Magic quill, Cho, Wandless, LM, SB, GL, DM, Pivotal

[Amy Z]

No: HPFGUIDX 21093

a.k.a. "a post with so many subjects that a subject heading is all but 
pointless"...and I only went away for 36 hours!  What will happen at the end 
of the month when I've been away for 10 days?  <shudder>

Ebony wrote:

>Crookshanksgate

ROFL!  Now, that sounds to me like a slightly pro-Ron way to term it.  Don't 
you mean "Scabbersgate"?  <g>

Rita asked:

>if Divination is such an imprecise science, how does the quill know
>which kids are going to start school early or skip a grade?

Maybe it doesn't?  Hogwarts doesn't care what grade you're in when you get 
your letter.  You're 11 (or soon to be), time to drop whatever you're doing 
and start your proper magical training.

Hui wrote <terrific stuff on what "Cho" and "Chang" mean>

Isn't Chang also the most common name in China (and the world, BTW)?  If JKR 
knows this, it's a bit like naming her "Smith."  Yes, it means something 
("smith"), but primarily it means "very very common name."

Vicky wrote:

>Speaking of magic without wands, Dumbly and Voldy don't seem to need them
>often.

Can you give examples?  Most of the things they do that come to my mind 
involve wands.

DM wrote:

>Well, it was just a thought (an orignial one, I thought).  It just
>seems to easy for JKR to say, yes, he's evil.  Really, really evil.
>I'm always hoping for a twist, somewhere.

Me too, DangerMouse.  100% evil characters usually bore me (I like the scene 
in Borgin's a lot, though--Lucius intrigues me even if he's all evil, all 
the time).  Anyway, it was a great post:  lots of specific support, and 
out-there enough to be original but not so out-there as to be insane (though 
I may not be a good judge, since I am rapidly sliding down into the Snape is 
a Vampire camp's pit of late).  Keep them theories coming!

How's this for a theory:  <irony marker on> Lucius is Mrs. Longbottom's 
brother and that's why he gives so much money to St. Mungo's.  Also, 
naturally, her torture was what turned him against the Death Eaters.  <irony 
marker off>

BTW, as you have already discovered, the tough thing about defending Lucius 
is that not only do most people hate Lucius, but those who you might think 
would be your natural allies, the Defenders of Draco, are going to try to 
shoot you down also because their theories depend upon Lucius being an 
insane, abusive, most likely sexually-abusing father.
This is tactless timing--newbies should get 5 free posts before anyone can 
disagree with them--but I want to defend Sirius against this statement:

DM wrote:

>Maybe the ability to work magic without wands can be
>developed in and adult, but I would assume it would take a lot of
>skill and self control to tap it - something I don't think Sirius has
>after being locked in Azkaban (we've seen is temper...).

I think Sirius shows amazing self-control: not in PA, I grant you, though he 
does defer to Lupin, but in GF.

One thing that really strikes me about Sirius after PA is that he has failed 
almost completely in what he set out to do.  He's been on the lam for a year 
in hopes of killing Peter and protecting Harry.  At the end of the book, 
Peter is on his way to Voldemort; within two months, Harry's scar is hurting 
him and bad rumors are flying; within five months someone has put Harry's 
name in the Goblet.  So much for Sirius's plans.  In the meantime, Sirius is 
no closer to having his name cleared (though at least Lupin and Dumbledore 
now know the true story), and he's a lot closer to getting killed than when 
he was in Azkaban.  He didn't escape in order to clear his name, but still.  
Considering what a disastrous several months it's been, his restraint and 
careful action in GF are amazing.

More from D "no, it doesn't stand for Draco Malfoy" M:

>I thought speculation was okay (and is usually a good topic for 
>discussion).

It is!  Yikes, what else would we do all day?  Canon clarifications can only 
occupy so much time, and most of us lack the talent for filks.  Speculation 
is terrific--just delineate it from canon or you'll get 50 posts saying 
"Where did she say that?  That changes everything!" and you'll have to take 
out an ad in the Times to remedy things.

>Oh, and not to bring up another subject, but is it a general consensus that 
>Wizards in the HP universe live longer lives than normal humans?

Consensus, and also canon; JKR said so in an interview.  (I don't know which 
one, but even Amanda the Keeper of Canon will support me on this one <g>.)

Vicky re: Dumbledore:

>Or maybe he was just tricked, like everyone else who thought
>Lockhart actually did the stuff he wrote about. But it just occurs to me
>that the only people who thought he did that stuff was Molly and Hermione.

Lockhart is a bestselling author--is everyone reading this stuff as fiction 
or, more likely, does most of the wizarding world think he really does dash 
around the world fighting off werewolves and trolls?

Magda wrote:

>I can see him:
>
>1. Developing a crush on Hermione and trying to impress her with
>name-dropping, flashing his family's wealth and other Malfoy-ish
>tactics that won't work, to his bafflement.  He could also brag to
>her about V's doings (as he hears them from Daddy) and she might put
>up with him just to get the info.

I can see the former, but is he dumb enough for the latter?  Hermione and 
Harry would have to have a serious falling-out (at least an apparent one) 
for D to think it's safe, or likely to make him look good, to tell her 
anything about what V is up to.

Rosmerta wrote:

>So, in hindsight, what *was* crucial in Book Four? Plotwise, it seems
>clear that it's the return of Voldemort to his body.

<more good stuff snipped>

I also still wonder about the shift in attitudes toward Harry that get 
underway in GF and could prove pivotal.  Fudge, formerly one of his biggest 
fans ("Ah, well, Snape--Harry Potter, you know," PA 21), is seriously 
suggesting that he's off his rocker or evil ("the boy can talk to snakes!") 
by the end; is this just Fudge being a tad unbalanced and it's temporary, or 
will it spell serious trouble for Harry and Our Side with the ministry?  For 
Harry Potter no longer to be the emblem of The Good Guys is a sea change.  
The other reason I think this might be a key issue is the importance of Rita 
Skeeter.  JKR's comments about her "huge plot hole" suggest (not 
conclusively) that the vehicle for getting info outside Hogwarts was very 
important to the plot; now, why would that be?  I've said this before, but 
most of what comes of Skeeter's articles is not essential to the plot (so 
far).  It just creates a lot of good side-issue stuff about Hermione, 
Hagrid, etc.  But if it's so all-fired important, perhaps it's because it's 
due to Rita Skeeter that Harry is now seen in the wizarding world as a crazy 
and possibly dangerous person.  Good thing she didn't get to write her 
expose on how he killed his fellow Champion.

____ days til OoP,
Amy Z

P.S.  Does anyone else get chills thinking that right this very moment JKR 
could be writing Lupin's (Dumbledore's, Percy's, fill in your favorite 
possibly-doomed character here) death scene?  Or is it just me?
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