Community Read-through - Chapter 16 - "A Very Frosty Christmas"
This is the Community Read-through essay on Chapter 16 of Half-Blood Prince. I picked this up as an abandoned chapter, but I am also getting it in late. My apologies.
My primary goal here is to prompt some conversation about a couple of ideas this chapter brings to my mind. I would love to hear what you think.
The Ministry's Man Through and Through
Some say that JK Rowling has created a simple black and white world where good and evil battle. I have never read the books that way. I have always seen a nuanced and complex mesh of flawed good guys that are capable of doing bad things, truly bad guys who may be on the side of the angels and a wide range of others who are equally complex. One of the key ways this more complex struggle plays itself out is in the increasingly complex geometry of conflict.
As I see it there are not two sides battling each other, one with an ideology of love, loyalty and self-sacrifice, the other with an ideology of power and individual survival at all costs. There is at least one other "side" in this conflict. This side is not ideological. It is pragmatic and bureaucratic. It is the Ministry of (for) Magic.
The idea of the Ministry as a sort of wildcard "side" in the battle at hand has a steady rate of growth throughout books. I would say that it becomes a fully formed "side" in the conflict by the end of GoF. One could argue that the battle is still simply between good and evil and that the Ministry is one of the sites for this battle, but I do not see it that way. Like Dumbledore and his supporters or Voldemort and his, the Ministry has its own agenda and must be dealt with as an enemy by each of the other sides from time to time. The Ministry is never firmly in the camp of one or the other parties. One or the other, or both of the others must from time to time focus an equal or greater amount of their energy on battling the Ministry.
The Ministry of Magic seeks its own ends and has points of contention with both of the other two sides in the conflict. It does not embrace either of the ideological arguments made by the other two sides and in fact is not concerned with ideology at all, but rather focuses on the practical. If it had an ideology I guess it would be that of "order" at all costs.
The Ministry of Magic in the Wizarding World of Britain would hardly be the first government to stake out its own "side" in a grand conflict.
So, what does this have to do with "The Frosty Christmas" chapter in the Half -Blood Prince? I believe that this chapter is the one in which we see this geometry become solidified and more clearly set out in the open. I also believe that while this is the chapter in which we see Harry claim the title of "Dumbledore's Man Through and Through" it is the chapter in which it becomes crystal clear that Percy is "The Ministry's Man Through and Through" as well.
It can be fun to speculate about Percy's potential secret motivations or intentions (Is he really a spy for the Order? Has he really been recruited by Voldemort?) What we actually know however, what Percy has shown us or told us, gives us a believable picture of a man who has chosen a side - the side of the Ministry. Scrimgeour leaves no room for misunderstanding about what this "side" stands for. The Ministry is not concerned with who is really good or bad. The Ministry is not concerned with truth. The Ministry is concerned with perception. The Ministry is concerned with the impact and influence they can have on the populous in general by creating and supporting certain perceptions.
Percy has shown us from the beginning of the series that he shares these values. He has a love for order, a concern for perception, and an ability to do what is required to move up in a bureaucracy. This was his path to success at Hogwarts. We never see any evidence that he has any sympathy for the Dark Lord. At the same time he clearly has no loyalty to Dumbledore once he leaves Hogwarts - or his family once he leaves home. Not only is Percy the Ministry's man, he is also one of the ways we are allowed to see the Ministry as a separate and distinct "side" with its own focus and values.
In this scene, when he provides Scrimgeour with his thinly veiled excuse for showing up at the Weasley's home on Christmas Day we see how truly dedicated to his "side" in the battle Percy is.
On one "hand" he is angry and hurt by the fact that his parents could not see him as worthy of advancement within the Ministry. They assumed he was being promoted as a way to get to them. This rift gives him ample reason not to want to see his family, especially his parents.
On anther "hand" he knows that he has hurt his family deeply, especially his parents, and that his siblings will not welcome him with open arms even if his mother does. This too is a great reason not to want to return to the Burrow.
On yet another "hand" Percy has to know that this poorly disguised visit will look to his family like proof of their original assertion - that Percy is being used by the Ministry because of his family connections, which include a path to Harry Potter.
But finally, the "hand" that matters is the one on which Percy sees that even if it is uncomfortable, even if it is humiliating, this is what must be done for the Ministry and he does it.
