Marietta and Hermione (was JKR's Messages ) (was Re: Hermione In Trouble?)

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 120937



SSSusan wrote:
"For *THESE* kids, there was knowledge of Voldy's return, and Cedric 
had been killed."

Del replies:
I'm not sure what kids you're referring about, but if you mean the
whole of the DA, then I have to argue that it wasn't so much knowledge
as information. Some of them may have *believed* Harry, but belief
isn't knowledge.

SSSusan wrote:
"THESE kids were recruiting other kids, sharing the information &
knowledge they possessed,"

Del replies:
I disagree. Once the group was formed, they didn't recruit anyone
except Seamus. In fact, they had promised not to tell about the group
to *anyone*, which by definition meant that they were *not*
recruiting. I even remember someone asking some time ago how they
managed to recruit Seamus without activating the jinx.

SSSusan wrote:
"and they were calling themselves Dumbledore's *ARMY*.  To me, the
implication is clear that they believed they were preparing for their
role in war."

Del replies:
I disagree.
They called themselves the DA as a joke, because the existence of such
an army was the Ministry's worst fear, not because they thought they
*were* such an army. Some of them did think they were preparing to
fight against the DEs, but the original intent of the group was just
to practice DADA because they couldn't do it in class. And they stuck
to that intent throughout the existence of the DA : they never
discussed the ongoing war again after the first meeting. Whenever
Harry mentioned LV in his lessons, it was to say that this or that
spell had helped him against LV.

If Umbridge had allowed the kids to practice DADA, there would never
have been any DA. It wasn't formed as a political entity, it was
formed as a practice group and the members were recruited *only* on
this basis, not on whether or not they believed Harry or whether or
not they wanted to fight against LV.

Hermione was never clear as to what the group was supposed to be. She
wasn't clear about what the requirements for membership were : the
only official requirement was that people wanted to practice DADA, but
then other requirements got added on to it, like believing Harry's
story and wanting to fight the MoM and LV, even though I think several
DA didn't fulfill those requirements. She wasn't clear about what the
parchment they signed was : at first she said it was just a list of
participants to the first meeting, and then she added it was also an
oath to keep the DA secret. In a way, it's no wonder they got betrayed
: they didn't even know themselves what they really were.

Del