perfectprefect: Difficulty in social relations.

Difficulty in social relations.
Recently I had the privilege of taking in a jovial game of Literati with my brother Ronald. It was during a kerfuffle he seemed to be in the midst of with his friends Harry and Seamus. I quite thought that he would enjoy a distraction, and as he proved to be far too superior at Literati for me, my assessment was correct.

It was during this word game that I learnt that Ronald not only believed Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy were to kill him later, but that Ronald himself believed he deserved to meet his demise.

I do prefer to keep myself out of the squabbles of youth, but I find it highly ridiculous that all of this should have come about due to Ronald's pure intentions. I am quite appalled. Not only did Ronald believe he would find himself deceased, but he expressed a wish to withdraw from Hogwarts. This is certainly not the path I would choose for my brother, but I informed him that he was of course welcome to stay in my flat until he made a decision.

Ronald has come to my flat at a most exciting time. I recently learnt Mermish, so since Ronald was learning nothing due to the absence of lessons in his life, I decided to indulge him in the language. He inquired of a position as my assistant at the Ministry, and I would have been quite happy to have him, but oddly he had a change of heart when I mentioned the tarantula I was planning to purchase for my office. Naturally I told Ronald not to feel disheartened by his lack of formal education; there are plenty of janitorial jobs available at the Ministry of Magic.

Sadly, Ronald decided to return to Hogwarts yesterday. I suspect he was still quite unwilling to see Harry, but it seems he had no interest in disrupting my studies on the Hungarian language. I accompanied him to Hogwarts and he scampered off to the Quidditch pitch. I myself had an enchanting conversation with Sir Nicholas, who informed me that the whole affair reminded him of a lady's love he had lost in his youth.

I have gathered my thoughts on the matter, as I feel Ronald has suffered unjustly.

Harry, I am most unimpressed. I realise you have likely come to expect exceptions to be made for you, but this sort of accusatory behaviour is simply not on. There is absolutely no need to fault Ronald for his accidental declaration. It is certainly not Ronald's fault that Malfoy is so incredibly sensitive. If you did not wish for Malfoy to be called your friend, perhaps you should have enlightened Ronald to this. While his judgement may have been misplaced, it was only through the eyes of a friend that he acted. Was it not Ronald who attempted to learn about colour schemes in order to fit in with your new friends? Was it not Ronald who tried his own patience by attempting to begin conversation with Malfoy on several occasions? This was done only out of his love for you and a desire to become cordial with your friend. The cause of this was merely Ronald's instinct to protect you and to ask Seamus Finnigan to not spend so much time with your friend. He did this only to make certain that you would not lose your friend. It is most unimpressive to see that while you have placed the blame for this on Ronald, you remain as friendly as ever with Malfoy; I need not remind you that it was Malfoy who threw a temper tantrum.

As for you, Malfoy, I am certainly not surprised that you would treat my brother with such disdain, so there is scarcely anything to say to you. However, if in the future you wish for Ronald to refrain from saying things that you do not agree with, perhaps it would serve you well to treat him with something less than sheer hatred. He has tried to make peace with you, and while his efforts may have been odd, the fact of the matter is that he attempted to become acquaintances with you if nothing else. Since I have yet to notice your acquaintances piling beyond a manageable amount, I find it hard to believe that such a friendship would be detrimental to your well-being. Perhaps if you did not live a life so blind you would see that my brother Ronald could have been your friend, an honour of which you are most definitely not worthy.

scotchtartan @ 2003-06-01 07:19 am UTC

A touching and honest post, Mr Weasley, but one question remains. As a former Hogwarts Head Boy, why did you allow your brother Ronald to simply leave the castle? Being as you are a former member of my own House, I find it difficult to believe that you were unaware that this was simply unacceptable. Students may not, at any time, choose to vacate the premises for any reason. Why, Mr Weasley, did you not at least take the care to inform Professor Dumbledore or myself where Ron was?

Professor M McGonagall

perfectprefect @ 2003-06-01 07:06 pm UTC

Ah, hello, Professor McGonagall. I had merely hoped that Ronald would come to the decision on his own. As I said, at his initial request I did inform him that we would be able to enjoy learning together and that he could find custodial work at the Ministry, but he did not seem disheartened. I felt the choice to remain at or return to Hogwarts could only be one made in Ronald's free will.

Sincerely,
Percy Weasley