Howdy; ponderings

Sat Jan 20 03:16:31 UTC 2001

No: HPFGUIDX 9820

Hi --

Welcome Marvin (glad to see another Texan .... some people are no doubt
muttering, "Ah yeah, that's just what we need, another darn Texan on this
list")!

"Marvin Long, Jr." wrote:

> It all started around new year's...my mom had given me the first 2 HP books
> for Xmas and I was regarding them rather skeptically (oh come ON, they're
> kiddy books!) until I happened to get really sick (stomach bug) and, casting
> about for something to read, opened SS and was immediately hooked.  I
> devoured the first two books in two days and then

Sounds similar to stories alot of us have.  I read them last January -- having
bought a set of Books 1-3 in a fit of curiosity whilst buying a requested set
for a Xmas gift for my sister.  I knew they'd been dominating the NY Times
Bestseller List for ages and I just had to see what all the furor was about.
I got hooked along about Ch 2 or so of SS/PS.  And, the rest is history.  Now
look at me: scoring 88% obsessiveness level!

> * I wish JKR would offer us some sympathetic characters from Slytherin
> House.  The one-note nastines of Malfoy and company is getting old and
> unconvincing.  I've known ambitious rule-benders who were not wantonly
> cruel, and it would only make sense for somebody in Slytherin to be
> sufficiently concerned about his/her reputation to try to stop Malfoy et
> al. from giving the rest a bad name.

I hope so too.  They are supposedly the ambitious & cunning group, but so far,
all we've gotten is just plain nasty.  Lots of fanfic (notably our Cassandra
Claire's Draco Dormiens & Draco Sinister series) has built a plausible case
for Draco redemption.  I'd like to see it happen.  Or, if nothing else, at
least show us a few Slytherins that aren't just vile & despicable.

> * I suspect that one of the reasons the Dursley's haven't turned Harry into
> a total little sh*t is the strength of their counterexample.  They are such
> awfully revolting people that I imagine Harry recoils whenever he's tempted
> to behave in a way that reminds him of them.

When you have a chance, you should search through the Archives & read Peg
Kerr's series on HP and the Seven Deadly Sins (and the ongoing Seven Heavenly
Virtues).  She has some intriguing thoughts along this line as I recall.

Penny