Percy is the Ministry's Man through and through.
My primary goal here is to prompt some conversation about a couple of ideas this chapter brings to my mind. I would love to hear what you think.
The Ministry's Man Through and Through
Some say that JK Rowling has created a simple black and white world where good and evil battle. I have never read the books that way. I have always seen a nuanced and complex mesh of flawed good guys that are capable of doing bad things, truly bad guys who may be on the side of the angels and a wide range of others who are equally complex. One of the key ways this more complex struggle plays itself out is in the increasingly complex geometry of conflict.
As I see it there are not two sides battling each other, one with an ideology of love, loyalty and self-sacrifice, the other with an ideology of power and individual survival at all costs. There is at least one other "side" in this conflict. This side is not ideological. It is pragmatic and bureaucratic. It is the Ministry of (for) Magic.
The idea of the Ministry as a sort of wildcard "side" in the battle at hand has a steady rate of growth throughout books. I would say that it becomes a fully formed "side" in the conflict by the end of GoF. One could argue that the battle is still simply between good and evil and that the Ministry is one of the sites for this battle, but I do not see it that way. Like Dumbledore and his supporters or Voldemort and his, the Ministry has its own agenda and must be dealt with as an enemy by each of the other sides from time to time. The Ministry is never firmly in the camp of one or the other parties. One or the other, or both of the others must from time to time focus an equal or greater amount of their energy on battling the Ministry.
The Ministry of Magic seeks its own ends and has points of contention with both of the other two sides in the conflict. It does not embrace either of the ideological arguments made by the other two sides and in fact is not concerned with ideology at all, but rather focuses on the practical. If it had an ideology I guess it would be that of "order" at all costs.
The Ministry of Magic in the Wizarding World of Britain would hardly be the first government to stake out its own "side" in a grand conflict.
So, what does this have to do with "The Frosty Christmas" chapter in the Half -Blood Prince? I believe that this chapter is the one in which we see this geometry become solidified and more clearly set out in the open. I also believe that while this is the chapter in which we see Harry claim the title of "Dumbledore's Man Through and Through" it is the chapter in which it becomes crystal clear that Percy is "The Ministry's Man Through and Through" as well.
It can be fun to speculate about Percy's potential secret motivations or intentions (Is he really a spy for the Order? Has he really been recruited by Voldemort?) What we actually know however, what Percy has shown us or told us, gives us a believable picture of a man who has chosen a side - the side of the Ministry. Scrimgeour leaves no room for misunderstanding about what this "side" stands for. The Ministry is not concerned with who is really good or bad. The Ministry is not concerned with truth. The Ministry is concerned with perception. The Ministry is concerned with the impact and influence they can have on the populous in general by creating and supporting certain perceptions.
Percy has shown us from the beginning of the series that he shares these values. He has a love for order, a concern for perception, and an ability to do what is required to move up in a bureaucracy. This was his path to success at Hogwarts. We never see any evidence that he has any sympathy for the Dark Lord. At the same time he clearly has no loyalty to Dumbledore once he leaves Hogwarts - or his family once he leaves home. Not only is Percy the Ministry's man, he is also one of the ways we are allowed to see the Ministry as a separate and distinct "side" with its own focus and values.
In this scene, when he provides Scrimgeour with his thinly veiled excuse for showing up at the Weasley's home on Christmas Day we see how truly dedicated to his "side" in the battle Percy is.
On one "hand" he is angry and hurt by the fact that his parents could not see him as worthy of advancement within the Ministry. They assumed he was being promoted as a way to get to them. This rift gives him ample reason not to want to see his family, especially his parents.
On anther "hand" he knows that he has hurt his family deeply, especially his parents, and that his siblings will not welcome him with open arms even if his mother does. This too is a great reason not to want to return to the Burrow.
On yet another "hand" Percy has to know that this poorly disguised visit will look to his family like proof of their original assertion - that Percy is being used by the Ministry because of his family connections, which include a path to Harry Potter.
But finally, the "hand" that matters is the one on which Percy sees that even if it is uncomfortable, even if it is humiliating, this is what must be done for the Ministry and he does it.
Percy is the Ministry's Man through and through.