Friends, enemies, and allies

[nrenka]

No: HPFGUIDX 143103

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Bart Lidofsky <bartl at s...> wrote:
>
> nrenka wrote:
> > JKR doesn't seem to be going for the whole 'enemy of my enemy is my 
> > friend' angle that is so common in the spy or thriller genre, where 
> > alliances must be made with distasteful characters.  
> 
> Bart:
> 	That's because the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" is a 
> fiction, designed to be blown apart. A more accurate saying is "the 
> enemy of my enemy is my ALLY." Note that this is a major background 
> operation; both the OOP and Voldemort are seeking ALLIES among the 
> magical creatures, not necessarily friends.

Point taken.  On the other hand, note the different approach taken by 
the Order and by Voldemort to membership.  Voldemort personally brands 
his members for loyalty, and is about gratifying the, shall we say, 
less acceptable to mainstream society wishes and desires of his 
followers.  The Order, in contrast, accepts all kinds--so long as 
Dumbledore personally would vouch therefore and serve as a sort of 
guarantor and regulator.

Many a reader has speculated that Harry/the Order are going to need 
some kind of assistance from areas that we wouldn't exactly consider 
good, such as some varieties of Snape or some varieties of a 
disgruntled Malfoy clan.  I don't quite see it in the cards because of 
Harry's (somewhat) idealistic approach to the quest, which has started 
off by rejecting one fairly major potential ally.  YMMV, and it's only 
a guess.

-Nora wakes up to a sad lack of sun