US/UK - Draco - Snape - Kneazles

Amy Z aiz24 at hotmail.com
Thu Apr 12 01:27:42 UTC 2001


No: HPFGUIDX 16458

Doreen wrote:

>When it was *thought* that 'the American Editors' were the ones at 
>fault, it was ok to call them idiots and to make disparaging remarks 
>about them. Now, that it is clear that it was not the American 
>editors, but rather, JKR, herself, I wonder if she will be called an 
>idiot and be criticized as harshly? 

I didn't originate the subject line about idiot editors, but I, ah, 
did call Arthur Levine a disingenuous jerk.  My apologies to Mr.
Levine and my thanks to Doreen--you are right; I shouldn't call anyone 
a jerk.

When I feel the need to criticize editors and/or JKR, I will strive to 
do so with gentleness and without name-calling.

Melinda wrote:

>Would US children have enjoyed the books as 
>much from the start if they had had to puzzle out many unfamiliar 
>words even as they were struggling to read in the first place.  

We all speak from our own experience, so all I can say is that this 
process gave me great pleasure as a child.  I clearly recall sorting 
out how Edmund could have a "torch" in his pocket in Prince Caspian 
(what we in the US would call a flashlight).  Perhaps there are others 
onlist, and I'm sure there are children out there, who would have 
found these disparities confusing and off-putting; I found them 
fascinating.  And still do, as you may have noticed . . . 

Heidi wrote:

>"does Draco have any idea of how 
>bad an insult the term "Mudblood" is?" In other words, in his realm 
>of understanding, is it somewhere on the continuum closer 
>to "jerk", "b*tch", or the word that begins with an N and rhymes with 
>trigger? What level of insult did he think he was throwing at her? 

It's not just the Hermione comment.  It's also "Enemies of the Heir, 
beware!  You'll be next, Mudbloods!"  He isn't just calling names; he 
is threatening people with death.

"But I know one thing:  last time the Chamber was opened, a Mudblood 
=died.=  So I bet it's a matter of time before one of them's killed 
this time...I hope it's Granger," he said with relish.  (CoS 12)  (See 
also the Potions class in CoS 15.)

I think you can argue either that Draco's a hothouse flower or that 
he's fully aware of Lucius's world and is a secret dissenter from it 
(hence the above statement to "Crabbe" and "Goyle" is an act), but I 
can't see how one can argue both.  The two theories are on a collision 
course.  How can you square the remark to "C&G" with his being 
ignorant of the racism behind his words?  

>4. Professor Snape seems to trust him. In book 4, Snape accepts 
>Malfoy's statement about what happened when he & harry were trying to 
>curse each other.

This is not the best example for convincing people to trust Snape's 
judgment of Draco.  Draco is lying in this incident, and Snape's 
handling of it is completely unfair.  He sends Goyle to the hospital 
wing and insults Hermione; Harry and Ron get detention but Draco 
doesn't.

All in all, I think (and hope) Draco may be redeemed, but it's a long 
uphill road to that point, IMO.

Amanda wrote:

>I think
>that Snape might indeed be interested [in the DADA position], but 
Dumbledore has asked him not
>to apply. The reason most people have given for this scenario is that
>Snape would be tempted back to the Dark Side, but I had suggested 
also
>that keeping Snape from the DADA position might be for his own 
protection.

Another common theory:  Snape may be one of the best Potions 
brewers/professors in the world (Lupin implies as much, PoA ch. 8) and 
he is as hard to replace in that capacity as the DADA position is hard 
to fill.

Heidi wrote: 

>2. Kneazles have lion-like tails - FB p. 24. 
>3. Crookshanks has a bottle brush tail - - PoA (don't have a page 
>ref).

As veep of the League of Obsessed Nitpickers, I must agree with your 
point (there's plenty of textual evidence hinting that Crookshanks 
might be part Kneazle) but point out that the above is not evidence 
but counterevidence.  A lion's tail and a bottle-brush are very 
different shapes.  A bottle-brush is the shape of the tail of an angry 
cat.  A lion's tail is long with very short hair until the end, which 
looks like an artist's brush.

Amy Z

--------------------------------------------------------
   "Ha, ha, ha," said Hermione sarcastically.  "Goblins 
 don't need protection.  Haven't you been listening to 
 what Professor Binns has been telling us about goblin 
 rebellions?"
   "No," said Harry and Ron together.
                          -HP and the Goblet of Fire 
--------------------------------------------------------





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