First lesson WAS: Re: Marietta, was Slytherin's Reputation

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 185769

Pippin:
> As for Hermione, there's no doubt her revenge made her feel better.
> Viewed that way, it was a success. But if she hadn't taken Rita's
> attacks personally, she wouldn't have felt bad in the first
> place. Was it worth the risk of blackmail just for that? Hermione
> herself didn't think so. 

Magpie:
Hermione didn't take Rita's attacks personally. She laughed them off. 
It was only when Rita's attacks caused actual problems for Hermione 
even cared. Then she did something about it very efficiently. 

Pippin: 
> Her stated aim was to see if she could teach Rita not to tell 
horrible
> lies. That didn't work. OTOH, she did keep Rita from exposing the
> Ministry's cover-up of Voldemort's return until it was well
> established. Oops. 

Magpie:
I can't just assume Rita would have been a big help (by her own 
choice) for the only time in the whole series if only Hermione hadn't 
been muzzling her. Just because Rita wrote snide remarks about Arthur 
in GoF doesn't mean she wouldn't have been happily leading the pack 
writing about attention-seeking Harry in OotP. Hermione kept Rita 
from writing as long as she wanted, and then *ordered* her to break 
the story of Voldemort's return. Which she could do because her 
blackmail scheme had given her power over Rita. She even gave Rita a 
venue where she could do it. Hermione didn't just make herself feel 
better, she won them the most powerful weapons the Trio ever had 
throughout the series. I don't remember anyone in canon ever 
regretting Hermione's treatment of Rita or thinking for a second 
they'd contributed to the "crazy Harry" story in OotP by it. 

Pippin: 
> Amending Hermione's mistake gave  Rita  the biggest story of her
> career so far. Of course she'd rather have been paid for it -- but 
> her supposed "in" with Harry Potter paid off when it came time to 
sell
> "The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore" so it looks like she came 
out
> even.

Magpie:
She didn't amend Hermione's mistake, she wrote a good story that 
helped the Trio on Hermione's orders which she probably wouldn't have 
done otherwise. I think Hermione would agree that it was a good trade 
if it gave Rita's career some help. Rita's book about Dumbledore 
didn't particularly interfere with her plans (and Rita already had 
clout as a writer). All in all Hermione gained a lot more from her 
eventual reaction to Rita's articles about her than she lost. And all 
while dealing with public attacks far more dispassionately than Harry 
did that sort of thing, which was the original point. 

Pippin: 
> Hermione got her story-book revenge, but one of the themes of canon,
> IMO, is that what works in story-books does not work so well in the
> real world, even a fictional one. 

Magpie:
I have never seen that as being a theme of canon at all. How does 
something working out well within the fictional world translate into 
a warning that this sort of thing doesn't work out well in that same 
fictional world? Storybook revenge is just fine plenty of times in 
these books. 

-m