Percy Brasco?.

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 121595


eggplant wrote:

> If it wasn't for Marietta Dumbledore would still be headmaster when 
> Harry had his dream and he wouldn't have been tricked into going to 
> the ministry and Sirius would still be alive. 

Carol responds:
This is an interesting point that I hadn't considered. However,
Marietta had no idea that her actions would have any effect whatever
on the fugitive outlaw Sirius Black. She certainly didn't *intend" for
him to die. At worst, we can add her to the list of persons (Harry,
Snape, Dumbledore, Sirius himself) who in some way contributed
unintentionally to the series of unfortunate events that culminated in
Sirius's death. And we can add Kreacher and the adult Malfoys to the
list of those who wished or intended him harm, along with Voldemort
and Bellatrix, who is the only person who can be directly implicated
in his death based on the information we have now. (ESE!Lupin is a
speculation based on the *absence* of certain details.) Regarding
Marietta, she's yet another example of Dumbledore's statement that our
actions have unforeseen consequences. But I have yet to see canon
evidence that she *intended* for DD to lose his position, much less
that she knew what that might mean for Hogwarts or Harry. And as I
said, she could not have known what it would mean for Sirius, whom she
did not know was on the "good side." Nor did she realize that DD was
on the "good side." I very much doubt that she realized that Umbridge
was evil--she would not have known about the punishment of Gryffindor
students having to write lines in their own blood--or surely she would
not have reported the illegal meeting to her.

eggplant again: 
> If Percy has done less harm than Umbridge it's because he has less 
> power than Umbridge. It's clear to me that if Percy had his way both 
> Harry and Dumbledore would be in Azkaban. Give him enough power and 
> he'll be as bad as any Death Eater, don't be blinded by the man's 
> last name. <snip>

Carol responds:
Percy may be a "man" by WW standards, but he's still a very young man,
only about twenty at the end of OoP (actually still nineteen if we
accept JKR's site as canon for his birthdate). And it may be clear *to
you* that if he had his way, both Harry and DD would be in Azkaban,
but that doesn't make your view either canon or fact. Another poster
(sorry I don't remember who) has pointed out that it's *Harry* who
fears that he'll go to Azkaban as a result of the hearing. There is no
objective evidence that he would actually have gone there. At the
hearing itself, he was in danger only of losing his wand and being
expelled from Hogwarts. Percy *may* have wished for that outcome, and
his behavior to his father suggests it, but we don't know his thoughts
or why he has apparently stopped believing Harry. Also, neither he nor
Fudge knows that Umbridge sent the Dementors to Little Whinging. Where
is the convincing evidence, from Percy's POV, that Harry is telling
the truth? *We* know that he is because we see the events in Little
Whinging from his perspective, but neither Fudge nor Percy was
present. They have only his testimony, and Mrs. Figg's (who, if we
accept JKR's website as canon, did not really see the Dementors and is
therefore not a very convincing or even wholly truthful witness). DD
is also present, but he isn't a witness to the events. He merely leads
Fudge into blunders.

I think you may have a stronger case that he'd be happy to see DD in
Azkaban, but how about citing some canon to back it up?

But bear in mind, too, that we have canon for Percy's good side, what
appears to be a genuine affection, if not love, for his brother Ron,
as evidenced by his wading into the water after the Second Task in GoF
after fearing that Ron would drown. And it's hard to be the outsider,
the one who's different and scorned and teased by the others, in an
otherwise happy family, especially when that ridicule stems from
following the rules and *trying* to do the right thing.

Carol, who thinks that if we should cut Hermione some slack, we should
cut Percy some, too