Weasley Courage

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 139055

CGG wrote:
"But Percy didn't just make a choice that was objectionable to his 
family.  He made a choice to do what was easy rather than what was 
right.  In the Potterverse that's a big part of what seems to define a
 character, especially in the last two books. "

Del replies:
I disagree. I really don't think that abandoning his family,
particularly his mother, was an easy choice for Percy. And it is very
possible that he did what he thought was right. So IMO there's a
strong possibilitiy that he DID do what was right instead of what was
easy.

CGG wrote, about the fact that Arthur insulted Percy first:
"I don't think that justifies Percy's actions in the least.  Deep down
 he probably knew it to be the truth.  Otherwise why shut his family
out so completely?"

Del replies:
That's quite a leap to make, IMO. It seems just as logical to me that
Percy would shut his family out if he thought they were supporting
terrorism, active undermining of and opposition to the legal and
rightful government. Look at it this way: if your family told you that
your government is hiding the fact that Bin Laden is in your country,
busy putting up a massive terrorist attack, and the government not
only won't do anything to stop him but they actually actively fight
anyone trying to expose him, how would you react? And if they then
told you that you are being completely manipulated by the government
to spy on your family, what would you do? Percy did a very logical
thing IMO: he distanced himself from people that he deemed to be
completely wacko and even dangerous, people whose motives he couldn't
fathom but who were taking very affirmative actions nonetheless, like
spying on the government and trying to sap its authority.

CGG wrote:
"Percy is a smart talented guy, but to get such a promotion at  so
young an age suggests that it wasn't about his smarts or talents."

Del replies:
I disagree. Percy showed extreme capacities during GoF. He was just a
newbie, but he filled in very well for Crouch. We don't hear that
anything went wrong in their department because Percy handled it
alone. And this is a department that regularly corresponds with
foreign wizards, which makes it even more impressive that Percy
managed it so well. 

As for those who say that Percy "failed" to notice that Crouch was not
acting normally, I disagree again. Percy *could not* determine whether
Crouch was acting normally or not, because he *did not know* what
Crouch looked like when normally under extreme stress, as he was
supposed to be because of the TWT following right after the QWC.
Crouch was put under the Imperius Curse very shortly after Percy
started working with him, and the symptoms came gradually, so it is
very logical that Percy simply assumed Crouch was cracking under
stress. Morever, as a total newbie, Percy was the *last* person who
should denounce Crouch's behaviour as abnormal, he simply didn't have
the authority to do so. No, IMO, it's *everyone else* (starting with
Fudge, Umbridge, Bagman, and yes, even Arthur) at the Ministry who
should have noticed the strange behaviour of Crouch, but not Percy. 

CGG wrote:
"Percy has left  behind the values he was raised with"

Del replies:
I totally disagree. Percy in fact acted completely in line with the
values HE was raised with. Percy was ever only ONE thing in the
Weasley dynamics: the smart kid who was going to go his dad's way, at
the Ministry. He was always encouraged to stick with whatever
authority figure he was working under, it was drilled into his head
that working at the Ministry was the ultimate destiny one could aspire
to, he was systematically encourage to be the Good Boy, the one who
follows orders and supports authority *without thinking or criticising*. 

Well, that's exactly what he did.

JMO, of course.

Del