Why Can't Hagrid Do Magic?

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 43961

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., eloiseherisson at a... wrote:
> Regarding my (Eloise) use of misdemeanour:
> 
> > bboy_mn replies:
> > ..snip.. however, I was trying to discredit your post,...

> Eloise Asked: 
> Is that *was* or *wasn't* trying to discredit? ;-)
> 

bboy_mn:
Sorry, of course, I meant 'I was NOT trying to discredit your post'.
Sometimes my brain and my keyboard get a little out of sync.

> 
> Eloise comments:
> I personally don't think there is anything particularly benevolent 
> in forbidding someone ... from using magic. 
> 

bboy_mn responds:
I'm not saying it's benevolent; I'm saying it's benevolent compared to
an extremely long prison sentence in Azkaban. It's a relative thing.


> Eloise:
> The thing that I'm not sure I'm understanding, is who the other
> students to whom you refer are. Were other students petrified 
> the first time, as well as Myrtle dying? 

bboy_mn replies:
According to Tom Riddle's diary, several students were attacked and
one was killed when the Chamber was opened while he was in school.

>Eloise continues:
> ...heavy snip...
> 
> So if he (Hagrid) was only thought to have let one of his 'pets'
loose, I don't think it's necessary for him to have been believed to
have let the *same* creature loose the second time round.
> 

bboy_mn - general comments:
Tom Riddle, Dobby, Lucius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy and presumably
Dumbledore all believe the Chamber of Secrets really was opened last
time. They refer to it as such, and do not refer to it as the last
time Hagrid let one of his pets run wild.

Since there were several students attacked the first time, we have to
assume their appearance and symptoms were the same as the current
petrified victims. That would be a pretty fair indicator that the same
or a very similar animal was doing the attacking. Remember Dumbledore
was at the school when Riddle was there and the first attacks took
place, so he has first hand knowledge.

As far as Hagrid, I think he was the scapegoat. It was very convenient
for the Ministry and the school to blame Hagrid and his pet even if
the facts didn't really support that conclusion. Their interest,
especially the Ministry's, was to put this to rest and salvage their
reputations. I don't think very many people who were on the inside of
this situation believed it was Hagrid. But finding a culprit and
having someone to blame made them look good. Also, all the real
details of what happened were hushed up. Tom Riddle was told to keep
his mouth shut, and they used the 'Hagrid did it' story as their
official statement of what happened. I must add that to the wizarding
public at large, even the 'Hagrid did it' story was not used. The
official PUBLIC statement was that the girl died in an accident. All
the other details were kept quiet.
- bboy_mn -


> Grey Wolf has pointed out that spiders (some, at least) do paralyze
their prey. This is true, although I think Dumbledore, in all his
wisdom and experience, would have recognized the difference between
that and petrification. Don't ask me how. I don't know how he
diagnosed petrification in the first place. >

> Eloise

bboy_mn - more general comments:
Petrified implies a stone-like state. Paralysis is more likely to be a
limp state. Although, there may be some venom that could induce rigid
muscles, I doubt that it would be the extreme petrified/stone-like
state that we are seeing with the Basilisk.

bboy_mn