[HPforGrownups] Hate crimes (was Re: muggle baiting vs. muggle torture)

[Magpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 155804

 Alla:
>
> They have no interest in pranking Muggles, they have **never** in
> canon pranked any Muggle as far as we are aware.They said that they
> pranked Dudley because he is a bullying git, but  the argument is
> that they are guilty of muggle - baiting?

Magpie:
Of course they have pranked a Muggle. They pranked Dudley.

In another thread there's a lot of discussion of Jane Austen's Emma, a book 
JKR apparently loves. So surely she's familiar with the most famous scene in 
it, where Emma goes on an outing and thoughtlessly makes a joke at the 
expense of silly Mrs. Bates.  Mr. Knightley confronts her about just how 
cruel it was to do that.  He recognizes that Emma made the remark to Mrs. 
Bates not because she was a poor spinster whose position in society was 
below Emma's, but because she's silly and never shuts up.

He does not accuse Emma of insulting her out of snobbery.  He scolds her for 
abusing the power of her own exalted position. It would be okay for her to 
say something like that if Mrs. Bates were not in the weakened position she 
is.  When you have been blessed with great power, and want to be a good 
person, you have to be doubly careful about what you do to others. Because 
maybe you, as the powerful person, have the luxury of forgetting about the 
inequality for a while, but people with less power can't do that.  Emma 
didn't set out to decimate Mrs. Bates, but she did.

That is what the Twins do with Dudley.  They don't get to use Magic against 
Muggles without it counting just because they're not primarily concerned 
with his being a Muggle.  He never "just happens to be a Muggle" once they 
pull out their wands.  Notice the Dursleys never forget the difference 
between them and the Weasleys in the scene.  They're being rude themselves, 
of course, (though it's the Wizards doing all the real physical damage) but 
as the weaker people their behavior carries a completely different weight. 
And Emma just makes a funny remark about how much Mrs. Bates talks.  Mrs. 
Bates is rolling around on the floor gagging while Jane panics and screams.

And to be honest, I can't help but feel that the Twins don't really come 
across as great as they are claimed to be in defense, because if they are 
that great why are there so often subtle little changes to make the whole 
thing more heroic?  For instance:

Alla:
Because no, the fact that they went for the Prank to me means **only** that 
they wanted to teach a lesson to the bully,who was tormenting their little 
brother for years. To me that is **all** that
was there.

Magpie:
They don't don't go for the prank only to teach Dudley a lesson.  They have 
created these ten tongue toffees because they like practical jokes and they 
want to sell them and make money.  They want to test them on someone.  They 
test them on Dudley.  They enjoy the results.  They are not just trying to 
teach Dudley a lesson any more than Slughorn opens the bottle of wine 
because he really wants to give Ron a birthday present. It's not like 
they're just making a moral point here.  It's fun.

Nor is Harry their little brother.  I know that's supposed to say something 
nice about their relationship, but it's a sentimental distortion of their 
relationship.  Harry is Ron's friend, and the Twins like him too.  He's a 
friend of the family, but the distinction between him and actual family is 
never missed by anyone in the books.  The Twins are not driven by brotherly 
outrage or concern.  They're just playing a prank they enjoy, that they 
think Harry, a kid they like, will also enjoy.

-m