[HPforGrownups] OoP: Percy as a Slytherin (possibly a little bit fanficcy in places)

[manawydan]

No: HPFGUIDX 65463

Laura wrote
> In light of all this, I am very suspicious of Percy's new
> allegiances.  Has he *truly* renounced his family?  Remember in GoF,
> when Ron accuses him of being capable of that same thing?  And
> remember what happened not long after?

Like you, I've not read all the mails over the last week - just haven't had
time to get through 700 odd a day so hopefully I'm not copying what someone
else has already said.

But I'm with you in feeling that Percy isn't Evil!Percy, Renegade!Percy, or
anything else!Percy. He's just Percy. Think about it this way.

Of the Weasley clan, he obviously identifies himself with the older brothers
rather than the younger ones, But being younger than Bill and Charlie,
that's made him a bit priggish and over-dignifed when he's in situations
with his younger sibs. He obviously wasn't as adventurous as his older
brothers, but he was ambitious, clever, and wanted a career in politics. So
when he left Hogwarts (in the space between PoA and GoF) he joined the
Ministry, and got quite a good post as assistant to Barty Crouch.

When we see him again, he's really trying his best to be a success. He
idolises his boss (and even though we can see how risible things are, that
Crouch, who is an old, sidelined and probably quite bitter man whose career
was pretty much stalemated when he was blackballed for the Minister's job
and can't even remember Percy's surname, but that's not how Percy sees it).
He's obviously trying to adopt the MoM culture, because his colleagues
aren't concerned about Jorkins going awol, neither is he - they are probably
busy making sly jokes about her sexual proclivities, Albanian toyboys, etc,
etc.

Then one morning, Crouch isn't in work. Instead there's an owl with a
message saying "Dear Weatherby, I'm unable to come in because I'm feeling
ill. There are three files in my in tray which just need signature. Please
sign them and pass them on. Etc, etc, Yours, Barty"

And Percy does what he's told. Why shouldn't he? It's a perfectly reasonable
request. And Crouch will probably be back tomorrow, he thinks.

Only Barty isn't back tomorrow.

Now those of you who work in the English Civil Service will know that it
runs to routines. Every day is pretty much like the last. So a lot of time
goes by. Every so often there's an owl giving him further instructions. But
most of the time he's on his own, handling Barty's work as well as his own.
And to be fair, he's an intelligent and capable lad and obviously doesn't
make a bad fist of it. No one outside the department notices that Barty's
not back, so Percy obviously isn't making any serious cockups. And Percy,
although he obviously wonders from time to time what's going on (and gets
quite brusque when anyone makes him think about things not being quite
right) probably feels he's doing the right thing.

But suddenly, everything goes disastrously wrong. Barty Crouch, his beloved
boss, is dead. And it's Percy's fault. If he'd mentioned Barty's
disappearance to someone higher up, something might have been done. And
Barty wouldn't have been horribly murdered. And it's Percy's fault. It's not
only Harry who has to deal with the consequences of someone dying. Percy
does too. Because it's Percy's fault.

Then the investigation starts. Now once again, anyone who's been involved
with a civil service investigation will know that it's a very nasty
business, even before anyone gets accused of anything (one colleague of mine
ended up in therapy during one and she wasn't guilty of anything). Percy
gets summoned to give evidence. Almost certainly gets interrogated by
Dolores. With a Kwik-Kwill writing down every word.

Dolores:Now then Percy, what does it say in the Departmental Manual that you
should do if someone is off sick?

Percy: It says...

Dolores: So why didn't you do that?

Percy: Um...

[Alternatively: Percy: I don't know

Dolores: So why didn't you find out?

Percy: Um...]

He gets puts on the spot. Over and over again. Every bit of the period Barty
isn't there is covered. He gets asked why he didn't do something. Over and
over again he has to relive that time, thinking that it's all his fault.

Dolores: Bertha Jorkins didn't come back from leave, did she?

Percy: No

Dolores: What does it say in the Manual that you should do if someone is
absent without leave?

Percy: It says...

Dolores: So why didn't you do it?

Suddenly all those jokes about Albanian toyboys aren't so funny after all.
Because Bertha's dead. And maybe that's Percy's fault too. And the Kwill
goes scrat, scrat, writing down every word he says, every stumble, every
"Um". And at the end of each session, Dolores gives Percy a copy and says
read this and sign at the bottom if you agree it's a true copy of what you
said. And he has to read the whole lot over again.

He's going through hell. He takes the whole thing home with him every night,
thinking about what he should have done, all the stumbles he made answering
the questions, all the things that mean he's going to end up in Azkaban
because his beloved boss is dead and it's his fault.

And just to make things even worse, his two maturer, cooler brothers are
home and know what's going on. And all his family are interested in is his
farty little brother's farty little friend who had an encounter with some
dead wizard in a graveyard. It couldn't be Mouldy Voldie, he's dead.
Everyone in the Ministry says so (Remember that Percy is too young to
remember the bad years, he was round about 4 when Voldemort was dispersed
and probably all he can remember is disquiet and worry from the years
before).

And he snaps. He ends up in a blazing, stupid row with his parents about all
of it, or at least, about everything _but_ what's really eating him up.

Then at the end of all the interrogations, he gets summoned to the
Minister's office. And Fudge is there with all the files in front of him.
Percy's sitting there feeling as if a round of tonsil tennis with a Dementor
wouldn't be that bad a thing. Then Fudge shakes his head and says "It's all
been a bit of a mess, hasn't it, Percy?" And Percy bursts into tears. He
wasn't expecting that. So that when Fudge says "I should have taken more
interest in your development rather than leaving you to get on with things.
There's a vacancy in my office and I'd like you to do the job", Percy
certainly isn't going to say no.

When he starts his new job (and remember, he couldn't have done _that_ badly
at Barty's job which was much more senior than his own) he's _very_ careful
not to step out of line., He does everything by the book. He doesn't even
pick his toenails without someone else's authority to do it. The people he
associates with are Fudge and his spin doctors. And just in case he has any
qualms about what he's going, Dolores is also around, just to remind him of
what happened.

Once again, he's absorbing the culture of Fudge's office. which is that
Harry's story is ludicrous, Voldemort is safely dead, Dumbledore is severely
deluded, and we all need to stick together in the Ministry and be loyal to
the Minister.

Of course, given that Percy is now estranged from his family, there could be
no question of his giving information to Fudge about what they are up to!

Poor Percy. He's still got that burden of guilt, which he's trying to work
through by being unimpeachable in his new post but which still haunts him at
night when he's on his own.

I don't think he's irredeemable by any means. Poor sod.

Cheers

Ffred (going back into lurkerdom now...)

O Benryn wleth hyd Luch Reon
Cymru yn unfryd gerhyd Wrion
Gwret dy Cymry yghymeiri