Sportsmanship in Harry Potter

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 151720

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "a_svirn" <a_svirn at ...> wrote:
> 
> a_svirn:
> ...edited...
> 
> And I agree that there is nothing sportsmanlike about awarding 
> points for "moral fiber". In fact, it's downright ridiculous.
>

bboyminn:

Admittedly, I am ignoring several of your points to make one of my
own, but I think many here are missing the point. 

We can certainly apply the broad and general concept of sportsmanship
to the Tri-Wizards Tournement, but I don't think it can be applied
specifically. By that I mean this is not a /sporting event/ this is
not basketball, football, and rugby; it's Dragons, a deep lake rescue,
and a dark and dangerous maze filled with enchantments and creatures.

This is not a test of getting a ball into a goal, it is a test of
courage, daring, cunning, and resourcefullness; and I might even
venture to say priorities. If Harry had not had moral fiber, he would
have taken Ron and left the others to rot, and consequently would have
been the first one back. But he stayed, determined to make sure all
were rescued, and when all were not rescued, he rescued the remaining
hostages himself. 

Even after the first champion turned up, Harry could have said, 'OK,
they're coming now, it's OK for me to go', but he didn't. The safety
of his friends, of all the hostages, was still a higher priority than
winning for the sake of winning. The same when the second champion
turned up, Harry could have taken that as a chance to get away. But
again, he showed that people were a higher priority than winning, so
he stayed until he couldn't stay any longer. I think that very much
reflects the very character traits the tournement was designed to
test, and he was awarded those extra points for displaying the very
characteristics they were looking for. 

So, I agree with others, this is not a sporting event with very
specific rules of play. This is a very dark, dangerous, and most
importantly, dynamic tournement, and given all that, beyond the basic
concept of the task to acomplish, I don't think there were a lot of
hard and fast rules. They complex dynamics of the events allow for a
great deal of flexibility in the rules and interpretation of the events. 

So, in my opinion, the extra points were will within the context of
the tournement, and before we start complaining about how unfair it
was, let's examine the reactions of Viktor and Cedric. They don't seem
too fussed about it. Karkaroff is certainly fussed, but Krum seems to
accept the judgement graciously, as does Cedric. Since, in a sense,
these tasks are a test of character, Cedric and Viktor seem to
recognise that Harry won by virtue of displaying superior character. I
think that they were slightly ashamed that they didn't think to rescue
all the hostages themselves. 

Just one man's opinion.

Steve/bboyminn