The Twins are bad, Harry is bad, but Draco is good and so is Snape...?

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 136871

> >>Betsy Hp:
> ><snip>
> >So while I'm personally a bit disturbed by [Fred and George] (and
> >consequently have a lot of sympathy for Percy) I'm not sure that  
> >JKR means them to be anything other than merry pranksters.
> ><snip>

> >>vmonte:
> The twins are awful, but Percy is good?
> <snip> 

Betsy Hp:
At this point only JKR knows for sure.  However, what *I* said is 
that I'm disturbed by the twins and feel sympathy towards Percy.  I'm 
pretty much a sucker for the underdog.  And when it's Percy versus 
Fred and George, Percy is definitely the underdog.  I'm *hopeful* 
that Percy may be spying for the Order.  I *fear* that the twins may 
get seduced by the Death Eaters.  But I'm honestly not willing to 
place bets on either scenario because I can't get a read on how *JKR* 
sees those characters.  Frankly, they may stay pretty much how they 
are.  Fred and George obnoxious pranksters, willing to sell anything 
to anyone, Percy a rigid by-the-book guy, permanently estranged from 
the family that so devalued him.

> >>vmonte:
> <snip> 
> His father is dying in the hospital during OOTP (at least there was 
> a good possiblity that that might happen) and Percy refuses to see 
> him because of a stupid fight?
> <snip> 

Betsy Hp:
For one, as Del pointed out on this thread, when did Percy learn of 
Arthur's injuries?  For another, that "stupid fight" was Arthur 
accusing Percy of spying on his family.  Since Arthur was injured 
while on Order work isn't Percy once more proving that he isn't a spy?

Actually, considering that Percy refused to spy on his family (made 
obvious by his avoidence of them), and considering that with each 
regime change Percy has risen higher in the ranks, even though he's 
*not* a Ministry link into Order business, I think Arthur owes him an 
apology. (I imagine both men are suffering from a surfeit of pride. A 
major cause of family breaks, unfortunately, and proof, IMO, that the 
Weasleys are a *normal* family, not an ideal.)

 
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/135990
> >>Betsy Hp:
> ><snip>
> >I got a bit of guilty pleasure out of Draco's "revenge" on Harry. 
> >For two reasons: First, after the many, many, *many* times Harry  
> >has stomped Draco, it was nice to finally see Draco get a bit of  
> >his own back. (That was the "guilty" part of my pleasure, I will  
> >admit.)
> ><snip>

> >>vmonte responds:
> You don't see a difference between Harry's behavior and Draco's?
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
No.  Not at all, actually.  Harry has no problem taking Draco down 
with maximum force and then leaving him for the clean up crew.  He's 
done it on the past two train rides home from Hogwarts.  And he did 
it on the Quidditch pitch in OotP, where he and George had to be 
blasted off of Draco's body, if you'll recall, and where Harry walks 
away with bruised knuckles and Draco doesn't walk away.

In all cases (Draco's one, Harry's many) neither boy behaves well.  
As I said, it was a guilty pleasure.  What *really* pleased me (you 
snipped this part of my former post) was the fact that Draco did 
nothing further to Harry.  Harry was completely at Draco's mercy.  We 
know that Draco had been receiving tutoring from his Aunt Bellatrix 
all summer.  And the *only* thing Draco does is break Harry's nose 
and leave him on the train.  I was *thrilled* that with this scene 
JKR showed us once and for all that Draco is not an evil little boy.

> >>vmonte:
> <snip>
> The bathroom scene with Harry also upset me.
> <snip>
> Still, there is a difference between Harry's horror at what he has
> done (probably the same horror that motivated James into saving
> Snape) and Draco's reaction to what he himself has done, no?

Betsy Hp:
Just as there's a difference between breaking someone's nose and 
gutting them?  Remember, on the train Draco was completely in control 
and accomplishes exactly what he wanted to accomplish: and it wasn't 
Harry's death.  In the bathroom Harry is confused (Slytherins have 
feelings?) and flailing (Draco fights back?) and he does something 
out of panic which nearly ends in Draco's death.  There *should* be 
different reactions from each boy in each scene.

> >>Nora:
> <snip>
> I think the fact that Draco was about to cast Cruciatus upon Harry 
> is well-worth considering here. It doesn't make Harry's actions any
> less stupid, but it does provide a fully understandable motivation.
> Harry knows what that spell does first-hand in a way that sheltered
> Draco probably actually does not. That is to say, I bet Draco had
> cast it before, but I doubt he'd genuinely been in the other
> position. Draco's rather like that.

Betsy Hp:
Draco *was* like that.  He *was* a sheltered and cosseted boy in a 
way Harry's never been.  But he's being used as a pawn to assuage 
Voldemort's anger and punish his father now.  And he's been under 
Aunt Bellatrix's gentle tutelage.  It wouldn't surprise me a little 
bit if Draco has learned something about pain.

> >>Nora:
> And the issue is also one's reactions after it. Harry is genuinely
> horrified after he does these Bad Things.

Betsy Hp:
Harry is horrified when he nearly kills Draco.  But he doesn't seem 
all that upset after he beats Draco, or covers him in hexes.  And 
he's amused after Draco is transfigured into a ferret and flung about 
the room.  So I don't really hold it against Draco that *he's* amused 
at breaking Harry's nose and leaving him on the train to London.  

> >>Nora:
> Draco's remorse for his actions is more subtly drawn if even there.

Betsy Hp:
Throughout HBP Draco falls further and further apart.  He doesn't 
turn in assignments, he stops playing quidditch.  After Katie is 
taken to St. Mungos even Harry notices that he looks ill. (For Harry 
to notice, I imagine Draco looked awful.)  And he disappears into the 
boys bathroom to break into sobs and lean on Moaning Myrtle for 
comfort.  Draco is certainly feeling *something*. 

> >>Nora:
> Sure, he's crying in the bathroom and he does not have the will to 
> actually kill Dumbledore--this speaks of him not actually being a  
> killer. On the other hand, he has two attempted murders on his     
> hands--any remorse for that? No clue.

Betsy Hp:
Dumbledore tells Draco that he's not a killer, and he calls him an 
innocent.  I think Draco *does* feel remorse.  I think he feels just 
as sick about what happened to Katie and Ron as Harry felt in the 
bathroom. Because Harry too, is not a killer (Peter Pettigrew in the 
shack, PoA) and is, incredibly as per Dumbledore, still an innocent.

So, in answer to the subject line, I think Draco, Snape and Harry are 
good, and the twins are, at this point, neutral (will sell anything 
to anyone with the money to buy).

Betsy Hp