Sportsmanship/legitimacy

[a_svirn]

No: HPFGUIDX 152008

Pippin:
<snip about civilized times>
But Harry has never known civilized times. He has suffered grievously
from the assumption that if there is anything wrong someone else
will take care of it, and he does not make that assumption himself.
>From his point of view and from the point of view of anyone who
believed there was a malign agency interfering with the conduct of
the tournament,  making sure  that all the hostages were rescued
was the right thing to do and an example of international
magical cooperation which is what the tournament is supposed to
be about. As Hermione says, it's not supposed to be about *winning*.

a_svirn:
I agree with your every word, (except for the international 
cooperation, that is. I'd say British wizards have the same right to 
be rescued). But I did not question *Harry's* view of the "big 
picture". The question was whether Cedric and Krum should have 
assumed that anything was amiss. And the answer is no, they 
shouldn't. Unlike Harry they knew nothing about "malign agency". 
They weren't encouraged by everyone who mattered to them from their 
headmasters and their parents and Godparents to their best friends 
to believe that someone is trying to kill them, that they should 
fear their own shadow and look askance at everyone who is not the 
member of the immediate circle. Even at their fellow champions. No, 
they happily went about their business, since for all they knew the 
times were still civilized. As civilized as it gets in the WW, that 
is. Which is why making up for Harry at their expense was unfair. 

Pippin:
Did the judges make it about winning by awarding Harry points
for moral fiber? Only if you think it's about who gets the most
points. :)

a_svirn:
Most assuredly I do. Points is what any tournament is about. 

Pippin:
Well, to be honest, the raison d'etre is a plot device. [agreed –
a_svirn] But one can
imagine that in the past, a school tried to avoid the disgrace of
losing by claiming that they had never meant to enter in the first
place, or more likely, someone attempted a win by confunding
all the other candidates into withdrawing. Whatever. But the
judges *are* obligated to hold the contest and award the thousand
galleons once the goblet has made its choice.  I don't see
them calling the whole thing off. Karkaroff threatens to withdraw
and is told that he can't leave his champion -- "binding magical
contract".

a_svirn:
Well, no, not quite. Karkaroff is free to go, actually. Crouch Jr. 
calls his threat to withdraw "empty" because he can't possibly leave 
his champion – Krum – who is bound magically. 

"Empty threat, Karkaroff," growled a voice from near the door.  "You 
can't leave your champion now.  He's got to compete.  They've all 
got to compete.  Binding magical contract, like Dumbledore said.  
Convenient, eh?"

And we saw judges withdrawing – Crouch Sr. being the case in point. 

Pippin:
They weren't patently bad. Evidently no one had ever managed to
tamper with the Goblet before.

a_svirn:
So what? Binding contracts still provide an opportunity for 
cheating, or at least unfair treatment of the champions. Even 
without tempering with the Goblet it's just plain bad rule. Besides, 
it's not wise, to put it mildly, to assume that just because no one 
has managed the feat so far, no one will. Surely the *good* rules 
must have some provision for such an eventuality. 

SSSusan again:
To me it's not an issue of Cedric not *caring* about the other
hostages; it's that he thought they were all *taken care of!*

a_svirn:
Then everything is just fine with his character and fiber, so why 
was he punished for something that wasn't his fault?