Ultimate Unofficial Guide

[gwendolyngrace <gwendolyngrace@yahoo.com>]

Sigh.

Arice wrote:
> However, there are no classes that I can take at my college that 
> would tell me that Remus Lupin is an obvious reference to the fact 
> that he's a werewolf, duh, you're stupid for not seeing it on the 
> first reading.

Well, no, dear, of course not, because his first name is not revealed 
to be "Remus" until *after* we learn that he is a werewolf. 

But there are classes you can take that would give you hints: one of 
them is called Greek Mythology, and I for one first studied Greek 
myths in fourth grade (that's 9 or 10 years old, non-Americans). 
Another one is called English Lit.

> 
> However, I don't think we should automatically assume that 
*everyone* knows Sirius was going to be a black dog Animagus upon 
hearing his name for the first time and seeing that black dog for the 
first time. I didn't, does that make me stupid?
> 

I didn't say I knew he would be a black dog Animagus. I said I knew 
that Sirius Black meant "black dog" - "Sirius" being the name of the 
dog-star. I've never taken an astronomy class or a Latin lesson in my 
life, btw.


> and who did notice that the postion Snape brought was 
> important...just didn't know why (yes, i know now).

And I didn't say that we would know Why the potion was important, 
only that Rowling couldn't have increased its significance short of 
saying that Snape carried in a goblet, over which was draped a ribbon 
with the words, "Important Clue" stamped on it in gold.

So, no, I'm not saying at all that readers are "stupid" for not 
catching everything the first time through. Far from it. I also catch 
new things every time I read, and my guesses were not necessarily 
right every time. For example, I was one book ahead in PoA - I 
thought that Lupin was actually Sirius Black in disguise, because I 
connected the name "Lupin" to the name "Sirius," and I noticed that 
Lupin was never around when Black was sighted. It made me suspicious 
in a Clark Kent/Superman sort of way. I was obviously wrong: Rowling 
didn't reuse the Polyjuice as a disguise method for a DADA teacher 
until the fourth book.

I'm saying that the book in question (Waters) presents this 
information in a way that I found condescending.

Gwen