Question for JKR - SF/Fantasy - Initials PP - Wales - Eggplant's Fic - Sanape's Possible Heroic Death

[Catlady]

No: HPFGUIDX 14062

Catlady grovels to Neil, Penny, Heidi, John, and all Moderator Team.
Catlady REALLY should not have said spiteful things on-list. (Catlady
hopes that, rather than having to kiss all feet, she can imitate Skadi
Njord's-wife and choose the cleanest pair of feet.)

Having insulted everyone, I now ask a favor: if someone is sending
questions to the on-line chat, can they ask: What is a warlock? Is
warlock just another word for wizard? (Then I will be heartbroken when
she says Yes and ruins my theory about 'warlock' being a Member of
not-Parliament. That's why I hope no one asks when is Draco's birthday,
ruining my theory of June 24.)

IIRC JKR already answered a question about why the original printing
said "last ancestor" -- IIRC she gave a non-committal answer beginning
"Good catch!" but then hinting that it was an error. I  have a much
vaguer, much less reliable feeling, recollection that someone already
asked her whether LILY played Quidditch, and she said No..

All the debate about whether most of what common Muggles considered
fantasy is really science fiction is pretty amusing considering that 1)
the traditional definition of science fiction among sf fandom is "I know
what it is when I point at it", and 2) a few vocal science fiction fans
frequently argue that a great deal of what is generally sold as science
fiction is really NOT science fiction, but really mush-brain fantasy,
better labelled as science fantasy than science fiction.  The debate
on-list seems to be heavily about "the marvellous", which is interesting
considering that sf fans seem unable to discuss what is sf or why do
they like sf without mentioning sensawunder -- I mean, "sense of
wonder", a term so commonly used that it developed the above mentioned
nickname.

Amy Z wrote:
> (PPs don't do too well in these books, do
> they?  Peter Pettigrew, Piers Polkiss--if Muggles could be
> Slytherins, he'd be one--Pansy Parkinson.  Poppy Pomfrey is the
> exception.  But I think of Poppy as a nickname for Mary or
> Margaret,  not sure why.)

Parvati Patil, Padma Patil.

Speaking of people who don't do too well in these books, there was
recent discussion of all the villainous characters who are blonde, and a
suggestion that this showed that JKR doesn't like blondes (if Gilderoy
Lockhart is, as suggested, her ex-husband, that makes sense). Last night
I put 2 + 2 together (slow on the uptake, Kitten!). With all the
descriptions of Cedric's conventional good looks, I always see him as
blond (golden) haired and blue eyed, but JKR specifically SAID his hair
is brown. If she has a squick, she just goes Yuck whenever she sees
blonde hair, she would quickly change a Good Guy's hair to brown!

Dai wrote:
> Sorry Rita but I don't see it. In my post #10681 I analysed the
> sorting hat song from GoF which fairly clearly placed Griffindors
> origins outside of Wales. Also, the golden dragon and red dragon have
> both been symbols of Wales going back years (to Roman times), and
> these are often mistaken for Griffons.

I remain convinced that the Hat's verbiage about dale, glen, fen, vale
was just poetic license (the words rhymed!). Further, that when the
Founders came together to found Hogwarts, they came from their latest
place of residence rather than from their birthplaces, and Godric had
been a travellin' wizard, first leaving home to fight as a mercenary, I
mean man-at-arms, among the Saxons who changed his name, then going off
pirating with Northmen, which may have included visits to France and
Byzantium as well as raids, before fetching up in the Danelaw and
meeting/marrying Helga Hufflepuff. Who knows where Godric and Helga were
living at the time that some friend owled them that Rowena Ravenclaw was
going to found a school and needed some older and wiser heads to guide
her?

[btw I see Helga as blonde with long, fat, braids even tho' red hair is
attested among Danes. To me, it's Rowena Ravenclaw who's the redhead of
the group (long DARK red hair like Lily's) despite being the Saxon (and
the youngest), because the name Rowena always makes me thinking of Rowan
Tree.]

I confess I had not known that the Golden Dragon was a symbol of Wales
-- I only knew about the Red Dragon. With this new-to-me info, I can
reinforce that Gryffindor really does mean Gryphon d'Or and that is WHY
Gryffydd Glyndwr ALLOWED the Sais to call him Gryffindor.

Eggplant wrote:
> This is how I would write the first chapter of a certain book you may
have heard of.

Hey, Eggplant, I like the story and want to know what happens next!
Altho' I think you may be making it too heavy for Book 5 -- will there
be enough danger and angst and new powers left for Book 7? And if
writing The Book on Magic Without Wands and Easy Animagery was James and
Lily's big-deal job that had something to do with why V wanted to kill
them and Harry, then JKR said their job would be revealed in Book 7, not
5.

I previously wrote:
> I think, unless Snape had a LOT of time to think about what he was
> doing, he would not be thinking of that silly debt to Harry's father,
> but rather of his duty to serve the Light, fight the Dark, and make
> Dumbledore proud of him, and he would not be thinking of making Harry
> feel guilty, but rather that death would release him from his own
> burden of guilt. And horrible memories. And hated job."

And that got more replies than, I think, anything else I've ever posted.

Margaret Dean questioned my mention of Snape's hated job. (I did put it
as his afterthought to an afterthought.) I am one who believes that
Snape LOVES Potions and doesn't want the DADA job, but I think he hates
teaching. To me, he may be proud of what a good teacher he is (!) and
may believe that it is his DUTY to teach the next generation, but he
still HATES dealing with students who are less clever and less
interested in Potions than he was at their age.

It occurred to me while I was typing this multi-topic post that Snape's
heroic death would be more angsty if something had just happened to ease
his pain and give him a reason to live and THEN he had to die. (Then the
conflict wouldn't be simply between the biological instinct to go on
living on one side and everything else on the other side.) The usual
something is falling in requited love -- I am aware of the axiom that
'love solves all' is a literary gimmick that doesn't work in real life
(where one must FIRST be healed in order to THEN be loved), but it FEELS
like it works in real life: falling in love is a wonderful drug like
hashish or something which FEELS like the pain was wiped out and
replaced by happiness. OTOH, it is SUCH a cliche that many readers would
cuss at the cliche rather than cry in shared pain.

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