Danger in designating an "Other" / Bad magic

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 174130

Beatrice:
> >  Well, let's see, just a quick glance...a member of Slytherin 
> > house murdered his parents, from his initial introduction to 
> > Hogwarts Slytherin's have been bullying, across the board people 
> > connected with the house have worked tirelessly to bring about 
> > his destruction, and perhaps most importantly, Harry fears the 
> > qualities in himself that seem to associate him with that house. 
 
Magpie:
> How is the fact that Harry's experience of Slytherin has been 
> almost all negative (and that includes a lot of Slytherins) a 
> defense against the fact that Slytherin comes across negatively? 
> They're supposed to come across that way, aren't they? 


SSSusan:
Gotta agree with Magpie on this one.  The story does take place 
primarily *from* Harry's POV... but it's *JKR* who's plotting out 
what he and we will be seeing!

If she'd elected to have a Slytherin student or two counter Pansy and 
offer to fight, then she would have written it out that way... and 
then we'd have seen that episode from Harry's (probably very amazed & 
pleased) perspective!  The whole point is, JKR... the author, the one 
pulling all the punches... *elected* to not have this happen -- nor 
any other scene where a Slytherin student stands up to be counted 
amongst those fighting Voldy, or even, really, to just being 
neutral.  

It was JKR's choice to craft it that way, so Harry's PoV doesn't 
really enter in to the objection, you know?  It's that it didn't 
HAPPEN at all, not that Harry reacted to it through tinted-by-
Slytherin-dislike lenses.


Magpie:
> Given the set up I absolutely can't just assume they came back to 
> fight. There's nothing so wrong in Harry's perspective that 
> suggests, imo, that I should stick in a bunch of Slytherins to fix 
> it. If they were there we'd know it and so would he.

SSSusan:
Yes, and JKR would've made sure we saw it -- either through Harry's 
eyes or through a report of another person to Harry.

The best 'solution' I've seen to this dilemma was that suggested by 
Montims here:  
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/174090 , 

where she argued that it's entirely possible that Draco was behaving 
in the RoR the way Snape had always behaved in his role as a double-
spy:  that is, acting the part of assisting the Dark Lord, while 
actually doing what he could to keep Harry alive.  All Draco did in 
the RoR scene, really, was keep stressing that they needed to take 
Harry alive, after all.

Okay, not saying I'm convinced, but at least it's a possibility! :)  
Too bad JKR didn't make it clearer, if that's what was happening, 
though. :(

Siriusly Snapey Susan