Marietta and the DA.

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 121519


I, Del, wrote earlier:
"One very easy measure would have been to tell the DA, *after* they
had all signed,"

Eggplant answered:
"Yes, and if she had told them AFTER they signed there would be howls
from the revisionists saying this clearly proved that Hermione was
more unfair and treacherous than Snape or Marietta could dream of."

Del replies:
(I don't particularly like being called a revisionist, but that's OT)
I fail to see what would have been unfair and treacherous in Hermione
telling the DA that she *had* put a hex on them. I personally think
that it's the very fact of having put the hex on them and NOT telling
them that was unfair and treacherous.

Eggplant wrote:
"John Walker and Aldrich Ames were intelligence agents who betrayed
their organizations HUNDREDS of times for over 20 years. Hermione
ensured that nothing like that could happen to them. Yes one betrayal
is still far too many but it's better than nothing."

Del replies:
Good point.
However, just because it was a good idea to look for a way to ensure
that nobody could betray repeatedly, doesn't mean that it wasn't a
serious overlook not to look for a way to *prevent* that betrayal in
the first place.

Pippin wrote:
"Eggplant, I think you have something there. Hermione must have been
focusing  on the danger that someone had *already* told DU about the
meeting.  No doubt she hoped any mole would be revealed in a flourish
of purple pustules as soon as they signed the parchment."

Del replies:
Interesting idea!
I have just one nit to pick : could the hex be retroactive? I
personally don't think so. However, if someone had already contacted
Umbridge and promised to fill her in on the meeting at the HH right
that evening, then Hermione would have known the very next day about
it. That might indeed be what she had in mind.

Pippin wrote: 
"Very dramatic -- but when it didn't happen, she may have felt a
little ashamed of herself for suspecting them and that's why she
didn't tell anyone what she'd done."

Del replies:
It makes sense. And it would explain why she didn't take any further
step to ensure the safety of the DA : she trusted that if they had
never had the intention to betray them to start with, then they never
would. That would be terribly naive and idealistic, but it would be
very much in character for Hermione.

Pippin wrote: 
"You've also given me some insight into JKR's plotting. This device
ensures we know that Marietta wasn't reporting to Umbridge all along."

Del replies:
Neither to Umbridge nor to anyone else, not even her mother. She never
discussed the DA with anybody, or the hex would have taken hold. We
saw that it took really not much for it to come into effect. This
really makes me wonder *why* she rattled on them. I can see several
explanations.
1. She was truly convinced that the DA were wrong, which brings us
back to the moral problem of being sincerely wrong.
2. She intended to ask a favour from Umbridge in return.
3. Umbridge had an inkling about the DA and about Marrietta being part
of it, and she put the pressure on her, presumable through or about
her mother.
4. There were other members of the DA who had qualms about it and they
talked about it among themselves and wanted out of it but without
looking bad, and Marrietta was the only one who decided to do
something about it, which would be a nastily familiar situation.
5. Marrietta resented Harry and/or Hermione for whatever reason and
wanted to get some petty revenge.
6. Marrietta got scared of something. Maybe Marrietta's mother was
constantly feeding her pro-MoM propaganda about how the opponents to
the regime were systematically found and harshly pusnished, and
Marrietta figured that the DA would be found eventually and that she'd
rather be the one uncovering them than one of those being uncovered
and punished.
And so on.
There can be *many* reasons why Marrietta rattled on the DA, and some
of those even have nothing or very little to do with the DA
themselves. I'm not saying that most of those reasons were good
reasons though, because they weren't. But I wish we knew, because I
really think it would be important for the Trio to realise that there
can be many reasons for good people to do bad things and that they
have to learn to count with those reasons.

Del