Sorting, Shipping, Ceiling Wax

Mon Jan 6 00:55:51 UTC 2003

RE: Sorting Hat

Catlady quoted:

<< I would rather: 1) play with finger-paints 2) play with building 
blocks >>

What is this question trying to find out?

Mary Ann wrote:

<< On the subject of houses, the Vitual Hogwarts site puts me in 
Hufflepuff. That's accurate, but I'd rather be in Gryffindor. ;) The 
WB one puts me in Slytherin, which is completely wrong. I wonder if 
that's because I've had pet rats before, and that's the pet I'd bring 
with me to Hogwarts? I mean, I'd *return* the satchel of galleons, 
which isn't a Slytherin-ish thing to do, is it? >>

Before the first movie came out, I played with WB's Sorting Hat and 
got the impression that only the Satchel of Galleons question matter, 
with Return for Gryffindor, Charity for Hufflepuff, Save for 
Ravenclaw, and Spend for Slytherin, but I returned to it after the 
first movie and had a hell of a time getting Sorted into any House 
but Gryffindor. I couldn't find out the system at all! I wonder if 
they changed it to a randomizer?

Where is the Virtual Hogwarts Sorting Hat? 

Tituk briefcandle wrote:

<< Here's one: http://timidity.org/tests/sortinghat.html >>

That one is obviously no good, it put me in *Hufflepuff*!!! I messed 
around with it quite a while and as far I can tell, the only question 
that matters (and I don't agree with their answers) is:

4. Let's say you are in love right now. What kind of risks do you 
take with your feelings? 
1-(Gryff) I will risk it all and let me feelings be known, even if it 
turns out they don't care about me at all.
2-(Puff)  I don't necessarily take risks, but if I am asked I will be 
honest about my feelings.
3-(Claw)  I will send a friend to find out how they feel about me 
first before I do anything.
4-(Slyth) I will do whatever it takes as long as they love me back in 
the end.

Here's another Sorting Hat: 
http://www.angelfire.com/tx5/worldofmagic/sortinghat.html#Self-Exam

Jazmyn wrote:

<< The problem I had with the 
http://hogwarts.7dragons.net/sortinghat.html sorting hat, is even 
when I picked answers randomly, it picks Slytherin all the time. I 
kinda think its either picking random and ignoring answers (and is 
stuck) or it is set up to pick Slytherin most of the time? >>

A while ago, I experimented on that Hat with what answers would lead 
to what Houses, and I managed to get Sorted into each of them, so it 
wasn't stuck then.

Melissa wrote:

<< That's my problem with it too. The questions are a bit too 
cut-and-dried. For instance: "I don't like: 1) comic books 2) 
historical nonfiction." I happen to love both, >>

And I want to answer that question: "It depends on the particular 
book". I'm not a comix fan, but when I was in high school, I loved 
reading "Luke Cage: Hero for Hire" and "The Spirit" -- my brother WAS 
a comix fan so I tried all the dozens of series he read. I AM kind of 
a history/archaeology fan, but some books on interesting topics are 
so badly written that they put me right to sleep.

<< For the person who was looking for other Hats, there's one here:   
http://onewaystreet.nu/hp/hat/  It's a very easy one to manipulate 
because each question has a Hufflepuff answer, a Gryffindor answer, 
a Ravenclaw answer, and a Slytherin answer, so I find it works best 
with people who are new to Harry Potter and don't already know where 
they'd like to be. >>

Once upon a time, Melanie Ravenclaw (where has she been the last two 
years?) had a delightful Sorting Hat, despite each question having 
one answer per House. From memory, one was, 

If you went to work at the Nimbus Broomstick Company, would you 
rather work:
1) as a test pilot for new broomsticks
2) designing new and improved broomsticks
3) in the factory
4) in sales and marketting

Another was something like, I
f you were roaming the halls of Hogwarts after lights-out, the reason 
would most probably be:
1) I had to save the world from Voldemort
2) I wanted to read a book that was in the Restricted Section
3) It was an accident -- I had lost track of time, so I was going 
right back to my House.
4) Harry Potter and his friends were out after lights-out, too!

re: Shipping

bboy_mn wrote:

<< I track the lives of my characters >>

Do you write fanfic, Steve? Am I an idiot not to know about it? Or 
are you writing Original Fiction?

Heidi wrote:

<< I think that Ron, if Fleur threw her full magic at him, might end 
up in a sexual situation without it being OOC at all. >>

I don't Fleur would have to throw more than a handful of her magic 
might at Ron to seduce him. He is a teen boy with hormones ... he 
was in danger of jumping out of the Top Box because of the dancing 
Veelas. 

Lord Cassandra wrote:

<< What are some of the strangest pairings you've seen? My top one 
has to be Lucius/Draco...yes...Lucius Malfoy and Draco Malfoy. >>

How old was Draco in the story?

<< Snape really gets around, doesn't he? >>

That's because he's so sexy! 
I was pointed once to a celebration of Severus and all possible 
pairings: http://www.sockiipress.org/~luthien/snapeff/

... I was pointed particularly to Severus/Firebolt (yes, the 
broomstick):
http://www.sockiipress.org/~luthien/snapeff/archive/whoopee.html

Anne U wrote:

<<Snape/Harry?? Ewww. Sorry. Not to mention the inappropriateness (to 
say the least) of teacher/student relationships, especially in a 
boarding school setting. >>

Some of them are set after Harry finished school, maybe even grew up. 
Not that I mind student/teacher in fiction.

