Chapter 24 - Sectumsempra

[cheeringcharm]

Harry tells Ron and Hermione about the horcruxes during charms. Ron is so astounded that he makes it snow which leads to the first time JKR uses a non-aggressive adverb in describing Hermione talking to Ron. SCORE! Of course, Lavender can tell that Hermione is talking "patiently" instead of snapping, berating, or otherwise belittling Ron and she

Comments

[pilly2009]

Crabbe and Goyle show a lot of loyalty and devotion to Draco, far more than Ron and Hermione display in this book.

I think these things really have to be judged within a similar context. Crabbe and Goyle's loyalty was significant throughout the year in which Draco was suffering his emotional/personality crisis. But as was Ron and Hermione's during the year in which Harry was suffering his. Whereas they are currently having more problems (um, if romantic problems are to be taken seriously) during this year, the situation turns so that it's his loyalty to them that's significant.

When Draco is injured, Pansy flees to his side. Hermione didn't do that for either boy

Harry in PoA (where she cried when he fell off his broom, and both she and Ron spent the entire weekend with him in the hospital wing) and Ron in HBP.

Okay, now that I've gotten the nitpickiness out of my system, that's an interesting point that was made about Ginny and Draco (I love how those two keep getting paralleled in fandom post-HBP! Hell, think it could be intentional?). You're right; in a way, they both might as well have been under Imperius, for all the choice they had.

The only thing I can think of to counter this is that Draco's straits were relatively self-inflicted, whereas Ginny's were non-existent. Of course, the threat of death to yourself and your whole family hanging over certainly influences any final choices you will have to make, but Ginny didn't even have this choice. It's arguable that had she been given the choice, knowing how virtuous a character she is supposed to be, she would have preferred death over injuring the students she did. Um, to explain further, Draco was being forced on pain of death to murder someone he didn't care about in the least, and in doing so ended up nearly killing people whom he possibly felt guilty over, but didn't really care about. Given the choice between said people and his family, it was clear who was going to win out.

Whereas with Ginny, there wasn't even this marginal choice: she was being used to attack people like her brother's best friend and her other brother's girlfriend...directly hurting her family, in other words. If this choice would have existed at all in this situation, it would probably have been between herself and her family, which is why I'm assuming that her family would have won out over herself.

[cadesama]

Crabbe and Goyle's loyalty was significant throughout the year in which Draco was suffering his emotional/personality crisis. But as was Ron and Hermione's during the year in which Harry was suffering his.

True, but I'm not so much trying to demonstrate the moral superiority of the Slytherin kids as the equability. It probably is overstating it to say that Draco's friends are more loyal than Harry's. I do think they are no less loyal, though.

Of course, the threat of death to yourself and your whole family hanging over certainly influences any final choices you will have to make, but Ginny didn't even have this choice.

Actually, we don't know for sure that she didn't have a choice. CoS never adequately explains why Ginny stole the diary back from Harry. Riddle says that Ginny stole it back because she was afraid that Riddle was going to spill all of her secrets to Harry. Unfortunately, he's an unreliable narrator. On the other hand, Riddle gladly takes credit to everything else terrible he's done, and seems genuinely annoyed that Ginny took the diary back -- so, that may be when Ginny did make a choice in the matter. She apparently chose that keeping her secrets from Harry was more important than the lives of students. Which, actually, puts her on a lower level than Draco. She's much younger, so she may not have understood the ramifications, one can argue. But she knew enough to throw it away in the first place. Makes me think that perhaps the Weasleys weren't misguided for their stern reaction at the end of the novel.

[pilly2009]

so, that may be when Ginny did make a choice in the matter. She apparently chose that keeping her secrets from Harry was more important than the lives of students.

Another really good point, one I can't believe I haven't even considered before. There is a bit too much that we don't know (and at this point, are unlikely to never find out). I saw a fanfiction once that suitably explained Ginny's reasons for stealing back the diary, one of which being that she didn't want the same thing that happened to her to happen to Harry. Which, considering Harry's susceptibility to any personification of an older male figure to fill the role of father (ie, the HBP book), wasn't entirely unlikely, and would explain at least part of Tom's fury with Ginny for stealing back the diary. (For everything he said about wanting to find out more about Harry, the one session of interaction they had before the Chamber was all about Tom's making Harry trust him, as he had made Ginny trust him.)

[cadesama]

It's possible that Harry would have been influenced in the same way, although I think that it's really more contigent on what Riddle wanted him for than how Harry is vulnerable. Riddle didn't care one whit about Ginny, so he used her and wanted to dispose of her. Riddle did care about Harry. He was fascinated and obsessed. And while I think he very much wanted Harry dead, I think that he would have wanted to kill Harry in a duel, or something that put them on even ground. He wants Harry to know who killed him, and this is the same boy who grew into the Voldemort of GoF.

Which is really totally beside the point. Ginny stole the book back and then wrote in it again. I don't think that wanting to keep Harry from being possessed explains the second part. The only way I can explain it without blaming Ginny is if we assume that the diary was addictive in some way, but that's still an extra-textual explanation. From the text it seems to be laid out straightforwardly that she stole it because she didn't want Harry to know her secrets, and then she wrote in it again to confirm that Riddle hadn't told on her.