Percy Weasley

Okay, I'm fairly certain Percy doesn't have his own thread running around somewhere, and I don't think he qualifies as a minor character, so I am now (for the first time) starting my own thread.

I see Percy as the "what if" version of Hermione. What if Hermione hadn't fought that troll with Harry and Ron? She could have become like Percy. If Percy hadn't broken ties with his family, he would have been more like Hermione: following rules only until it conflicted with his loyalties.

I do actually have a question buried up there. I'm in the middle of a fic where Percy meets someone he inherently trusts. He can objectively state that he has no reason to trust the person, although he has no reason to distrust the person either. Would he go with that feeling and confide in that person, or is he too logical to follow his instincts?

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. :)

How old is Percy when the question is asked?

I believe that Percy would be firmly withdrawn unless he had a logical reason to trust the person if he was under 12, his experiences with rules and his family (I read a marvelous article/essay on the weasley family somewhere nearby, which regrettably I can't quote off hand...wait a second...no, I tell a lie, here it is http://www.hp-lexicon.org/essays/ess...-dynamics.html) that suggest the former is unlikely.

Again, after the age of about 14-15, I believe Percy would be regripping on his logic for friendship and becoming the Percy we know from J.K.'s books.

HOWEVER.

Much akin to Ginny in Chamber of Secrets (am I alone in the belief that boys become like this somewhat later than girls?), from 12-14/15 Percy would be very much suffering from a lack of friends at a crucial time in his life, and would seek help where he found it. I still don't believe he would approach a friendship COMPLETELY without logic, but he would certainly be far less questioning than on either side.

Vague as it is, hope that helps! :)

An opening thought anyway. I'd be interested to see what you/other people make of it.

Quote:

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I'm in the middle of a fic where Percy meets someone he inherently trusts. He can objectively state that he has no reason to trust the person, although he has no reason to distrust the person either. Would he go with that feeling and confide in that person, or is he too logical to follow his instincts?

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I don't think Percy is really the type of person to confide in anyone, for any reason. I think when it comes to his real feelings and emotions, he prefers to keep them to himself. I can't think of a conversation when Percy tells anyone what he is feeling, or a conversation when anyone talks about how Percy felt about something. I think he's a very private person, and that he would never confide in someone he hardly knows.

Actually, the only time I ever remember hearing about Percy showing emotion was when he moved out of his house. He got really angry. And anger is a different emotion, sometimes much harder to hide. So I think, with the exception of this one outburst that Percy is somewhat withdrawn.

Hope that helps!:)

Hmm... Regretable that I didn't clarify more. My fic is set in what would be Harry's 7th year, so Percy is around 21. It's (mostly) canon, meaning that Percy is still not with his family. He's basically alone right now, at least until he meets this person. I know I'm being really vague, but I don't want to give too many details.

Thanks for replying guys! Already, I have alot to think about.

Hmm. How then would a twenty-one year old Percy react to such a thing? Interesting indeed.

The Percy in this context is, in my way of seeing things, both emotionally stubborn and vulnerable. His resoluteness to his beliefs two years ago have surely cost him dearly in this area. Had he been more committed to his family's way of thinking, then he would have been correct about the way things were to unfold (something I believe that would bother Percy tremendously). As it stands, he has alienated both his family by being overtly logical (form the information available to him) and proved himself wrong in doing so.
I see Percy questioning his faith in logic at this stage, but also being too proud to return to his family for guidance and support (though the incident with Bill may have shaken him considerably). As a result of this, it would be predictable for Percy to give something of his overwhelming emotions into this person primarily, while the logic takes the back seat. In spite of this however, while the logic in Percy becomes somewhat supressed, his trust in this person would never be absolute - his inherent belief in logic would be too much for this. With this in mind, Percy would slowly let out details, but never everything. Should he even suspect for a second that the person was working for Voldemorte (for that surely is the question) or was simply prying too deeply, I feel he would use the opportunity to run back to his family with information about the person. In doing so, I believe he would feel he could erase the mistakes of the previous years honourably - whether or not the person was truly a supporter of you-know-who.

On a complete side-note, I find it utterly unfathomable that J.K. Rowling can complete her seventh book without asking these questions and answering them. So I'd either wait until she completes it, or hurry up and beat her to it! ;)

I can't thank you guys enough for your words. You shaped the story in ways you don't even know. :D Seriously, I completely re-shaped a chapter after reading through this thread. Thanks for working me out of a corner.

On a related note, the first chapter of this fic just got validated. Check out Flawed Perception if you get a chance.

I think Percy's a vastly misunderstood character. So many people say they think he'll turn to the 'dark side'-- come on, our Percy, a dark wizard?

True, his behaviour was far from admirable in the books, but I think that he feels extremely bad about how he treated his father at the beginning of the fifth book. Only a few days after the argument, he probably realized that his father was right, and that Fudge was only using him to try to get to the Weasleys. He feels really guilty about what he did, and that's why he's so stiff around his family in the sixth book-- he's afraid of how his family will treat him. I think he innately realizes what's right, but he doesn't know how to show this, and that his siblings misinterpreted his intentions as well.

I won't go so far as to say that I like Percy, but I think he will choose to do the right thing, and that in his heart, he already has.

I don't think Percy will really become a "dark wizard". He's very ambitious, yes, but I don't exactly see him as someone who is completely and totally power-hungry. I think that a [small] part of him wants to patch things up with his family, but Percy isn't really what I'd call an emotional character. He can't seem to really express what he feels.To be honest, the only emotion that's really obvious (to me at least) is when he's annoyed at someone or angry. But when it comes to confiding in others, that's not the same (unless he's venting).

Would he confide in others? No, probably not. Like Sly Severus, he would most likely keep things to himself. Everything in Percy's life seems to revolve around being logical and basically doing what's he's told to do. When it comes to dealing with business-related issues and relationships, he's good at that. When it comes to personal issues and relationships, it's something that I think he really struggles with.

Percy is very proud and pompous. He seems like the kind of guy who wants to be "right" all the time, like a rule-stickler or something. He seems like someone who would hate to be proven wrong. Confiding in someone would mean that he isn't as emotionally stable as he appears, because Percy has a little bit of this "every is completely fine and under control" attitude. Would he really want to break that image? And I don't think that would be good, especially if word got around that Percy was having other "issues".

What exactly is Percy going to tell this person that he can't tell anyone else?

--Little Kitty

Percy was placed in Gryfindor. Theres got to be some meaning in that! The Sorting Hat doesn't place people in the same house because of their family. Look at the Patil twins. He is brave and had a lot of courage. Possessing those qualities probably means that soon he'll come back and be loyal to his family again.:D

Wow... I see Percy completely different than this. I don't see him as being emotionless at all, just that the emotion is really hidden in him. I don't think he lets it out much, but does at times. I think he probably had a very strong relationship with his mother...

Anyway, I did have a question.

One theory I found somewhere (perhaps Red Hen?) suggested that in Book 5, Percy was actually working for Dumbledore and spying on the Ministry. The publicly breaking of ties with his family and the Order was necessary in order to "prove" he wasn't one of those "crazy fools".

I'm writing a story that goes with this theory, and I was wondering: what reasons would he have for NOT telling them he had to do this and having a fake fight instead of a real one?