Anatomy of a Rift (Part 1 of 2) LONG

[Shauna <wind3213@hotmail.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 52510

> Has 
> Harry ever lied to Ron before? Does Ron know of Harry lying to 
others 
> in similar cirucumstances? 

I don't know exactly what constitues similar circumstances, but 
Ron knows that Harry is capable of lying.  He knows that Harry 
lied to the Dursleys about Sirius.  He knows that Harry is willing 
to break rules to do what he wants.  Of course, those are broken 
rules, not personal lies.  But the possibility is there.



> > > Ron's reaction as you describe it does not agree with 
inherent 
> > human 
> > > tendencies. People have high resistance to painful facts. 
We go 
> to 
> > > great lengths, expend large amounts of mental energy to 
not 
> accept 
> > > painful facts, even when they are fairly well substantiated. 
Ron, 
> > on 
> > > the other hand, *chooses* to believe something that 
causes him 
> > pain. 
> > > It just doesn't make sense.

Many people do react this way.  They're called optimists.  Other 
people react the opposite way.  They're called pessimists.  I 
know of plenty of people who assume the worst so that they can't 
get any more hurt.  Ron has shown this tendency.  He 
automatically assumes Scabbers is dead in the PoA cat/rat fight.  
I can't think of any other examples off the top of my head, but the 
possibility, at least, is there.  



> Dumbledore believes Harry when Harry tells him that he didn't 
put his 
> name in. Hermione and Hagrid both have no difficulty in 
believing him 
> either. Of all the people who know Harry intimiately, Ron is the 
only 
> one who refuses to take his word for it. It seems exactly as 
though 
> he *does* want to believe in this painful fact.

Let's take a look at Dumbledore, Hagrid, and Hermione, as 
compared to Ron.  It's worth the time to do so, as according to 
you, these are the four people who *should* have believed Harry.


Hagrid ~ The night of the choosing ceremony, the Trio visit 
Hagrid at his hut.  They spend a great deal of time there 
"speculating which of the entrants were likely to be selected as 
champions" (p.265).  Given that, and the fact that Dumbledore 
likely spoke to Hagrid concerning Moody's sinister suggestions 
(or perhaps Madame Maxine complained about it), Hagrid would 
be much more likely to believe Harry.  So he is both inclined to 
believe Harry, and has an alternate explanation.

Dumbledore ~ He is both intelligent and a good judge of 
character.  He doubts Harry enough to ask him whether he tried 
to get his name put in the goblet, but given all the available 
information and seeing that Harry was telling the truth, he was 
both inclined to believe Harry, and had an alternative explanation.

Hermione ~ So far as she knows, Harry had no intention or real 
interest in putting his name in the Goblet.  Therefore, she sees 
no motive for Harry to have done so.  Furthermore, when Harry's 
name is drawn from the goblet she is better able to register his 
own shock, instead of having to deal with her own.  (Yes, she is 
surprised, but she is not overwhelmed by disapointment, 
betrayal, etc.)  Given that evidence, she has both the inclination 
to believe Harry, as well as the alternative explanation Harry gave 
her.  (Just as a side note, it is possible that Hermione had 
doubts which, upon later deciding they were baseless, she 
decided to conceal from Harry.)

Ron ~  As others have mentioned, Ron has spent the past 
several days in a climate where Harry has expressed both an 
interest (or at least a passive agreement to Ron's interest) in 
being the Hogwarts champion.  Because he wants to do it so 
badly, he has difficulty believing other's wouldn't want to.  He and 
Harry even discuss how they would do it.  So, when Harry's 
name is drawn out of the Goblet, he's concentrating on his own 
emotions: shock, disappointment, betrayal, etc., instead of really 
seeing how surprised Harry is.  Furthermore, he is given 
evidence that Harry is actually enjoying being the Champion, 
whereas Harry offers *nothing* to support his assertions.

So there is a big difference between Dumbledore, Hagrid, 
Hermione and Ron.  They each have different impressions of 
Harry's desire to enter the tournament, they each have different 
initial reactions, they each have varying amounts of evidence 
within their reach.



> Ron has always been shown as at least as sensitive of Harry's 
> feelings and moods as Hermione. But in this case, strangely, 
he is 
> quite blind to Harry's ongoing stress and misery? Harry has to 
throw 
> something at him to make him aware that something isn't 
right? 


Because Harry is always so transparent about his emotions.  He 
broadcasts them to anyone and everyone, so that even a person 
who isn't speaking to him will understand the depths of his 
torment.

Hardly.  Hermione might be trying to convince Ron that Harry's 
miserable, but when does Ron ever listen to Hermione?  
Furthermore, the continued attention to Harry paid by the press 
and public is hateful to him, but Ron can't see that.  Ron would 
*love* to get all that attention, so he doesn't see what it's doing to 
Harry.



~ Shauna