Teachers - Godparents/Relatives - Religion

[Sarah Waggott]

No: HPFGUIDX 17042

Hello!

Just thought I'd throw my 2 Knuts into the melting pot with reference 
to some ideas I've read in the past hour. I know I've been a member 
for a while, but I haven't yet got the hang of replying to multiple 
posts in one, so if you see something here that's your idea, please 
take the credit for it as it won't be mentioned, sorry :). If that 
made any sense to anyone, then I know we're dealing with genii 
(geniuses? Don't do Latin).

Teachers: Lots of people have said Snape is a bad teacher, Snape 
isn't a teacher, Snape is a good teacher...I must first state that at 
the most basic meaning of the word, Snape *is* a teacher. He teaches 
people, therefore he is a teacher. We may not like or agree with his 
style but he gets the job done (Polyjuice Potion though mentioned 
numerous times is undoubtedly the best example). Something I don't 
think anyone has pointed out yet (sorry if you have!) is that 
students react differently to their teachers as they move up through 
school. When I was 11, I was scared of all my teachers and barely 
spoke to them, now, 5 years on, I am less worried about speaking my 
mind to teachers. In fact, we have some pretty good debates in our 
English class and our teacher is one annoying man! But I am rapidly 
running off on a tangent. Getting back on track and tying in with the 
Harry's pov thing, is it possible that his relationship with the 
teachers will change in the next 3 years? I think this is probable, 
in which case our perceptions of them will also change. The exception 
to this is going to be Snape, if Harry views him in a different 
light, it will be because of events at the end of GoF etc. rather 
than a developing relationship with the Potions Master. I don't think 
anyone has been through this sort of thing with Snape, he keeps 
himself very much to himself, methinks.

Godparents: The religious perspective to this (Catholic perspective 
anyway, not sure about others) is that the Godparents will continue 
to educate the child in matters concerning religion should anything 
happen to the parents. Sometimes they agree to take full 
responsibility for the children but this is not always the case. 
Godparents also support the parents. I don't know about the number of 
Godparents, I have two, one of each sex. Some of my friends have only 
one, some have four or five. I'm not sure if this is relevant though. 
I wonder if we delve a little too deeply into matters sometimes. Not 
wanting to get anyone's back up (*please* don't be offended) but this 
book is primarily aimed at children and Godparent is a word most of 
us are familiar with as someone similar to a guardian. I personally 
feel that this is quite a nifty plot device; Sirius is a nice father 
figure for Harry to look up to and discuss things with. Mr Weasley 
could have been used, but it would be difficult to discuss friendship 
matters with the friend's dad. I think he will still be influential 
to Harry though, as he is a very good man. 

Relatives: If James Potter was an only child, Harry would have few 
relatives on his father's side (this has been said before, I know) 
unless we look into cousins, second cousins etc. I think perhaps the 
Dursleys are Harry's *closest* relatives (in blood-ties not terms of 
distance I mean!) and they have the added bonus of living close to 
Mrs Figg which provides protection.

Religion: I'm not at all sure how this would fit in as in my mind, 
firm followers of faiths would stick to their religion. I know there 
is a tendency to *dabble* in different religions today, but I don't 
really see where witches and wizards fit in any religion I have 
studied so far. IMHO, I don't think religion is involved, it is 
possible to live by morals rather than religion and I think the 
good/evil message fits into any faith and gives a more universal 
appeal to the books (as if they need it!).

I hope I didn't offend anyone in my rambling post which is I think 
twice the length of anything I have written before. These are just a 
few thoughts, not fully formed opinions and I am very happy for other 
people to disagree with/add something to them. I think it makes 
sense, sorry if it doesn't, my mind is a little full of Literature 
revision today! I have edited a few times, sorry if I missed out any 
mistakes :).

Sarah, stepping tentatively back into the shadows for a while.