Undercover Percy

[Peggy]

No: HPFGUIDX 81031

Snip, snip
n_longbottom01:
> 
> I don't think I am as far from your "something is *wrong*" with 
Percy 
> interpretation as you might think.  I like Percy too, and I was 
> pretty disappointed in him in OotP.  I did see an unpleasant, and 
> startling change in Percy's character, like you did.  It's just 
that 
> it didn't occur to me, on my own, that this change was caused by 
> anything other than Percy's own ambition.
> 
> I guess I saw this change in Percy as the next big step in the path 
> he has been on from the beginning.  That's what I meant when I said 
> that I didn't think that Percy was acting out of character in OotP. 
> There has been a change in Percy's character, but I saw it as a 
> progressive change, so it didn't set off my Imperius Curse detector 
> as I read through the book.
> 
> So, don't get me wrong; when Percy sent back his Christmas sweater, 
I 
> didn't think to myself, "That's Percy for you, what a jerk."  I 
> expect better from him, but he is making poor choices.
> 
> You are right, Rebecca, differing interpretations are what make 
this 
> list so fun.  Now that I've seen theories like Undercover Percy I 
am 
> holding onto some hope (however small) that the Percy we see in 
OotP 
> isn't as bad as he seems.


Peg here:

I'll agree with both of you--my gut reaction to Percy in OOP 
was "What is wrong here?  Percy is a twit, but I never thought he'd 
be quite *such* a twit."

He's been a major pain in the tuckus, but he's also shown how much he 
cares for his family (Cos--hiding in his dorm when Ginny goes 
missing, GoF when he helps Ron and Harry from the water).

My hunch is that there is much, much more to this than we can see.  
Undercover!Percy hadn't occurred to me until I saw it on the list, 
but Imperio'd!Percy certainly did.  

Ron is almost always wrong, when he's not making a joke.  No, I'm not 
changing topics, just leading up to a little canon:

GoF, American edition, p.534-- 

"Percy would never throw any of his family to the dementors," said 
Hermione severely.
"I don't know," said Ron, "If he thought we were standing in the way 
of his career . . . Percy's really ambitious, you know . . ."

I think Ron's reverse Seer function came into play there.  My money 
(all 2 cents of it) is on Percy being deep undercover or in very, 
very deep trouble.

Peg