11 year old boy who's feeling, 
and has expressed, that there must be some kind of mistake because 
he's nothing and nobody and couldn't possibly be a great wizard.  I 
would assume that he makes reference to the parents' abilities simply 
because he's got no empirical proof of Harry's own abilities yet, 
and "I'm sure you'll manage" isn't all that reassuring.

It's true that sometimes Hagrid makes rash statements and 
generalizations, but I don't think these particular ones really 
qualify.  And as someone mentioned, he's rather simple in his way of 
viewing the world, and part of my pet Hagrid theory is that that is 
because he is poorly educated and somewhat emotionally stunted due to 
the things that happened to him as a child. 

kimberly
loving her buddy Hagrid