Double standards and believing

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 120961


SSSusan wrote:
"I meant Harry/Hermione/Ron/F&G/Ginny -- anyone in Harry's inner
circle who understood/believed that Voldy was back, that Cedric was
killed  because he was back, that war was on its way."

Del comments:
OK, this is something that has been bothering me lately. Let me start
with some examples.

Ernie's parents believe DD so Ernie believes Harry : good.
Seamus' mother believes Fudge so Seamus believes Fudge : bad.

Cho learns to think by herself and doesn't do as her parents wish : good.
Percy learns to think by himself and decides not to follow in his
family's decisions : bad.

Draco doesn't question his family's traditions : bad.
Most of the Weasley children don't question their friend and family :
good.

People don't believe in LV's resurrection : bad.
Hermione doesn't believe in heliopaths : good.

Luna believes in crumpled-horned snorkacks : bad.
Luna believes in resurrection and life after death : good.

See where I'm going ?
There are way too many double-standards being applied sometimes on
this list IMO.

I wish someone could explain to me what exactly is expected of people
in the Potterverse, short of being Legilimens or knowing instinctively
what is right or not.

I've read that people should learn to think by themselves no matter
what their parents and friends think. But when Percy does it, he's
evil, and when his siblings don't do it, they're good.

I've read that people shouldn't trust in other people blindly, like in
Fudge for example. And yet this is exactly what Harry's friends do,
and what is expected of everyone : trust in Harry blindly.

I've read that people should check their sources and facts before
making their decisions. And yet they are expected to believe in the
resurrection of a dead wizard. They are also expected to believe in a
single undetailed second-hand testimony.

I've read that people shouldn't be influenced by the popularity or
glory of someone (Lockhart, Crouch, Fudge...). And yet everyone should
remember how great a wizard DD was, and that Harry saved the WW as a baby.

I've read that people should take every fact into consideration when
judging someone. And yet the facts that Harry is a Parselmouth, that
Cedric was a rival in more than one way, and that Harry was gone
somewhere with just Cedric when Cedric died, should most definitely be
overlooked.

Luna is a loony when she believes in crumple-horned snorkacks, but
she's highly intuitive when she believes in Sirius being just behind
the Veil.

A load of double-standards. That's what's used to judge the characters
of the Potterverse. No wonder we never get anywhere.

As a conclusion, I would just like to point to a little ironic thing I
noticed while re-reading the Hog's Head scene. The Trio is asking the
rest of the future DA to believe Harry on his word, and yet Hermione
absolutely refuses to believe Luna and even teaches Neville to
disbelieve too, when Luna mentions Fudge's army of heliopaths, even
though there are plenty of eye-witness accounts according to Luna. A
nice little lesson in how hard it is to believe in what we don't
naturally tend to believe in.

Del