[HPforGrownups] Re: Sportsmanship in Harry Potter

[Magpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 151895

a_svirn:
Incidentally, is it possible to be "de facto legitimate"? I though
legitimacy implies conformity to rule or law, in other words, being
*de jure*.

Anyway. Because of this "culture of the game", as you put it, the
rules simply aren't working. There is a rule that no underage wizard
can participate; a bit of cheating - et voila! a fourteen year old
enters the lists (and stays there). The hosts gain an unfair
advantage (an extra champion), the guests understandably outraged,
but there is nothing to be done about it. Harry, the second Hogwarts
champion, has *no* de jure standing whatsoever - he simply shouldn't
be there, but it doesn't deter him from participating and winning
the tournament. What exists de facto is eventually legitimised. And
the rules in effect loose their meaning and cease to be.

Magpie:
I have to agree with a_svirn here.  We're talking about the practical 
meaning, not semantics. If one lives in an area where there is no one to 
enforce the law,  or for whatever reason people are allowed to break the 
laws without any consequences, for instance, it is usually called a 
"lawless" place. If you're "allowed" to cheat the rules might as well not 
exist.  There's a difference between "rules" and "what you can get away with 
on a given day."

-m