[HPforGrownups] Who's more out of line? (WAS: Snape and respect)

[John Hatch]

No: HPFGUIDX 51134

Tome writes:

For everyone who got so upset over Snape's treatment of Hermione: 
were you equally upset when Crouch/Moody turned Malfoy into a ferret 
and started bouncing him around? 

Were you as shocked and angry as McGonagall, or, like Ron, did you 
think it was farily amusing? I bet that some of us even thought that 
Malfoy *deserved* it, didn't we?


I write:

I did think Malfoy deserved it. You make a good point, and I don't have much of a response, except to say that it's this sort of thing that makes the HP universe fun for me.

When I read the books, I find myself endeared to HRH - I can relate to them, I like them very much. No, they're not even close to perfect. They still do stupid things that teenagers will do, but overall I like them. I don't like Malfoy, not even a teeny bit. I'll confess my guilty pleasure right now - I don't want to see Malfoy redeemed in any way, shape, or form. I want to see him lose. A bit immature on my part? Probably, but again, these books are works of fiction - probably the most entertaining works of fiction I've ever read. So I allow myself the guilty pleasure of the double standard - it's ok when Crouch/Moody does this to Malfoy, but it's not ok when Snape does it to Hermione.

If everyone were on equal footing and everyone were treated the same way at Hogwarts, part of the fun of reading the books would be lost on me. It's the range of emotions that I feel that make me love the books when I read them. My blood boils when Malfoy mistreats HRH and pulls his bigoted mudblood nonsense. I enjoy seeing him get what I feel like is coming to him when he gets blasted on the train, or when he otherwise gets in trouble. (A sidenote - regardless of what you think of HRH behavior, Malfoy actually jokes and revels in Cedric's death on the train - if this isn't an attempt by JKR to get us to dislike Malfoy, I don't know what is.)

Again, my view of the books is oversimplified, but I allow myself a fairly one-dimensional view of the relationship between HRH and Malfoy because it helps me enjoy the books more.

Snape, on the other hand, is a different story. I can't wait for OOTP to see what the deal with Snape is.

John


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