Seven Drabbles--and a Gripe

[gehayi]

Seven drabbles, all done for the "Swollen" challenge at hp100:

Title: 1970s Torch Song
Characters/Pairings: MWPP
Summary: "At seventeen, Peter fell in love."

Comments

[gehayi]

I loved the extended metaphor

Thank you. I like it too; I just wish I could have come up with a story to go with the image. Oh, well.

Princess Leia made me giggle

::grin:: The Peter in my head is a total sci-fi geek. I just know he went nuts over Leia. (I also know that, scared of Death Eaters or not, he would have snuck out of the Burrow in 1983 to see RotJ. Because, Leia. In that slave girl outfit.)

Sirius' struggle to trust in Dumbledore made me mad - I still do NOT understand why nothing was done to clear Sirius' name in a society with a working truth serum, and legilimency.

That whole situation makes me mad. In fact, based on the events surrounding Sirius Black's imprisonment, I hate the entire wizarding legal system.

Sirius gets thrown in Azkaban--the worst prison in the wizarding world--without a trial. Now, why? He never confesses. His wand is apparently never checked with Priori Incantatem; if it had been, the Aurors would know that his wand did not cast the spell that killed James or Lily. He is never given Veritaserum, clearly, as we are told that three drops of this truth serum would have any man spilling his deepest secrets within minutes. If they had administered this at any time, they would have discovered that Sirius was innocent of the crimes for which he was imprisoned, and that Peter Pettigrew was the traitor. No one ever administers this truth serum--not at the time of Sirius's arrest, not in the next twelve years, not even after he's escaped.

No one ever asks questions about basic forensics, either, despite the fact that Peter Pettigrew's alleged death SHOULD have raised a few eyebrows. In the first place, Peter is a wizard, and it takes a lot to kill wizards--far more than it does to kill Muggles. And if the Aurors assumed that Peter was killed by the same Exploding Charm that killed twelve Muggles, that still leaves a problem--the complete lack of physical evidence. All that was left of Peter, we're told, was one finger. That's it. No blood, aside from some blood on the remnants of his robes--and there should have been lakes of it, for the human body contains approximately 6 quarts (or 5.6 liters) of blood. No blasted-apart portions of a body. No body at all, in fact. Yet everyone takes Peter's finger as a sign that he's dead--ignoring the fact that all it can be said to prove logically is that Peter lost a finger. Maybe the Aurors wouldn't know this, but surely there must be one Healer at St Mungo's who would.

And to top it all off, no person or newspaper protests Sirius's imprisonment without benefit of trial and without any public examination of the evidence--despite the fact that every accused Death Eater prior to this was given a trial. Nor does Dumbledore, or any other member of the Order, protest this unconscionable abuse of political power. Everyone just assumes that Sirius is guilty.

The whole image adds up to a rather unfavourable view of the wizarding world--and the wizarding world's attitude toward logic, law and civil rights.

[reikah]

I'm suspecting corruption inside the government, myself. People like Lucius Malfoy - not yet convicted or even suspected, though captured spies might implicate them several months later.

[katsaris]

I used to also believe that Sirius' lack of trial makes for a rather unfavourable view of the wizarding world compared to our own. Until ofcourse we had in our own world hundreds of "suspected terrorists" imprisoned without a trial -- and our society was never actually in as much danger from terrorists as the the wizarding world was from Voldemort.

Crouch couldn't give Sirius civil right and a fair trial, because then every suspected Death Eater would have to be given civil rights and a fair trial. Crouch couldn't use truth serum (assuming it was even discovered back then), because what if Voldemort discovered a way to counteract it?

So the wizarding world gave the Ministry right to imprison anyone they want without a trial indefinitely, same way that many people in the United States nowadays believe people should be imprisoned in Guantanamo indefinitely without trials.

[gehayi]

Crouch couldn't give Sirius civil right and a fair trial, because then every suspected Death Eater would have to be given civil rights and a fair trial.

But every suspected Death Eater WAS getting a trial, both before and after Sirius. Bellatrix was given a trial...and she was tried after Sirius's imprisonment.

So the wizarding world gave the Ministry right to imprison anyone they want without a trial indefinitely

How did it give the Ministry permission? Wizards don't seem to have representative government; the Ministry of Magic handles everything. And the officials, such as the Ministers of Magic, are appointed, not elected. It doesn't sound to me as if the average wizard or witch had any say in what the Ministry did at all, any more than the average American has any say in what his or her government does. It's not as if politicians bother to listen to the electorate, after all.

[katsaris]

But every suspected Death Eater WAS getting a trial, both before and after Sirius

That's wrong -- In Goblet of Fire, Sirius says quite clearly: "The Aurors were given new powers - powers to kill rather than capture, for instance. And I wasn't the only one who was handed straight to the dementors without trial. Crouch fought violence with violence, and authorized the use of the Unforgivable Curses against suspects."

