Point of order! (was Re: Neville/what's obvious (Culture, speaking, choice))

[lupinesque]

Heidi strode into the courtroom and announced:

> What I was *trying to say* was that it's obvious that JKR wanted it 
> to be a reasonable conclusion for people to draw, the same way that 
> she wanted "Snape is working for Voldemort" to be an obvious 
> conclusion of people to draw during parts of Book 1, or "Sirius 
> killed Harry's parents" in Book 3. It doesn't mean that 
> those "facts" are true, but it does mean that she's written the 
> story in such a way as to cause the reader to think "Ah-hah! That's 
> what she's getting at with this juxtaposition!"
> 
> We may be right, we may be wrong. We have no idea right now. It's 
> just an obvious conclusion to draw. 

I understand.  But to me it is not an obvious conclusion, whereas the 
other examples you give are.  A forgetful character is such a common 
phenomenon that it didn't remotely occur to me that JKR was trying to 
do anything with it other than provide humor, a foil for Snape's 
nastiness, etc.  I won't be surprised if Neville turns out to be 
Memory Charmed, nor if the juxtaposition of Neville's forgetfulness 
and the existence of Memory Charms becomes sharper (in which case it 
will join the ranks of "Snape's working for Voldemort" and "Sirius is 
a killer" as a reasonable conclusion to draw), but at the moment I 
don't think either the theory or the juxtaposition is obvious.

Actually, I didn't draw any conclusions about Sirius killing Lily and 
James, either, until Fudge actually said it in so many words.  I was 
just reading along thinking he was Voldemort's murderous right-hand 
man, no connection to the Potters whatsoever.  Are you saying you made 
the connection before chapter 10 revealed it?  I'm impressed.
 
> In fact, when she said it, I jumped from thinking Lily and James 
> were the same year to thinking that Lily was perhaps a year older or 
> younger, as it's unusual for the head boy and head girl to be of the 
> same house.

Now that sounds like something else that is obvious to you but not to 
me.  We know nothing about any head boy or girl besides Percy, so how 
can any arrangement be "unusual"?

I guess we should take this one to the real list, huh?

Amy