COS Chapter Fourteen: "Cornelius Fudge"

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

* The WW seems to have a really inconsistent attitude towards criminal justice. On the one hand, their punishments are often extremely excessive (yes, let’s lock people up surrounded by depression-inducing, soul-devouring monsters for petty theft); on the other, they can be ridiculously weak when the plot demands it (murder? Well, you won’t be able to come to Hogwarts anymore. Although we will give you a job for life as Gamekeeper in the very same school which you terrorised with your monster).

* “Riddle does sound like Percy – who asked him to grass on Hagrid, anyway?” Apologies in advance for this little rant-ette, but WTF? Seriously, W – T – F? As far as Ron knows, Hagrid’s just killed someone, and he thinks Tom shouldn’t tell anyone? I’ll freely admit that I never got this whole “no snitching” rule in school stories, but this just seems ridiculous. So it’s better to let people die than tell a teacher? Really? Ron’s being really hypocritical, too, unless he’d been planning to sit on his arse and do nothing once he got proof that Draco was the Heir of Slytherin.

* Also, note how Harry says that he doesn’t blame Tom “for wanting to stay here”, rather than, I don’t know, wanting to save someone’s life.

* Choosing the subjects that “could affect [their] whole future” at the age of twelve seems a bit early, really.

* Jolly nice of Percy to offer to help Harry like that. If I were in his situation, I’d be quite grateful.

* Note how Percy says “non-magical community”, instead of using some demeaning slur like “muggle” or “mudblood”. Bloody pinko! It’s no wonder he ended up going bad!

* For all that wizards think of Muggle Studies (Christ, what a patronising name) as a “soft option”, they seem to have real difficulty learning anything about Muggles. Apart from the Malfoys, for some reason, who seem to know loads.

* “But the only thing Harry felt he was really good at was Quidditch.” I’m sort of half-tempted to give JKR a bit of credit for acknowledging Harry’s general uselessness, but she blows it for me by avoiding making Harry ever have to work hard and improve. Having difficulty? Don’t worry, Hermione will sort it out for you!

* Did Ginny really need to go so far as to rip Harry’s books apart in her quest to find the diary? What, was she worried that he might have hidden it somewhere inside one of the pages? Oh well, I suppose property damage is OK if it’s in service of a higher cause, like keeping your crush on someone secret.

* No, Hermione, you clearly have a lot of learning to do. It’s not true that only a Gryffindor could do it. Gryffindors never do anything wrong, and, if it seems like they have done, it’s because they were possessed and made to do it by a Slytherin. Don’t worry, though, you’ll learn soon enough.

* Pity Hermione doesn’t feel the need to tell Harry and Ron about her suspicions. Still, this secrecy is quite consistent for her character, so I forgive JKR for it.

* “Yes, perhaps you’d better come too, Weasley.” Even when his best(-ish) friend has just been attacked, Ron’s still an afterthought behind Harry Potter.

* I’m surprised Fred and George don’t slip laxatives into the Hogwarts water supply, thereby ensuring that teachers are constantly rushed off their feet escorting students to the bathrooms.

* Erm, Lee, given that only four people have been attacked so far, the fact that the Slytherins are all fine isn’t exactly that surprising.

* Trust George to try and spin the worst possible interpretation on Percy’s behaviour.

* Yeah, that’s right, all this stuff’s coming from a Slytherin, so it’s OK to chuck them out. Just like a lot of international terrorism is carried out by Islamic groups, so it’s OK to throw every Muslim in prison. Sure, the vast majority will be innocent, but you’ll also get the guilty ones, and retribution’s the most important function of the justice system, right?

* Harry and Ron are so busy plotting, they don’t notice Lee Jordan taking out his copy of The Protocols of the Elders of Slytherin, which conclusively demonstrates that Severus Snape is trying to take over the wizarding world using his control of the international media.

* Does Hagrid not realise that pointing his crossbow at anyone who comes knocking just makes him look like the sort of violent person who would set a monster on the school?

* Cornelius Fudge is indeed wearing “a strange mixture of clothes”. Does the gene that gives them magical powers also give them appalling dress sense or something?

* Of course, Dumbledore could probably come up with quite a good defence of Hagrid if he tried. For some reason, though, he again chooses to frame his defence by assuming that Dumbledore’s trust should be good enough proof of innocence for anyone, without bothering to explain just why it is he thinks he’s innocent.

* “‘Yeh can’ take Dumbledore away!’ yelled Hagrid… ‘Take him away, an’ the Muggle-borns won’ stand a chance! There’ll be killin’s next!’” Erm, Hagrid, what exactly has DD done so far to prevent the attacks? Or is he saying that the Heir of Slytherin must be so in awe of the headmaster that he’s holding back from killing people? Because there’s actually no evidence than Dumbledore’s presence is doing anything to prevent the attacks or keep the students safe. If anything, Lord V probably knows that DD won’t do anything to stop the attacks – after all, he didn’t do anything last time…

 

Comments

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

“Yes, perhaps you’d better come too, Weasley.” Even when his best(-ish) friend has just been attacked, Ron’s still an afterthought behind Harry Potter.

Yes, this line was pointed out to me recently as canon evidence that McGonagall (along with everyone else) ships Harry with Hermione. :-)

The whole "faith in Dumbledore ... because he's Dumbledore" thing got rather wearying in the early books, didn't it? Because he didn't lift a finger to protect his students, especially Harry.

As an aside ... I think one of the many errors in DH is where Dumbledore says this:

"We have protected him because it has been essential to teach him, to raise him, to let him try his strength," said Dumbledore, his eyes still tight shut.

