Houses and Percy

[nb100uk]

No: HPFGUIDX 66391

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, digger <altered.earth at n...> 
wrote:
> scaryfairymary wrote:
> 
> >  >> Calimora wrote:
> >  >
> >  > << Slytherin house doesn't seem to gather all of ambitious 
people
> >  >>
> >  >
> >  > I've always felt that Slytherin House accumulates not so much 
the
> >  > ambitious as the unscrupulous, those who aren't picky about 
what
> >  > means they use to achieve their ends, even if their ends are
> >  > un-ambitious things like "obey Draco".
> > 
> > 
> > I always wondered why Percy was not sorted into Slytherin.  He
> > certainly has the ambition and the will to do pretty much anything
> > for power.  I never liked Percy (as my many posts on the 'Percy is
> > evil' issue many moons ago can verify :) ) and I see his behaviour
> > towards his family in OOP as vinidication of my position.  I am 
not
> > seeking to reopen the Percy debate, merely trying to ascertain why
> > he was put in Gryffindor.  He is not brave in the slightest, he 
only
> > seems to want to be the favour of whoever is seen to have the most
> > authority at any given time, McGonnagal and Dumbledore, then 
Crouch
> > sr, now Fudge.  It will be interesting to see if he changes 
colours
> > again in the next book when it seems DD will once again be 
the 'main
> > man'.  In many ways he reminds me of Pettigrew
> > 
> > 
> > -Mary
> 
> 
> I think its plain that Slytherins will use *any* means to achieve 
their 
> ambition, whereas Gryffs just won't be that ruthless; their 
compassion 
> and ethics won't allow them. So Percy might be out on a limb, but 
he 
> won't go over to the dark side completely. However, that does give 
him 
> leeway to behave like Fudge and Crouch Snr, whom he has/had great 
> respect for, so the actal result could be just as bad............
> 
> ugh, not looking forward to reading *that* part in book six, but 
> expecting it just the same.
> 
> digger

I think people have confused the 'mean Percy' issue with him being 
EverSoEvil!  Percy's failings have come entirely from believing his 
superiors in his job rather than his parents who (as we all have done 
in our teens and early twenties) he sees great faults in.

Bravery comes in many guises (as JKR is always showing us), and one 
of those is courage of conviction.  Now, no one said those 
convictions would always be the *right* ones, so Percy has made an 
error of judgement but is certainly not evil.  He's fallen into the 
Fudge mode and is a blinkered fool but not evil.

My hope for the start of Book 6 is for Percy to come back home full 
of remorse and, Arthur and Molly being the fantastic people they are, 
forgive him.  However, I hope that one of his brothers (and my money 
would be on Charlie) gives him the dressing down of his life about 
the family sticking together, gives him a good punch in the jaw and 
then hugs him!

Nina (very angry with Percy but not hating him quite so much as 
others - Umbridge anyone?!)