In Defense of Molly Weasley (Long)

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 175070

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "guzuguzu" <guzuguzu at ...> wrote:
>
> I'm going to make one more attempt to explain argument: My opinion is
> that the Molly-Bella duel scene was not well-written as it did not
> ring true in the context of the books, and was written like a show
> down in an action movie.

Pippin:
The showdown in the action movie traces back to the medieval
jousts and trials by combat as romanticized in the stories of King
Arthur -- and that's a tradition that we and the wizards share. 
Ron and Draco are both familiar with the custom of wizard duels
from day one. It's no surprise to me that Ron's mum and Draco's 
aunt would structure their battle as a duel or that other wizards
would respect it and stand aside. As Arthur said, when wizards
get together, they just can't resist a chance to show off. (And
I bet that tent with the peacocks belonged to the Malfoys, too.)

One could argue that Bella, although  trained to fight aurors,
is defeated by Molly for the same reason that every so often a
rank amateur at chess takes down a grand master: the amateur's
tactics are so wildly unconventional that the master's experience
isn't much use. 

But at the core of historic chivalry was the assumption that God would
defend the right -- an assumption which may strike the atheist as 
nonsense and the agnostic as wildly arrogant, but one which JKR,
as subcreator of her world,  is in a position to illustrate with relish.
Though no Gryffindor ever articulates this belief, it is kin to 
Dumbledore's description of love as the supreme power, and his
assertion that Voldemort will be stopped provided there is someone
willing to fight a losing battle.  

If Bella understood all this she might not have dared to attack
Molly, but then she wouldn't have been a Death Eater either. Still,
Bella's defeat is not a complete deus ex machina.  I love it that 
Bella's undoing is the same weakness that felled Sirius. She
underestimated her inferiors once too often.

Pippin
"The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong --
but that's the way to bet" --Damon Runyon