On Umbridge

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 161055

bamf wrote:
> 
> While the other two make good arguments, I guess the
> one thing that always stood out to me about Umbridge
> was her desire for power.  IMHO, she did things in
> part as loyalty to Fudge, but also because she knew
> Fudge would notice and reward her.  After all, she
> went from teacher to headmistress once DD was removed.
> I would probably have sorted her into Slytherian
> because she does seem ambitious, with a
> do-anything-to-get-it sort of attitude.  Add to the
> fact that while she's not predjudice against Muggle
> born, she had a thing against "non-humans".  

Carol responds:
Umbridge's Muggleish outfits (pink cardigan and matching Alice band),
and for that matter, the horrible kitten plates on her office wall,
makd me think that she's either Muggleborn or a half-blood, probably
the first. I doubt that she would have shown off such Muggleish tastes
in Slytherin, and if she's Muggleborn the House wouldn't have accepted
her, no matter how ambitious and power-hungry she was. Much as some of
us might relish the thought of young Dolores being teased for her
clothes and tastes by fellow Slytherins, I don't thnk it's likely that
she was placed there. I'll go with Hufflepuff as she doesn't seem
intelligent or talented enough for Ravenclaw, and certainly not
courageous enough for Gryffindor (even though Peter Pettigrew somehow
ended up there). No offense to Hufflepuff: one of my favorite
characters is Cedric Diggory, and I even have some sympathy for
Zacharizs Smith.

I rather like the idea that not all of the unpleasant characters are
placed in Slytherin. I was pleased to find Cormac McLaggen and Romilda
Vane in Gryffindor in HBP. Every house has its bad apples, apparently.
I hope that every house also has its heroes.

Carol, looking for the Houses to unite against Voldemort in Book 7,
even if Hogwarts doesn't reopen until the end of the book