OOP: Moody (SPOILERS)

[Wendy St John]

No: HPFGUIDX 61654

Angela Burgess wrote:

"Mad-Eye
I was disappointed that Mad-Eye didn't have more time because I think 
he would have helped Harry a lot, in the same way that the imposter 
Moody did.  I think he would have told him where things stood, 
without watering down the truth."

Now me (Wendy):

I'm not actually agreeing or disagreeing with the comment above. I think
you're probably right, but talking about Moody did remind me of one the
most heart-wrenching moments (for me) in the book: the scene where Harry is
using the extendable ear thingy to listen in on the conversation at
Arthur's bedside, and Moody says, "there's something funny abou the Potter
kid, we all know that."

Whoa. I totally lost respect and affection for Moody at that point.
Granted, he didn't know Harry was listening in, but to call him the Potter
kid like that just seems to indicate that he doesn't actually see Harry as
a person, but rather as something to be dealt with for the sake of his
(Moody's) job. Now, I realise that Moody and Harry haven't really spent
much time together to form a relationship, and my husband pointed out (in
Moody's defense) that perhaps this sort of attitude is better for an Auror
- to not get involved with people emotionally. Okay, okay, this may be
true, but it just really hurt me to hear him talk about Harry like that,
and to know that Harry was hearing it, too. Made me cry, actually, thinking
that Harry has been through so much (and was already feeling so alientated
from most everyone), and it just doesn't seem fair for Moody (and the
others) to be thinking of him in such impersonal terms. I will also say
that I went into this book thinking that I wouldn't like the real Moody
(not sure why - I just had the feeling he would turn out to be rather
insensitive), so I guess I'm feeling a bit vindicated. But I would much
rather have been wrong, and have seen Moody actually seeming to care about
Harry in some way, beyond the fact that keeping Harry alive has become part
of his job with the Order. This was actually one of the parts of the book
which had the strongest emotional effect upon me (the others being Molly's
encounter with the Boggart and Neville and the gum-wrapper).


Wendy St John
hebrideanblack at earthlink.net