[HPforGrownups] Re: HRH and their Prefect badges

[Shaun Hately]

No: HPFGUIDX 75191

On 4 Aug 2003 at 2:10, C M wrote:

> And regarding Ron as a Prefect, I'm (surprise, surprise) with the 
> camp that says we know too little about what he's done to assess how 
> well he's fulfilling his responsibilities. I don't think that we (or 
> Hermione for that matter) should have expected him to discipline F&G. 
> As far as we know, there are five prefects in that house that aren't 
> Weasleys; nothing's stopping them from "pulling rank" on the twins 
> when necessary. I don't see anyone calling for the four unnamed 6th & 
> 7th year Gryffindor prefects to have their badges stripped when, come 
> to think of it, we haven't heard about them doing *anything*. Or 
> maybe it's just that the Harry-vision in which things are presented 
> to us doesn't bother to cover boring things like prefects satisfying 
> the day to day requirements of their job.

I want to reinforce this one - OK, I *was* a prefect at a school that 
was as similar to Hogwarts as is reasonable for a Muggle school. And 
there is no way known you'd have been expected to routinely handle 
disciplinary matters involving your own family. The only time you'd have 
been expected to take a stand would be in a situation where their 
behaviour was so serious that you had to deal with it RIGHT NOW - you 
couldn't wait - and if you were the only person available.

And in the case of Ron... well, there are four prefects (or should be) 
who are *senior* to him, and they should not be allowing a situation to 
develop where Ron would be faced with the dilemma of dealing with his 
own brothers. They should be looking out for him (and for Hermione as 
well) to prevent problems. Ron could only fail in his duty as a prefect 
with regards to his brothers if the more senior prefects let him fail.

Now, I've noticed that this issues of Ron's prefecture is coming up a 
bit, and I'm responding a fair bit because I have an interest. There is 
a book written about how the Prefect system in exclusive British (and 
British model) schools works and worked - I had to read it when I became 
a prefect. I'm going to see if I can get a copy from the library - and 
if I can, I *may* post some details from it with an analysis of Ron's 
performance.

But I think it's true that we haven't seen much to go on yet. Although I 
maintain that if Ron was a lousy Prefect we would have seen it by now. 
It may not be obvious when a Prefect is good at their job - it rapidly 
becomes obvious when they are not.

Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia