Family and Other Loyalty

[stephab67]

No: HPFGUIDX 177796

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Lynda Cordova" <moosiemlo at ...>
wrote:
>
> Betsy Hp:
> The reason it struck me as odd is how it reflected on our heroes.
> Hermione permanently marred the face of a fellow student because that
> student showed more loyalty to her mother than towards Hermione
>
> Lynda:
> Loyalty to Hermione? Or was it making a choice to support Umbridge
and the
> Ministry using her mother as an excuse rather than to stand up
against the
> Ministry, which she knew the DA was all about?
>
> Lynda


Steph
It's definitely not loyalty to Hermione, or even Harry.  It's loyalty
to the cause of fighting Voldemort that Marietta violated.  In
Hermione's little speech in the Hog's Head (US paperback p. 339) she
calls what Umbridge is teaching them "rubbish" and that they need to
"take matters into their own hands ... because Lord Voldemort's back."

By the way, in reading the passage again, I noticed that another of
the participants in the D.A. is Susan Bones, whose aunt is Madam
Bones, a member of the Wizengamot.  There's another student who was
also in a tight spot due to a family member working for the Ministry.  That's even leaving aside Ron, of course.

And speaking of which, JKR also didn't drop the whole issue of
Marietta being in a tight place because of her mother.  In fact, she
used it as an example of doing the right thing even when it might make
you uncomfortabl to do so.  Here's the passage from OOtP (US paperback
ps. 636-637):
"...Cho came hurrying up to him.
    "'Over here,' said Harry, glad of a reason to postpone his meeting
with Snape. (superfluous stuff snipped) 'Are  you OK?  Umbridge hasn't
been asking you about the D.A., has she?'
     'Oh no,' said Cho hurriedly.  'No, it was only...Well, I just
wanted to say...Harry, I never dreamed Marietta would tell....'
     'Yeah, well,' said Harry moodily.  He did feel Cho might have
chosen her friends a bit more carefully.  It was small consolation
that the last he had heard, Marietta was still up in the hospital wing
and Madam Pomfrey had not been able to make the slightest improvement
to her pimples.
     'She's a lovely person, really,' said Cho, 'she just made a
mistake--'
     Harry looked at her incredulously.
     'A lovely person who made a mistake? She sold us all out,
including you!'
     'Well...we all got away, didn't we?' said Cho pleadingly.  'You
know, her mum works for the Ministry, it's really difficult for her--'
     'Ron's dad works for the Ministry too!'  Harry said furiously.
'And in case you hadn't noticed, he hasn't got "sneak" written across
his face--'"

They're all trying to fight against Voldemort.  I'm not saying that
there doesn't appear to be a slight cult of personality around DD, but
because of what he represents, not him personally.  The Ministry is
pushing loyalty to it (and more specifically to Fudge) as Fudge and
others are refusing to see that Voldemort is back - they're in total
denial.  It's easier for them to write off DD (and therefore Harry) as
crackpots.  If Marietta disapproved of what the D.A. was doing in the
first place, she should never have joined.  She can't use her mother's
position at the Ministry as an excuse for going to Umbridge about the
D.A. Hermione's jinx probably was a bit extreme, but Marietta did
deserve to have been exposed in some way.