Hagrid the animal abuser (was:Hagrid and Draco WAS:Re: Dumbledore...

[lyraofjordan]

No: HPFGUIDX 166167

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" <justcarol67 at ...> 
wrote:
>
> Katie wrote:
> 
> I think you're taking a hard line against Hagrid. I agree that he is
> often less than concientious about his "pets", but I don't think 
he's
> an abusive, off-balanced animal hoarder.
>
[snip]
> > So, in the end, I think that Hagrid is definitely NOT an animal
> abuser, just a well-intentioned, but often thoughtless, man who 
really
> likes wierd pets. <snip>
> 
> Carol responds:
> I agree with you. Except for the Flobberworms, which, IIRC, die from
> being fed too much lettuce and the Skrewts, which kill each other 
off,
> and the poor Bowtruckles burned in the fire (not Hagrid's fault), he
> takes pretty good care of his pets.
> 
> It's the students who are in danger

[snip] > 
> Snape doesn't need a textbook because he has all the potions in his
> head, but in Hagrid's case, a Ministry-approved textbook comparable 
to
> the one Lupin uses for DADA (also focusing on magical creatures,
> albeit mildly Dark ones) would have been a real boon. It would at
> least provide a logical sequence of creatures that the students 
would
> need to know about in real life and in their exams. It might even
> provide lesson plans if there's a teacher's edition (not likely, but
> possible). All Hagrid would then have to do is obtain the creatures
> for the lessons, explain their characteristics, and let the students
> actually care for them, which, after all, is what Care of Magical
> Creatures is supposed to be about.
> 
> Carol, who thinks that McGonagall should hire Grubbly-Plank to teach
> COMC and demote Hagrid back to just plain gamekeeper and Keeper of 
the
> Keys, whatever that means
>

Lyra:
I have to agree with both of you. Hagrid is not an animal abuser, the 
kind of guy who keeps 25 cats in a single room. While he keeps Aragog 
in a box when he's small, Hagrid has the advantage of the vast forest 
where he can release his "pets" when they get big. I expect that 
Norbert would have ended up there, as well, if Charlie hadn't found a 
place for him in Romania, and probably the Skrewts too, had they 
survived. (And I'm sure the Centaurs wouldn't have been happy about 
either.) 
 Hagrid's failings result because he both underestimates the dangers 
of the animals and overestimates the students' ability to handle
dangerous creatures (or the injuries that can result). Hagrid does 
seem to have a gift of dealing with 
animals, which the animals sense (from Aragog to the Centaurs, they 
all have a certain respect for the way he treats them) -- a gift most 
students don't have, and Hagrid doesn't seem aware that students lack 
that ability. 

As for textbooks, aside from the year of the disasterous "Monster 
Book of Monsters," I think they use "Fantastic Beasts" (At least in 
OOTP, Harry carries Firenze's message "it's not working" to Hagrid by 
pretending to have left his copy of "FB" after class.) But again, 
Hagrid simply ignores or understimates the MOM ratings of the animals 
he chooses out of that book.

So, yeah, I agree Carol, let Grubbly-Plank teach COMC and let Hagrid 
keep the grounds, and everyone would be happy in that little corner 
of Hogwarts.

Lyra