L.O.O.N.: Green and Red -- Harry's blood status -- Animagi -- Evil female

[caliburncy at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 30494

Hello all,

<ahem> I have several L.O.O.N. (League of Obsessive Nitpickers) 
notices that require distribution.  Pleas bear with me and pretend to 
look enthralled.

No, no, I want more feeling than that!

C'mon!  Punch it up a little!  Where's the enthusiasm?  Show me 
tantalization!  I want edge-of-your-seats, noses-squashed-flat-
against-the-monitor thrill!  Make me BELIEVE!

<feels the piercing heat of a thousand eyes all trained on him in 
fear and wonder>  Umm, yes . . . where was I?

Oh, yes, L.O.O.N. notices.  Right.

***

First, credit where it's due:

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., John Walton <john at w...> wrote:
> Someone (I think it was Luke) did an excellent analysis of the
> Colour Green way back in the archives.

Sadly, this was not me--though I wish it was, because it's a very 
impressive list.  It was Ben Jones (buedefixe at netzero.com) and I 
highly recommend that all of those persons whom are currently green-
spotting or red-spotting check it out, because it probably already 
includes whatever you've found:

Message #23407 has all the instances of green (at the bottom)
Message #23435 has all the instances of red (also at the bottom)

So rather than reinventing the wheel, this will save us some effort, 
and we can focus instead on adding any instances he may have missed.  
Or, even better, speculating on the pattern that appears to have 
developed and what significance it may hold.

***

Second, Harry's blood status:

I've never fully understood why this seems to be a source of so much 
confusion--though I have noticed that there are some HP fandom sites 
(not the Lexicon) that misrepresent this information, so perhaps 
that's why.

As Penny and Philip Nel have pointed out, canon indicates very 
strongly that Harry is considered a half-blood by whatever standard 
the Wizarding World uses.

I would not be repeating this except for the fact that some people 
seem to still be confused, so I think we should bring out the 
relevant canon quotes:

COS, Chap. 17, The Heir of Slytherin
   [Tom Riddle to Harry]
   "There are strange likenesses between us, after all.  Even you must
   have noticed.  Both half-bloods[...]"

Joshua Dyal points out that this comment may not be totally reliable, 
what with the future Lord Voldemort being the bastion of truth that 
he is.  (After all, cold-blooded murder is one thing, but a fib or 
over-generalization?  No, that's certainly where The Dark Lord draws 
the line.)  There is a certain logic to this, because we do have 
precedent in the Potterverse for statements that are false going 
unchecked in canon.  For example, JKR confirmed in an AOL chat that 
when Riddle said Hagrid was raising werewolf cubs under the bed, this 
was a lie--pure slander.

But we also have:

GOF, Chap. 24, Rita Skeeter's Scoop
   [Hagrid to Harry]
   "I'd love yeh ter win, I really would.  It'd show 'em all . . .
   yeh don' have teh be pureblood ter do it."

So unless Hagrid is also either lying or somehow misunderstands the 
criteria for 'blood status' (both of which seem highly unlikely), 
then we know Harry is not concerned a pureblood just because both of 
his parents are wizards.

And this then gives additional creedence to Tom Riddle's statement in 
COS.

Since there is no conflicting evidence and one piece of consistent 
(though not strictly corroboratory) evidence, I recommend we take 
Riddle's statement at face value and assume Harry is a half-blood.

We can then assume that the criteria for half-blood status is not 
based on immediate parentage, but overall genealogy (as seems 
logical, IMHO).  Exactly what standard the Wizarding World uses (one-
drop, four/eight generations, etc.) is unknown and perhaps not 
consistent.

***

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Cindy C." <cindysphynx at h...> wrote:
> [A post discussing possible factors in animagus form]
> Choice must play a role (contrary to what I said last week 
> <vbg>) because Krum apparently chooses shark (not crab or guppie), 
> which he needs to be in the second task.

While choice may play a role in the determination of animagus form 
(although the chat comments from JKR indicate otherwise), Krum's 
transformation into a shark is not an example of this.  Krum-as-shark 
is an example of (human-to-)animal transfiguration, not the animagus 
spell specifically--the difference being that animal transfiguration 
is a one-time-only deal that must be recast each time a 
transfiguration is desired, whereas the animagus form is a permanent 
affectation that can be assumed either at will or perhaps with a 
simple magical catalyst (wand, incantation, etc.) after the initial 
spell has been cast.  There are other apparent differences between 
animal transfiguration and the animagus form that have been debated 
on list, mostly using evidence from FBAWTFT, I believe.  Choice is 
clearly a factor in animal transfiguration, but probably is not for 
the animagus form based on what JKR has said.

***

Regarding the Evil Female Character and the Excised Character in GOF:

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Jenny Downs" <jennydowns at h...> wrote:
> I read a JKR interview a few months ago and she was asked about the 
> evil female character. Apparently she was originally in GoF but JKR 
> had to cut her out for some reason-maybe it had some thing to do 
> with the gaping hole she discovered in the plot, or maybe the evil 
> female made the book too long... 

Are you certain these are one and the same?  I have seen interviews 
in which JKR has discussed the character she had to take out from GOF 
(it was a Weasley cousin, BTW), but I don't remember any implications 
that this was also the evil female character JKR had previously 
referred to.  Do you think you could seek out a link?  Because if I 
have missed an article then I would love to see it!

It's quite possible, I suppose, since part of the role of the Weasley 
cousin plot-wise was apparently subsumed into the (previously 
existing, but then expanded) role of Rita Skeeter, who many consider 
to be the evil female character to whom JKR referred.  Equally 
likely, of course, is the Death Eater woman shown on trial in the 
Pensieve that many members guess is Mrs. Lestrange.

-Luke