Hermione and Marietta

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 154972

 
> > Allie:
> > 
> > Am I the ONLY one who thinks that all Marietta has to do is 
> > *apologize* and Hermione will lift the hex/curse?  Cho defended her, 
> > and Marietta never actually apologized for almost getting them all 
> > kicked out of school (it's also her fault Dumbledore was forced to 
> > leave!).  She learned it the hard way - there's nothing worse in 
> > school than a tattletale.  I can see her apologizing to Hermione and 
> > Hermione telling her "waspishly" that the one she should apologize 
> > to is Harry.
> >
> Renee:
> No, you're not the only one. I mentioned it in a previous post on the
> subject, and I distinctly remember one or two others saying the same.
> Perhaps Hemione is just waiting for Marietta to acknowledge her fault.
> That's why I see no reason to condemn Hermione (yet) for not removing it. 

Pippin:
The canon for Marietta being memory charmed:
"Unfortunately, I had to hex Kingsley too, or it would have looked very
suspicious," said Dumbledore in a low voice. "He was remarkably
quick on the uptake, modifying Miss Edgecombe's memory like
that while everyone was looking the other way--thank him for
me, won't you, Minerva?" ch 27 OOP

I am amazed that Hermione's defenders think her self-esteem is
so low that it needs to be bolstered by an apology from  a person who
can't remember what she did. I would think far better of
Hermione for committing the typical teenage blunder of not
considering the long range consequences than I would if,
after all she has accomplished, she still feels so poorly about herself
that such a hollow reward would seem valuable to her. She would
be clinging to her identity as a wounded person instead of
using her courage to grow beyond it.

Besides that, what if Hermione gets herself killed before the
jinx is lifted. Too bad for Marietta, I suppose?

If I seem to be harder on Hermione than I am on Marietta, it's
because Marietta's moral development is not central to the
story  -- it would be nice if Marietta learns a lesson about the
value of loyalty (though she's far more likely to gain it from
Cho sticking by her than she is from Hermione's punishment)
but I don't care whether she does or not.

I think it's *very* important that Hermione learn to consult with
others before she inflicts permanent damage on another 
Being.  Sticking to canon, not movies, she is the only one of the Trio
to have done so (even Harry's unbodiment of Voldemort has
been reversed) and I can't believe it is of no consequence. Even
Draco Malfoy hasn't permanently harmed anyone.

 As for all the horrible consequences Marietta is supposed to have 
known she would bring about, it seems that Jo herself can't predict 
the future of her characters with 100% accuracy, so we can hardly 
hold Marietta responsible for the future course of the story.

I think Marietta's story may presage something about the betrayal
of James and Lily. Cho says that she "made" Marietta come with
her to the meetings. Cho doesn't say how she bullied her friend,
but I suppose she said that Marietta couldn't be her friend
anymore otherwise. It could be Marietta thought if the meetings
just stopped, then she could go on being friends with Cho without
having to betray her family, and that's what she was trying to 
accomplish by going to Umbridge. 

Something similar might have happened in the Order. Maybe 
the traitor wanted to leave the Order but was afraid it would
cost him his friendship with the other Marauders if he did,
so he tried to get it shut down instead. It wouldn't fit Pettigrew's
personality, but it might fit Lupin's. I can definitely see Lupin
feeling bad that the werewolves were beginning to trust him
when he knew that they  wouldn't if they'd known he
was in the Order.

Pippin