Who joined the DA (Re: "Slytherin" Hermione?)

[hickengruendler]

No: HPFGUIDX 112534

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Magda Grantwich 
<mgrantwich at y...> wrote:
 
> 
> 
> Well, the problem I have with Hermione's actions isnt' the
> SNEAK-thing on Marietta's face or even signing the document at the
> first meeting: if everything is so important and it's so vitally
> crucial that no one fink or rat out the group, then why on earth
> wouldn't you take more care in selecting who gets invited to join 
the
> group in the first place?
> 
> Instead it was a kind of "invite your pals, invite your friends" and
> then when they got there, "oh, by the way, we're a secret society 
now
> so sign this".  Hermione and Harry didn't know who Marietta or
> Zarariah Smith were; would you really feel that trusting towards
> someone you'd just met? 
> 
> 
> 
> Magda

I disagree, all in all, it was a pretty close group. I mean, it could 
have been smaller, I guess. But even more important than keeping this 
secret is to prepare everybody for Voldemort's return, and therefore 
they should have included as many students as possible, and still 
keeping the group as small as possible.

We have of course Harry, Ron and Hermione, and Fred, George and 
Ginny, who showed support towrads Harry during the whole summer and 
who know about the Order.

And than we have:
- Neville, Cho, Luna and Ernie who defended Harry in public and said, 
that they believed him. We have Dean, Lavender and Parvati, who know 
the trio for several years and who can be trusted that they would 
keep quiet (and if one of them had become a traitor, I wouldn't have 
blamed the Trio for trusting them at first. And I am sure Seamus was 
told as well, but didn't want to come because he was cross with 
Harry). And all the other DA members were close friends or relatives 
to any of the above, and were basically vouched for by a trusted DA 
member. The one exception is Zacharias, who overheard Hermione and 
Ernie talking. But there was no way to exclude him after he found out 
the truth. That's what makes the betrayal that shocikng. That it can 
even happen in such a close group, were nearly everybody is close 
friend to at least one other member.

Hickengruendler