Requiem for Weatherby (and a bit more on Hermione)

[Cindy C.]

No: HPFGUIDX 46243

"Requiem for Weatherby."

That is so much kinder and gentler than going around painting bull's 
eyes on the backs of beloved character, don't you think?  Eileen is 
much better at community relations than I am.  I have much to 
learn.  ;-)

Eileen wrote:

> Cindy, I wouldn't buy that Hermione theory if you paid me to, but 
>your words have had a chilling effect on me. 

What?!?  Hey, last time I checked, *four* people had, uh, seen 
Hermione's light at the end of her long tunnel.  Not to mention the 
fabulous piece of canon Aja found:  

>Voldy and the Death Eaters aren't too fond of Muggle-born witches. 

Oh, Aja has lifted the very heaviest part of that Hermione casket, 
don't you think?  Yikes!  What an excellent observation!

Do DEs (or JKR) have even the slightest bit of remorse about hurting 
women?  Uh, maybe I'll go ask Bertha Jorkins.  And Mrs. Longbottom.  
No, DEs are Equal Opportunity Sadists, I think.  Heck, Bertha and 
Mrs. Longbottom didn't even get a clean and quick death like 
Cedric.  No, they had to be tortured until there was nothing left.  
Except for Lily.  If you're Lily, then Voldemort will laugh directly 
in your face while you plead for your life before he blasts you into 
the arms of your maker.

Nah, Hermione sure shouldn't expect a break from JKR because of her 
gender.  And I'm not thinking her tender age is going to help her 
much, either.  

Besides, isn't there one of those cliches in fiction that the Evil 
Overlord who can't kill the hero does the next best thing by bumping 
off the hero's most beloved friend, thereby inspiring the hero to 
get all reckless and defeat the Evil Overlord Once And For All?

Are you sure you won't convert, Eileen?  You know, make it five 
people who are ordering black armbands with an "H" on them?  How 
about if I sweeten the deal by explaining why Percy will be alive 
and well and brewing tea at the end of OoP?

Eileen (picturing the aftermath of Percy's death):

> Oh the pain! The agony! The weeping children: "I s-said I wished
> P-percy was d-dead b-because he was b-boring!" Fred and George 
>going into deep depression and regretting their persecution of 
>their brother. 

Uh.  Yes.  I can see that you're really torn up about this whole 
Percy thing, aren't you?  But why Percy in Book 5 instead of 6 or 7, 
though?  Eileen has the answer when she warns:

>Meanwhile, she can't stuff every death into the last book. 

Yes, that's true.  One must *pace* oneself when it comes to rubbing 
out fictional characters.  Right?  ;-)

And Eileen continues:

>Because JKR loves Percy, even if
> certain unappreciative child readers don't, because she loves the
> Weasleys, and it's going to be heartbreaking. 

Hold up, hold up.  JKR?  Loves?  Percy?

Oh, I don't think so.  I think Percy is tied for dead last in JKR's 
ranking of Weasleys.  She clearly favors Ron, giving him more than 
his fair share of the good comedic lines.  Next are the Twins, 
followed by Arthur, then Molly.  Bill and Charlie are still in an 
embryonic stage of development, although I think JKR likes them just 
fine.  

But Percy?  Oh, he has his purpose all right -- being the butt of 
jokes, representing the establishment, being a conduit of MoM 
information.  But I think JKR could take him or leave him -- he 
hardly has a great number of sympathetic moments when JKR 
intentionally writes him favorably.  I think most of the arguably 
positive attention Percy gets is as a device to demonstrate 
something to the reader.  So the point of having Percy splash out to 
check on Ron is to show just how scary the second task was -- not to 
show the reader that Percy is a great guy and all.  

Nah, I think JKR could write Percy's demise just fine.  She could 
scratch it out on the back of a cocktail napkin, for heaven's sake.  
Frankly, I think Percy is a lot closer to Cedric than to being a 
Big, Horrible, Difficult death.

So Percy's safe, Eileen.

For now.  ;-)

Cindy -- who likes real life happy endings very much, but can't get 
too excited about them in fiction