Prefects Who Gained Power--NOT

[psychic_serpent]

No: HPFGUIDX 55679

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "GKJPO" <kristen at s...> wrote:
> That was in Chamber of Secrets.   
> [snip]
> However, I believe it was mentioned to further illustrate Percy's 
> ambition.  There have been many hints that Percy has a lot of 
> thirst for power and success.  This was somewhat realized in GoF 
> where he followed around Mr. Crouch.  We have yet to see how Mr. 
> Crouch's demise affected him, but I think his ambition still has a 
> part to play before he realizes how important his family is.
 
Actually, I think everyone who's convinced that Percy is 
irredeemably ambitious just because of this book is falling for a 
big old red herring.  One has to bear in mind that just about any 
time during CoS that Percy is behaving suspiciously, it is because 
of him sneaking around with his girlfriend, Penelope.  When Harry 
and Ron (disguised as Crabbe and Goyle) run into him in the 
dungeons, just after running into Penelope Clearwater, he's very 
dodgy, and one gets the impression that he's just had an assignation 
with his girlfriend somewhere down there.  (A clue that JKR does 
know what teenagers really get up to at boarding schools. <g>)

When they're shopping in Diagon Alley, first Percy 'muttered vaguely 
about needing a new quill.'  This was his excuse to go off without 
the others.  Later, Harry, Ron and Hermione find Percy in a junk 
shop full of damaged goods, and when Ron needles him about the book 
he's 'deeply immersed' in (which sounds, frankly, like a ruse), 
Percy snaps, 'Go away.'  My guess is Penelope was hiding behind a 
pile of junk in the shop and Percy never actually bought that book, 
just happened to grab it when he saw his brother and friends coming 
along.  Because the book he happened to grab seems consistent with 
an ambitious personality, a lot more meaning has been ascribed to 
this than seems warranted.  

After all, even later, when Percy is concerned about what Ginny has 
to say, it's because he thinks she's going to tell others about him 
and Penelope kissing.  When he locks himself in his dorm after 
finding out that Ginny's in the Chamber, I think he's remorseful 
that he was unkind to her, telling her not to reveal his 
relationship (maybe even threatening her with detention?).

While he SEEMS to be very ambitious in GoF (I think he's taken in 
and used, but won't be again after this), I don't think the 
book "Prefects Who Gained Power" was a precursor of this, as there's 
no evidence he was ever really reading it, or even purchased it.  
Why should he tell Ron so tersely to go away?  He could just pay for 
the book and read it any time, if he really wanted it.  If he was 
trying to hide a tryst, on the other hand, which he is throughout 
much of the book, as we later learn...well, of course he'd want to 
get rid of the younger kids as soon as possible to get back to his 
girlfriend.

I think we'll see Percy working behind the scenes quite a lot in 
future books, and only learn after the fact how much good he's done 
(and the in meantime, he'll seem to be doing the opposite).  He's 
likely to be very remorseful that he allowed himself to be taken in 
by the owls sent by Barty Crouch, Jr.  He's a bright boy, and I 
think Percy's learned his lesson from this.  I don't expect him to 
turn dark--but if he can convince others who are dark, for a while, 
he could be an extraordinarily effective spy.

--Barb

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Psychic_Serpent
http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Barb