Characteristic Moments

[cynthiaanncoe at home.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 27335

Hella wrote:

> We all know why we like the characters we do. We understand their 
> personalities (an example would be Hermione's speech to Harry at 
the 
> end of PS/SS about friendship and bravery etc. We love Hermione 
> because of that speech, we know what is really important to her.) I 
> was thinking of other instances when the reader's depth of 
> understanding or affection towards an already beloved character is 
> strengthened. Just moments or small actions that strike one as 
being 
> demonstrative of the character's personality core. For example, 
these 
> are some minor moments that make me fonder of the following 
> characters:
> 

Great thought-provoking post!  Here are a few of my favorites 
examples of characterization:

Snape -- Although I am hardly a fan, I sure appreciate his flair for 
the sarcastic remark in PoA:

"Everyone from the Minister of Magic downward has been trying to keep 
famous Harry Potter safe from Sirius Black.  But famous Harry Potter 
is a law unto himself.  Let the ordinary people worry about his 
safety!  Famous Harry Potter goes where he wants to, with no thought 
for the consequences."

Lupin -- Lupin is tied with Sirius as my favorite character.  He is 
among the most unflappable characters in the series, and if there 
were any doubt, his handling of Pettigrew in the Shrieking Shack 
proves it:

"Well, hello, Peter," said Lupin pleasantly, as though rats 
frequently erupted into old school friends around him.  "Long time, 
no see."

Black -- Black really doesn't have that many scenes in the series, so 
JKR really has to make the most of them to make Black such a great 
character.  One example of this is her ability to remind us that 
Black has been in prison so long that he might not react to things 
like someone else would: 

"Er -- Mr. Black -- Sirius?" said Hermione.
Black jumped at being addressed like this and stared at Hermione as 
though he had never seen anything quite like her.

I could go on and on, but those are some of my favorite character 
details that really worked for me.

Cindy