Slytherins come back WAS: Re: My Most Annoying Character/Now Rowling's control

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 180659

> Betsy Hp:
> The reason I'm not giving Voldemort much credit for it was that DH 
> made it appear so insultingly easy.  (Insulting for the WW, anyway.)  
> I never got the sense that Voldemort could have succeeded as he did 
> in the RW, so it wasn't even creepy in an "informing on real life" 
> kind of way.  

Pippin:
In real life he wouldn't have the Imperius curse so he wouldn't
be able to make people obey him without training them.  Not 
only are many of the the visible agents of Voldemort's will innocent, 
they can't be intimidated by the punishment of other collaborators. 
So the WW takeover is faster. 

But the end result is the same: ruthless suppression of opposition 
and an atmosphere of distrust make it impossible to organize a
meaningful resistance. 


Alla has answered  in regard to Stalinist Russia but I'll add that the 
same thing happened with Nazi Germany. People not directly involved 
did not realize the scope of what was happening. For example, the NY 
Times printed thousands of stories about what is now called The Holocaust, 
but it was never treated as major news.

> > >>Pippin:
> > <pulled out of order>
> > Both were freed from evil and slavery, which is what redemption    
> > means. 
> > <snip>
> 
> Betsy Hp:
> Hm, I'd say Snape died a slave, honestly.  He certainly wasn't his 
> own man.  And I don't think Draco was ever really freed either.

Pippin:
Snape was pretending to be Voldemort's slave, and when his role
required him to die, he did, or so it seems. But you mean his service
to Dumbledore, don't you?

There seems to be this idea that voluntary service is a form of
slavery, which I don't  understand. Are you imagining a completely
non-hierarchical society? 

I don't know of any successful ones in real life. 

In what way is Draco not free? 


Betsy Hp: 
> But, in a deeper sense, the WW is still embroiled in evil and 
> slavery.

Pippin:
It is now being led by a man who not only believes in basic
rights for Muggles but actually  knows  enough about them to
successfully work among them. The secretary to the PM would
have to have some  grounding in liberal democracy too.  

Slavery still existed after the American Revolution, but I wouldn't say 
there was no progress in human rights over the previous regime.

Pippin