JKR should have checked the Lexicon, was Ron as prefect

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 105983

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Amanda Geist" 
<editor at t...> wrote:
> A quick note from a list L.O.O.N., because Ron is getting a bum 
rap here, and from JKR herself. Poor Ron.
<snip>
> You know, JKR should probably have nipped into an internet 
cafe and checked
> the book before she wrote that comment. Because in the book, 
it is not only Ron, but also Ernie MacMillan and Hermione having 
the conversation with Draco, where outrage and disbelief are 
expressed that Draco, prefect, is docking points.<
> 

Speculation:
Old punishments sometimes stay on the books long after they've 
fallen out of use, especially in tradition-bound societies like the 
WW.  Let's say that, technically, prefects were allowed to dock 
points, but by the time of our story this has fallen into disfavor 
and subsequently been forgotten.  Rules-mad Percy is keen 
enough on his duties to discover this forgotten privilege and try to 
implement it (CoS ch-9. Hermione certainly would have objected 
then if Percy hadn't had the right to take points from them.)

It doesn't catch on--in fact the senior Gryffindor prefects  are 
horrified as they  imagine what the Slytherin prefects would do 
with the ability to dock points if they knew they had it and they 
prevail on Percy not to do it again.


If  Umbridge could change the rules to allow the Inquisitorial 
Squad to deduct points, she also could change them so that 
prefects can't. Hermione knows this and stays silent. If 
Umbridge has by chance neglected to formally rescind the old 
rule, that could come in useful later.  In any case, Hermione 
certainly isn't going to point out to Draco that actually he's always 
had the ability to deduct points, is she? 

Pippin