Slytherins: selfish, not evil + Ariana raped?

[Goddlefrood]

No: HPFGUIDX 173743

> > > Erin:

> > > did anyone else read the Muggle torture of Ariana as rape? 
> > > Or do I just like my backstories as twisted as possible?

Goddlefrood:

I'll not answer the latter rhetorical question.

The answer to the first is no, it read as what it was, an attack 
that made poor Ariana fail to adjust to her newly found magical 
moments. The fear of the unknown expressed in the attack by the 
three muggle boys on her is about all I took from it.

That Percival would take his revenge on them for what was done, 
thus leading Albus himself on his road, a road that took him a 
long time to recover from travelling down, was understandable. 
Any parent would wish to seek a measure of retribution against 
those who had damaged a child of his. That could be put down 
to human nature.

Perhaps the attack on his sister may be why Dumbledore stated 
the opinion that there are some fates worse than death. Whether 
that referred also to what happened to the muggle boys is not 
something I would exclude either.

To think of whatever happened as rape, as I have seen here 
and on other boards is just simply wrong and somewhat nausea 
inducing. It's certainly not something that my children will 
ever be encouraged to think happened when they are one day 
read that sequence, always assuming they even question it.

Rape is one of very few crimes that I, as a some time criminal 
defence lawyer, will not defend, however much an accused person 
might plead their innocence. In my book it is worse than any 
other crime, but did not spring to mind at all when reading 
of Ariana.