DH reread CH 12 -- Cracking a Few Eggs.

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 186464


> Magpie:
> Some children are, I know. And yet McGonagall, the character that JKR has in the scene with him, calls his action gallant. And in an interview JKR reacts to children's shock with "Well, he's never been a saint." I just don't see this scene written at all as intending to shock anybody with Harry's sadism and cruelty. The book's YA at this point even. 

Pippin:
Of course it's YA -- it's fantasy violence.

But what would Neville say? Wouldn't he sound a lot like Harry sounds earlier in the book, after he's read Rita Skeeter's version of Dumbledore's youth? Here's Neville risking his neck so that crucio won't be used as a punishment, and meanwhile Harry, his hero, is blasting a DE just for fun. I seriously doubt that Neville would cheer if he knew. 

"Saint" is used sarcastically several times in canon. And each time, it's in the context of  doing something which the speaker thinks is seriously wrong, not some minor violation of the rules that only a prig like Percy would disapprove of. The contexts are stealing the philosopher's stone,  attempted murder, and the Dumbledore family's treatment and possible murder of Ariana. 

Pippin