Special treatment - yes or no

[Irene Mikhlin]

No: HPFGUIDX 145982

Before I start the long list of the instances where I
think 
Hogwarts authorities provided special treatment either
for Harry,
or Gryffindor in general, a disclaimer:

You don't need to refute it with the claims that Harry
is a nice
kid who didn't ask for special treatment, but deserves
it all 
anyway.
Meta-arguments about this treatment to be necessary
for plot 
reasons also miss the point.
The point of the exercise is to demonstrate that other
houses 
(who don't have an insider information about Harry's
character or
the broader context of the fight with Voldemort) have
a good 
reason to perceive Harry as Headmaster's pet.
Have you noticed that he is not very popular with
Hufflepuff and
Ravenclaw either, at least until book 6? They are very
quick to 
believe the worst of him.

Now to the list.

PS:

1. Even before the Hogwarts starts - if it was any
other child, 
would the school be so insistent that he gets his
letter? 
Generally speaking, can muggle parents ever refuse for
a child to
go? Probably not, but that a subject for another
discussion about
Wizard-Muggle "relations".
(Note - I don't wish that the rules were followed to a
't' and 
Harry was kept from Hogwarts. Applies to the rest of
the list, 
really).

2. Would a school official take any other child
shopping?

3. Tea with Hagrid. It looks in fact that Hagrid is
running his 
own little club, just like Slughorn. Only the favours
he asks in 
return are much more serious than a box of pineapple
sweets: 
could you get rid of this illegal dragon for me, kids?
Could you 
help me to prepare for the trial? Could you look after
my giant 
brother?

4. Broomstick incident, of course. Instead of
punishment, Harry 
is rewarded with his own broom and place on the team.

5. Dumbledore finds Harry in front of the mirror - out
after 
curfew, third night in the row, no punishment.

6. Dumbledore returns the cloak that was confiscated
after some
rule-breaking. I don't count the fact that he gave
Harry the cloak in the first place, that was indeed
just returning the 
property, would've done it for any student. But "just
in case" 
business? Teacher's pet. :-)

CoS:

7. McGonagall does not take points for flying car. If
Ron and 
Harry consider themselves lucky, I won't argue with
them. Minerva
obviously cares about the House cup.

8. Gryffindor's ghost conspires to get Harry out of
detention.

9. Harry lies about finding Mrs. Norris. Dumbledore
seems to know
it (a bit of legilimency), but lets him to get away
with it.

10. Harry and Ron break emergency rules, walking the
corridors 
without a teacher. But since they come up with a noble
story, 
McGonagall does not punish them.

PoA:

11. Fudge gives Harry some serious celebrity
treatment.

12. Another Hogwarts official (who just happens to be
a Gryffindor) invites Harry for a cup of tea.

13. Madame Hooch is asked to supervise the trainings,
because McGonagall doesn't want to reduce team's
chances of winning.

14. That's a big one: the very same Professor, who
just happens to be a Gryffindor, covers a huge
rule-breaking episode (never mind madly
security-breaking), and Harry gets off without any
punishment.

15. Out of bounds, after curfew, nearly got Ron
killed, but nevermind - the Headmaster has a special
task for Harry and Hermione.

GoF:

Letting Harry into the tournament is not exactly a
special treatment, as any student would have had to
compete under the binding magical contract. However,
taking his word that he didn't ask an older student to
put his name in, might well be.

16. The Headmaster accepts Hogsmeade permission from
someone who is not Harry's parent or guardian,
nevermind being a convicted criminal at the time.

17. Hagrid shows Harry the dragons.

18. Harry goes into Dumbledore's pensieve - no
punishment.

OoTP:

19. Would the school try to get any of the students
acquitted in a stitch-up trial like this? Probably
yes. Would they go to such lengths, up to producing
false witnesses? Probably not.

The rest of this year does not matter, as it was not
under Hogwarts normal system of rules.

HBP:

I can't be bothered to go through the details in this
one, Dumbledore has practically adopted Harry in this
book.

Again - I know that saving the world is more important
than following the rules. But first of all other
characters are not privy to "saving the world"
context, and some of the cases above have nothing to
do with it.

Irene




		
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