Draco sympathizing? - Grounds - Surprises

[Amy Z]

No: HPFGUIDX 23863

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Margaret Dean <margdean at e...> wrote:
 
> That would also line up very well with the one time I ever
> detected a flash of real sympathy toward Harry in Draco.  Now,
> this may be just my weird take on the matter; I know that most
> people feel that when Draco tells Harry (who doesn't know what
> the heck he's talking about, at that point), "If it were me, I'd
> want revenge!" he's just trying to egg Harry on to do something
> dangerous (go after Sirius Black).  But somehow I read that line
> as Draco being, for once, perfectly sincere.  If it were him --
> if someone had betrayed his parents to their deaths -- he would
> want revenge.  And if Harry felt the same way, Draco would
> perfectly understand in a way that Hermione and even Ron might
> not.

This is a neat interpretation, one I hadn't thought of at all (I 
thought he was not only egging him on to do something dangerous, but 
getting a nasty kick out of knowing something about Harry's family 
that Harry himself doesn't know).  So I just went back and re-read the 
passage, and it almost all fits, but the line I can't square with your 
interpretation is the "mean smile."  Why a mean smile?  

Another thing that came out of the re-reading was the thought that 
Draco *doesn't* know that Harry doesn't know the story, even at the 
end of the conversation.  Harry says "what are you talking about?" but 
Draco assumes that he's just pretending not to know out of cowardice.

I always think it's interesting that Draco knows this story and Ron 
doesn't.  Arthur knows it (that's why he's worried Harry will go 
looking for SB), yet he didn't share that piece of the story with his 
kids.  

Steve wrote:

>Or maybe I can figure out a way to convince myself that the forest 
encircles the lawns and is on BOTH
> sides of the castle...

That's what I've assumed.  I figure the forest surrounds the castle 
for 180 degrees, maybe more.  My internal maps tend to be illogical 
and inconsistent, but I don't think there's anything in canon that 
contradicts this bit.

Rita:

> I suppose I'm just
> being American to think that if the students have to cross the 
railway
> track for their Hogsmeade outings, that breakfast of each outing day
> (and dinner of the night before) would include an announcement from
> someone at the Head Table to be careful when crossing the track.

Or, alternatively, dinner of each outing day would include a moment of 
silence in memory of whoever got squashed that day.

Maybe there's a pedestrian bridge over the tracks.

Add to questions-to-ask-JKR:  not specific what's where questions, but 
just, "Have you drawn a map of the Hogwarts grounds?"  The lake/cliffs 
question has me stumped.

I thought of another thing that surprised me completely: Scabbers's 
true identity.  And Ginny's role in CoS.  I may as well face it, 
everything surprises me.

Amy Z

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   "What's this?" he asked Aunt Petunia.  Her lips tightened
 as they always did if he dared to ask a question.
   "Your new school uniform," she said.
   Harry looked in the bowl again.
   "Oh," he said, "I didn't realize it had to be so wet."
                           -HP and the Philosopher's Stone 
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