Harry's hair/numbers/Dobby's pillowcase

[Kimberly]

No: HPFGUIDX 13092

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Penny & Bryce Linsenmayer <pennylin at s...> 
wrote:

> Harry's hair is black -- jet black.  It's mentioned over & over 
again in
> the stories.  His black hair and green eyes are very much a part of 
who
> he is.

If ever in doubt, remember Ginny's Valentine in CoS - "His eyes are as 
green as a fresh-pickled toad, his hair is as dark as a blackboard!
He's really divine I wish he were mine the hero who conquered the Dark 
Lord!" (from memory, but reasonably accurate).  I just love that - too 
cute!

> 
> I would not recommend relying on the coverart for physical 
descriptions
> of the characters.  After all, the US cover of PoA gives Hermione
> flaming red hair (leading me to think it was Ginny on the cover 
until
> I'd read the book).  

I thought the same thing.  Got all excited too, darnit ;)
You'd think they'd make an effort on that, as red hair is something of 
a plot point in the books.  Can't be that hard to figure out hair and 
eye color before you start drawing, can it?

 
> Speaking of black-haired males -- anyone else wondering if JKR has a
> "thing" for men with black hair?  

Yeah, I've been wondering about that as well.  She described Sirius as 
'dead sexy' in an interview.  Physically his description is fairly 
similar to that of Snape, James, Riddle, and presumably the future 
Harry, if he grows taller, so...  Of course personality has a lot to 
do with sexiness too.  Course that doesn't stop anyone from liking 
Draco - they just fix that bit ;)

=========

Re:Numbers debate - 
The debate rages in the following general way:
>Penny:"Actually, someone (sorry I can't remember who) made the very
>good point that we're getting Harry's POV of how many tables there
>are & how many people they seat.  He could just be overwhelmed when
>he makes this observation (or just inaccurate).  What GoF says in any
>case is: "there were *about* a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones,
>each seating *about* a dozen people"

>Jim: "That's very convenient. It allows any undesirable evidence to 
>be
>discounted."

>AmyZ: Yep--great technique, isn't it?  <g>

>The problem is that *something* in canon or planon has to be wrong, 
>or else there has to be a major magical explanation that hasn't been
>forthcoming yet.  So everyone has to choose something to ignore.  We
>just choose different things.

I've been reading the numbers debate this time, and it's kind of fun 
for me.  I don't have any big problem believing there are 1000 
students at Hogwarts.  I don't have any trouble believing there are 
300 or 500 either.  I can accept that there may be magic involved, 
and that I may never even learn what it is.  I guess for me, 
suspension of disbelief has never been particularly difficult where a 
good book is involved, or when my own entertainment is involved, or, 
well, a lot of the time :D
I think I took a lesson from the queen:

"There's no use trying," she said: "one can't believe impossible
things."
    "I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen.  "When 
I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day.  Why, 
sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before 
breakfast."
    - Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll

========

Dobby's pillowcase:

There *is* one thing that's confusing me at the moment though.  When 
we're first introduced to Dobby in Harry's bedroom in CoS, it says 
he's wearing a pillowcase, with arm and leg-holes cut out.  Does 
anyone else find this odd?  I can see a head hole and arm holes, and 
the open end down like a dress,but if there are arm and leg holes, all 
I can imagine is that the open end is then bunched up around his neck 
or something.  The chapter illustration used looks more like I 
imagined it, but that's an artist's interpretation.  Do you think she 
meant for it to look like a trash bag with arms and legs sticking out?  
Curious.

kimberly
Friend of the Weasleys (yeah, I'm taking Caius' title and running with 
it!)