<< <<Snape/Lupin. Snape/Black.>> Very realistic - NOT!! AFAIK Snape 
despises both of them, so why would he be involved with either 
romantically?? Obviously this is a fanfic fantasy. >>

A cliche plot of Muggle het romantic movies and novels is the man and 
the woman who hate each other falling into love with each other. In 
some stories, like The Shop on Main Street and You've Got Mail, they 
fall in love under secret identities. In some other stories, for some 
reason they have to go on a dangerous secret mission as a team, or 
one is gravely wounded/ill and the other one has to nurse him/her 
back to health, and the long time they are forced to spend together, 
depending on each other, gives them a chance to overcome their 
previous impressions. That could be used for a Severus/Sirius, 
Severus/Remus, or Severus/Harry plot. I personally don't like any of 
those ships, but accidentally first-drafted a Severus/Remus of that 
type.  

Besides, when I try to figure out why Severus so particularly hated 
James and Sirius and Remus (and probably Peter, but I don't have 
canon for that), some of the possibilities that spring to my mind 
involve erotic attraction. Poor Sevvie, going through pubescence, 
finding himself having very naughty thoughts about James or Sirius 
-- suffers from severe internalized homophobia, hates them for making 
him have those *bad* feelings that he wants not to have, maybe even 
thinks they did it intentionally, by putting a spell on him ... Canon 
indicates that James and Sirius were popular and attractive boys, so 
it makes sense to me that a gay classmate would fancy one or both of 
them. (By "attractive", I mean people were attracted to them, as in 
the fond tone of Rosmerta and McGonagall reminiscing about them 
(fond, not that the grown-up witches had the hots for them); however, 
I do have canon for Sirius having been handsome: the photo of him at 
James & Lily's wedding is described as a handsome boy with laughter 
in his eyes.)

<< << Snape/McGonagall. >> The least implausible of these pairings, 
IMO, though I've kind of thought McGonagall and DD might have 
something going ;-) >>

Surely not. Surely McGonagall and Hooch are a long-established and 
very faithful couple. [And I am quite convinced that Severus is 
exclusively gay in his orientation.] It sometimes seems to me that 
Dumbledore and Pomfrey might have something going on... 

<< << Snape/Hermione. >> Beyond EWWWW (see above)... Hermione doesn't 
worship authority nearly enough to be interested in Snape, much less 
for this pairing to work. >>

Surely this ship has NOTHING to do with Hermione worshipping 
authority! Hermione would have to be grown-up, because she would 
have to be the strong one of the couple, gathering up the 
pieces of heroically shattered Severus and giving him something to 
live for, something to recover for. (That's another cliche romance 
plot.)

Matilda Trelawney wrote:

<< I hate the Snape/McGonagall parings. I hated it before the 
movie came out, because it just dosen't make any sense. Severus is 
in Slytherin, Minerva is in Gryffindor. Last time I checked, 
Slytherins hated all Gryffindors, and Severus was the perfect 
example of a Slytherin stereotype. So why in the world would he 
suddenly be falling head-over-heels the perfect example of Gryffindor 
stereotype? >>

Severus isn't the *perfect* example of a Slytherin stereotype, 
because he turned against evil. 

Minerva isn't the perfect example of a Gryffindor stereotype, because 
we never see her questing or fighting or even playing Quidditch. 

Severus and Minerva have never shown any signs of hating each other. 
In fact, they seem collegial to me. When McGonagall said she couldn't 
bear to look Severus Snape in the face again if Gryffindor screwed up 
badly at Quidditch again (book 1, that is why she needs Harry as 
Seeker), that sounded more like friendly rivalry than like bitter 
emnity. Also, they seemed to be working as a team when they sent 
Lockhart off to rescue Ginny as a way to get rid of him and punish 
him for his bragging.

<< They're too far apart for anything to happen, folks! Wake up! Now 
that the movie has come out, it's just scary to read any romance with 
Minerva and Severus. Maggie Smith and Alan Rickman do not make a 
pretty couple together, one, because Minerva looks TOO OLD for him!!! 
And yet, people still insist on writing Minerva/Severus smut. It's 
just gross. >>

The movie is NOT CANON. According to JKR, Minerva doesn't look old 
like Maggie Smith. Her own picture of Minerva is in the main group's 
photo section: http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/lst 
 -- click on the second folder "Harry Potter and Me". In the folder, 
click on the fifth one, DursleysDoorstep -- it shows McGonagall, 
Dumbledore, and Hagrid all clustered around baby Harry. See her black 
hair and No Wrinkles. She looks maybe 30, for a Muggle. JKR has said 
in interviews that wizards live longer than Muggles: Dumbledore is 
150. She implied that they age slower. I have been known to post on 
the main list about at what rate do wizards age, compared to Muggles?

However, according to JKR, there IS an age difference between Severus 
and Minerva ... she has said in those interviews that Sevvie is 35 or 
26 and Minerva is a spritely 70.  McGonagall was Snape's *teacher* 
when he was a schoolboy. For this reason, I get really irritated by 
Severus/Minerva fics that have them having been students together.

re: Ceiling Wax

When I was a child and heard the song "Puff, the Magic Dragon" with 
its Alice-in-Wonderland-ish line about "shoes and ships and sealing 
wax and other magic things", I always heard it as "ceiling wax", 
which I imagined to be similar to floor wax.