Sportsmanship in Harry Potter

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 151888

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "a_svirn" <a_svirn at ...> wrote:

a_svirn:
> And that's exactly what I meant when I said that cheating was
> incorporated into the rules. Because you are *not* punished if you
> are caught cheating in the tournament. You don't even get
> reprimanded. You get a pat on your shoulder and an assurance that no
> harm done – cheating is "traditional".  And indeed so it is –
> everyone cheats.

Geoff:
This thread is degenerating into one of those "table tennis" exchanges 
where those of us looking in merely switch our bemused attention from 
one contributor to the other - and it is plain daft.

Let's consider the basic facts an d try to rationalise the matter...

(1) In sporting terms, cheating is using improper methods and 
possibly "illegal" assistance to gain an advantage or subvert a game 
and bypass the rules.

(2) By that definition, there need to be rules otherwise cheating 
cannot take place because there is no structure to subvert.

(3) By the same definition, since cheating is attempting to bypass 
the rules, it cannot be part of the rules because it would be unable 
to undermine itself.

If cheating is covertly accepted as part of the culture of the game, 
that does not incorporate it into the rules; it is operating outside the 
rules and is having a blind eye turned to it which may give it a de facto 
legitimacy but not a de jure standing.

QED