Twins and Duddley

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 145577

> >>BAW
> It seems to me that you don't see the difference between what 
> the Twins did to Dudley and what the Death Eaters did to the 
> Robinson family at the QWC.  
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
There is a difference.  That's why Arthur merely tried to lecture 
his boys rather than throw them in jail.  But it's a slippery 
slope.  One that I'm surprised so many folks are unable, or refuse, 
to see.

Here's an analogy.  It's not perfect (so few analogies are) but it 
might help illuminate how I see the twins behavior.  It's bad form 
for a man to physically assult a woman, because, in general, a man 
is physically stronger than a woman.  What the Death Eaters did at 
the QWC can be equated with a group of men raping a woman.  What the 
twins did to Dudley can be equated with two boys (sixteen years old) 
pushing a girl (fourteen years old) down in the school yard, maybe 
rubbing her face in the mud.  The two are different acts requiring 
different responses, but if not checked, the second act might just 
lead to the first.

You can argue that the girl was a bully who, four years ago, picked 
on their little brother's friend.  (Keep in mind she stopped once he 
got bigger and stronger than her.)  But what Arthur is trying to 
tell his boys is that, even if a girl asks for it, you don't hit 
her.  Boys are stronger than girls so boys should never hit a girl.  
It doesn't matter if she's lippy or wears a short skirt or is 
really, really fat, a boy should not hit a girl.  A wizard should 
not attack a muggle with magic. 

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > And yet, when Dudley *does* refuse to take food from a wizard,   
> > he gets repeatedly hit in the head with a glass."

> >>BAW: 
> All Dudley--and his parents, for that matter--had to do was to 
> hold the glass and put it on the table.  He wasn't being forced 
> to drink it.  
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Of course.  The wizard, being the more powerful, is always right.  
Muggles should always submit to what the wizard wants.  Any bumps or 
bruises suffered by not fully submitting are the fault of the 
Muggle.  And shame on them for making the wizard discipline them so. 
[end sarcasm]

> >>Alla:
> <snip>
> I think Betsy thinks that one of the Twins will become DE, if I am 
> not mistaken.

Betsy Hp:
I *hope* one of the twins turns out to be associated with the Death 
Eaters.  They don't even have to be a full out Death Eater 
themselves.  Just slipping a bit of money or product to them in 
order to avoid a Voldemort slap-down on their store would work for 
me.  Because I *do* see a disturbing trend towards a coldhearted 
calculation that what's good for the twins is good and what's bad 
for the twins is bad.

I can't argue that JKR is taking them that way.  Other than their 
store not getting torched by Death Eaters, there's not really any 
canon pointing towards such an occurance.  I do think the books' 
morals will be lessened a bit <waves at Lupinlore> if JKR supports 
the notion that a boy taking house points away deserves to be locked 
in limbo until he starves to death.  (Though dehydration would 
probably have gotten Montague first.  Could that be why he turned up 
in a toilet?)

But, to clarify, I don't *think* one of the twins is a Death Eater.  
I'm not even close to positive JKR will reveal any ties at all.  
It's just a little hope of mine that I'd love to see fulfilled.

Betsy Hp