The trial of Crouch Jr. and Bellatrix seems an exception: "Crouch's fatherly affection stretched just far enough to give his son a trial"

How did it give the Ministry permission?

Again from the book: "He had his supporters, mind you - plenty of people thought he was going about things the right way, and there were a lot of witches and wizards clamoring for him to take over as Minister of Magic."

That's the kind of "permission" I mean, not an actually democratic process or referendum. As for whether the Ministers of Magic are appointed or elected, I believe we don't actually know.

[katsaris]

As a sidenote even Hagrid is put in Azkaban in book #2, seemingly again without a trial. Again Hagrid's only suspected of having something to do with the attacks, but they don't have enough evidence to convict. So they just lock him away.

That seems a regular thing for wizarding world: they give you a trial only when you enjoy enough public support *not* to convict without trial (e.g. Ludo Bagman or Harry Potter), but not when the issue is actually in doubt and the fear of letting the guilty person go is too much.

Keep in mind the use of Unforgivable curses against *suspects*. Mere suspects were probably even Crucio'd by Aurors if Imperio failed to get results or confessions. Comparisons not just with Guantanamo, but even with Abu Ghraib!

[neotoma]

Until ofcourse we had in our own world hundreds of "suspected terrorists" imprisoned without a trial -

At least in the real world there were civil rights groups kicking up a fuss.

There's no evidence in the books that anything approaching a civil rights group exists in the Wizarding World.

[katsaris]

If JKR had done as you suggested, then it would have been about a simple mistake of justice, rather than an issue that indicates wider social and political problems with the wizarding world, and the way people in general behave in times of danger.

Likewise if Dobby's ill-treatment was unique, his situation would have been a personal problem, rather than a commentary on how wizards treat their perceived inferiors.

Blame JKR if you will, but it would have made for a much weaker and much more shallow story if the "crime was properly investigated". She didn't ignore the whole thing. The injustice done to Sirius *is* the thing, *because* his crime wasn't properly investigated.

Throughout the series, JKR is going from the personal (oh look how poor Dobby is mistreated in Book II, oh look how Sirius was wrongly convicted in book III) to the social wider problems (oh look how wizards mistreat House-elfs in *general*, look how civil and judicial rights are *widely* violated in a time of war in Books IV and V).

From personal problems to societal ones.

This is not a bug of the books, this is a feature.

[neotoma]

Sirius gets thrown in Azkaban--the worst prison in the wizarding world--without a trial. Now, why? He never confesses.

I think it's the *only* prison in the Wizarding World, or at least in Wizarding Britain. That Order Member, Sturgis Podmore, got 6 months there for what amounts to a B&E of a government building.

Uhm, given that Sirius told *Harry* that it was 'my fault' in the Shrieking Shack in PoA, he might have been babbling about his guilt when the Hit Wizards caught up with him as well.

No one ever administers this truth serum--not at the time of Sirius's arrest, not in the next twelve years, not even after he's escaped.

We don't know enough about Veritaserum -- when it was first created, how hard it is to make (difficult, but is it near impossible? how many people in Britain can brew it?), how expensive it is, or if it can be circumvented in any way.

Really, though, the problem is that Wizarding justice is more Napoleonic than English -- "Guilty until proven innocent". With the Roman idea of "if we condemn enough people, we'll eventually get the guilty one" throw in for good measure.

ignoring the fact that all it can be said to prove logically is that Peter lost a finger.

Wizards stink at logic. That's why Snape used it in his part of protecting the Philosopher's Stone.

And to top it all off, no person or newspaper protests Sirius's imprisonment without benefit of trial and without any public examination of the evidence--despite the fact that every accused Death Eater prior to this was given a trial

Uhm, Sirius isn't the only one who was thrown into Azkaban without trial -- I'm pretty sure that is right there in the text of PoA. Given that Moody's opinion (in the Pensive) was basically "Make them talk, and then lock them up and throw away the key" and he was one of the 'nicer' Aurors at the time, it gives you an idea of just how creepy Wizarding Justice is.

Barty Crouch Sr. is looked at as *weird* for seeking names instead of vengence, and for applying the law to his own son. The man was certainly more even-handed than most in the Wizarding World, who will play favorites and pull strings with unscrupulous abandon.

The whole image adds up to a rather unfavourable view of the wizarding world--and the wizarding world's attitude toward logic, law and civil rights.

Have you looked through ajhalluk's posts on the Wizarding World. She's got some great insights into how it works (or doesn't), and she's got a solid grounding in the British legal system and its history, being a lawyer and all.