OOTP observations - Molly

[phoenixgod2000]

No: HPFGUIDX 132683


> Del replies:
> Molly is the epitome of the protective mother. Asking her NOT to 
care
> for any parent-less kid around her is illogical IMO.

I get that, but there is a difference between caring for Harry and 
the irrational degree of guardianship she seemed to think she was 
entitled to.
 
> And personally, if I was Harry or Hermione's mother, I'd be VERY 
GLAD
> that there is *someone* mothering my kid. I would NOT be happy if I
> let my teenage kid go to some place under some adult's supervision,
> and I learned that s/he had been allowed to, say, watch a porn 
movie,
> and when I ask why this is so to that supposedly responsible 
adult, I
> get told "well, s/he's not *my* kid, is s/he?" That would peeve me 
off
> *greatly* 

Well, yeah. Watching porn, setting random fires, and doing drugs are 
are illegal and if Molly didn't stop Harry or any other child from 
doing those things I would think less of her. But deciding what 
information should be spread around is a more nebulous event than 
the one you suggested. Molly has no right to decide how much 
information Harry can handle. And even she admits that he could 
handle more than she wanted to give him. she just wanted to keep him 
sheltered. understandable but unhealthy and with hindsight, 
ultimately wrong. She was a control freak.  She wanted to be the one 
to parent harry and to dispense information when she wanted to give 
it out. IMO, she stepped way over bounds with both Harry and Sirius.
 

> Del replies:
> Well, I have been told several times that obedience to DD *is* the
> standard of goodness in the Potterverse.

I'm cheesed off at Dumbledore after OOTP so I am not one of those 
people.


> 
> As for the jealousy, I find it totally understandable. Molly has 
been
> inviting Harry into her family for several years now. She has 
showered
> him with affection and attention. The Burrow is the only place 
apart
> from Hogwarts where Harry has ever been happy. So it is totally
> understandable to me that Molly would feel a bit possessive of 
Harry,
> and consequently a bit jealous that Harry loves Sirius so obviously
> more than her.

Then she is being irrational and should be called on it. Sirius is 
Harry's *Godfather*.  Best friends with Harry's parents. Keeper of a 
lot of Harry's past.  Probably there when the kid was born.  If she 
is really that resentful of the bond between Harry and Sirius she is 
truly a reprehensible person.
 
> Del replies:
> That would be totally unfair IMO!! Molly did SO MUCH for Harry, and
> any hurt she caused him was borne out of love and concern for him!

That makes it alright?  The worst things I have ever seen a parent 
do to a child were done out of misguided love.

> (Unlike some of the hurt Sirius caused Harry, by the way...) Molly
> freely showered Harry with good things and good feelings, so why on
> Earth should she be punished???

I don't think I said punished. I just think she should be called on 
it. Throw those remarks of her back into her face and force her to 
think about what she says instead of just turing as red as her hair 
and spouting off.
 
 > Del replies:
> I completely disagree where her family is concerned. Molly is the
> mother of her family, so it is her duty and her right to say some
> things. I can't see ANY reason why she should NOT say what she 
thinks,
> if she is motivated by love and concern. Just because other people
> don't want to hear what she has to say doesn't mean she shouldn't 
say
> it. Quite the opposite in fact: there must be a REASON why people
> don't like what she says, and maybe they should reflect on that
> reason, because it's not necessarily that she's all wrong, maybe 
quite
> the opposite in fact.

So she is right to bully her husband? She was right to forget about 
the Twins when she was happy that Ron had become a prefect? so she 
was right to try and crush the dreams of the twins when they don't 
fit into her version of what they should do?  Molly has the right to 
raise her kids they way she wants but she goes out of her way to 
belittle ideas and dreams they have that are not hers.
> 
> A mother does NOT stop being a mother when her kids hit puberty or
> something. Molly is the mother, and she will always be the mother, 
and
> as long as her kids depend on her for their living, then she is
> entitled to say her mind.

Yes she does, but saying her mind does not give her the right to 
treat the twins they way she does. Or treat Arthur the way she does. 
Or try to infantalize Harry the way she tries to do. Being a good 
parent is about supporting your kids and giving them the tools to 
fufill their dreams, not yours.  Something tells me that Molly isn't 
all that good at that part of the job.

phoenixgod2000