Harry's Seclusion and the Weasley Suspicion

[curlyhornedsnorkack]

No: HPFGUIDX 123445


Jay wrote:
> This may be just my own Hufflepuff paranoia, but I have a strong 
> feeling that Harry's seclusion into the comfort of Gryffindor and
the 
> Weasly boy's suspicion and immediate distaste of anyone better than 
> them may come back and bite them on the butt later on.
>... 
> My next problem is with the Weasleys. Now the parent's seems nice 
> enough, I'd certainly love to get to know Arthur and Molly. The
older 
> siblings seem very open to meeting new people as well. We know
since 
> Charlie works with dragons outdoors, he must meet all kinds of 
> people. The same goes for Bill working as a treasure hunter. But
what 
> about the twins and Ron? Justin Finch-Fletchley innocently mentions 
> that he likes Lockhart and is immediately dubbed an idiot by Ron 
> (again, I forget the exact words). He was simply stating that he 
> liked an energetic, albeit bumbling and stupid, teacher. Ron
unjustly 
> jumped to conclusions just because his ideas didn't mesh with 
> Justin's. 
> As soon as Cedric Diggory beats the Gryffindors at Quidditch he's
an 
> idiot/ "pretty boy" to Fred and George, probably Ron too. Did 
> jealousy play a part? Maybe it's just my psychology classes finally 
> taking root, but as soon as Oliver Wood mentions Cedric's name, the 
> three female chasers burst into giggles. Maybe there's some feeling 
> of inadequacy on the twin's part when they're up against Cedric.
They 
> seem comfortable enough around girls, so perhaps the immediate 
> distate is something deeper.
>

There are unsavory things about the Weasleys, their curious
callousness and so on, but they might just be what's normal for the
wizarding world. Sometimes the Weasleys and the WW  folk remind me of
the family in the movie "Rosemary's Baby", where all these helpful
people who strike slightly the wrong note have a secret nasty agenda.
(I won't go into whether spells and magic mean the WW are un-Christian
or un-any-other-religion since it's no fun and IMO magic is pretty
much just a plot device.) I wonder if this "wrongness", for want of a
better word,   will rub off on Harry.
Here's a list of things I can recall at this moment that could be
warning signs or corrupting influences (laugh a little if you like):
-The treatment of gnomes, who are flung and tossed.
-the treatment of the mandrakes, social creatures who like to party,
but are killed for the WW's benefit.
-The willingness to submit Muggles to constant memory modification for
the sake of a useless game (Quidditch), even though memory
modification can be damaging.
-The brutal game of Quidditch itself. (Read Quidditch Through the
Ages.)
-The cruel treatment of mother dragons and their eggs for the sake of
fun.
-The enslavement of intelligent beings, the elves. (Mrs. Weasley wants
an elf, even though she must know that would mean having a slave.)
-the lack of concience of the Twins who happily perform dangerous
experiments on students. (Remember Angela's bloody nose?)
-Ron's cruelty towards Lockhart who had been rendered helpless. (Ron
kicks him in the shins after he learns that Lockhart is helpless.)
-Dumbledore's decision to keep a 3-headed dog in the school - and he's
not fired by the school board!
-Dumbledore agreement to a wizarding contest that admits a lot of
strangers to Hogwarts when he knows his top job is to protect Harry -
and he's not fired by the school board!
-Dumbledore's decision to hire a known deatheater as a teacher- and
he's not fired by the school board!
-The existence of easily located shops, just a little ways away from
the high street (or main street, for you Americans) that sell items
such as cursed necklaces, poisonous candles and shrunken heads,
presumably human. (Whose heads are they, mmm? And why does the shop
keeper have the right to sell them?)
 

Mrs. Weasley goes along with a lot of things, such as the craze over
Lockhart and the condemnation of Hermione by The Prophet. Perhaps
we'll learn through Mrs. Weasley that human sacrifice is
needed to revive the WW's supply of Magic, and it's all right with
her! Gulp!  Rowling wouldn't do something like that, would she?
-Snorky.

> Jay wrote:
> As a Hufflepuff, I'll be the first to admit that I'm sure Zacharias 
> Smith can get on your nerves. He would get on mine if I had to
share 
> a dorm with him. But that still doesn't justify Fred and George 
> wanting to molest him with pointy objects as soon as he voices his 
> opinion about Harry and Voldemort. They don't seem able to think 
> outside their own comfort zones. In fourth year one of his 
> (Zacharias's) housemates, was found dead. All they knew was that 
> Harry came out of the maze carrying Cedric's body. Harry was the
only 
> one who really knew what went on, and let's face it, all the
evidence 
> seemed to point that Harry did something. While he may have come
off 
> a bit strong, Zacharias had every right to be suspiscious. It's
about 
> time a Hufflepuff finally stands up to a Gryffindor.
...


Good point. It's hard to know from the book just how many people are
suspicious of Harry. But some should be. It's interesting that Rowling
didn't write of a MOM investigation centering on Harry's part in
Cedric's death since the MOM is trying to discredit him.
-Snorky