Chapter 18-20 Summary // Snapefans // Ms. Miss // Diseases

[Rita Winston]

No: HPFGUIDX 21850

CHAPTER SUMMARY QUESTIONS

It's terrible stereotyping (by JKR) to think that Peter must have been
either evil or no-account just because his animal form was a rat. Muggle
rats are extremely intelligent animals, brave fighters, affectionate
pets (except, of course, for New York City subway rats, who have lank,
greasy black fur worse than bad Snape, fiery glowing red eyes like
Voldermort's, and very long yellow fangs with venom dripping down them).
It's not like he turned into a COCKROACH.

Question 1: Do you think it was all right that Lupin didn't tell
Dumbledore about Sirius?

Of course not, especially as Remus still believed that Sirius was a
vicious murderer, but it's a good thing he DIDN'T tell Dumbledore, or
Dumbledore would have told Fudge (as Dumbledore also believed Sirius
guilty) and then the Dementors would have 'accidentally' kissed Sirius,
and then the fact of his innocence would never have been revealed. [Oh,
that is much what Susan Hall already said.]

I have this feeling that Remus didn't so much have a reason to not tell
Dumbledore, as a psychological block that kept preventing him from
telling even when he intended to. I imagine that the reason for that
psychological block was that all the memories were so painful that he
could hardly bear to think about them, let alone speak. 

Question 5: 5. When Sirius told them about the night when James and Lily
died, he had tears in his eyes.

Helen Heymynameisabird wrote:
<<< The bit that really tugged on my heartstrings was "You should have
died. 
Died rather than betray your friends, as we would have done for you."
>>>

That line always bothers me, in the sense of irritating me. I feel like
not even Sirius has the right to make sweeping statements about how
heroic he would have been IF...  It's like bragging, okay?

Question 10: Did you feel any kind of sympathy for Pettigrew?

Suzanne Pigwidgeon wrote:
<<< IMHO, Sirius' explanation for Peter's behaviour is psychologically
much more consistent and satisfying: Peter always needs to be under the
protection of "the biggest bully in the playground". It's not even
ambition that drives him to tell V. where the Potters are hiding, he's
an opportunist and a coward who just wants to be the pet of the most
powerful person around. Had he thought that Dumbledore would win, he
would doubtlessly have kept the secret. >>> 

Helen Heymynameisabird wrote:
<<< Yes, definately. Some Death Eaters seem to be what they are because
they 
enjoy the power and the killing. Peter, to me at least, doesn't seem
that 
way. He seems to be a Death Eater because he couldn't quite work out how
to 
be anything else. I think he killed Lily and James because he saw it as
his 
only option, because he was too scared to do anything else. I feel very 
sorry for someone who is that scared by his life. >>>

Devika wrote:
<<< I can't even begin to comprehend how he could have betrayed some of
the best friends he ever had. I wonder what happened to make Peter
decide to join the Death Eaters.  I mean, I doubt that he just woke up
one morning and said, "I think I'm going to be a spy for Voldemort and
betray all of my friends."  I don't think he was evil to begin with, and
I'm really curious to know what caused him to make the transition
between friend and enemy. >>>

I vote with Helen and Devika. I don't believe that James, Sirius, and
Remus would have been such close friends with, and so trusting of, Peter
if he had only using them to protect him because of their strength. He
must have had a heart, and some potential for Gryffindor courage, in his
youth. [Oh, Hui and Hannah already said much the same thing.] 

AMY IS AS WITTY AS NEIL
Amy Z wrote:
<<< Snapefans, you dear, dear people are uniformly ill. >>>

JERRY IS WITTY TOO 
<<< Simple Simon speculated,
making up a rhyme.
"Whoops" said he,
"I clearly see..
It's the end of my lunch time!">>>
LOL

FRAULEIN PROFESSOR DOKTOR  
Betty Landers wrote:
<<< what makes someone go by a certain title?  Yes, Mrs. means you're
married, but what about the rest? >>>

The title "Ms." means that a woman is being formally addressed by
someone who doesn't know whether she's a married woman who took her
husband's name (Mrs.), a married woman who kept her own name (Miss), or
a single woman (Miss). The wizarding folk appear not to say "Ms."
instead they seem to say Madam as a title of respect for a woman when
they don't really know her marital status. When they say Madam
First-Name, like Madam Malkin and Madam Rosmerta, that is less
respectful or more intimate than Madam Last-Name, like the old custom of
"Miss Lillian" for Jimmy Carter's mother.

If calling the woman Madam is a sign of respect, what does it mean that
Professor Trelawney is called "Miss"?

DISEASESS
Lou Featherwand wrote:
<<< Do magic people get muggle diseases? What interests me the most
would be something like AIDS, or even just STD's in general- we know
that muggles & wizards & witches do have relationships & wouldn't the
HIV virus have spread to the magic world by now? Because all it takes is
one infected person,etc. Also, if it had spread to the magical world,
maybe the magical world would have a cure for it and they wouldn't be so
horrible as to not share the cure with the muggle world,especially if
the MoM knew how it has devastated the muggle world- or would they? So
this brings me to think that maybe magical people are immune to muggle
disease or that they just don't do introvenous drugs. Also, what about
the Third World? Is there a magic equivelent? >>>

The pair of African wizards glimpsed at the Quidditch World Cup and the
mention in Quidditch Through the Ages of African teams give the
impression that the wizarding folk in Africa are just as prosperous as
the ones in Britain. Quidditch is a *damned* expensive game, depending
on fancy racing broomsticks. Not like soccer.

If the wizarding folk had a cure for AIDS, MoM still wouldn't share it
with Muggle, and would enforce anti-Muggle Secrecy laws against any
wizard who tried to. They claim that the reason to keep magic secret is
lest Muggles pester them for help, but the real reason is desperate fear
of persecution by Muggles -- QTA documents secrecy laws for the purpose
of hiding from persecution, emigration to America in hope that there
would be less persecution there, etc.

I think intravenous drugs are too high-tech for the wizarding folk. I
believe that their recreational drugs, as well as their medicinal ones,
are drunk, smoked, or rubbed on rather than injected.  

Wizarding folk are not immune to Muggle diseases. Remember, they caught
colds and were cured by Pepper-Up Potion? I wonder if the superiority of
magical cures is the major reason why the wizarding folk live twice as
long as Muggles. However, if medical magic is so great, why don't they
have weight-loss spells, for Molly Weasley and for Moaning Myrtle back
when she was alive?

I don't think they have a magical cure for AIDS, but I think they
successfully avoid catching any STDs by use of protective Charms that
are 100% effective and less interfering than condoms. Also 100%
effective contraceptive Charms and 100% effective fertility magic. Those
were the first kind of magic spells that humans ever researched! 
 
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