Choose right over what is easy

[festuco]

No: HPFGUIDX 128777

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "B.G." <hambtty at t...> wrote:
 
> Why use the phrase "strayed across the path of LV"?  Is it to point 
> out that Cedric was not prepared for battle?  Why does he point out 
> Cedric was good, kind and brave?  It doesn't matter how good, kind
or 
> brave we are, it matters how prepared we are?

Gerry:
I think the point he is trying to make here is that Cedric died
because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time and for no other
reason at all. He was killed the same way someone would squash a fly.
He was a special person, yet he died. Not because he fought evil,
though undoubtedly he would have, but because the evil did not care
about who or what he was or what he stood for. He was there, he should
not have been, and therefore a very promising life was ended. Its a
lesson. If any other person would have been there, the outcome would
have been exactly the same. This speech tells the student exactly what
kind of people LV and his DEs are and what will happen if they rise to
power. 
>
Olive:
> Up to this point DD has been teaching Harry lessons in modern-day 
> Stoic philosophy - learn to use reason over emotion.  LV taps into 
> emotion and uses it against his foes.  In this speech isn't DD
calling 
> for all to use emotion - the very thing that gives LV power?  I'm 
> confused.

Gerry
No, though he uses an emotional speech, that is not the point.
Choosing what is right above what is easy is making that step above
your emotions. Using your inner compass to guide your actions.
Choosing the easy way, sticking your head in the sand, letting evil
get its way will create a climate where there will be quite a number
of Cedrics. People who died because they were in the way. Choosing
what is right is fighting evil, even though you are scared, even
though you might get hurt or even die. 

This scene reminds me of a quote a read somewhere (trying to translate
here): The people who quietly mind their own business are a dictator's
best subjects. 

Fudge choose easy over right. He did not want to believe LV was back,
he tried everything he could to stop the voices that told the truth.
Why? Because that would mean preparing for war, the end of the cosy
life he had now. So he opted for discrediting Harry and Dubledore, and
for making sure his pet Umbridge culled Hogwarts from all possible
subservities. The results:
LV had almost a year to prepare his come-back whereas the MoM has lost
a year.
LV got a number of his most important supporters back
All students who are not in the DA (and especially the 7th years who
graduated) have gaps in their abilities to defend themselves against
the DE's. 

Gerry