Cop-out, Harry's death, the foundering ship S/L, Minerva's bra, V

[Tabouli]

No: HPFGUIDX 25047

Daniel:
> Saying this is a cop-out is silly. This is magic we're talking about here.
Animagus transformations are very difficult, and require a heck of a lot of
practice. If a wizard can turn a mouse into a snuffbox, I don't see why it's
so difficult to believe they can learn to transform their robes with
themselves. Really, I think that early animagi would've made a point of
developing that particular ability.

Silly?  Huh!  I (being the origin of this thread) don't think it's silly at all!  :-)  For a start, animagus transformation must by definition come under the "but it's magic" clause in *any* series, and various other authors *have* dealt with the clothes and objects issue instead of conveniently ignoring it.  For another thing, OK, animagus transformation is very difficult, but so, no doubt, was the initial discovery and brewing of Polyjuice Potion.  Wouldn't early potion peddlers have developed a potion which changes the wizard's clothes to fit as well as the body, hence avoiding the problems Ron and Harry had when they had to steal bigger robes and Crabbe & Goyle's shoes (btw, didn't Malfoy and co get suspicious after this incident?)??

Admittedly Polyjuice is physically ingested, not holistically wand-waved, but hey, it's Magic after all...

The people who reminded me about the spectacle patterns on Rita and McGonagall had a point, though.  However, given that it's *just spectacles* that seem to have this property, I suspect this may point to something else.  Once upon a time people were wondering why so many wizards need eyesight correction when they can regrow the bones of an entire arm overnight... could it be that there's more to wizard glasses than meets the eye...?

Penny:
> My opinion that Harry won't die also comes from my gut (a friend who 
> is quite well versed in the classics argues that the ending chapter 
> may very well be "The Man Who Died".

Errgggh!  Actually, I can in some ways see the beautiful irony of this, but I'm willing to lay bets that if JKR *did* call the last chapter "The Man Who Died", she would be playing games with us, trying to make us think it's Harry when it would in fact be someone else...

Barb:
> As for Trelawney's prediction of either Harry or Ron dying before the 
others at the table...I think folks are losing sight of the 
possibility that just because one of them dies, doesn't mean they 
will stay dead.

Huh?  Don't think I quite got this, but one thing I think we'll be seeing at some point is some significant characters dying and becoming ghosts.  Oog, I can just see the ghost of Lupin floating about advising Harry.  It'd be terribly useful, in a horrible sort of way.

Diane:
>> I still believe the reason that Black and Snape dislike each other 
>> has/had to do with a woman.  Whether that is Mrs. Figg (Polyjuice or 
>> other potion)I don't know. Surely this woman chose Snape over 
>> Black  :-) 
> Or maybe she chose neither...what if she was Lily?

Ahaaa!  Yes!  A fellow investor in the Snape/Lily ship building project that never left Snape's drawing board!  Vampire schmampire, there's one absolutely obvious factor which JKR *hasn't* yet exploited much that generates the sort of hatred Snape seems to have for Harry, and that is sexual jealousy.  I can just see the greasy teenage Snape brewing up experimental love potions in a cupboard somewhere, desperate to sway her away from James the smart alec Quidditch star class clown.  I vote James, though, not Sirius... imagine how Snape would have felt laying eyes on Harry for the first time in PS/SS and seeing not only Harry's striking resemblance to his father, Snape's arch-rival in love, but to add insult to injury, Lily's eyes gazing out of the face of the boy she died for...

John Walton/Crazy Ivan:
> You get to join the HPFGU-Moderators group and participate in all of the
HPFGU policy-making discussions.  In addition, this group frequently has
other exciting discussions, such as a current exciting thread on Minerva
McGonagall's bra size.<

I always pictured Minerva as quite tall, somewhat gaunt and deceptively forbidding in appearance, with an ample bust (C-D cup?), but one severely buttressed and corsetted into line...

Caius:
> AUTHOR'S NOTE: Lord Voldemort has reviewed his Evil Overlord 
performance evals (recently posted on HP4GU), and below outlines some 
of the changes he is planning to make for the 1995-96 fiscal year. 
But pending the release of Volume Five, he has little choice for now 
but to endure the jibes of his principal antagonist with "Patience."<

Hey, did I miss the big V's Evil Overlord performance evaluation on OT?  Ssss.  I find the end of GoF Voldemort almost cartoonish.  Wouldn't the whole snake-man image kind of scare off some of his shallower followers?  Does love of evil conquer all, even serpent-red eyes and a skeletal frame in spider-white??

Tabouli.



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