Marrietta's betrayal -Higher Moral Authority

[zendemort]

No: HPFGUIDX 110950

> > Del replies :
> > I understand the feeling, but I have to disagree with the 
> > statement. Anarchy lurks around the corner when we start choosing 
> > which laws we're going to obey.
> > 
> > Moreover, putting any morality over the law is terribly dangerous.
> > After all, isn't it exactly what LV and the DEs are doing ? Their
> > morality isn't ours, but if we claim the right to put our morality
> > over the law, then we automatically grant them the same right.
> > Dangerous, very dangerous.

> Steve/B_Boymn:
> 
> Equally, there is a problem with blindly following the law. The law 
> is a matter of opinion and is changing all the time. In addition,
> Government, politicians, and therefore law can become corrupt as 
> would likely be the case if Voldemort wins and takes over.
<snip> 
> Once the Quibbler article came out, most of the students changed 
> their mind about Harry, and at least considered the possibility that 
> he might be right. However, it is at this time of general enlightenment,
> that Marietta choose to betray Harry. I have to wonder why, other 
> than it was necessary for the story, at that time, did she decided to 
> go to Umbridge? I have a suspicion, as suggested by others, that outside
> forces were putting a great deal of pressure on her, pressure to which
> she eventually caved. 
> 
> to paraphrase Dumbledore, at some point in our life, we
> must choose between that which is right, and that which is easy. 


Very interesting dilemma... and very good points. On one hand, we must 
choose what we know as right. On the other, we must also consider 
what others view as right. We all can agree that different societies, 
different cultures, even different individuals have dissimilar 
notions of morality. Law in a true democracy would reflect the 
beliefs of right and wrong within the society. In this case, the 
majority of the people have agreed to abide by a certain system of 
morality. Law in a dictatorship only always one person to 
differentiate between right and wrong, and sometimes that person 
might not know the difference. Thus, with Prof. Umbridge, Law is 
created by a dictatorship with no consent from the governed. Harry is 
thus breaking laws created by a dictatorship that is cruel and 
essentially wrong. This is not anarchy, it is simply doing what is 
right. And frankly, I really don't know which is worse, an evil 
dictatorship or anarchy?

 I would not be so quick to judge Marietta. We do not know her, or 
why she told on the DADA group. We don't even have any idea of what 
Umbridge told her, or how she approached Umbridge. (And remember her 
mother works for the MoM, and would know a lot inside information.) 
Thus, we really don't know what happened or how she came to tell 
Umbridge. Nor will we ever know, since her memory has been erased. I 
personally believed that she was coerced to tell. All this time, she 
didn't say a word, and suddenly she tells on all of them, even her 
best friend. 

Hmmm... It would have to be two ways for this to occur: 
1) she was always suspicious of Harry and just went along because of 
Cho. Finally, she decided to do what she felt as right, and notify 
Umbridge about the group, possibly thinking that Harry was dangerous 
and that she was helping her friend. 2) She was badgered and forced 
into telling. We must keep in mind that these characters are still 
children, and therefore don't often have their own convictions or 
judgements, but only what their parents tell them. (Which is why I 
feel dividing them up into separate houses is wrong, and that Draco 
might not be that bad.) When we are children, we grow and change in 
the way we think. This is one point I really don't understand about 
the books. Why aren't any students changing houses? Surely what a 
person thinks at 11 will change over the years, and be completely 
different to how that same person thinks at 15. In many cases, enough 
to be considered for a different house.

"zendemort"