[HPforGrownups] Re: Evil Hermione

[rebecca]

No: HPFGUIDX 154846


> HunterGreen (jumping in very late on the discussion):
> Except that it wasn't a "secret" organization when she joined, now
> was it? Nor was the goal to oppose a tyrant. At the time she joined
> the group, it was neither against any rules, nor was it stated that
> its purpose was to upset Umbridge (though it clearly WOULD upset her,
> that was not the purpose of the group, they didn't sit around
> thinking of ways to get Umbridge out of the school, after all). She
> was taken to a pub to talk about a defense club, the purpose of which
> was to practice spells to pass their OWLs and oppose Voldemort. At
> the end of the LEGAL meeting, she put her name on the paper that
> later would cause the jinx. After that, whether or not she ever went
> to another meeting, if Umbridge found that paper, she was still
> implicated as a member.
>
> Yes, Marietta by signing the paper, did agree not to tell 'Umbridge
> or anyone else' what they were up to, but she agreed to that when
> there would be no consequences of Umbridge finding out. Then, next
> thing she knows, she's a part of an illegal organization that she
> could be expelled for being a part of. Yes, from Harry's point-of-
> view (and from the reader's point-of-view) its a very clear-cut
> situation, that being the the Ministry is being overly-paranoid about
> Dumbledore and short-sighted about Voldemort, but that doesn't mean
> that Marietta agrees, or sees it the same way. From her point-of-
> view, she's breaking school rules every time she goes to one of those
> meetings, and she DOESN'T have a family who will be able to
> understand in the least bit why she's doing that (even Ron's mother,
> who is a memeber of more official anti-Voldemort organization,
> doesn't want him in the DA). She most likely thought she was doing
> the right thing. She wasn't trying to be vindictive, or evil, or
> spiteful, she was trying to do what appeared, to her, to be
> the 'right' thing to do in an odd situation. And for that, does she
> deserve to be branded for life? Not really.
>

Rebecca (the other Rebecca, that is):

Sorry about your headache, but I'm afraid I'll create another one :)

There's canon in this thread which can lead the reader to believe that 
rather than just "OWL", much of the emphasis was on Voldemort coming back 
and being able to fight him. Your post actually alludes to this, too:

"She  was taken to a pub to talk about a defense club, the purpose of which 
was to practice spells to pass their OWLs and oppose Voldemort."

If it's a study group to pass OWLS, there's no need to focus on "fighting" 
or "opposing" Voldemort, is there? Yet, here it is in canon:

"She paused, looked sideways at Harry, and went on, 'And by that I mean 
learning how to defend ourselves properly, not just in theory but doing the 
real spells -'

'You want to pass your Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL too, though, I 
bet?' said Michael Corner, who was watching her closely.

'Of course I do,' said Hermione at once. 'But more than that, I want to be 
properly trained in defence because. because." she took a great breath and 
finished, 'because Lord Voldemort is back."

And she's not the only one who says this or alludes to Voldemort in this 
manner WRT the DA.
Ron refers to Hermione in conversation about the organization of the DA as 
her seeing everyone in the DA as "trustworthy and honorable", and she 
replies with telling Ron that if anyone betrays them, they'll know and that 
person will "really regret" it.  Indeed, all but one of the DA members are 
trustworthy and honorable, and it only takes one to betray them all.

Futhermore, if Marietta were truly conflicted about keeping the group a 
secret, what's always bothered me is that she went to Umbridge to reveal it 
rather than go to her mother. She didn't reveal it to her head of house, 
either - she went directly to Umbridge.  Not indicative of someone who was 
conflicted or thought they "did the right thing,"  IMO. Her actions, whether 
she'd signed a piece of jinxed parchment or not, are culpable.

Rebecca