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I thought I was going to get through The Sorcerer’s Stone before I made another Percy post, but Christmas! I have some things to say about the Weasley brothers’ Christmas at Hogwarts.
First, I think this exchange bears repeating in its entirety.
“Percy Weasley stuck his head through the door, looking disapproving. He had clearly gotten halfway through unwrapping his presents as he, too, carried a lumpy sweater over his arm, which Fred seized.
“P for prefect! Get it on, Percy, come on, we’re all wearing ours, even Harry got one.”
“I -- don’t -- want --” said Percy thickly, as the twins forced the sweater over his head, knocking his glasses askew.
“And you’re not sitting with the prefects today, either,” said George. “Christmas is a time for family.”
“They frog-marched Percy from the room, his arms pinned to his side by his sweater.”
Indeed there is a lot to unwrap here.
First, it must be said that Percy does talk about being a prefect excessively to people who are not the twins, as we see in his first conversation with Harry and after Quirrel makes his announcement about the troll on Halloween. It’s obnoxious, but just like their first scene together, the twins don’t wait for the behavior to appear before they start in.
In this scene, Percy barely opens his mouth before the twins literally jump on him and man-handle him into his sweater, which becomes a functioning straight-jacket. He does’t even use the word “prefect” before they’re taunting him with it. They don’t let him speak at all. If he can’t speak, he can’t withhold consent. Which means he must be okay with it; that’s how consent works, right?
The bullying is clearly not in response to Percy’s behavior, which suggests that this isn’t really about him being pompous with regards to his title at all. If he wasn’t a prefect, they would find something else to bully him about.
What other characters are always looking for some vulnerability in their target? Dudley and Draco. My initial thought is that what makes them worse is that they have obvious bad intentions towards Harry. And I do think that’s the logic Rowling follows, too, and that is a problem in itself. But isn’t the commonality between them also that they’re bullying Harry Potter, the protagonist, the character through whose perspective our view of everyone else is filtered?
We know that Fred and George are really nice kids, and we know that because they do all they can to help Harry when they’re getting on the train and to protect him during his first Quidditch match. And because they’re nice kids, we know that they would never intentionally hurt their brother, right? The trouble is, exactly no one is asking Percy whether his brothers’ treatment of him hurts. I don’t know if anyone ever asks, but I know we get an answer eventually.
First, I think this exchange bears repeating in its entirety.
“Percy Weasley stuck his head through the door, looking disapproving. He had clearly gotten halfway through unwrapping his presents as he, too, carried a lumpy sweater over his arm, which Fred seized.
“P for prefect! Get it on, Percy, come on, we’re all wearing ours, even Harry got one.”
“I -- don’t -- want --” said Percy thickly, as the twins forced the sweater over his head, knocking his glasses askew.
“And you’re not sitting with the prefects today, either,” said George. “Christmas is a time for family.”
“They frog-marched Percy from the room, his arms pinned to his side by his sweater.”
Indeed there is a lot to unwrap here.
First, it must be said that Percy does talk about being a prefect excessively to people who are not the twins, as we see in his first conversation with Harry and after Quirrel makes his announcement about the troll on Halloween. It’s obnoxious, but just like their first scene together, the twins don’t wait for the behavior to appear before they start in.
In this scene, Percy barely opens his mouth before the twins literally jump on him and man-handle him into his sweater, which becomes a functioning straight-jacket. He does’t even use the word “prefect” before they’re taunting him with it. They don’t let him speak at all. If he can’t speak, he can’t withhold consent. Which means he must be okay with it; that’s how consent works, right?
The bullying is clearly not in response to Percy’s behavior, which suggests that this isn’t really about him being pompous with regards to his title at all. If he wasn’t a prefect, they would find something else to bully him about.
What other characters are always looking for some vulnerability in their target? Dudley and Draco. My initial thought is that what makes them worse is that they have obvious bad intentions towards Harry. And I do think that’s the logic Rowling follows, too, and that is a problem in itself. But isn’t the commonality between them also that they’re bullying Harry Potter, the protagonist, the character through whose perspective our view of everyone else is filtered?
We know that Fred and George are really nice kids, and we know that because they do all they can to help Harry when they’re getting on the train and to protect him during his first Quidditch match. And because they’re nice kids, we know that they would never intentionally hurt their brother, right? The trouble is, exactly no one is asking Percy whether his brothers’ treatment of him hurts. I don’t know if anyone ever asks, but I know we get an answer eventually.
