Dementors, Peter's killing curse, macchiavellist Slytherins, Snape DE

[pigwidgeon37 at yahoo.it]

No: HPFGUIDX 22572

Elizabeth wrote:
<I have always held the belief that if the Dementors ever came across 
<Voldemort that they would be under orders to administer the Kiss to 
<him.

Sorry, but I really don't buy that. The Dementors, and I think this 
is somewhere in the books (which are all in my packed suitcase, so I 
can't look it up) are loyal only to themselves and their appetite. 
*If* there was the slightest hope of their administering the Kiss to 
Voldemort as soon as they got near him, why is Dumbledore so anxious 
that they will return to be V.'s allies after his comeback?


Marie Antoinette wrote:
<He worked for Voldemort.  He probably used a Killing Curse.  Come 
<on, he has to more powerful than we think he is...that's the reason 
<they used *him* as the Secret-Keeper.  They *thought* he was weak.  
<He obviously isn't as weak and puny as we thought. 

During the first school week of GoF, there is the incident with 
Malfoy, who throws a curse at Harry (and subsequently gets turned nto 
a ferret). Harry has his back turned to Malfoy and just 
feels "something white hot grazing his cheek", because Malfoy misses 
him. (nitpicking: why didn't this curse hit any of the other students 
standing round them, as the entrance hall was packed with students?) 
Now, imagine Peter standing there, facing Sirius who stands some 30m 
away from him, holding his wand behind his back (we know that from 
PoA). You can't aim very carefully in this situation. So Peter did as 
well as he could, aiming more or less at Sirius, the wand (I think 
this is logical, because otherwise the curse would have gone up 
somewhere towards the sky) pointing downwards, and pronounced Avada 
Kedavra. What happened? The curse went in the direction of the person 
it was aimed at, but as the wand was pointing downwards, the curse, 
instead of crossing the air and hitting Sirius, went straight into 
the asphalt, hit a gas pipe, and, being hot, made it explode. Big 
damage for the 13 Muggles who died, none for Sirius who obviously was 
far enough away. I think that's why Sirius laughed and everybody took 
him for a lunatic: It was a hysteric laugh of despair at the 
absurdity of the situation. The first time this little twit of a 
wizard had succeeded in doing a powerful curse by himself, he had 
bungled it all, killing everybody around but for the person he 
*wanted* to kill, but nevertheless obtained the result he desired: 
Sirius wasn't dead, but put into Azkaban without trial and Peter was 
believed dead, would be remebered as a hero and could even hide from 
the remaining DEs.


Meg Rose wrote:
<I don't think that Gryffindor is favored, but the book DOES take 
<Harry's Point of view and the Gryffindors is what he knows best.  
<Think about it - members of different houses don't even know where 
<the other common rooms are, let alone what goes on in their areas...

Does anybody have thoughts on *why* students of different houses are 
kept so strictly separated? It doesn't exactly help to develop a 
Hogwarts- identity, more of a Hufflepuff-, Gryffindor-etc.identity. 
Why would anybody want this? It prevents students from making house-
crossing friendships and favours the development of prejudice against 
other houses.


prefectmarcus wrote:
<So please don't get caught up in the House versus House arguments.  
<JKR really isn't.  I take my clue from McGonagall.  "Each house has 
<its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and 
<wizards."  (HP1 CH7)

you certainly have a point there, but if you keep to canon it's 
difficult not to get involved.
And I think it's not so much "house against house" than "founders of 
Hogwarts vs. founders of Hogwarts". It was the schism (or is it 
schisma in English, sorry) between Slytherin and the rest of them 
that once and for all determined the 3 vs 1 situation. Salazar 
Slytherin doesn't strike me as an outstanding example of a "good" 
wizard: Otherwise JKR wouldn't have named him after a portuguese 
dictator. Neither is putting a basilisk into the Chamber of Secrets 
the charactersistic of a "good" wizard. The fact that 
Riddle/Voldemort is his true heir doesn't make me think any better of 
him.
This rings another bell in my head: Before the sorting in PS/SS, 
there is one verse in the hat's song that says that Slytherins "will 
use any means to achieve their ends". Think of Tom Riddle: It is 
understandable that he didn't want to go back t the orphanage, but in 
order to achieve this, he destroyed the life of a fellow student. 
This touch of macchiavellism without any scruples certainly is a main 
characteristic of the Slytherins and I can't think of any argument to 
defend it. Ambition and determination are not bad *per se*, but 
achieving your aim over the dead bodies of others *is*.


Rita wrote:
<I image Snape as being the only person who joined the Death Eaters 
<by accident... 

Did I miss something? What do you mean by "accident"??????

Susanna