Percy...

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 106801


Shannon wrote :
> Percy, in one fell swoop, rejected an entire lifetime's worth of 
> support, praise, and love on the basis of one incident in which his 
> father questioned, not Percy's abilities, but the Fudge's motives.  

Del replies :
Percy did *not* reject his family. In his mind, as he tells Ron in his
letter, it's only a matter of waiting until his parents realise their
mistake. He did not reject his family forever, he only "grounded" them
until they realise their "fault".

And Arthur did indeed question Percy's abilities, at least in Percy's
mind. Telling a young ambitious capable man that he only got a
promotion because his boss has a hidden agenda *is* insulting his
abilities IMO.

Shannon wrote :
> His reaction seems all out of proportion to the crime, and it also 
> speaks of a long-simmering resentment of his family's situation, the
> blame for which he places squarely on his father's shoulders (along 
> with whatever difficulties he's had at work).

Del replies :
Percy only lashed out at his father because he was angry and
frustrated. Harry told his friends some unpleasant things out of anger
and frustration too.
Percy is not the only Weasley kid we see having problems with being
poor : Ron is a very obvious example, but the Twins are quite obvious too.
And technically it *is* Arthur's fault if they are so poor : he seems
to be the only provider (we don't hear of Molly working outside the
home, except for the Order), and it is public knowledge that he was
professionally held back because of his open antagonism with the
"people that count" in the Ministry. It does tell a lot about Arthur's
honesty, sure, but it also tells a lot about his inability to navigate
the Ministry. The Ministry is the government, by *definition* politics
rule it. If Arthur couldn't accept the rules of politics and thus
better meet the growing needs of his family, maybe he should have
looked for another job. That's what anyone who gets stucked in their
job in RL would be encouraged to do, *especially* when they have such
a big family to provide for.

Shannon wrote :
> Harry is his little brother's best friend.  He spends significant 
> portions of time living with the Weasleys every summer. He is 
> practically a member of the family himself.  No, Percy doesn't know 
> Harry the way Ron does, or even the way Fred, George and Ginny do, 
> but it's not as though he was some random first year that Percy had 
> to keep in line.

Del replies :
As you said, Harry is Percy's little brother's best friend. My little
sister is 4 1/2 years younger than I am : I knew her best friends by
name and face, but that's about it. My mom actually discovered that my
sister's best friend at one time had been abusing her for quite a
while, but it took her quite some time and the help of other people.
That friend was apparently a very nice girl, she was very well-behaved
and everything, and yet she was unbalanced.

Harry does *not* spend significant amount of time at the Weasleys (not
even a half-dozen weeks in total throughout the first four books) and
each time Percy interacts very little with him. In CoS he spends all
his time shut up in his room writing to Penelope, and in GoF he's
immersed himself up to his neck in his job.

And just look at the way Harry interacts with Ginny, who is only one
year younger than he is : she's Ron's little sister, but he couldn't
care less about trying to know her. In OoP, she's much more present
because *she* imposes herself on Harry, but Harry *still* considers
her as the little 10-year-old girl he first saw at King's Cross. Why
should Percy act any different with his baby brother's friends ?

Shannon wrote :
> having lived with Harry, you'd think he at least knows him enough to
> be able to make an independent personal assessment of whether he is 
> unbalanced as the Ministry accuses.

Del replies :
Percy has barely seen Harry for a year when the row with Arthur
occurs. People can change a lot in a year : Harry might have been
allright a year ago, and unbalanced now. Moreover, there's the whole
Tournament matter : for all Percy knows during the entire year, Harry
hoodwinked the Goblet into letting him into the Tournament, or he got
someone else to do it for him. That doesn't put Harry in a good light
at all.

I, Del, wrote :
> > Only one year, yes, but a year in which he invested himself *very*
> > heavily in his work. The Ministry became his second family so to 
> > speak.

Shannon replied :
> A family that can't remember that his name is Weasley, not 
> Weatherby! :)

Del replies :
It's only Crouch who made that mistake. Crouch, who was overworked,
acted strangely all year and disappeared mysteriously. Just Crouch,
not the Ministry.

Shannon wrote :
> I think that Percy's reaction is due mostly to the fact that deep 
> down he knows his father was right. He knows, even if he blusters 
> and makes himself look important to his family, that Crouch never 
> depended on him like he pretended.   Percy isn't stupid enough to 
> think that after an inquiry, being in all kinds of trouble at work, 
> and being an assistant to a man who barely knew he was there, he'd 
> be promoted to assistant to the Minister. It's just not logical, and
> Percy's too smart not to have figured that out, even if he doesn't 
> want to admit it.  Weasley Pride, that's what that is.  He's being 
> willfully blind.

