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[thebreakingwave]

Back home, I'm a police officer, and the other day I was reminded about something a good friend said and I liked the sound of it and it seemed right, but it didn't really seem possible or plausible.

[Harry wrinkles his nose, well aware that he's starting to stray off topic.]

What he'd said was that as an auror, my kind of officer, that listening to the Law, as a sort of fuzzy idea, was more important than following the laws. He said a whole lot more about it, but that was the general idea. What do you think? How does it work where you're from?

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[raisedontolkien]

[Charlie is not going to freak out. She isn't. She is going to stay perfectly calm, not squeal or scream or shriek or do any of the other things she did when she met the roughly four hundred and seventy-two folks from the Tolkienverse wandering about. No, this time she will be mature, act responsibly, and try not to acknowledge the fact that she's having a conversation with Harry freaking Potter.

She's also only going to say five words because she's pretty sure that's all she can manage before breaking every single promise she made to herself and falling apart like the rabid, obsessive fangirl she happens to be.]

It depends on the law.

[And that's it. Seriously, Harry, be grateful she's managed this much.]

[thebreakingwave]

From what I recall, it's best if the little-L law lines up with the big-L.

[Harry has seen the controlled non-freak out expression on a few faces and he's gotten used to just ploughing ever onwards in the conversation and hoping for the best.]

[raisedontolkien]

[And hey, what do you know? Confusing Charlie is apparently a quick way to snap her out of her fangirl haze.]

Okay, you lost me. The who lines up with the what now?

[mindtricks]

Follow the spirit of the law rather than its letter. [ it's said with a slight smile; this is a topic that anderson has thought long and hard on and where she disagrees with judges like dredd who see the black-letter law rather than its purpose as final. anderson just wants to make a difference for the better and if that means upholding the spirit but not the letter of the law? so be it. she'll dispense justice even if justice and the law are not the same thing. ]

[thebreakingwave]

That sounds about right.

[Harry's smile is tinged with relief. He didn't have the words to really express the idea as well as he would've liked and he's glad the point got through.]

The question then is, what's the spirit of the law and how can you tell when the letters are off?

[thebreakingwave]

There's the laws on parchment, the little-l sort, and there's the big, sort of squashy idea of what the laws should be like, the big-L sort.

[raisedontolkien]

Oh! Okay. Hmm. [A pause.] I still say it depends, but maybe more on the situation than the law itself. Like someone stealing a car because they can sell it for money compared to someone stealing food because their kids need to eat. Both break the same law but are different circumstances and should be treated differently.

[thebreakingwave]

Right, but that's less to do with the police and more to do with the court, I think?

[raisedontolkien]

Yes and no. There were a few stories that went viral back home about cops catching people shoplifting food and buying them groceries instead of arresting them. [She considers for a second.] Not sure if they got in trouble for that or not, though. Maybe?

[She flashes him a quick grin.]

I know for me, it's more a matter of ethics. Some laws I agree with, some I don't. But I'm not a cop. [Pretty far from it, in fact. Been wanted for a while now. Yeah. She's not saying that.]

[faithfulservant]

I was one to have followed the law faithfully and believe myself to be the law. When the law is forcing you to change yourself in a way you don't feel is right--that's when you should use it as a guideline and listen to your own instincts. I only wish I had learned this earlier.

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[unionjackass]

[Oh hello, what have we here?

England looks thoughtful and chooses his words carefully before speaking in a serious but more or less conversational tone.]

We're from the --relatively--same place lad, but as for what I think... One ought to think for oneself and live as well as one can. Unfortunately there's a bloody lot of different standards in every culture on Earth and in other worlds. 'Living well' could even mean something entirely different to you and your co-workers.

I've been 'round the mortal sphere a very long time and I've followed my duties to the best of my abilities. You though, you've got the freedom to think and feel and then act on those thoughts and feelings, all of your own devices. If a law is unjust, there are ways you can fight that injustice. Some of those ways might not be very good ones, and others better...

