First post....

[tillrules at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 24781

So be gentle.  :)

After two days of reading everybody's insights I decided to give my takes on 
a couple of the subjects being discussed.

1)  Voldemort's bragging and "stupidity":  This, to me, is JKRs way of 
keeping the sides even.  She needs to allow Harry to stay even with a 
creature that is more powerful and skilled than he is. They cannot be equal 
yet, else the concept of Harry growing as a wizard (a natural theme in a book 
about shcooling) is sort of moot.  He needs to be growing towards the final 
even fight with Voldemort.  hence, JKR has to make Voldemort make mistakes on 
occasion to keep the battles even since if he was perfect, Harry'd have been 
dead in Book I.

2)  On sex:  Personally, I find myself uncomfortable with the thought of an 
on screen depiction of sex between the characters.  I've read a couple of fan 
fics which seemed lead that way, but personally, I like the emphasis on the 
romantic nature of the relations of the characters rather than an emphasis on 
the eventual results.  To be honest (having been a 14 year old boy once) I'm 
pretty sure a large part of Harry's thoughts about Cho (in a real world 
setting) or any of the girls, including Hermione, would be sexual.  I prefer 
that JKR keeps the emphasis on romantic attraction rather than sexual, even 
though that is implicit in the attractions.

3)   Favorite "detail" :  Harry thinking he could form the worlds biggest 
patronus after they win the Quidditch cup.  I loved the use of a major 
plotline in the book (Harry's ability or lack thereof to form a proper 
patronus) in a setting where it's not expected.

4)  Mrs. Figg:  I'm guessing that she's a peer of Dumbledorr, not Sirius & 
Lupin from an age perspective.  My reading of "the old gang" is that it seems 
to relate to a group which opposed Voldemort together, not simply the school 
peers of James & Lily Potter.  Also doesn't Mr. Weasely (who, we can presume 
is a few years older than James & Lily, since he & Mrs. W also met at 
Hogwarts and have a son several years older than Harry) refer to Mundungus 
Fletcher, another member of the "old gang" as being "old" when he mentions 
him?