Hagrid's Reliability and Sirius' House (was: What House Was Peter Pettigrew

[darrin_burnett]

No: HPFGUIDX 40842

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "ssk7882" <skelkins at a...> wrote:
> Kristin (who was right the first time) wrote:
> 
> > Hagrid tells Harry that "there wasn't a wizard that went bad who
> > wan't in Slytherin." And at this time, Sirius Black had not yet 
> > been proven innocent. We know that Hagrid knew about Sirius' 
> > alleged crimes and that he was most certainly considered a bad 
> > wizard in his eyes, so for him to make this statement he must 
have 
> > known Sirius to be in Slytherin.
> 

Elkins wrote:


> Yes, well.  Hagrid also says that foreigners cannot be trusted, 
that 
> Harry *must* be a magically-powerful wizard for the simple reason 
> that his parents were, and that the Malfoys all have "bad blood."  
(I 
> find that last comment particularly rich, given what we now know 
> about what Hagrid's got running through his own oversized veins.)
> 

Wellllllll, the first one is definitely xenophobic. 

But as for the second one, he's hardly the only one the believes 
Harry Potter will be great. Ollivander says it literally. McGonagall 
believes there will be a "Harry Potter Day" in the future and even 
Dumbledore seems to believe it. Even Draco believes it, you could 
argue, because he tries so hard to recruit Harry to his little clique.

And hey, the third one has certainly proven to be true. Lucius is a 
Death-Eater and Draco is a little punk.

 In short, Hagrid is an unthinking bigot.  He is partial to sweeping 
> generalizations, and he does not stop to consider their 
> ramifications.  I would imagine, for example, that he would be 
> genuinely hurt to be accused of adhering to the pureblood aesthetic 
> of the Malfoys and their ilk, even though that is *precisely* the 
> sort of thinking that his comments all too often reflect.
> 


Hey, Hagrid has his own prejudices and quirks, but he certainly 
doesn't adhere to the Malfoys' beliefs. It is Hagrid who directly 
refutes the whole mudblood garbage. 

Now, you could argue that Hagrid's xenophobia and skepticism of the 
Malfoys (thinking Harry will be great is neither bigoted nor 
unthinking) is on the same level as the vile venom that spews from 
Draco's mouth about Muggle-born wizards.

However, I think any reasonable look at the situation would put 
wishing to exterminate an entire class of wizards and witches because 
of their parentage completely blows away not trusting foreigners and 
thinking "hey, like father, like son."

But that's just me :)


> Nor does Hagrid take any particular care to make certain that his 
> statements are in the least bit accurate.  In truth, the fact that 
> Harry's parents were magically powerful is *no* assurance that 
Harry 
> himself will be: Squibs exist, and they can come from the very best 
> families, right?

Given that Harry, as a baby, deflected a killing curse from the most 
powerful evil wizard of modern times would lead MOST of the Wizard 
community to believe Harry was powerful, no? Dumbledore knows the 
truth, that Lily's charm did the deflecting, but I don't see this as 
being common knowledge. So again, Hagrid is HARDLY the only one who 
thinks Harry is powerful.

And within a few minutes of meeting Harry, Hagrid learns that Harry 
has shown magical ability, in the form of things "Harry couldn't 
quite explain" which seems to rule out Squib-ness.

So, knowing that Harry ISN'T a Squib, it's hardly the greatest leap 
to figure that given his parentage, Harry will be pretty good.


> I think it strongly suggested from the way that Sirius refers to 
> House Slytherin and its members that he was not himself a member of 
> that House.
> 

Agreed. I think what Hagrid said is either a FLINT, an exaggeration, 
or a desire to shield Harry from the knowledge of his godfather going 
bad and betraying his folks.

But I disagree that it's based on Hagrid being a bigot.

Darrin