Whose side are we on?? (was: Arthur right or not? ( was Hate crimes (was Re: muggle baiting v

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 155963

Katie:
>   Look, my point is this, I guess. Whose side are we all on? I mean, 
we've been debating the twins' behavior, Hermione's behavior
(in other threads), and even Dumbledore's behavior! I personally 
don't want to shred my protagonists to death. I love Harry, Hermione,
 DD, the Weasleys, Lupin, and all the others on *my* side. I do not 
always *approve* of their behavior...especially when
 Hermione attacked Ron with the birds in HBP...but I always approve of 
their overall mission and I believe their hearts and souls are deeply good.

Pippin:
I'm on the twins' side and Hermione's side. I want them to grow up to
be responsible, caring adults, and that's why, while I don't want them
shredded to death, I think they may need a correction or two
to put them on the right path. I don't want them to suffer because
they've got it coming, I want them to suffer so that they *learn.*

The alternative, it seems to me, is to grow up like Dudley, never
learning that their choices matter to anybody but themselves and their
own little group of friends because no one has ever forced them to
consider any larger consequences. 

The right path is not a given for anybody in the Potterverse, IMO. It's
a  *choice*, and one bad choice can lead to another, and another, until
the soul is torn, the mission has been set aside and the chooser becomes
a threat to those he loves as much as to his enemies. I would be very
surprised if there is not one character who has fallen from grace in that
fashion before the end. I selfishly don't want it to be Hermione or
the Twins.

Pippin