HP and the democratic equilibrium(Re: Umbridge, brooms and DEs)

[Berit Jakobsen]

No: HPFGUIDX 87151

Shaun wrote:
> 
> I take your point, Derek - but as somebody who was at a British 
> style boarding school in the late 1980s and the early 1990s, I can 
> tell you that if at my school, the situation you described had 
> happened, we *WOULD* have stood for it.
> 
> We wouldn't really have realised we had a choice.
> 
> In such a case, it's quite likely we would have approached the 
> teacher and tried to explain the situation to them and explain we 
> thought it was unfair. We might even have gone over the teachers 
> head (if there was anybody more senior available) and made a formal 
> protest.
> 
> But in the end, if the teacher stood firm, we'd have pretty much 
> accepted it. Even if we thought it was unfair.
> 
> Now not all schools are like that, and not all students are 
> compliant like that - but I think a lot of people might not grasp 
> what some schools are like in that regard. There are a lot of 
> schools - particularly traditional boarding schools - where the 
> students view the rules as ironclad and almost as forces of nature 
> - that doesn't mean they always obey them - but the idea of 
> actually *questioning* them may seem very very alien.
> 
> And I can certainly see that applying at Hogwarts - mostly because 
> the students who are there currently have very limited experience 
> of dealing with capricious authority - they are used to Dumbledore 
> being in charge, and the vast majority of teachers (exception 
> Snape) being fair and reasonable. That's the type of environment 
> when the rules start to seem very natural, and very solid things 
> that you don't really question.

Berit replies:

I agree with Shaun: I stayed at a college, a boarding school, in 
Britain for four years, and can confirm his experience and knowledge 
of British style, traditional boarding schools :-) Though unfair, 
Umbridge had every "right" to confiscate Harry's broom...

Berit