muggle baiting vs. muggle torture

[Sydney]

No: HPFGUIDX 155418

 
> >Steven1965aaa:
> 
> Sydney, do you REALLY think the reason they gave him the map because 
> he was well connected and wealthy and they were hoping to get 
> something from him in the future?  Do you really believe that the 
> twins anticipated that Harry would enter and win the triwizard 
> tournament, get the gold and give it to them, months after they gave 
> him the map?  Do you really believe that was their motivation? Of 
> course not.  

Sydney:

Obviously I don't think they expected that exact set of events.  I
just think they are good capitalists-- they build relationships with
people who might be useful to them.  Harry is a celebrity, and a rich
celebrity-- he gets stuff for free, for the very good reason that it
makes sense to associate with him.  Don't the twins give him free
stuff from his shop, and ask him to make sure to tell everyone where
they got it?  It's like giving Julia Roberts a Fendi bag, so everyone
will want one. 

The twins are, IMO, just being better 'slytherins' in this than Draco
or certainly than Snape.  Snape's efforts to instantly alienate
everyone he comes across always struck me as most unSlytherinish, as
far as we're told what that House values.  Smart people who want to
get ahead are nearly always friendly and charming and do favours for
people they think might make it big in the future.

I'm not even saying that the twins are insincere!  They're 'people
people' and do seem to genuinely like Harry.  I just see no reason to
think the twins-- who are consistently presented as planning ahead for
years to open the joke shop-- were innocently unaware of what good
relationships could get them.

 
> Come on, if Harry is in trouble and the twins have a choice of 
> helping him or saving their own skins, what do you think they'd do?  
> Flee and save themselves or help him? 


Seriously?  I have no idea, and I'm not sure why you are so certain
that they would.  I'm not going to assume they would just because
'they're in Gryffindor', or because they show up in the first reel
wearing a white hat.  First, Pettigrew was in Gryffindor too.  Second,
I don't think these books are about how it would be great if there was
some magical hat you could put on everyone when they are 11 that would
sort the good people from the bad and never had to think about them
individually any more. 


-- Sydney