Percy. ( was : Harsh Morality)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 121204



>>Eggplant:
>I'm not reserving anything, I think Percy is scum.<

Betsy:
Hmm.  Percy as scum?  He's not my most favorite character, and I 
think he's thrown in with the wrong crowd (though I'm still holding 
out for the super-secret-spy!Percy reveal in Books 6 or 7), but I do 
think calling him scum is a little harsh.

Percy has always been the outsider in his family.  Anything he cares 
about, any of his achievements are strongly mocked by his brothers 
(most notably the twins).  I think it's telling that he kept his 
relationship with Clearwater a secret for so long.  Even Ginny, who 
had seemed close to Percy in CoS, had no qualms about telling the 
twins that Percy had a girlfriend.  (Her faint protest that they not 
tease him was a little *too* faint for me to take seriously.)  Molly, 
though she obviously loves him, does a good bit to seperate Percy 
from his younger siblings by setting him up as the "good son", and 
therefore, the enemy.  Percy's break with his family was a long time 
in coming.  And both sides have a share in the blame, I would say.

I'm not going to argue that Percy has behaved in a noble manner.  
There's not much nobility in being a suck-up.  But he is not on the 
same level as Umbridge, let alone Voldemort.  I think Percy would 
have a very hard time trying to cruciatus anyone; he's not cruel or 
vindictive, as far as we've been shown.  In fact, one could argue a 
certain nobility in the very honesty of his break with his family.  
Percy could have sucked up to his father and Dumbledore and become a 
well-placed spy for Fudge.  (Again, I'm holding out for the opposite 
to be true.)  

>>Eggplant:
>Percy tried to condemn Harry to a living death in Azkaban, what more 
do you need to make a moral judgment?>

Betsy:
Are you talking about the trial at the beginning of OotP?  Was the 
punishment going to be Azkaban?  Harry's more worried about being 
expelled.  "'But if they do expel me,' said Harry quietly, 'can I 
come here and live with you?'" (OotP, Scholastic ed. pg. 115)  And 
Dumbldore seems to think Harry's in danger of having his wand 
confiscated. (ibid, pg. 149).  I can't find anything that points to 
Azkaban.  In either case, Percy was the court reporter, not in a 
position to help or hinder Harry. 

Betsy