[HPforGrownups] On Moral Compasses (was:Re: Snape as Neville's teacher...)

[OctobersChild48 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 168749

 

wynnleaf:

When  Hagrid gave Dudley the pig's tail, Harry (and the reader) knew
that Dudley  was a bully. But Hagrid really didn't know anything about
Dudley and had  only been exposed to Vernon's rudeness. Yet he hexed
Dudley and it's  presented through Harry's point of view as  great.





Sandy:
You can't excuse Hagrid for this because he didn't know Dudley was  a bully, 
and even if he had known, Dudley was not bullying Harry at the time.  Hagrid 
was totally out of line taking his anger at Vernon out on Dudley.  However, I 
*can* excuse Harry for thinking it's great. Harry has spent 10 years  being 
bullied by Dudley and his only defense has been that he can outrun Dudley.  
Unfortunately, he was not always in the position to be able to run. From  Harry's 
point of view  this was Dudley getting a taste of his own  medicine. Quite 
frankly, even as an adult, I thought it was great too. It  doesn't mean I excuse 
Hagrid, but I did enjoy the scene *for* Harry. Now  Dudley has had a taste of 
what it's like for someone bigger and stronger to pick  on him for no reason. 
Even if the payback came from the wrong source, he got it,  and I found that 
satisfying, at least for the moment,
 
While on this subject, I have to wonder how the Dursleys explained  away the 
pig's tail when they took Dudley to have it removed. This is definitely  one 
of the places in the books where I have had to suspend my disbelief. 
 
Sandy



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