Being Good and Evil (was:Re: Harry's arrogance (was Evil Snape)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 154613

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > <SNIP>
> > Look, two characters get branded in OotP: Marietta and Harry.  
 
> >>Lanval:
> Really, Betsy -- "branded"? A bit sensational for my taste, that 
> choice of word. 'Marked', I'd call it. After all, it's not as if 
> Hermione held Marietta down, wielding a red-hot iron, lowering it 
> with a cruel smile, hissing, "Take that, Evil Traitor Wench!" :) 
> Correct me if I'm wrong, but the poor girl isn't described as     
> being in pain either, is she?

Betsy Hp:
I really wasn't trying to envoke the painful part of branding.  It's 
the permanency I was looking towards.  In RL I don't think there's a 
way to permanently mark someone's skin without a bit of pain, so any 
word choice is going to fall down a bit.

I guess, as Carol points out, "disfigurement" (though again, usually 
done with brands, acid, knives, in RL) is the best word.  The point 
is that for the rest of her life, Marietta will have the giant, 
purple word "SNEAK" written across her face.  Just as Harry has the 
words, "I must not tell lies" etched into his skin.  

Hermione and Umbridge have similar methods for dealing with people 
they deem as trouble makers.  Either their actions are good, or they 
are bad.

> >>Lanvel:
> Why does it seem so hard to understand that Hermione had very 
> little choice?
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Because Hermione gives it little to no thought.  She barely 
hesitates before getting everyone to sign the jinxed paper.  She 
never flinches when confronted by Marietta.  Hermione sees herself 
as good, therefore all of her actions are good.  Just like Umbridge.

> >>Lanval:
> That having been said, it *was* cruel to let the effects of the   
> hex linger for so long. A few days, a week maybe, would have      
> served its purpose. I also wish Hermione had at least hinted at   
> this unpleasantness, before the others signed her contract. It    
> must have been clear to her that Marietta at least was a potential 
> problem.

Betsy Hp:
Ah, but to Hermione it's *not* cruel.  It's justice.  Permanently 
branding (marking, disfiguring) all those who dare cross her is 
righteous work.  It is good.  Because she is good.  And she's knows 
best.

> >>Amiable Dorsai:
> <snip>
> If Draco can't see that Harry's friends are the "good guys", it's
> because he has no conception of the good.
> Those of us not raised by a corrupt, racist, abusive, slave-      
> holding, boot-licking murderer may have a different view of life.

Betsy Hp:
Exactly!  Anyone raised in the WW is going to see the ownership of 
house-elves as good.  So owning one is not seen as being bad.  As 
Ron proves.  Anyone raised in the WW sees muggle-baiting as 
relatively harmless fun.  So toying with them is seen as good or at 
least okay.  As the twins prove.  Choosing to serve a particular 
powerful wizard is seen as prudent behavior in the WW.  As shown by 
both the Death Eaters and the Order.

So Hermione starting SPEW, Harry facing off with the wizard Draco's 
family has chosen to serve, the incident at the Quidditch World Cup, 
none of that is going to convince Draco that his father is on the 
wrong side.  Even if Draco has a twinge of doubt, he'll see it as a 
weakness on his part, not an indictment of his father.  

There's not a time where *Draco* sees the other side do something 
especially noble, while his side does something especially bad.  
*Until* HBP when Voldemort threatens Draco's family, and Dumbledore, 
completely unexpectedly, offers to save them.  And suddenly there 
*is* a difference.  Something Draco can look at and analyze.

(Actually, I do think Cedric's death gave Draco a pause.  Hence his 
odd behavior on the train ride home.  But the reactions of Harry et 
al, though understandable on their part (except for the twins, who 
just like to bash things), did little to further the argument that 
perhaps the side Draco's family had chosen wasn't all that.)

Gosh, even Harry failed to recognize the Death Eater behind Fake!
Moody because the child Fake!Moody chose to torture was someone 
Harry disliked.  Which tells me anyway, that Harry is good (at this 
point) because his parents were good.  Not because he's morally more 
astute than Draco.

Betsy Hp