Harry & Seamus.

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 115813


finwitch wrote:

> Harry's Mom never prevented Harry from coming to Hogwarts, never
> believed any nasty rumours... and they're DEAD. Harry's emotional
> response to Mom&Dad is *very* different than response to those who
> raised him.. At this situation, Seamus mother comes out like a Dursley.

Carol responds:
I think that bringing in Harry's parents or the Dursleys rather misses
the point here. What Mrs. Finnegan (who has met Harry only once, and
briefly) has done is what the WW as a whole has done--take the word of
the Daily Prophet on faith. All she has as counterevidence is Seamus's
own report (assuming that he gave it to her) of Dumbledore's words at
the banquet--Cedric was murdered by Voldemort and Harry brought back
Cedric's body at great risk to himself. She has no knowledge of any
details (neither does Seamus). Her reaction is little different from
that of the people who send Hermione hate mail and howlers in response
to Rita Skeeter's report in Witch Weekly. At least Mrs. Finnegan
doesn't do *that.* She only tries to take her son out of Hogwarts. And
somehow (maybe on the intervention of his Muggle father?) Seamus wins
that battle and ends up back at Hogwarts.

No one, as far as I can see, is acting like a Dursley here. Everyone
is acting on very limited or distorted knowledge and Mrs. F. is merely
trying to protect her son. She's no better or worse, IMO, than Mrs.
Weasley when she believed that Hermione was double-timing Harry.
Actually, she had more excuse than Molly as her exposure to Harry
(except as the legendary Boy Who Lived in sensational news articles)
was very limited, and her actions didn't affect Harry directly.

As for why the knowledge is so limited, it's partly Harry's
understandable unwillingness to talk about events in the graveyard
before the end of term in GoF and partly DD's own very limited and
almost distorted version of events. Technically, Voldemort didn't
murder Cedric. Wormtail did. But if either Harry or DD were to reveal
that, who would believe them? 

If, instead of flying off the handle in OoP and insulting Seamus's
mother, who rightly or wrongly was not abusing her child but trying to
protect him, Harry had confided the truth to Seamus and Dean, wouldn't
Seamus have trusted him? Surely it's Harry who's in the wrong here?

Carol