Grim, Kiss, Muggles/Wizards, Quidditch, Cho, Florence, Vampires, Ducks, Seekers

[Amy Z]

No: HPFGUIDX 20344

Warning:  most of this post was written at 3 a.m. and is therefore prone to 
sarcasm, silliness and sheer illogic.

>2.  Did Harry see the Grim on the way back to the castle or was he
>just imagining things?

Neither.  I think he really does see Crookshanks.  I'm really surprised by 
how many listies think otherwise.  Am I being naive?  You who think it's the 
Grim, why do you?

CMC wrote:

>So how does having one's soul sucked out by a
>Dementor affect one's afterlife spiritual status?  My guess is that
>the Kiss has a most unfavorable effect on same.  I'll stick with
>Death.

It all comes down to what happens to your soul when you die.  If it departs 
from your body but lives on in some way, that's very different from what 
happens to a Kissed person, whose soul is actually devoured.  Shudder.  If 
death causes the soul to disperse (i.e. if the soul can't exist separate 
from the body) then the net effect is the same either way.  But I would 
still rather die than be Kissed, even if the death is the death of my soul 
as well.  It's hard to think of a death worse than having one's soul 
forcibly sucked out while one relives one's worst moments of life.

Robert wrote:

>Species diverge, but the point at which two branches of a species become 
>two separate species is, I
>propose, an arbitrarily drawn line.  I don't want to offend anyone,
>but I hear that it's a fact that most individual conjunctions between
>sets of human genes aren't successful.

Some taxonomic divisions are quite arbitrary, but the distinguishing line 
between species is relevant to this discussion:  creatures within the same 
species can conceive fertile offspring, whereas creatures from different 
species cannot.  (A horse and a donkey, two species, can conceive a mule, 
but the mule is sterile.)  Or is this the distinction you're questioning?  I 
don't understand your second sentence.

Anyway, this is relevant because wizards and humans do have fertile 
offspring.  Well, we assume they're fertile, since intermarriage has been 
going on a long time.  It will certainly break a lot of fanfic hearts if 
Harry can't have kids.

Jenny from Ravenclaw wrote:

>I think that wizards and witches are able to use more of their brains (or 
>parts of their brains that
>muggles can't use).  I remember Amanda Lewinski (and others, too)
>talking about how magic comes from the self, and stronger selves (or
>focus) can result in magic without a wand.

JKR has talked about magical ability as being like any other extraordinary 
ability--like being a great pianist or pitcher or painter.  In that sense, 
wizards and witches do use "a part of their brain" that Muggles don't, but 
they don't necessarily have more capabilities overall.  They have a talent 
that most people don't; so does Itzhak Perlman.  Does that fit with what 
you're saying?

David wrote:

>Apart, maybe, from the first (I'm a little hazy) I'm pretty sure there is 
>*not one* Quidditch match which does not serve some plot purpose (I exclude 
>those where Harry is not there).

I'm pretty sure you're right, with "The Quidditch Final" in PoA being the 
one account that doesn't convey any plot points except Gryffindor Wins the 
Cup.  That one gives the most detailed account of the game itself and was 
the most boring for me (even though I do like sports and don't mind 
well-written descriptions of games, especially livened by Lee).  I found it 
so thrilling and satisfying for Gryffindor to win at last that I would have 
felt cheated if JKR had put it "off-camera" ("On Saturday, Gryffindor beat 
Slytherin by just enough points to win the Quidditch Cup.  Harry was very, 
very happy.  On Sunday, he spent the entire day on his Divination 
homework"--please!).  I haven't been so happy since the Mets won the Series. 
  ::begs fellow New Englanders not to revoke her Red Sox fan 
privileges--I've repented, I swear!::

The very first game does serve a plot purpose; it's the one where Quirrell 
jinxes the broom.

Jami wrote:

>Cho saw the faux dementors before Harry. She screamed and pointed down. Was 
>that really a spontaneous reaction of
>fear? Or did she deliberately point down, hoping Harry would fall again and
>give her a clear shot at the Snitch?

Interesting question.  I am inclined to think of Cho as a consistently nice 
person, based on GF, but we don't know much about her.  Maybe she's a 
conniving creep.  Maybe she paid Malfoy et al to appear as Dementors.  The 
plot thickens!

Re: the elusive Florence as a professor:  maybe she already is.  We don't 
know the first name of Professors Possibly Female Sinistra, Vector, 
or--appropriately for a girl who hung out around the greenhouses--Sprout.  
(Florence Sprout, very botanical indeed.)

Koinonia wrote:

>Why can't JKR make up her own type of vampires?  I think that is
>the stumbling block for many people.

If Snape does turn out to be a vampire, one reason Harry would be slow on 
the uptake is that he has the same Hollywood-induced misconceptions about 
vampires as we Muggles do, e.g. that they can't go out in the daylight.  
You'd think Hermione would have caught on by now, though.  Or Ron, who would 
know about JKR-style vampires and who is inclined to believe anything bad 
about Snape.

How about this:  in JKR's universe, vampires can't lie.  That's why 
Dumbledore knows he can trust Snape, and why the reason why is a matter 
between Prof. Snape and himself . . .  This is fun!  We can make up anything 
at all!

Koinonia also wrote:

>Let's talk about Krum.  There has to be more to Krum than we know.  I
>have stated that before, as have others.  In GoF it says;  Harry had
>never seen anyone fly like that;  Krum hardly looked as though he was
>using a broomstick at all;  he moved so easily through the air that
>he looked unsupported and weightless.

>Then we are told how awkward Krum looks while walking.  Not to
>mention his swimming in that freezing lake in January.  Normal people
>can't swim in water like that.

Red flag:  Krum is actually a duck.  Terrific flyer, swims in water too cold 
for humans, and (the capper) is duck-footed.

Catherine wrote:

>One thing strikes me however - isn't it strange that 3 out of 4 champions 
>are
>seekers?

I noticed this too.  And at the Yule Ball, of the eight people who are 
champions or dates thereof, six are Quidditch players.

Amy Z

--------------------------------------------
The clock on Lupin's wall . . . had twelve
divisions, ranging from Sound Asleep to
Murderous Intent And No Human Conscience.
      -Amanita Lestrange, "Fool's Paradise"
--------------------------------------------
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