I take this as an attempt by Rowling to justify putting us through seven books of Harry Potter adventures when he was destined all along to be sacrificial fodder. "So, uhm, why have we been reading about Harry's years at Hogwarts when he apparently should have been destroyed as a Harrycrux?". Answer - because Dumbledore says it was 'essential' that he 'try his strength'.

Okay, on the face of it I think that's nonsensical to the extreme - there's no reason, 'essential' or otherwise, to have let Harry live and 'try his strength', given that Dumbledore intended for him to die. But that fact aside, does that line in DH exonerate Dumbledore from all of his mistakes and dereliction of his duty of care towards his charges in the early books? Dumbledore does nothing to prevent the basilisk attacks - because he's letting Harry 'try his strength'? He lets Quirrell run around the school because he's letting Harry 'try his strength'? He winks at Harry and Hermione going back in time to face a hundred dementors because he's letting Harry 'try his strength'?

My incredulity is straining beyond its limits, but I'm curious as to whether those fans who feel the need to defend Rowling and the books seized on that quote of Dumbledore's to explain the headmaster's seeming incompetence, such as what has been noted in this chapter. Did Rowling intend that line to explain, to pardon, all of Dumbledore's 'mistakes'?

[oryx_leucoryx]

Yes, some fans believe Twinkles felt it was essential to use every opportunity to train Harry (for what?) and if the occasional student is hurt or gets killed it is just the price to pay for deliverance from the threat of Voldemort.

[karentheunicorn.livejournal.com]

I sort of get why it's considered good; I get the menality of why people believe Dumbledore is better but I also can see him as the lesser of 2 evils because in the end him and Voldemort actually wanted the same thing where Harry was concerned, they both needed him to be dead.

I mean the worst thing we could have seen happen is Dumbledore to solve the situation could have killed the 1 year old baby. From the Prince's Tale we seem to get info that Dumbledore already knew then that Voldemort would be back, he told Severus so I almost assume he suspected some sort of connection then.

He says it was important for Harry to live, but apparently not live well because Dumbledore didn't mind putting Harry with some very horrible people or seeing him be involved in very dangerous situations.

And really all Harry had to do was die to make Voldie more vulnerable - looking back over the whole series (and after being in this group) I can see there are a lot of situations where Dumbledore seems to be allowing Harry to be in danger, and being face to face with Voldemort so often because IF the young 11 year old had been killed first year by Voldie/Quirrell then it would have made it easier to defeat Voldemort.

Hell, Harry was sent off on detention into the Dark Forest first year - if it was not for the centaur he might have been killed then. One would have thought if Dumbledore was serious about protecting Harry he would have told Minerva to give Harry some other form of Detention that did not make him easy to get to or kill by outside forces.

Harry was just as much a pawn as Severus. I really don't believe that Dumbledore 'cared' about Harry, or I don't really agree that he did all he could do to keep the boy safe. Hell, it's not unlike how Severus said he would do anything if Dumbledore protected Lily from being murdered. Severus made this promise and stuck to it.

I have to question did Dumbledore REALLY do anything and everything to protect Lily?

And I've wondered this myself, Severus seems to have kept his end of the arrangement but Dumbledore did not seem to keep his. It's a good thing for Dumbledore that he didn't take an unbreakable vow with Severus because Dumbledore would have been on the loosing end of that vow.

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

I have to question did Dumbledore REALLY do anything and everything to protect Lily?

It seems odd timing for Dumbles to have taken James' invisibility cloak "to study" when he did, considering Dumbles could have done so anytime from the time James first came to Hogwarts.

So the fact that he removed an item that could have been extremely useful to the Potters if Voldie showed up at their house is to me highly suspect...

[oryx_leucoryx]

I have to question did Dumbledore REALLY do anything and everything to protect Lily?

He did offer himself as Secret Keeper. But when they declined he didn't suggest the next best thing - having one of them be Secret Keeper, rather than a friend. I don't think Lily and James realized that was an option. I have my ideas as to why they didn't.

[oryx_leucoryx]

I wonder if there are any fics where Harry dies as a baby (say of exposure on the Dursleys' front stairs or some other natural cause later). Dumbles received the news through Mrs Figg. He thinks everything is alright, Tom gone for good, when Quirrell returns from Albania twitching. Hmm, and Severus finds out that Lily's boy isn't in the 1991 incoming class. How willing is he to help finish Voldemort now?

[karentheunicorn.livejournal.com]

I wonder if there are any fics where Harry dies as a baby (say of exposure on the Dursleys' front stairs or some other natural cause later). Dumbles received the news through Mrs Figg. He thinks everything is alright, Tom gone for good, when Quirrell returns from Albania twitching. Hmm, and Severus finds out that Lily's boy isn't in the 1991 incoming class. How willing is he to help finish Voldemort now?


I do think he would have stayed at Hogwarts but mostly because I don't see him as a character who changes easily or takes to change very well.

Though if Harry had died on the steps of the Dursleys or in some other way I don't know how willing he would be to help Dumbledore. I don't think he would have been as easy to go to and demand things of.

I think he probably still would have wanted to see Voldemort gone because Voldie was the one who killed Lily. And Severus did switch to the good side on his own. He made the choice because he decided that Voldemort's promise to spare Lily was not going to be enough to save her. He in effect lost trust in Voldemort. he may have already lost it before that but either way the target put on Lily was sort of the wakeup call.

If Harry was not there then it would be interesting to see how the story might play out differently and how Severus would behave - and what Excuse Dumbledore would use to explain Harry's death would be interesting. Because Dumbledore complained that Lily/James and Severus all put their trust in the wrong people. What was DD going to say, I put my trust in the wrong childcare provider?