Dark Book, was Re: Dark Magic (+ a little Marietta)/Karma and the Twins

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 176974

Irene:
> So, how come that the very readers who tried to look beyond the obvious 
> and expected something more from Slytherin than being convenient 
> scarecrows, are disappointed most bitterly by this book?
> And people who wanted "Dirty Harry" are quite happy?

Pippin:
I'm not disappointed:) Not at all. And I don't think anybody could
accuse me of not looking beyond the obvious :)

But  instant analyses of a complex book tend to be superficial.  I
think if you're only seeing convenient scarecrows, you might not be
looking hard enough. It's like that optical illusion with the old lady and the
young girl. Usually one image is easier to see than the other. That
doesn't mean they aren't both  supposed to be there. 

http://www.torinfo.com/illusion/illus-1.html



Irene:
> I can't get over the fact that JKR confirmed Marietta's scars and thinks 
> it was a fitting punishment.

Pippin:
She didn't *say* it was a fitting punishment. She said she loathed
traitors. I'm sure she loathes people who abuse their servants also,
but does that mean Sirius deserved what he got? 

Lots of people in the Potterverse have scars who don't
deserve them. All Marietta's show is that Hermione gets
carried away sometimes.  As I keep saying, there's a reason Harry 
didn't want her to have the power of the Elder Wand. 


I'm not sure what you mean by expecting more from Slytherin. I
think Marietta's tale shows us that a child caught between 
warring guardians who each claimed  to be acting for the child's 
own good would be in a no-win situation. It's different than
Molly vs the DA. The DA wasn't trying to convince anyone that
supporting the Order was evil, and Molly didn't think that a
DADA study group would be  immoral, just dangerous.

To put the Slytherins in such a position, would be like a 
horrible divorce with each parent claiming 
the other one is evil and expecting the kid to 
take sides. Which parent was  "good"  would hardly matter-- 
no  child could survive such  a situation without appalling
damage, no matter what she chose.   

Dumbledore didn't expect Draco to make such a choice, and IMO,
we shouldn't either.

I'm perfectly okay with the Slytherin families being left to struggle 
towards redemption on their own, just like the rest of us.
 I hope to goodness the world has seen enough of people kidnapping 
children from cultures they think are degenerate to raise them 
among so-called decent people. 

I've got no problems with the treatment of Draco. I
never expected him to partner with the Trio.
All the fanfic I've read where that happened always ended up 
displacing one of the Trio characters, and I couldn't see how that 
would work in canon. 

I've got no problems with Snape either, aside from losing my
crush object. <g> Taken *and* dead --  he might as well be
James. But you can't say JKR didn't warn us. <g>

Snape didn't turn out to be a wonderfully noble person. But he
was true to his own beliefs, fought for them, and was hardly
Dumbledore's puppet. We're told in OOP that the headmaster  
portraits are sworn  to obey the current Headmaster. If so, then
Snape's ignorance was his choice, to protect the plan -- 
if he had persisted, as Dumbledore did when Phineas defied him,
couldn't Snape could have forced Dumbledore's portrait to tell 
him whatever  he wanted to know?

Pippin