[HPforGrownups] Views of Hermione (was:Re: witches of the world (was: Lavender vs Hermione)

[Jordan Abel]

No: HPFGUIDX 160466

> Charles:
>  Marietta's actions by necessity figure into it whether you like it
> or not. Hermione put the jinx on the parchment in *self-defense*,

The jinx was retaliatory, not defensive. If it was self-defense it
would have served that purpose - that is, would have _prevented_ the
DA from being revealed.

I'm sorry, but honestly I'd buy the "self-defence" argument a lot more
easily even if it KILLED someone who was about to betray the DA in
order to maintain their silence, rather than punishing in any way
[however major or minor] after the fact.

Charles:
> If anyone could be blamed other than Marietta for her disfigurement,
> its Cho, for pressuring her into making an agreement she didn't intend
> to keep. But that to me still sounds like trying to pass the buck
> for "poor disfigured Marietta" who just happened to try and land a
> load of people in Azkaban.

She tried to land what she only just recently [after joining, not
having known quite what she was getting into] 'discovered' to
_apparently_ be a subversive radical anti-government faction in
Azkaban. Look at things from her point of view. Suddenly they start
teaching a charm that's only useful against agents of the ministry
(she's given no reason to believe any different of Dementors).
Suddenly this isn't just learning defense as a substitute for an
inadequate curriculum anymore.

"trying to land a load of people in azkaban" isn't a crime -
particularly if the "load of people" in question are criminals. The DA
were, and there was nothing _that she knew about_ to justify their
actions as far as learning/teaching the Patronus.

Would you still think she deserved to be branded if the load of people
she tried to land in Azkaban were the death eaters? Wait, that's
hardly fair. After all, Voldemort isn't nearly creative enough to come
up with that.

amiabledorsai:
> Hermione was attempting to defend her life as a witch, her right to an
> education, and the same rights for 27 other students.  Marietta's
> sudden case of acne, embarrassing as it was for her, did accomplish
> that (with a little help from Shacklebolt and Dumbledore).

Actually, the "sudden case of acne" [I'd stick to the term "brand" -
whether by magically-created boils, tattoo, permanent ink, or burns,
it _is_ one - and acne, even when magically caused, doesn't normally
spell out words] accomplished nothing of the sort. It was entirely
superfluous. A lot of people don't understand the difference between
defense and retaliation, but this was _clearly_ an example of the
latter.

-- 
Random832