[HPforGrownups] Evil Hermione

[rebecca]

No: HPFGUIDX 154867


> Rebecca:
> 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,"
>
> Magpie:
> You're not the only person to say that and I don't get it.  Isn't it just
> kind of randomly complicated to bring in Flitwick and minor character's
> parents?  We know what Marietta's mother's position is.  Her choice,
> especially given her mother's job, is either to tell or not--meaning tell
> the Headmistress.  It's pretty straightforward, as JKR tries to keep 
> things,
> I think.  Just as Hermione chooses to either give Harry's Firebolt over 
> for
> testing or not.  However long Marietta waffled and so refrained from
> telling, her decision was always going to be to either keep quiet or tell
> Umbridge.  Telling her mother, for instance, just gets the same result 
> with
> less dramatic effect for the author.
>

Rebecca responds:

It's actually a bigger picture than that, I think. Conceptually, would I 
conform to a law or edict I thought repressed:

1) My freedom of speech (Umbridge/The Ministry outlaws The Quibbler, forbids 
professors to speak to students about anything but classwork),
2) My right to defend myself (Umbridge/The Ministry outlawing practical 
lessons enabling me to do so)
3) My right to kibbitz with those like-minded peers  I want to (Umbridge/The 
Ministry outlaws all student groups not approved)
4) My right to remain silent (Umbridge/The Ministry trying to secretly feed 
Harry Veritaserum)
5) My right to a fair trial and fair treatment as a prisoner ( Prisoner in 
the loose term here, depicted by Umbridge/The Ministry shaking Marietta, 
Umbridge/The Ministry nearly performing an Unforgivable Curse on Harry, 
Umbridge/The Ministry organizing the Inquisitorial Squad)

I could list more, but as I do, the whole thing reads like an terrible 
dictator control experiment and this is in a *school!* Heaven help us what 
else is happening elsewhere in the WW during OoP.

While I can respect what you say, recall that Umbridge is the representative 
of The Ministry in this book, so her actions speak of the government's 
paranoia and control freak mentality at the time. She pitted what she calls 
"trustworthy" students against other students (even if most of the IQ was 
Slytherin.) So "trust" is a key discussion point to me. It's no secret what 
Umbridge is about, and her reputation preceeds her. These sentences are what 
bother me:

'Don't mind her,' Cho muttered. 'She doesn't really want to be here but I 
made her come with me. Her parents have forbidden her to do anything that 
might upset Umbridge. You see - her mum works for the Ministry.'


'Don't be scared, dear, don't be frightened,' said Professor Umbridge 
softly, patting her on the back, 'it's quite all right, now. You have done 
the right thing. The Minister is very pleased with you. He'll be telling 
your mother what a good girl you've been."

As a daughter who knew one's parents were worried about upsetting Umbridge, 
wouldn't one warn one's mother than you were going to tell Umbridge rather 
than let her find out this way, through her job?  Marietta could just have 
chosen not to go to the DA meetings and kept quiet, or if she were concerned 
for her friends told her mother and/or her head of house. The choice to tell 
Umbridge was easy - it wasn't right, which is exactly what I believe JKR was 
trying to depict. The "keeping quiet" was apparently the much harder choice 
than all of the others, including telling her parents or head of house.  To 
me, that message appears to be lost in the jinxed parchment vs betrayal 
discussion. Otherwise why have the background about Marietta's parents and, 
in particular, her mother policing the Floo network as Umbridge describes?

The situation is very similiar, IMO, to what occurred with the Nazi regime - 
informants, some relatives of those working in government, ratting out other 
parties. Neighbor and friend  pitted against neighbor and friend. Trust 
betrayed, as revealed in the countless accounts written and relayed by 
Holocaust survivors. Cho's making excuses for her friend later in the book 
denotes "burying ones' head in the sand" to me about such choices and a 
recent post by Dan here says it all:  JKR is writing about life and death 
choices, even in the subtle and sublime.  Trust, honor, bravery, and loyalty 
are all values in that equasion. To me, Marietta violated all of them.  I 
don't think she'll be "marked for life", but she perhaps will be marked by 
Hermione's jinx until she realizes the lesson.

Rebecca, who includes Dan's post link in case anyone wants to read it again 
at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/154734