Is Percy a Spy?

[brandy]

No: HPFGUIDX 111142

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "scoutmom21113" <navarro198 at h...> 
wrote:
> Brandy wrote:
> ...now that the Ministry is on the Order's side. 
> 
> Bookworm:
> Are you sure? The enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend.  
> 
> There are a number of us who have questions about Fudge's true 
> allegiance. Is he just a weakling who is scared to death? Is he an 
> agent for Voldemort?  Is he a closet DE?
> 
> Too many opinions, not enought clues. <eg>
> 
> Ravenclaw Bookworm

However, I'm not sure that Percy's allegiance is to Fudge himself rather than the 
Ministry as an institution.  Now that the whole wizarding world knows V is back, if 
Fudge *doesn't* act against him he'll be out of power. I don't think he's a DE, I think 
he just wants to keep his position of power over all else.  Yes, he might decide he 
could get more power as a DE, but that would almost certainly mean leaving the 
ministry entirely in the post-OoP political climate.

Percy, however, seems more tied to the institution of the Ministry of Magic than to 
Fudge himself.  Yes, he sees Fudge as a mentor and role model, but I think that he is 
capable of becoming disillusioned with Fudge and abandoning him if necessary to 
continue serving the Ministry.  That's why I don't think he'd be an effective spy - 
because his connection is to the Ministry, not to Fudge or Umbridge themselves.  And 
now the Ministry as a whole can't afford to deny V or to avoid acting against him; if 
particular members do, they are likely to be rejected by the Ministry itself and forced 
to seek power elsewhere.  I think that if Percy were being used as a spy and thus were 
likely to follow Fudge or any other particular person if they left the Ministry, he would 
have been written differently - the Percy we've seen is loyal to the Ministry itself.

-Brandy