[HPforGrownups] Re: Umbridge as tyrant / Twins leaving Hogwarts(WAS:Re: Hermione's Hex

[Magpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 160898

Bruce:
> The case which established that children do not 'shed their rights at the
> schoolhouse door" was TINKER VS. THE DES MOINES SCHOOL BOARD (I haven't 
> the cite
> here); during the Viet Nam war several students wore black armbands in 
> mourning
> for those who lost their lives in Viet Nam.  They were ordered to remove 
> them;
> they refused and were suspended and/or expelled.  Their parents sued and 
> the
> case went to the US Supreme Court.

Magpie:
Interestingly, just this Tuesday a kid was sent home for wearing a Halloween 
costume that went against the school's policy of not wearing anything that 
was "disruptive" to class.  I think the kid was totally within his rights of 
free speech in making a parody, but I believe the costume was the thing to 
go.

Actually, this is an aside, but one of the things that bugs me about Harry's 
early troubles with Umbridge and McGonagall's advice to him is that she 
actually has the nerve to tell him that he should be more like Hermione when 
it's Hermione who causes the problems.  Iirc, both times Harry has it out 
with Umbridge it's Hermione who brings up the subject of Voldemort and 
challenges Umbridge, who then starts saying that Voldemort hasn't returned 
etc.  Harry then, understandably, feels the need to contradict her.  I 
remember it just drove me crazy that McGonagall and Hermione both scolded 
Harry over his temper with no advice to Hermione to stop setting him up!

Bruce:
>
> The Twins didn't exactly 'drop out' of Hogwarts.  They had already passed 
> their
> OWLS; they just decided not to continue for their NEWTS.  Their situation 
> is
> more like a couple of HS graduates who decided not to go to college, or 
> junior
> college graduates who decided not to go on to a senior college.

Magpie:
It seems like my use of the term "drop out" makes everybody think the twins 
need to be defended from charges of laziness when that was never the point. 
They leave school before completing the term for which they are enrolled, 
never to return.  They were presumably planning to take NEWTS and didn't. To 
me the term "drop out" was fine. The other part of my point was always that 
they had a life waiting for them, which is why they were so very free to 
leave Hogwarts.  It's not like they were going home to live in their 
parents' basement with no career prospects.

-m