CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Chapter 25, The Beetle At Bay

[elfundeb2]

No: HPFGUIDX 111796

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "KathyK" <zanelupin at y...> wrote:

> 1.  In GoF, Hermione discovers Rita Skeeter's secret about being
> an unregistered animagus.  To ensure Rita never lies about anyone 
in 
> her articles, Hermione tells her she can't do any writing for a
> year or Hermione will turn her in.  But in Chapter 25 of OoP we see 
> Hermione has added terms to their agreement.  Rather than just keep 
> silent, Rita Skeeter must now do what Hermione asks of her.  It 
> seems Hermione might have crossed a line or at least entered a gray 
> area.  At first, Hermione was teaching Rita a lesson-not to write 
> nasty lies.  But now she's * using* her knowledge to blackmail
> Rita into doing her bidding.  Granted, it's for a good cause but
> do 
> Hermione's means justify the end?    

I don't think so.  To be honest, there's something very unsettling 
about the fact that she assembles a pair of people she has little or 
no respect for (Rita and Luna) and gets them to do her bidding.  
While principles do sometimes trump the law, blackmailing a well-
known reporter is a very different and more morally questionable form 
of rulebreaking than, for example, stealing potion ingredients, as it 
involves the assertion of power and control.  I think Hermione is 
treading dangerous ground with Rita -- and was even before she 
rewrote the deal.  Her phenomenal success rate cannot continue; 
nobody succeeds all the time, yet I think it may have increased her 
willingness to disregard the rules whenever necessary to achieve her 
objectives.  I'm fully expecting that in HPB Hermione's schemes will 
get her into a heap of trouble, at which time her blackmail of Rita 
will be exposed.

On the other hand, I think JKR rather enjoys giving mean and amoral 
characters their just desserts, so perhaps she will vindicate 
Hermione's deal with Rita.  (But even so, that doesn't mean 
Hermione's success with the Quibbler isn't part of a set-up for a 
spectacular failure in the coming books.)


> 4.  Rita Skeeter confirms the Daily Prophet is being pressured by 
> Fudge but also that since no one would want to hear of
> Voldemort's return, they wouldn't print what Harry says
> happened, 
> anyway, because it wouldn't sell.  Do we want to take a guess on
> how 
> actively the Prophet is participating in discrediting Harry and 
> Dumbledore?  How much is actually Ministry coercion?

In my mind, the Ministry's control of the Prophet is so complete that 
I think it's more likely than not that it is effectively a state-run 
newspaper, committed to publishing the party line.  The speed of its 
about-face after the DoM seems to support this, as it would seem to 
take longer for mere pressure exerted on an independent publication 
to have its effect.  However, when Big Brother himself calls, the 
flunkies do what they're told.
 

> 5.  How is Umbridge able to attend every Divination and Care of 
> Magical Creatures lesson and still teach her own Defense Against 
the 
> Dark Arts lessons?

She must be using a Time-Turner. ;-)

 
> 6.  It's clear to Harry the dementors are out of the
> Ministry's 
> control.  Do you think the dementors left the Ministry entirely 
with 
> the Death Eater breakout?  Or just that the MoM had lost
> `control' of them and they stuck around for a while after
> allowing 
> the DE s to escape?  Fudge does not report their defection until he 
> finally admits LV returned but we know how reliable he and the 
> Prophet are.  ;-)

I think that Fudge's handling of the Dementors exemplifies his 
approach to government, in which all manner of evil is acceptable as 
long as Fudge hangs onto his power.  I have no doubt that Fudge 
realized that the Dementors allowed the breakout to occur, yet left 
them in charge at Azkaban, just to maintain the illusion that he was 
in control.  From the Death Eaters' perspective, Fudge's attitude is 
perfect:  it's much better to leave them on guard pretending loyalty 
to the Ministry.  This way they can control who escapes and who stays 
locked up.

Debbie