Loyalty and goodness

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 121230


Nora wrote:
"He generally leaves the kids to work out their own issues rather than
interfering and fighting their own battles for them, both amongst each
other and with the faculty."

Del replies:
There's a middle-ground between leaving kids completely on their own
to figure things out, and fighting their own battles for them : it's
called counseling.

Nora wrote:
"He treats house-elves better than anyone else in the WW, and I have 
no doubts that his comments at the end of OotP are a statement of 
ontological reality for the WW."

Del replies:
Who knows how he treats House-Elves? The books about Hogwarts don't
even *mention* the House-Elves, much less how they are treated. Only
the students who make special efforts to associate with the
House-Elves (which include finding the *secret* entrance to the
kitchens) can know how the House-Elves are treated. So I don't
consider DD's treatment of the House-Elves as a teaching to the students.

Nora wrote:
"He's actively regarded as a defender of the rights of the Muggleborn,
and as such is a prime target for crypto-fascists such as Lucius
Malfoy, and quasi-reactionaries such as Fudge."

Del replies:
Only those kids who immerse themselves in political matters will
ponder that.

Nora wrote:
"And he's attracted a strong circle of people who really seem to
believe in him."

Del replies:
He sure *appears* very lonely in OoP. Only those few who know about
the Order know that DD has got some strong support. To anyone else, DD
appears completely isolated.

Nora wrote:
" But I disagree that he is not teaching the children--I think his
examples and actions point towards a path."

Del replies:
I don't believe that the example of a Headmaster they very rarely see
can have any strong influence on the majority of his students. Harry
has a special connection to DD, but as far as we know no other
Hogwarts student shares such a connection. For them, DD is just a very
distant Headmaster, about whom they know very very little, especially
where his personal morals are concerned.

Nora wrote:
"Not a flawless one and not one always easily seen, but there for
those who are going to take the effort to open their eyes and not
wallow in complacency--those who will do what is hard, rather than
what is easy."

Del replies:
As you say, one path is easy, the other is hard. So why would
teenagers who have a lot of other things on their mind *choose* to go
the hard way, if they don't have a strong motive to do that, like,
say, a murderous maniac is trying to kill them or their friends?
Most Hogwarts students simply have *no reason* to start studying DD to
figure out his morals.

It is in my opinion *DD's* duty to *express* those moral and
principles if he expects the kids to study them and hopefully adopt them.

Nora wrote:
"Most of the priorities and goals we've seen from others are pretty
nasty."

Del replies:
Once again, we get into the old discussion whether JKR considers such
things as ambition in kids a bad thing or not.

Nora wrote:
" DD's goals are, frankly, better than Voldemort's.  End stop."

Del replies:
Yes, but did anyone ever *tell* this to the kids? Did anyone ever tell
them that there's no middle way? Just *expecting* them to figure out
that they *have* to choose one or the other is completely
irresponsible IMO.

Del