Just Desserts (WAS Hagrid not brave? (was Re: Hagrid, Keeper of the Keys))

[cindysphynx]

No: HPFGUIDX 36952

Jenny wrote (about Hagrid's bravery):

> I shall say no more, as I've bemoaned how I feel about Hagrid many 
> times here.  I'm just waiting for Cindy to jump in and join me!
> 

Oh, dear.  I think I am losing zest for the hunt.  Hagrid might be 
incompetent, but at least he is not Evil.  See, I've been reading all 
of these posts about how even lowly Pettigrew is to be pittied and 
spared.  How we were to pity Black even when we thought he was a 
ruthless killer.  How even evil Crouch Jr. is deserving of sympathy 
when he was relieved of his soul.

In the face of all that, how am I supposed to pile on against 
Hagrid?  How, I ask, how?  To tell you the truth, I'm getting a 
little worried that I just might . . . be going Soft.  Consider this:

Elkins (on just desserts for Pettigrew in the Shrieking Shack):

>It doesn't right any wrongs; it doesn't cause anyone to 
> behave any better; it doesn't ensure anyone's safety; it brings no 
> one any closer to redemption or virtue or even simple happiness.  
It 
> doesn't make the world a better place in any way, shape or form.  
> There's just nothing there *to* make me feel content.

Yes, there are plenty of people in the world who would find pleasure 
in the execution of someone like Pettigrew.  They are often found 
opening bottles of champagne outside prisons when someone is 
executed.  I don't count myself among them, you'll be pleased to know.

But there is another emotion and motivation in the Shack that I can 
identify with:  finality.  Lupin and Black were going to execute 
Pettigrew.  Pettigrew was weeping and cringing and all, making it 
difficult for them, perhaps.  There was a lot of talk about avenging 
James and Lily, about what Peter should have done rather than betray 
his friends.  The real justification for their finishing Peter, 
however, is to end this thing.  Peter has shown no remorse, so there 
is no basis to believe that he will not return to the dark side at 
the first opportunity.  Peter was as Evil To The Core in the Shack as 
he ever was.  Nothing had changed.  Peter's demise would not be 
something to celebrate.  

But it surely would have served a purpose, though.  It would have 
prevented Frank Bryce's death, Cedric's death, Bertha's death and 
Crouch Sr. death.  It would have prevented Voldemort's rise.  It 
would have prevented all of the deaths we will be treated to in the 
next three books.  So there is something to be said for finality, 
perhaps.

Elkins again:

> Well, how to say this without it coming across as either droolingly 
> self-evident or insufferably self-righteous?
> 
> I hate murder.  . . . And to my mind, once 
> someone is lying on his back staring at you while you're holding a 
> weapon on him, it's no longer self-defense if you kill him.  

Boy, this is a tough argument to make.  Somehow, I find myself taking 
up the "Pro-Murder" banner.  How did I get backed into this 
particular corner?  :-)

Seriously, though, I think I wasn't too terribly concerned when Harry 
had his wand on Black.  I just didn't think he could have gone 
through with it.  It just didn't register with me.  JKR wrote it that 
way by telling us all of Harry's doubts and hesitation.  I also had 
the conventions of fiction working for me there, too.  I mean, 
really.  The Good Guys *never* just blast the Bad Guy.  The Bad Guy 
has to do something stupid like lunge at the Good Guy before he can 
pull the trigger.  I wasn't too worried.

Now Black and Lupin definitely meant business with Pettigrew.  And 
why was that OK?  Well, we know that wizarding justice stinks.  
Pettigrew is likely to be able to talk his way out of Azkaban and 
join the Dark Lord.  That's assuming that Black and Lupin can even 
get Peter taken into custody at all (which they failed to do).  So to 
me, the fact that he showed no true remorse (no, self-preservation 
isn't the same thing) means that Pettigrew was still a threat.  Not 
an immediate threat, that is, a threat to harm the trio or Black or 
Lupin right then.  He was a longer-term threat to the wizarding world 
in general.  Under the circumstances, I was quite willing to let 
Lupin and Black off the hook in the Shack.

So maybe I haven't gone Soft after all.

Cindy (Tough, yet Soft)