What I mean to say is, I think your friend may be right. There's consequences to actions though, and as an officer of the law I'm sure you understand part of that job is to accept those consequences. Sometimes, you have to break the law of the land to do what you believe is well and truly right, and other times it is the right thing, however unpleasant, to just bloody accept downright rotten circumstances.

In a position of authority, I personally believe it's one's responsibility to uphold the just laws, and the unjust ones, but in such a way that's mindful of making a decent difference in the world around you.

Chatty fellow, aren't I?

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[atent_dead]

Sounds like the Vimes bloke in Ankh-Morpork. Mostly we just worry on what's Right in Lancre.

[but_civilization]

I think we must consider laws and re-evaluate them as things progress and time goes on. What was fair yesterday may not be fair tomorrow based on other circumstances or changes that have come to pass. What we once thought to be good may need to be changed and require that we have the courage to speak up for it and take those steps. The law is not something we should see set in stone, but rather changed, with everyone's input as is needed.

[thebreakingwave]

Thank you and, for what it's worth, I'm sorry.

[Harry had been involved in the rounding up of the last remaining Death Eaters, and that wasn't an overly troubling exercise in morality; however, sorting out the mess of the Ministry and who had been complicit in some of their more outrageous crimes, that was a problem.]

[thebreakingwave]

I'm sorry, but I don't know him or those places. Although, ideally, both the laws and what's Right would be the same, but ...

[But he's slowly beginning to suspect that might not always be the case back home and he's not sure how to deal with it.]

[thebreakingwave]

That makes a good deal of sense and, I must admit, I'd been hoping you'd weigh in here.

[Harry's smile is wan, but sincere.]

I've also been thinking about laws that are old, traditional really, and are still popular, but that are probably wrong.

[thebreakingwave]

[Harry knows that the vast majority of policing is around small crimes, but there's a pervasive disregard of a lot of acts that would be illegal for muggles. Throwing a child out a window is, obviously, wrong, but if the babe bounces and proves they're a wizard, then it's fine and there's no harm done.

What if Neville hadn't survived? What then?]

I think a police officer should be able to show discretion and common sense, but I wouldn't know how to go about teaching that or setting some kind of standard.

[mindtricks]

I think the law should always aim to make a difference in peoples' lives, change them for the better.

[thebreakingwave]

Can you give me an example of a law that would change someone's life?

[mindtricks]

If a criminal is locked up, doesn't that make the lives of innocent people better?

[thebreakingwave]

Well, yes, but...

[That wasn't exactly what Harry meant, but he's not sure how to articulate what he's really looking for.]

I think that then it comes down to who's a criminal. Maybe?

[raisedontolkien]

[Charlie blinks. And blinks again. And she very nearly blurts out the obvious answer, which is of course something along the lines of 'But you're Harry Potter', but she refrains. If no one has told him that by now, she's not about to be the first.

So instead she just nods slowly.]

I can see how that'd be a problem. But [a pause as she chooses her words carefully] I think maybe just leading by example would be the way to go, in that case.

[thebreakingwave]

[She wouldn't be the first, but he rarely reacts well to that particular sort of answer or enthusiasm.]

At best a thankless job, but I suppose you're right.

[Harry knows that's probably the best way to go about it, and probably what he'll end up doing when he returns him, but that doesn't mean it's going to be easy, pretty, or actually effective in the long run.]

[thebreakingwave]

I don't mind the chattiness.

[Harry listens to the whole speech, making note of the things he agrees with, dislikes, and that he thinks he ought to get clarification on.]

Can you give me an example of how to uphold an unjust law that makes a difference?

[but_civilization]

[And Combeferre's smile in return is also genuine, though a little tired, given what he's been going over in his mind since the memory hit.]

Have you? I...that's rather flattering to hear, actually.

Ah that sort of law. Yes, I can think of a few of those myself. There are some that made sense, perhaps, when things were different, and others that were likely always wrong. What causes them to become popular and stay that way? Fear, do you suppose?