muggle baiting vs. muggle torture

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 155356

> Betsy Hp:
<SNIP>
> I just...  I wish I could see some measure of nobility and goodness 
> expressed by the good guys.  I mean, yes it's wonderful that our 
> heroes are "real", but shouldn't they be a bit more than that?  
> Harry is fighting Voldemort because Voldemort killed his parents.  
> That's what brought him into the arena.  But shouldn't there be 
> something deeper?  Some higher reason for Harry to contemplate 
> becoming a killer?  Must it all boil down to vengeance?

Alla:

Not in the books I am reading, seriously. In the books I am reading 
yes, the murder of his parents brought Harry to this fight. But in 
the books I am reading Harry fights for protection, for protection of 
those he loves **and** for self-protection too of course.

Although yes, of course vengeance plays a role too, although i would 
call it justice, not vengeance.

Betsy: 
> Unfortunately, the discussions I've read seem to suggest that 
> vengeance is all it is.  Dudley deserved to suffer because he was 
> mean to Harry a few years back.  Vengeance.  Hermione was right to 
> disfigure Marietta because Marietta snitched.  Vengeance.  Montague 
> deserved to die of thirst because he took points away from 
> Gryffindor. Vengeance.

Alla:

Not to me. Hermione  IMO was right ( although as I said, not 
perfectly executed too), because  the reason she casted that hex was 
protection, protection of fellow DA members from treachery. I **so** 
don't see any vengeance here, but that is JMO.

Montague IMO deserved a bit of suffering because he supported a 
monster reign over the school ( yes, that is my opinion of dear 
Dolores Umbridge). Would I support that in RL? Twins issuing the 
punishment? No, that is not their place, but do I think Montague 
deserved the punishment for participaing in IS? Yes, I definitely do.

Betsy: 
> So, why was Draco's attempted murder of Dumbledore wrong?  
> Seriously.  If vengeance is where it's at (as Harry and his friends 
> and their RL supporters seem to imply), shouldn't Draco have gone 
> full speed ahead?  Doesn't it mean that his Hamlet-like hesitations 
> are signs of weakness on his part not improvement?

Alla:

Well, this Harry supporter certainly does not imply that vengeance is 
all there is, cannot speak for others of course.

To me there is a huge difference between villains getting their dues, 
by any means author thinks possible within the plot and vengeance.

Although as a reader, I am certainly "bloodfirsty" enough to hope for 
their sufferings, that does not mean that **good guys** in 
Potterverse are just as bloodfirsty IMO.



 Betsy Hp:
<SNIP>
>  That Hermione needs 
> to treat other people as, well, people and not little puppets in 
her 
> great machine.

Alla:

Honestly, I hope that Hermione never, **ever** abandons the desire to 
protect her loved ones, just puts a bit more thought in it.


JMO,

Alla.