Traitors

[sophierom]

No: HPFGUIDX 87035

<bookworm5252 at y...> wrote:
> I read here that maybe Bill is a would-be traitor. I felt quite 
> desmayed about that possibility and I hope it won't prove true. As 
> for Percy, and considering his attitudes in Phoenix, he might just 
as 
> well be, but I also read in the HP Lexicon that he is probably 
> working undecover for the Order and that sounds much more 
interesting 
> and "twisty". I don't see a reason for the compulsory existence of 
a 
> traitor in the Weasley family!> <snip>

Sophierom:

I also hope that Bill and Percy are not traitors. I've been 
wondering how we could possibly predict who the next traitor will 
be, if there is one.  And here's what I've come up with (if 
someone's already said this before, sorry for the repeat): 

In the past books, all of the traitors have been what I'd like to 
think of as seemingly "neutral" in the beginning of the story. For 
example, when JKR first introduces Quirrell in PS/SS, Harry sees him 
as neither good nor bad; he just is.  Same with Scabbers in PoA. 
These characters don't seem important to Harry; if they died (as 
Scabbers seemed to in PoA), he wouldn't really miss them. In short, 
there's no real love or respect (or, conversely, loathing or 
malice); Harry doesn't feel one way or the other about them.

I have to admit that fake!Moody is a little bit different on GoF.  
Still, even with Fake!Moody, I don't think Harry's awe at the 
professor's "coolness" (he turned Draco into a ferrett!) can 
necessarily be construed as love or deep respect.  Harry didn't turn 
to fake!Moody for emotional support. In contrast, Harry's 
relationship with the previous DADA professor, Lupin, seems much 
more heartfelt. Lupin and Harry create a friendship in PoA that fake!
Moody never builds with Harry.  Harry worries what Lupin thinks of 
him (why didn't Lupin let me deal with the boggart?), he trusts him 
with personal information (I see the death of my parents when the 
dementors near), and this helps to build a solid friendship. (I 
guess this idea is based on the assumption that Lupin will remain 
faithful throughout books 6 and 7; it's obvious here that I'm not a 
fan of ESE!Lupin!) Fake!Moody may have helped Harry out of some 
binds in GoF, but he doesn't really play a role in Harry's inner 
world, his emotional state.

Conversely, the people whom Harry sees as mean, nasty people (Snape 
is the best example) have turned out not to be so bad (still mean, 
but so far, not a traitor ... will this be true of Draco, too?).  
Snape figures into Harry's emotional world on a regular basis, 
causing dread, anxiety, anger, confusion in Harry's mind.

I think it's the people/creatures who don't really register in 
Harry's mind as being important to him who turn out to be traitors.  
Whether this trend will continue in books 6 and 7, I can't say.  But 
it's a good device for JKR - because we see everything through 
Harry's eyes, and so we are also surprised when it's someone 
seemingly unimportant (Scabbers is a DE! ... I was surprised, at 
least).  To make it someone that Harry obviously dislikes (Snape) is 
too easy.  To make it someone Harry loves (Lupin, Dumbledore) would 
be cruel, not only to Harry but to the readers.  Such a character 
reversal would be a cheap trick, in my opinion, whereas the 
sneakiness JKR shows in her depictions of Quirrell, Scabbers and 
fake!Moody are brilliant.  

Given this trend, I think that, if any of the Weasleys have to be 
traitors, it would be Bill or Charlie, as they are the 
most "neutral" of the brothers. Still, the Weasleys have become 
Harry's family; Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are very much like adopted 
parents to Harry, and by extention, Bill and Charlie are like 
brothers.  In this respect, they are very important to Harry, if 
only in an abstract sort of way.  

Of course, sometimes it is the people who are closest to us that 
betray us, and JKR has not shied away from realistically depicting 
the hardships of growing up. She's been willing to deal with the 
death of someone close.  Still, I think that if someone really close 
to Harry ends up being a traitor, JKR risks turning Harry into a 
very bitter, cynical young man.  She'd certainly make me a bitter 
young woman!

Sophierom, who apologizes for the rambling nature of the post ... 
it's still early in the morning for me!