Marrietta's betrayal (was Depression ... in OotP - Cho/Marietta)

[scoutmom21113]

No: HPFGUIDX 110849

Del:
Moreover, one very important thing happened after Marrietta signed: 
the DA became illegal. That changes everything.

Alla wrote:
"Was there anything "illegal" with what she did? Of course not. It 
was her right to betray her friends, but then she absolutely 
deserved what she got at the end, IMO."

Del replies:
It was her friends who were doing illegal stuff. She did *not* 
deserve to be punished for setting her own situation straight. 
*Especially* since she had not been told that there was a punishment 
attached to her telling. Cho is right: it *was* a horrible trick on 
Hermione's part to jinx the list and not tell anyone. Practical, but 
horrible.

Bookworm:
As Del pointed out, after Marietta signed the DA became illegal.  
However, she continued to attend the meetings.  She could have 
chosen to stop going. I do agree that is was very sneaky of Hermione 
to attach a punishment without saying anything.  Much more devious 
than I would have expected her to be.

Del:
Moreover there's one issue that's never considered: in what 
circumstances did Marrietta betray the DA?

Bookworm:
If we can take Umbridge's word for it, Marietta approached her.

"'Well, Minister, Miss Edgecombe here came to my office shortly 
after dinner this evening and told me she had something she wanted 
to tell me.  She said that if I proceeded to a secret room on the 
seventh floor, sometimes known as the Room of Requirement, I would 
find out something to my advantage.  I questioned her a little 
further and she admitted that there was to be some kind of meeting 
there.  Unfortunately at this point this hex,' she waved
impatiently at Marietta's concealed face, `came into
operation and upon catching sight of her face in my mirror the girl 
became too distressed to tell me any more.'" (OoP, Ch27)

What prompted her to tell all we don't know, but unless Umbridge
is lying, Marietta came to her.  I almost wrote that it was possible 
that she did lie, but one of the things that makes her truly 
horrible is that she doesn't lie.  She just twists the truth
(e.g. telling Harry he was to "write lines" for his
detention).

Ravenclaw Bookworm