Views of Hermione /some Peter

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 160509

> Alla:
> 

> Sure, they would not be, but they were suspected of helping out 
the 
> murderer of muggleborns and the answer I would have for them - 
next 
> time your children should better stay away from Draco Malfoy.

Magpie:
Isn't this essentially what Percy counsels Ron to think about in 
OotP in his letter--don't hang out with Harry because he's trouble? 
(Choosing friends in the books is often judged based on the default 
idea that the Trio is the correct choice, but that's imo, equally 
impractical as a guide.  Slightly OT, but I find it kind of funny 
when one of the crimes Hermione's supposedly correctly punishing 
Marietta for is for betraying her best friend, when the best friend 
in question is angry at Hermione and not Marietta.  It's a very 
Hermione-like pov--if the person doesn't have the feelings you think 
s/he should have, proper feelings will be assigned.)

In fact, in CoS it's not Draco Malfoy who's the main suspect but 
Harry himself.  It turns out they were both innocent of the crime, 
which shows up the circular logic (I think) of Hermione's 
justification: she uses Draco's guilt as justification for invading 
his Common room to see if he's guilty.  If Hermione had a Hufflepuff 
and friends with Ernie MacMillan instead of Harry Potter, it 
actually might have been the Gryffindor Common Room she'd have 
invaded. She'd still have the same motivation of trying to find out 
who was the Heir.

I do still get the point of wanting to investigate, of course--Harry 
sets tails on Malfoy in HBP based on, imo, better reasons to suspect 
he's up to something (though interestingly Harry never considers the 
level of invasion of Hermione's plan, and at one point seems to 
actually recognize himself as an intruder in HBP in ways he didn't 
in CoS).  There's lot of spying that goes on at Hogwarts--Draco on 
the Trio, Snape on the Marauders, Harry on Malfoy, Rita on Hagrid 
and the Trio.  It's often received differently depending not so much 
on guilt but on who's being spied on.

But to not think it matters at all because these are Slytherins or 
friends of Malfoy or enemies or sons of DEs just seems to split the 
world into two classes of people--so if you hang around with that 
kid you have to expect fewer rights.  Being suspected of a crime is 
a very different thing than being guilty of a crime, and even if you 
are guilty of a crime there's a reason that random people don't get 
to decide punishment for you.  It's easy to identify with Hermione 
wishing she could just make things right, but even in this universe 
we've seen the problem with that kind of justice, as well as 
the "everybody knows he's guilty" attitude. To me the main point is 
that the rights of the suspicious and the guilty must be protected, 
or else no one's are.  We don't have to condemn Hermione for the 
invasion of privacy, but I don't think we should ignore that's what 
it is, if that makes sense.  The Trio never seems to make this 
connection.  They're disappointed that he's not guilty, but it 
doesn't remind them that their justification was the guilt.  
Basically they give themselves the freedom to do anything they might 
imagine could bring in the heir, which is a lot of freedom!

Alla:
Doesn't it show the moment dear Marietta started talking? Sure,
better job could have been done, but they do learn who the traitor
is, IMO.

Magpie:
They do start when she starts talking, but it's just dumb luck she 
happens to notice it.  It's actually not even the pustules that show 
them who the traitor is, iirc, because don't they appear when 
Umbridge has already brought Harry in and told him Marietta is the 
one that got him there?  She's telling right in front of Harry.

-m