Horrid Lockhart - Mrs. Figg - Cho's Name - Summoning Spells

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

No: HPFGUIDX 24496

Eric Oppen  wrote:

> You know, it occurs to me that if Lockhart had been even more 
> ruthless than he was, he could have used his charisma for even 
> worse things than he did. Just imagine how many students he could 
> have seduced, if he had been inclined to do so.

I have always felt that Lockhart had no interest in sex, not even 
the mere physical sensations, because *ALL* his energies and 
interests were so focussed on admiring himself -- so much 'himself' 
that he wouldn't bother to have sex with anyone else, and so much 
'admiring' that he would just gaze ecstatically at himself rather 
than touching.

It is also arguable whether seducing a student would have been worse 
than trying to kill a student, or trying to Memory Charm students.

Bente wrote:

> If [Mrs] Figg is a Squib, though, how was she supposed to be able 
> to protect Harry?

It could be that it was the 'ancient magic' invoked by 
Dumbledore that *protected* Harry, and Mrs Figg was posted there 
by Dumbledore only to keep watch on him, and report back to 
Dumbledore. How much did Dumbledore know about the Dursleys trying 
to keep Harry from magic when he sent Hagrid to fetch Harry? 

> And if she's a member of Dumbledore's 'old crowd',

Maybe we jumped too fast to conclude that Mrs Figg is Arabella -- 
maybe Arabella Figg is her daughter, maybe the same age as 
Sirius and Remus rather than the same age as Mundungus.

Little Alex wrote:

> So, how *did* they translate Cho Chang? 

In message number 21025, Cai Hui (where has she gone?!) wrote: 
"OTOH, "Cho" could be a Chinese name as well. It could mean "autumn"
(the chinese translator thought so), which is a plausible enough name 
for a Chinese girl. Or it could mean "surpass," which is kind of 
boyish, but not so bad either."  

In message number 21033, she wrote:
"There're at least two possibilites for the surname "Chang." One of 
them came from a place name (snip) The other is even more interesting. 
It is formed by two different characters which combined means "a long 
bow"."

Amy Z wrote:
> I love the image of scuba equipment soaring over hill and dale.
> I wonder about locks and such. (snip)
> Closed doors, I'm confident, don't stop a Summoned object.  The 
> Firebolt probably had to get through several (snip) I wonder if 
> the doors swing open and shut again, or does the object just sail 
> right through them . . . ?

I wonder whether the aqualung WOULD have levitated across Muggle 
territory, or do objects that were Summoned over a long distance kind 
of go 'between' like I imagine post owls do? If yes, closed doors 
wouldn't matter. If no, maybe Harry carefully left the window of 
his dorm room open so that the Firebolt could fly out through the 
window and avoid all those closed door.

Love,
   Catlady, who expects to post every 2 or 3 hours today, and would 
feel STIFLED by a one post a day or two post a day rule.