Bella and Umbridge (Re: I hate Fudge!)

[Tonks]

No: HPFGUIDX 147636

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Geoff Bannister" 
<gbannister10 at ...> wrote: 
> Geoff:
> I originally posted this about 7.45 am this morning but its now 
2.30 pm and it looks as if Yahoomort has swallowed my message, so 
here goes again. 
Snip> There is a curious parallelism between Bellatrix Lestrange and 
> Dolores Umbridge in the way they interact (or fail to interact) 
with young people.
> 
> They both appear to treat them as if they were not any higher than 
> about Year 1 in school and speak to them condescendingly and 
> patronisingly. (Snip)
> 
> Curious the similar ways in which they treat the young people. I 
can understand Umbridge because she appears to be a typical spinster 
> maiden aunt - fluffly cardigan, little hair bow and not knowing 
how best to treat the class. But Bellatrix does not seem the type to 
> react on the same way.
> 
> Any views out there?

Tonks: oddly this is my second reply too. I sent the first at 
11.00am and it is not here. What is going on with Yahoo?
Here is the repost:

As an Auror and a Metamorphmagus I have many disguises.  Especially 
when at a HP conference.  I find that most everyone at a conference 
dress up as one of the good guys (male or female) and after seeing 
way too many McGonagall's and noticing that small bands of Slytherin 
seem to be having the most fun
   well..  I decided to go to the 
dark side with a costume for Bella.

In order to get into the right frame of mind I have pondered the 
personality of Bella and of Snape. I think that Bella is more like 
Snape than Umbridge. 

Let's look at Umbridge first and "get her out of the way". ;-)  I 
see her as a typical bureaucrat that flaunts her power because she 
can. She is a sadistic person. It has nothing to do with the age of 
the person she is addressing, it has to do with power. She would 
treat anyone that she was in a position of power over in the same 
way. Perhaps she is not quite as hard on Snape because he can hold 
his own against her, but I would not want to be a staff person in a 
meeting with her. I had a manager like her once and we all hated her 
and plotted her overthrow.   

I see Bella as more like Snape, except it is clear which side she is 
on.  She is a sadist and enjoys inflicting pain on others. Why?  
Many she has a subconscious need to over come an unhappy childhood. 
Doing to others what was done to her in an attempt to master the 
situation. (Oh pardon me.. the therapist in me just came out 
there.)  

Bella loves to pull the rug out from others. Her motivation is not 
so much power as it is the thrill of seeing others in pain, 
emotional or physical. LV on the other hand uses torture as a means 
to an end. For Bella it is an end in itself.

I have to go now.. can explore this more later.

Tonks_op