Spy novel? maybe (was Lupin's secrets )

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 118576


Magda Grantwich wrote:
"I disagree.  The examples you site (Peter, Riddle, Percy, et al)
aren't a sign that Harry (and we)can't trust anyone but rather that
but rather that Harry (and we) shouldn't assume we know a character
based on superficial outward characteristics. "

Del replies :
Hu, sure, but how deeply do we and Harry really know anyone ? For
example, can Harry safely presume that he knows Ron and Hermione
deeply enough to trust them ? How deep does "superficial" go ?

To put it in toned-down terms, I think that JKR has amply demonstrated
that we don't know any character deeply enough to presume we know them
enough and conclude they can't betray Harry at one time or another.
The only character we really know is Harry. All other characters, we
(and Harry) know only from the outside.

Magda Grantwich wrote :
" That Percy would act the way he did at the start of OOTP (getting
huffy about his parents' lack of support for his new job, moving out,
rejecting CHristmas presents, etc.) should not have been a surprise to
us if we really consider what he was like in earlier books and how his
personality would react.  "

Del replies :
Yes and no.
If we had discussed such a chain of events as the one that happened in
GoF and OoP, then maybe we could have reached the conclusion that the
probability of Percy reacting the way he did was pretty high. But how
could we ever have predicted such a thing : Percy getting a job at the
MoM as assistant to a head of department, his boss getting Imperioed,
Percy filling in without alerting his superiors (and filling well
enough that his superiors didn't worry about the situation sooner),
his boss getting killed, Percy going through an enquiry, DD becoming
an enemy to the Minister, Fudge becoming paranoid, Arthur becoming
suspect of disloyalty to the Ministry, Percy being offered a job with
the Minister, and Arthur telling him right away that Fudge's only
intent was to use him as a spy on DD ?

It's not just Percy's personality : it's also the circumstances. Had
the Graveyeard Scene happened a year earlier, when Percy was still in
school and his idol was still DD, before he had time to shift his
loyalty from DD to Fudge, things would probably have turned completely
differently.

There's a saying in French : l'occasion fait le larron. The
opportunity makes the thief. People can have personality traits that
predispose them to some reactions, but they need to be put in an
occasion where those traits are called for, for those reactions to happen.

For example : Peter couldn't have betrayed James and Lily, if he
hadn't been made Secret-Keeper.

Crouch Jr couldn't have taken Moody's place at Hogwarts if he hadn't
been alive and freed from his father's control, and if Moody hadn't
been hired as a teacher in Hogwarts.

Crouch Jr couldn't have been alive and free if Bertha Jorkins hadn't
visited while his father was gone and heard Winky talking to him, and
if Bertha hadn't gone to Albania and met Peter who then brought her to
LV, and if LV hadn't broken through the Memory Charm Crouch Sr had put
on her.

Peter wouldn't have gone to Albania if the incredible chain of events
known as PoA hadn't happened (among other things : the Weasley's
family winning a prize and getting their picture taken, Fudge visiting
Azkaban with precisely the edition of the Daily Prophet containing
that picture, Sirius seeing it, the Twins giving the Marauders' Map to
Harry, Hermione buying Crookshanks, the Shrieking Shack events
happening on a full moon night, Lupin forgetting to take his potion,
Snape bringing it to him, and so on).

Harry couldn't be a hero if he had no enemies to fight and people to save.

In short : it's not just the personality, it's also the opportunity.
And we simply don't know what opportunities all the HP characters have
been offered or will be offered. 

Added to the fact that we don't even know much about the deep
personality of many of them, I think it's not such a huge leap to
make, to say that we can't really trust any of them.

Del