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Was Percy jealous of Harry? |
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 Jul 14 2008, 06:44 PM
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Rat Tonic Bottler
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In many ways, I think Percy was definitely jealous of Harry. We see a hint of it in GoF, where Harry and Fudge greet each other like old friends. From Percy's perspective, Harry has a well-established reputation for not really doing anything on his own, whereas Percy is working his tail off to move up in the Ministry, feeling hindered by his dad's reputation.
However, I don't think he was jealous of Harry in terms of his parents' treatment. He gets plenty of attention from them already as a Prefect, model student, Head Boy, etc., and even though they give him houseroom, proper food, and a bit of care, they don't favour him compared to the rest of the Weasley children. That being said, I think it was strictly Percy's blind ambition and immense frustration with his dad's reputation at work that led to his estrangement.
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"Tell me why, why must we fight?
And why must we kill in the name of what we think is right?
No more! No war! 'Cause how do you know?"
-- P.O.D. - from their new album When Angels and Serpents Dance --
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Jul 15 2008, 10:56 PM
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Rat Tonic Bottler
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QUOTE(Chocolatl @ Jul 15 2008, 11:43 PM)  Percy wasn't jealous of Harry so much as he was jealous of Fred and George and the attention they got.
It must really have rankled him that when Bill and Charlie made good, they were fussed over, but when he made good it was the bad boys of the family who were fussed over. He seemed to like Harry all right all along, and tried to make up to him even when he was on the outs with his family, for whatever reason.
I don't know - Percy got a fair bit of attention for becoming Head Boy, and I'd imagine that he got a lot of attention for being Prefect. His marks he apparently didn't draw much attention to - I think it was Ron who said he got lots of OWLs but didn't gloat about it - but his other achievements seemed to be well-recognized by his parents - particularily Molly.
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"Tell me why, why must we fight?
And why must we kill in the name of what we think is right?
No more! No war! 'Cause how do you know?"
-- P.O.D. - from their new album When Angels and Serpents Dance --
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Jul 16 2008, 01:46 PM
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Rat Tonic Bottler
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QUOTE(cooncatbob @ Jul 16 2008, 02:11 PM) My concern was whether Percy's jealousy of Harry had anything to do with his turning on Dumbledore and by his parents support for Dumbledore them too.
For someone who was considered very smart, Percy was IMHO is very bad judge of character, anybody who refers to Dolores Umbridge as a really delightful women needs a new pair of glasses.
Like I said, I don't think any jealousy that Percy might have had of Harry contributed to the cold shoulder he gave his family and DD. Percy's estrangement was the result of Percy's Ministry ambitions; he turned away from DD and his parents for the same reason Umbridge supported Fudge and the DEs: to further their careers (which is the only reason why I think he made friendly ties with Umbridge - she was part of the Ministry, and very close to the Minister).
When Percy joined the Ministry, it was completely turning against Harry and DD, using the Prophet as a tool to spread the word around. He felt that in order to get far in the Ministry, he would have to completely side with the Ministry - parrot all their views - even if it meant shunting his family. Once he saw just how extreme the Ministry's view was, and how easily it could be infiltrated, he knew he'd have to find a way out one way or another (which he eventually does in DH).
This post has been edited by harrypottergeek2: Jul 16 2008, 01:46 PM
--------------------
"Tell me why, why must we fight?
And why must we kill in the name of what we think is right?
No more! No war! 'Cause how do you know?"
-- P.O.D. - from their new album When Angels and Serpents Dance --
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Jul 18 2008, 01:16 AM
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Proud owner of a half-dead horse!
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I think jealousy had something to do with Percy's decisions, but not jealousy of Harry, specifically. I would imagine that he was jealous of all of his brothers to some extent.
He really is the Weasley brother that has the least identity of his own. Bill was Head Boy turned Wizarding-Indiana-Jones, Charlie was the Quidditch Captain who went on to work with dragons (how much cooler do you get than that?), Fred and George were popular and well known, and Ron helped save the world on a regular basis. Percy did well in school, but it wasn't anything Bill hadn't done before him. His parents loved him and were proud of him, but I think he wanted to be recognized on his own merits by the Wizarding World at large, like he perceived his siblings were.
Honestly, I think he was more jealous of Ron's connection to Harry than he was of Harry himself. It would probably have been hard for Percy to watch his youngest brother becoming the most well known member of their already well known family.
He wanted his name to mean something to the Wizarding community, and he thought working for Fudge was the way to do it.
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"Heh, heh, heh; Mine is an evil laugh!" --Wash, Firefly
"If only there was something in your head that could control the things you say..." --Chandler, Friends
"His face looked into my face, and LIED to my FACE!" --Lane Kim
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