Yeah, I did think about Neville there, which is why I was mostly just being silly.^^
Although, thinking about it...(and I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but HBP Ginny really does make me want to ram my head into a wall repeatedly, so that could have something to do with it...) I guess I compare Ginny's treatment of Ron more to Draco's treatment of Harry because of the frequency of it. I mean, he's her main target (moreso than Zacharias, anyway) and she puts him down almost every chance she gets (even when it's completely unecessary), which is normal for siblings to some extent, it's true, but there's still that bullying aspect to it. And the thing about Draco is, unlike Ginny, he doesn't know that he can ever beat his main target. In fact, it's the exact opposite, Harry almost always ends up coming out on top. And so I feel as though there's a different kind of bullying going on there, which is why I said it. Because I think if Draco were like Ginny, Neville would be his all-the-time punching bag. Which he's not, nor has he ever been.
...possibly this is also what you were saying. >.> In a very general sense, Draco is nearly always picking on people he can't beat, and Ginny almost always picks on people she knows she can. It's like, this girl I know recently wrote a fic wherein Draco goes out of his way to bully Luna before she's even introduced to Harry (third year). And when I reviewed it, I said that, although I could see Draco doing what he does, I can't see him actually putting that much effort into being mean to anyone but Harry. And, strangely enough, someone actually smaller than him. I guess maybe he wouldn’t find it fun if there weren’t some risk to it. Or, there’s SM’s theory that he bullies to get hurt rather than to hurt. Which is also interesting.
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Date: 2006-11-16 10:29 pm (UTC)Although, thinking about it...(and I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but HBP Ginny really does make me want to ram my head into a wall repeatedly, so that could have something to do with it...) I guess I compare Ginny's treatment of Ron more to Draco's treatment of Harry because of the frequency of it. I mean, he's her main target (moreso than Zacharias, anyway) and she puts him down almost every chance she gets (even when it's completely unecessary), which is normal for siblings to some extent, it's true, but there's still that bullying aspect to it. And the thing about Draco is, unlike Ginny, he doesn't know that he can ever beat his main target. In fact, it's the exact opposite, Harry almost always ends up coming out on top. And so I feel as though there's a different kind of bullying going on there, which is why I said it. Because I think if Draco were like Ginny, Neville would be his all-the-time punching bag. Which he's not, nor has he ever been.
...possibly this is also what you were saying. >.> In a very general sense, Draco is nearly always picking on people he can't beat, and Ginny almost always picks on people she knows she can. It's like, this girl I know recently wrote a fic wherein Draco goes out of his way to bully Luna before she's even introduced to Harry (third year). And when I reviewed it, I said that, although I could see Draco doing what he does, I can't see him actually putting that much effort into being mean to anyone but Harry. And, strangely enough, someone actually smaller than him. I guess maybe he wouldn’t find it fun if there weren’t some risk to it. Or, there’s SM’s theory that he bullies to get hurt rather than to hurt. Which is also interesting.
Good luck on the dissertation, btw. :)