Sadism or not ? McGonagall and her punishments

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 186728

> Shaun:
> 
> No, that's not it.
> 
> The difference comes from, in my view, the difference the 'letter of the 
> law' and the 'spirit of the law'.
> 
> We don't know the precise reasons behind the ban on first years having 
> brooms. Not for certain. So it's hard to know for certain what the 'spirit 
> of the law' is. But it's my guess that it's a safety rule. Hogwarts does not 
> want students flying around on brooms who cannot do so safely. We know from 
> Professor Hooch's first lesson that most first year students can't even make 
> a broom jump to their hand.
> 
> They don't seem to have flying lessons after first year, so presumably 
> students learn to fly in that first year.
> 
> The most likely reason for the rule does seem to be safety. Protecting 
> students is the 'spirit of the law'.
> 
> Harry, however, can fly brilliantly, naturally. He's as safe as any other 
> student on a broom. Allowing him to have one doesn't violate the spirit of 
> the law.
> 
> Most schools allow sensible exemptions from rules. They understand that even 
> a rule that is right in 99% of cases, might be wrong in 1%. Is it wrong for 
> exceptions to be made? I don't think so - and I don't think teachers should 
> be judged harshly if they do.

Magpie:
Whoa. Sorry I missed this but wow, this is exactly the kind of thing that would drive me crazy if I was a kid. It's exactly the "spirit of the law" that gets broken by saying that McGonagall's only "bending" it by going to Dumbledore. 

If the point is safety, then all first years who demonstrate an aptitude for flying should be able to be able to bring a broom (not that Harry even has to bring a broom--he's given a gift of a broom that's better than anyone else's while every other student has to buy their own or use the school brooms). Harry's hardly the first first year at Hogwarts to be able to fly already by the time he gets there. He's not even the only first year who's a good flyer in his own year. If a kid isn't already flying he probably wouldn't have a broom to bring in the first place. So to me the spirit of the rule must be directed at "naturals" like Harry as much as anybody else.  

McGonagall pushes him through because she wants him on her Quidditch team--and on the best broom she can get for him. Not because Harry himself has some urgent need to have a broom (like he needs to fly home weekends and care for his strict grandmother, or he's a professional flyer in the summer and needs to keep in shape, or he's got some medical condition where by he has to be airborne several times a week), but because she wants to beat everyone at Quidditch. (And from the pov of most students it probably also looks like there are just special rules for Harry Potter.)

-m