Wands and Qudditch Pitch Architecture (was Take *7*)

[Aberforth's Goat]

Nancy wrote,

> Hello -- I've been nudged out of lurkdom to post some the
> things I've noticed after seeing the movie for the 7th time
> yesterday <g>.

Hello and welcome! And, ummm, has anyone ever mentioned something to the
effect that you're brilliant - a little scary, mind - but brilliant? Great
observations - and congratulations on your 7th viewing!

Some observations on just one point:

> Snape's burning robe -- It bothered me that everyone started
> stamping out the fire on Snape's robe. Hello!? These people
> are wizards. I would expect at least a half dozen wands to
> whip out and point at the fire, and somebody's wand arm be
> what knocks into Quirrell.

Two thoughts here:

(1) About wands: In ch. 13 of PS, Neville is surprised that Ron and Hermione
have brought their wands to the second quidditch match. Hence, it would
appear that wizards don't always bring their wands along - and were reduced
to stamping instead of waving. (Of course, this isn't an easy topic. If
nothing else, no one seems surprised that Hermione had hers at the first
match! I believe that we've seen a few inconclusive discussions on the main
list about why, where and how often wizards carry their wands.)

(2) About the Hogwarts quidditch pitch: A tangential consideration: In the
book, Hermione knocks over Quirrell on her way *toward* Snape; in the movie,
she comes at Snape from underneath the seats (and Quirrell is knocked over
in the commotion). Implication: the book is working with the image of a
pitch surrounded by bleachers (as we have always assumed) - and the movie
has introduced an entirely new layout.

What intrigues me is how they came up with this (very clever!) idea. My
first assumption was that they were having trouble setting up bleachers that
would look (a) imposing and (b) full with only ~400 spectators. (In main
group discussions of Hogwarts' size, Jo's descriptions of quidditch games
have often been used to support arguments for a much larger student body.)

Later on I noticed another issue: in GoF the final task is carried out on
the Quidditch pitch, which has been set up with a great maze made of
twenty-foot high hedgerows (ch. 31). Of course, Flint hunters have often
wondered how the spectators managed to see anything from their seats - but
with the movie's stands, the problem is solved.

So is it possible that Jo's own thinking about quidditch pitches has also
developed a bit since PS - and that the stands in the movie version of PS
are an import from GoF?

Baaaaaa!

Aberforth's Goat (a.k.a. Mike Gray, who wonders whether there's a special
club for people who apply mind-bogglingly tenuous forms of redaction
criticism to minor issues in children's books. Assuming there is such a
club, he also wonders whether taking a lot of very strong medicine would get
him out of it.)
_______________________

"Of course, I'm not entirely sure he can read, so that may not have been
bravery...."