re trust (re:pre-judgements entering Oop)

[Tom Wall <thomasmwall@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 52230


Darrell wrote:
If you have lost faith in Percy reread the end of the
second task in GoF. His concern for his family member
far outweighed his concern for proper appearance and
MoM formality. IMHO this is an indicator of where his
true character will always out. Family before all else.

I reply:
Well, sure, that means that you think Percy will ultimately see the 
light, and I can totally buy that. 

But, are you of the opinion that Percy, when *not* confronted with a 
situation as black and white as this, would do the same? Or more 
interestingly, if he's confronted with a situation along the lines 
of 'my family's position is getting in the way of my advancement,' do 
you still think that Percy wouldn't make the wrong choice, only to 
see the error of his ways later on?

I see Percy as very closely linked to Barty Crouch Sr. See below:

'Course, he's very ambitious, Percy, he's got it all planned out... 
He wants to be Minister of Magic.' - Ron
(CoS, US paperback, Ch. 4, p58)

AND

'Crouch let his son off? I thought you had the measure of him, 
Hermione! Anything that threatened to tarnish his reputation had to 
go; he had dedicated his whole life to becoming Minister of Magic.' - 
Sirius
(GoF, US hardcover, Ch. 27, p528)

IMHO, this is another case of odd foreshadowing... although I firmly 
believe that Percy wouldn't, say, let a family member *die* to 
further his ambition, I don't think he'd be averse to putting them in 
an, um, uncomfortable situation.

-Tom