From the other side : Part 1 : Zacharias Smith and other lambda students

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 88849

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Doriane" <delwynmarch at y...> 
wrote:

Del:

<snip>

> For example, how would any kid react if Madonna's daughter was 
> granted very special privileges, that noone else ever gets ? They 
> would get jealous and hurt, right ? They couldn't help thinking 
that 
> she got them because she's famous, right ? And they'd be angry at 
her.
> Well, Harry got on the Quidditch team while still in first year, 
> which is strictly against school rules, 

Geoff:
No, it isn't. The only rule quoted is that first years may not bring 
their own broomsticks. This isborne out in canon - 

"Wood was now looking as though all his dreams had come true at once.
'Ever seen a game of Quidditch, POtter?' he asked excitedly.
'Wood's captain of the Gryffindor team,' Professor McGonagall 
explained.
'He's just the build for a Seeker, too' said Wood, now walking round 
Harry and staring at him. 'Light - speedy -we'll have to get him a 
decent broom, Professor - a Nimbus Two thousand or a Cleansweep 
Seven, I'd say.'
'I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the 
first-year rule.'

(PS "The Midnight Duel" p. 113 UK edition)

Conversation with Ron -
"'Seeker?' he said. 'But first years never - you must be the youngest 
house player in about -'
'- a century,'said Harry"

(same page as above)

I presume that first year's never make the team because they lack the 
ability at that point. There is no suggestion here that it is against 
the rules.

<snip>

Del:
> Then let's get at the end of the first year. Everything was going 
> fine, everyone was quite okay by now with Harry. Hey, he'd even 
been 
> put into detention once ! And then bam ! He gets into some kind of 
> troubles, nobody knows what exactly (that's very important : the 
kids 
> do NOT know anything about Quirrellmort and the Philosophical 
Stone), 
> but a teacher gets killed in the process. 

Geoff:
Canon again -

"Harry swallowed and looked around him. He realised he must be in the 
hospital wing. He was lying in a bed with white linen sheets and next 
to him was a table piled high with what looked like half the sweet-
shop.
'Tokens from your friends and admirers,' said Dumbledore, 
beaming. 'What happened down in the dungeons between you and 
Porfessor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole 
school knows.'"

(PS "The man with two faces" p.214 UK edition)

<snip>

Del:
> In the fourth year, Harry once again is granted an enormous 
> privilege, when he is allowed to participate in the Triwizard 
> Tournament despite being too young. Most kids probably changed 
their 
> mind after the First Task, as Ron did, but still...

Geoff:
He /had/ to participate because the rules stated that anyone whose 
name came out of the Goblet could not withdraw.

"'Finally, I wish to impress upon you wishing to compete that this 
Tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion had 
been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the 
Tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the Goblet 
constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of 
heart once you have become champion.'"

(GOF "The Goblet of Fire" PP.225-6 UK edition)

<Big snip>

I think you are playing devil's advocate. Harry has probably talked 
about his home - att eh first feast after the Sorting Ceremony, we 
are told that talk turned to families and certainly the majority of 
Gryffindor seem to be on his side. One also gets the impression that 
the DA members began to appreciate his qualities in instructing them 
as time went on.

And if there is anyone (other than the Slytherins perhaps) who think 
the Dolores Umbridge is the first apparently sane and impartial 
person in power to come to the school, they either have led a very 
sheltered life or ought to be out looking for the marbles they have 
lost.