Why Was Hagrid Left Out of the Order?

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 109850

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Maggie" <cincimaelder at y...> wrote:

> > mhbobbin:
> > I think he is in the Order. His mission was to go to see the Giants 
> > and that takes him out of the story for half the book. And he would 
> > attack notice --more than the usual oddly dressed folks--walking 
> > into the neighborhood at Grimauld Place. He might not even fit in 
> > the rooms there. And I doubt, for the same reason, that he'd be 
> > standing watch at the MoM. They'd need 12 invisibility cloaks for 
> > him.
> > 
> > mhbobbin

> MAE:
>
> I agree.  Plus, once he returned from the Giant trip he needed to be 
> at Hogwarts to teach and care for the animals.  Once he was attacked, 
> well, everything happened that night.  In fact, the job he was doing 
> for the order, was to go to the Giants.  I guess in the book it says 
> he's doing it for DD, but I think that might imply the order.
>
> MAE

Asian_lovr2:

We have already established that Hagrid was in the photograph of the
Order during the first war against Voldemort, and we have also
established that he is and has carried out specific missions for
Dumbledore during the present conflit. I see the only logical
conclusion is that Hagrid is indeed a member in good and long standing
of the Order of the Phoenix.

However, I would like to add a more general comment about who is on
which side. There seems to be a misconception that you are either a
Death Eater or you are against Voldemort, and the same applies to the
Order of the Phoenix, you are either in it, or you are against
Dumbledore. By extension, this belief implies that if you are for
Voldemort, then you are automatically a Death Eater, and if you are
for Dumbledore, you are automatically a member of the Order of the
Phoenix. 

Life is not that simple; I think there are more shades of grey
involved. To use an illustration from history, there were far more
soldiers in the German army than there were in the SS Troops. That
parallels the current wizard world situation nicely; the DE's and the
Order members represent an elite force of opposition, and not the rank
and file soldiers.

There are many more people fighting against Voldemort than just the
Order of the Phoenix; Dark Forces Defense League, Magical Law
Enforcement, the Auror's office, forces from the International
Confederation of Wizards, citizen wizards-foreign and domestic, etc....  

The same applies to Voldemort, although more so during his first quest
for power, the DE's are his personal guard and elite force of wizards
that make up his inner circle. Outside this circle are probably many
forms of 'rank and file' supporters that may be part of sympathetic
organizations or simply individuals who support the 'pureblood' view. 

Restated; in the orginal conflict the Dark Lord may have amassed an
army of thousands, but that was thousands of soldier, not thousands of
Death Eaters. 

Just a thought.

Steve/asian_lovr2