Umbridge, detention, scars, and plotlines, oh my!.

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 126058



Lupinlore:
Chuckle.  Well, we'll just have to disagree on this one, Betsy.  I
found the whole prefect situation so contrived and poorly written that
it strikes me as one of the worst pieces of plotting JKR has done in
the entire series.  It's like she said, "WHOOPS!  Got to get
Ronniekins a prefect badge!  Got to make sure the Mirror of Erised
comes true!  I'm sure they won't see this one coming!"
Like Phoenixgod, I found it impossible to believe that Dumbledore
would act as strangely and stupidly as he did, in that situation and
most of the others in OOTP.  And if the Mirror is foreshadowing, it's
incredibly clumsy foreshadowing of incredibly implausible plot
developments.
 
The keeper situation is, I agree, more plausible and better written. 
Had it not been for the clumsiness of the prefect subplot, I would
have had no trouble with it at all.  But I maintain, linked together
they point to a clumsy, contrived, and poorly written attempt to give
Ron everything he saw in the Mirror, flying directly in the face of
plausibility and believability.


Alla:

Hmmm, I agree with you that Ron becoming a prefect came out of 
nowhere, BUT if Harry is removed from running, won't you agree that 
ANY of fifth year boys would be equally good candidates? If yes, I'd 
say Ron had some advantages, because he was with Harry fighting 
together against Voldie in PS/SS and CoS, so Dumbledore has pretty 
good indications about his character, I think. Isn't the character 
one of the main reasons how Prefect is chosen? I can be very off on 
this one. Grades are also important factor, right? Is there any 
indication that Ron's grades are worse than other boys?

I guess my question to you will be if Ron did not see all that in the 
Mirror, would you have considered him being Prefect not as contrived 
as you think now? In other words is your main objection Ron becoming 
a prefect per se, or the fact that he saw himself getting all that in 
the Mirror?

I think that without Mirror I would feel better about Ron being a 
prefect.

JMO,

Alla.