The Virtues of Hagrid

[prep0strus]

No: HPFGUIDX 175048

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Missy" <missygallant2000 at ...>
wrote:
>
> First of all, I need to say, that I love Hagrid.  I have from the 
> moment he pulled up to the Dursley's on the motorcycle.  But I think 
> a lot of people see him differently than I do.  In fact, from reading 
> the posts, I know this is true.
> 
> Hagrid loves Harry deeply.  That much is shown by the gifts he buys 
> and by the hurt he feels when Harry et al do not take his class.  It 
> is partially because he thought they loved the class, but I think 
> also a little bit because he misses them.
> 
> Hagrid is alone in the world.  He mentions several times to Harry 
> that they are the same, that they have no family.  But the one thing 
> Hagrid never mentions is that aside from DD, until the trio came 
> along, Hagrid didn't have much of anyone at all.  At the beginning of 
> SS McGonagall questions DD's decision to let Hagrid bring the baby.  
> Hagrid was kicked out of school, but DD knew he was alone and allowed 
> him to stay.

Prep0strus:

I agree. I don't know if I have the same level of love for Hagrid as
Missy does, but I certainly don't hold with the amount of cr*p he gets
thrown his way on this site.  It fits in with my defense of James and
Sirius - these are characters JKR wants us to like, but has shown us
many flaws in as well, and many people loathe them for it.  While
Snape, the Malfoys, etc, JKR wants us to dislike, but has given us a
few things to keep them from being utterly irredeemable, and so some
posters seem to idolize them.

Hagrid is, as Missy points out, a monster.  He is like Lupin.  (But,
with his half-giant-ness, I imagine there comes a real hit to the IQ.)
 I feel that if Hagrid and Lupin were ever evil, but became good, they
would have many defenders, as Snape does.  But because they have
chosen to live their lives for good, despite being societal outcasts,
when they make mistakes, they are somehow more culpable in the eyes of
many readers.  They don't get a chance at redemption because they
haven't been truly dark, but they are too flawed to be admired, so
they are dismissed.

Hagrid can be infuriating.  He does expose children to danger, and has
a misplaced trust in 'evil' creatures that rivals the most foolish
trust Harry assumed Dumbledore had in Snape.

But people called Hagrid a monster.  And he was one of the most
kindhearted people in the world.  And so, it makes sense, that to him,
that all of these other 'monsters' were only misunderstood, and if
they were shown kindness and love that they would turn out to be just
like him.

And when they don't... I don't know if we can blame that entirely on
Hagrid.  Arogog was a sentient being.  It stands to reason that in
some stage of their development, his children were as well.  they are
not simply beasts of the forest.  Arogog was cared for and protected
by hagrid, and understood enough not to turn on him when he had the
power.  he had some sense of thanks.  That he could not extend that to
those Hagrid's loved ones the way Hagrid did to his is not truly the
fault of Hagrid.  Many dangerous creatures Hagrid cared for were just
that - creatures.  But the acromantula have a  higher order of
intelligence, and I think they can take on culpability that other
sentient species do.

I also always felt bad for how the students treated Hagrid - they
COULD have learned a lot from him, and I feel really badly that the
trio dropped his class.  He hadn't been teaching for years.  he needed
to learn and grow as much as the students.  The hippogriff lesson was
wonderful, and I wonder what kind of teacher Hagrid would have been
had he not had Draco in that first class?

I'm still miffed that JKR didn't have him get a new wand as soon as
his innocence in the Chamber of Secrets fiasco was proven.  Sure, the
umbrella is amusing and a constant mini-foil, but Hagrid could've been
taking night classes with McGonnegal.

I hope we find out that he and the Madam get together, that his
brother winds up marrying (mating?) and living in a clan of giants
that exists in peace with wizards, and that Hagrid gets a real wand
and becomes a respected magical creatures teacher.

It's all well and good to feel for Snape, who had a hard life, made
bad choices, and turned around.  But can we hear it for the monsters
who chose from the beginning not to be monstrous?

~Prep0strus (Adam)