Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil (Nel Question - LONG)

[marinafrants]

No: HPFGUIDX 38378

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "dicentra63" <dicentra at x> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "marinafrants" <rusalka at i...> wrote:
>   The Slytherins deserved to 
> > lose the House Cup because of Draco's actions.  They did *not* 
> > deserve to have their faces rubbed in it in front of the whole 
> > school.  And Snape, in particular, did not deserve to be jerked 
> > around by his boss in front of all his colleagues.
> > 
> Hmmm.  I don't think that Snape or the Slytherins or Dumbledore
would
> take this position.

Well, we know Dumbledore didn't take this position, because if he did
he wouldn't have done it.  But do you really think Snape and the
Slytherins all just nodded their heads and said, "Gosh, that's fair,
we really had it coming?"

> 
> First: Slytherin had been winning the house cup for several years
> running.  Given Snape's propensity for randomly awarding and
deducting
> points, and the Slytherin credo of ends justifies the means, it's
> highly likely their House Cup wins didn't come about by the most
> above-the-board means in the world.  Undoubtedly, the other houses
> knew it, too, and had been chafing under the unfairness of it all
for
> years. I also doubt Snape was terribly modest about the wins,
> especially in front of McGonagall. NO doubt the Slytherins had been
> rubbing everyone else's face in it.

So give Gryffindor the Cup, announce it in the usual way -- before the
Leaving Feast -- and let everybody gloat in the usual way.  Pulling a
bait-and-switch in the middle of the Feast was unnecessary and
uncalled for.

> 
> Second: Awarding the points at the final feast gives public credit
to
> (a) Harry, despised of Snape, Draco, and probably all those whose
> parents were DEs; (b) Ron, a poverty-stricken, muggle-loving
Weasley;
> (c) Hermione, a "mudblood"; and (d) Neville, also despised of Snape, 
> son of an Auror, and apparent incompetent. The elitist Slyths need
to
> know exactly who got the points and why.

That, no doubt, was why Dumbledore did it.  But he could just as
easily have announced the winning house before the feast and still
given credit during the feast.  A quick "congrats to Gryffindor, and
let me explain why they won" speech would've done the job just fine
without the handwaving and changing banner colors half-way through.  

I think this was a rare case of Dumbledore failing to see the whole
picture.  He saw the part that said, "Gryffindor deserves to win," and
the part that said, "Neville and HRH could use a public pat on the
back," but not the part that said, "Don't alienate the Slytherins any
more than they already are."

> Fifth: Poetic justice aside, the Slytherins and Snape undoubtedly
> needed to be taken down a few pegs.  In this, Dumbledore is actually
> doing them a favor, not an injustice.  Allowing the Slyths to
continue
> to win by cheating and then to lord it over the rest of the school
> wasn't doing much good for school morale.  

I never said that the Slytherins should've been allowed to win. Why do
people keep responding as if I'd said that?  


> Do you really think the Slytherins went home to their mommies and
> cried about what a bully Dumbledore is?  Do you think parents of
> Slyths sent owls protesting the humiliation of their children?  No,
> the Slyths probably took it the way Slyths do: plotting how to get
even.
> 

Of course they're plotting to get even.  That's the problem.  You've
got a whole House full of kids who are already at increased risk for
turning to the Dark Side.  The last thing you want is to leave them
feeling that the school has done them a wrong that must be avenged. 
Slytherin House needs to learn a lot of lessons.  "Don't get mad, get
even" is *not* one of them.


> --Dicey, who is glad Dumbledore is in charge

Marina, who is also glad Dumbledore is in charge, but nevertheless
disapproves of his methods from time to time.
rusalka at ix.netcom.com