[HPforGrownups] McGonagall's justice, rennovated ToadKeeper (was: Where did the Nimbus 2000 come from?)

[Porphyria]

No: HPFGUIDX 36921

Gretchen asked:

> This small detail has been nagging at me for a few years now.  Where
> did the Nimbus 2000 come from?  We know that McGonagall "sent" it to
> Harry, but who paid for it?  Would she have paid for it herself?  
> Would she have made arrangements for the money to be taken out of
> Harry's vault at the bank?  Can she do that?

I see no problem with the idea that McGonagall bought it herself, it 
seems oddly in-character. Although Harry insists upon seeing her as the 
embodiment of Justice, I don't really buy that. He mostly sees her in 
Transfiguration class -- of course she's going to be fair in that class, 
it's all Gryffindors! OTOH her near-abduction of him into her Quidditch 
team was both in violation of school rules and an undermining of Madam 
Hooch's authority. [Not to mention a dig at Snape, but we'll assume he 
encourages that sort of one-upsmanship.] Although she's occasionally 
willing to punish her own house, I don't see her justice as being any 
less arbitrary than any other aspect of the point system at Hogwarts. 
I'm always amused at the scene in CoS where Snape is cross-examining 
Harry over the body of the petrified Mrs. Norris -- McGonagall never 
says one word in Harry's defense until Snape threatens to have him 
suspended from the team. I'm not saying she doesn't care about Harry's 
welfare, but she does seem more willing to defend him and creatively 
interpret rules when her team stands to get the most benefit.

So I don't have a problem believing that she bought the broom with her 
own money. I'm sure it would be a bit of a scandal if word got out, but 
that's probably why no one ever mentions to Harry exactly how the broom 
got paid for. OTOH I would be shocked to think that someone took the 
money out of Harry's own account without telling him. This wouldn't be a 
bending of school rules but more like outright robbery. I don't think 
McGonagall would do that.

While posting, I'd like to compliment Tabouli on the new-and-improved 
ToadKeeper theory. Evil!Trevor -- I like it! I like it even though it 
obviates the need for my own belabored explanation of why Snape 
'pretended' to intend poisoning Trevor. Maybe I like it *because* it 
obviates the need for my own belabored explanations. :-) But poor 
Neville, eh? We keep dreaming up ways in which the beings closest to him 
are all DE spys.

If there needs to be any more canon support for the idea of 
the-pet-chooses-the-wizard then we also have Crookshanks. Granted, 
Crookshanks is neither evil nor an animagus, but we do know that he 
recognized that Scabbers was evil right off the bat, and we can assume 
that he seduced Hermione into buying him immediately afterwards so he 
could continue to pursue that rat. All cats can be seductive when they 
set their minds to it, so I supposed clever toads can also, at least to 
gullible great-uncles.

~~Porphyria, who is only now recovering from her hangover enough to 
creep back to a liquor store for that Lagavulin -- this bottle will be 
enchanted so only Eloise will be able to open it. ;-)


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