Prefect Ron (was DD on the Dursleys).

[OctobersChild48 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 151248

> OctobersChild48:
> I, of course, expected Harry to be made a Prefect, 
> and Dumbledore's 
> > speech at least explained why he wasn't, not that I agree with his 
> decision
> 
> Jen:
>   I agree with DD's decision...it made perfect sense to me NOT to 
> put Harry anymore in the spotlight than he already was.  Can you 
> elaborate on why you disagree with DD's decision not to make Harry 
> prefect?
> 
> 

Sandy:
OoP, page 844, American
"I feel I owe you another explanation, Harry," said Dumbledore hesitantly. 
"You may, perhaps, have wondered why I never chose you as a prefect? I must 
confess .... that I rather thought ... you had enough responsibility to be going 
on with."

Dumbledore tells Harry this immediately after revealing the prophecy to him. 
Taken in this light it could seem to be a good explanation for why DD didn't 
make Harry prefect, but I just don't see it. To begin with, at the time DD made 
his prefect decision, Harry knew absolutely nothing about the prophecy or his 
role as "the Chosen One", so Harry was totally in the blind about DD's 
decision and why he made it. Harry had already been isolated at the Dursleys all 
summer with just enough contact from his friends to know something was going on 
that he was being excluded from, and then he gets overlooked for prefect too. 
As we know, Harry was pretty much in capslock mode at both the beginning and 
end of OoP, which I think was perfectly justified. He had just been through the 
final events of the TWT, watched Cedric be murdered, and faced off with 
Voldemort and won again, but suddenly, here he was, being put into the position of 
being persona non grata. He deserved better than that, and he deserved to be 
made prefect, and the fact that he wasn't added further to his feelings of 
exclusion. 

It is your position that had he been made prefect he would have been more in 
the spotlight than he already was. How so? I also ask how making him prefect 
would have affected him when it came to his position as a result of the 
prophecy? How, exactly, does he have enough responsibility to be going on with that 
would be severely affected by him being a prefect? It's not like he's in a 
training program that requires every bit of spare time that he has. He doesn't 
even know about this responsibility until the end of the school year. 
Furthermore, it does not keep him from being the head of the DA, or from being Quidditch 
captain the following year. Other than for his walks through the pensieve with 
Dumbledore in HBP I see no extensive or intensive prepararations being made 
for his destined showdown with Voldemort, and those certainly wouldn't have 
interfered with him being a prefect.

Even if I were willing to accept Dumbledore's reason for not having made 
Harry a prefect I would have to question him waiting a year to tell Harry why. 
Yes, yes, I know, it would have ruined the plot of the book. I just don't agree 
with the decision not to make Harry a prefect, and the reason for it.

Sandy -- OctobersChild48


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]