[HPforGrownups] Rita Skeeter ( WAS: Re: Hermione's growth)

[Laura Ingalls Huntley]

No: HPFGUIDX 82648

> Hello all, Fred Waldrop here;
> Laura, just wondering, would you consider Rita and Umbridge basicly
> the same type of nasty person?

Oh, I'd say that they're definitely cut from the same cloth.  However, 
they have different motivations and desires, which makes them difficult 
to compare.  And, of course, Umbridge has definitely crossed a few 
lines that Rita hasn't and probably won't.  I'm not saying that Rita 
isn't *capable* of what Umbridge did, because I think she is, given the 
right circumstances, but it just isn't her style.

> Did Rita try to have dementors sent to take anyones soul?
> Did Rita make anyone write lines with a quill that cuts the hand and
> uses blood from said cut to write the lines?
> I would not like to be friends with someone like a Rita Skitter, but
> at least she did not PERSONALLY try to KILL anyone, just humiliate
> them.

What about Hagrid?  Okay, so it might have been unlikely that her 
article would have prompted a murderous mob to come after him, but it 
could definitely have ruined him, esp. if Dumbledore wasn't so firmly 
on his side.

Personally, I've never understood this "sticks and stone can break my 
bones, but words can never hurt me," business.

> There is a difference between being "HORRIBLE" and UNKIND.
> But, perhaps I have met more people and understand there are many
> levels between nice and horrible. *shrugs to own self also*
>

^_~ Well, I *am* from Downeast Maine.  We're all about the lack of 
people there.

Anyhow, if your point is that Rita's "badness" isn't on the same level 
as Umbridge's, I'm with you.  I would definitely call Umbridge "EVIL," 
rather than "HORRIBLE."  And then, of course, Voldemort would be on an 
entirely different level completely. (Although I wonder if you can even 
say Umbridge is a better person than Voldemort, really.  I don't think 
Umbridge isn't out there killing and maiming and trying to take over 
the world because she has a moral *objection* to it.  I just think she 
a) isn't interested in it b) it hasn't occurred to her and/or  c) she 
hasn't got the balls or the power to actually do it.)

Perhaps our disagreement is less of a difference of opinions and more 
of a difference of word choice?

Just for comparison purposes, would you call Wormtail "horrible"?

Laura (who never thought her small-town upbringing would prove to be 
such a handicap in understanding the world. ^_~)