Del replies :
I disagree completely :-)
We learn that pretty quickly in the year, Mr Crouch started skipping
work days, and by January he'd stopped coming to work altogether. He
was sending owls to Percy, who was for all practical means in charge
of the office from January to June ! He must not have done such a bad
job, because the Ministry would have appointed someone more
experienced to take things over if he had. And remember : we're
talking international cooperation, which must be quite a touchy field.
And yet we *never* hear that Percy made any blunder or that anyone
complained about him. That tells a lot to me.
Then Mr Crouch disappears, and an inquiry is made. But the inquiry
isn't about Percy's work, it's about Percy's *intentions*. Bill tells
us that the Ministry has been looking at the notes Crouch supposedly
sent, to make sure that they were really from him. Well, they are, so
Percy is perfectly innocent in the matter.
So what are we left with ? A bright capable young man, a former
Hogwarts Head Boy, who managed to replace his boss after just a few
months's practice, but didn't even try to disobey his orders. Junior
assistant to the Minister does *not* seem like too big a promotion to
me, for such a *promising* young fellow.

Shannon wrote :
> Do we actually know how quickly Percy was alerted?  Obviously he 
> wouldn't have known as quickly as the other Weasley children but 
> Arthur's fate was uncertain for several hours, through an entire 
> night. Molly didn't come to Grimmauld Place and tell the others he'd
> be ok until 5 in the morning.  I reread that part of the book and 
> couldn't find any indication of when Percy was told.

Del replies :
Apart from his family, who would have warned Percy ?? *Why* would
anyone in St Mungo's wake him up in the middle of the night to tell
him his father was dying ? It's not like Percy could do anything for
Arthur.
No, apart from Molly, I don't see that anyone would have warned Percy.
And we are pointedly *not* told IIRC that Molly warned Percy that
night. So logic has it that Percy learned the news in the morning when
he went to work (the Ministry would be buzzing with it, I bet). And by
that time, Arthur was already out of danger.

Shannon wrote :
> And even if he didn't find out until later, George later says 
> that he's never so much as asked after him.  Regardless of how
> angry Percy is, I can't understand that.

Del replies :
Let me ask you : would George know if Percy had called St Mungo's ?
Would he know if Percy had met Arthur's healer in the Ministry or
anywhere else and asked about his father ? Would he know if Percy had
asked Perkins at work ? Would he know if Percy had sent someone to
collect news for him (as Assistant to the Minister, I'm sure he can
send someone to get news about a head of department without looking
suspicious) ? Would he know if Arthur's healer was reporting to Percy
privately every day ?
What George knows is awfully limited, I would not take his word for
the absolute truth.

Shannon wrote :
> He can either admit that Harry & Co were right all along and he was
> wrong 
(snip)
> even if Arthur lets it go (we know Molly will as she's tried to make
> peace and been cruelly rejected more than once already), I doubt 
> very much Ron and Fred and George, even Ginny perhaps, will do so 
> as easily.  Not to mention Harry.   I don't even know that Arthur 
> will.  Weasley Pride, again. 

Del replies :
Oddly enough, I'm pretty sure Harry would forgive Percy if Percy
sincerely apologised. Harry is disappointed by Percy, but he doesn't
take any of it really personally, even when Percy writes horrible
things about him in his letter to Ron.
Ron and Ginny would make sure Percy is sincere and they would maybe
make his life a bit harder for a few days, but I'm sure in the end
they would relent.
The Twins were always a major part of Percy's problem, and I'm afraid
they would still be. They are way too intolerant to accept his
apologies. I'm sure they would make his life as hard as they could for
a very long time. But then, that's pretty much what they've been doing
all their life, isn't it ?
Arthur... He would *externally* forgive Percy for sure, at least
because of Molly. Internally, I don't know.

Shannon wrote :
> There are simply too many Weasleys for them all to make it through 
> this alive, I can't help but think one or two of them will die 
> before it's over.

Del replies :
Agreed. But I would find it *horribly simplistic* if it came out that
the less liked Weasley ends up dying, as if he *deserved* it, for
being such a pompous ambitious hard-working blind git. *Nobody*
deserves to die for *that* !
I'm not saying Percy must not die. I just wish he could die like
everyone else : after having chosen the good side, and not as a
redemption.

Del