Humanity, Kant, Caricatures, and Draco /Train scene again/Slytherins and Quiddit

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 146222

Betsy: 
> > Interestingly enough, the twins have less of an excuse for their 
> > attack from behind.  It's not like Cedric was their friend, and 
> > it's not like Draco was interacting with them.

Nora: 
> Of course, Draco does indicate that Ron and Hermione are next, 
which 
> I do suspect the Twins might have some interest in.

Alla:

Not only that Nora, but Harry is their friend, and Harry just had 
been through horrible ordeal and Draco shows up uninvited to their 
compartment and starts mocking Cedric's death and issuing death 
threats to Ron and Hermione. Pure provocation, IMO.

"Too late now, Potter! They'll be the first to go, now the Dark 
Lord's back! Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers first! Well - second - 
Diggory was the f----" - GoF, paperback, p.720 

Could have Gryffs responded less excessively? I guess, they could, 
but considering the gravity of what Harry just had been through and 
especially that Draco and his goons invite themselfs to Gryffs 
compartment, I absolutely do not blame them for the response. 

But I definitely understand that Twins were upset at death threat to 
their brother and Hermione ( whom I am guessing they figured out 
that Ron likes long time ago), IMO of course.

I am trying to remember my first reaction to this scene. I don't 
think I laughed here at Draco's misfortune. But I sure did not feel 
much sympathy for him either. To me he was unquestionable 
provocateur.

As I said before I would love if the response was absolutely 
proportionate ( before I have to explain my position many times :), 
BUT what Draco did makes people upset VERY much upset, IMO and when 
people are upset, they IMO may not calculate their response with 
absolute proportionality. 

Nora:
> Not that he's somehow less human, but he *is* consistently the 
> wrongly motivated and openly malicious party.  Does that mean JKR 
> gives him more lumps and lets him get away with less, and she 
slants 
> his actions differently, that something may be okay when someone 
else 
> does it but not when he does 'the same thing'?

Alla:

Agreed. It would be interesting if in book 7 Draco starts to 
experience true character change ( no I don't consider the inability 
to kill the Headmaster while facing him to be true character change, 
but I do think that it could be a first sign for such change), how 
would JKR evaluate his actions them. IMO of course.


> Magpie:
<SNIP>
Or perhaps Marcus Flint 
> should have hopped up the moment Slytherin's points were 
announced, 
> marched over to Cormac McClaggan (or any random Gryffindor) and 
> pulled a Tony Manero, telling him Slytherin was giving them the 
house 
> cup because, "we think youse deserve it."
> 

Alla:

Oh, I don't expect anything THAT noble from Marcus, but offering the 
rematch after one of the matches where they behaved so disgustingly, 
IMO would have been nice. Cedric did that when Hufflepuff won 'fair 
and square", just because Harry suffered that unfortunate fall.

IMO of course,

Alla