Education - Animagus - Lupin - Happiness - Fan of Harry

[Rita Winston]

No: HPFGUIDX 26500

lake4fam wrote:

> I have wondered how Wizarding children learn 
> to read, to write, to do the background math
> that would be the pre-requisite for Arithmancy
> and Astronomy, and probably useful in Potions.

I believe that wizarding children go to primary school to study
non-magical subjects before they go to Hogwarts. I believe that most
wizarding children go to small all-wizarding primary schools at which
the owner, headmistress, and teachers are all witches, but parents who
can't afford the primary school fees for their little wizards and
witches either home-school or forge some paperwork to send their
children to the local Muggle government school.  On the opposite end of
the wealth scale, I believe that Draco was educated at home by multiple
tutors, specialists in the various subjects.

Rowena Grunnion-Ffitch wrote:

> Am I correct in  thinking an animagus;
> animal form is not a matter of choice
> but a involuntary reflection of their
> personality?

Yes. In one of those interviews, someone asked JKR what animal she would
want to turn into, and she said she would WANT to be an otter, but one
doesn't get to choose, and how horrible if one turned out to be a
cockroach.

Rowena Grunnion-Ffitch wrote:

> I get the impression a number of the
> ladies onlist find Professor Lupin
> decidedly attractive, (there is
> something about a man who's suffered...) 

It's his gentleness, kindness, intelligence, competence. Wow!

> do you suppose his female colleagues 
> reacted the same way? Sybill Trelawny *did*
> offer to crystal gaze for him after all..... 

Oh yes indeed, about Trelawney.  When I first read the part where she
appears at the Yule Feast and asks "Where is dear Professor Lupin?", I
was SURE that the reason she'd come to the Feast was in pursuit of him,
and when she said she had offered to crystal gaze for him and he had
positively fled, I (while recalling that his Boggart had appeared to
appear as a crystal ball), I was SURE that the reason he'd fled was
because she was so blatant in her pursuit that he noticed.  The other
females on staff are old enough to be his mother or grandmother and
perhaps all of them remember having him as a student. 

Tabouli wrote:

> As for the happiness of the characters,
> there's plenty of room for speculation
> there: is Dumbledore happy?  Is Hermione?
> Dudley?  The Weasley twins?

I am find it very difficult to find words to discuss happiness. When
speaking metaphysics, surely there must be a distinction between saying
'a happy person' and 'a cheerful person'. And the word 'contented' that
someone on this thread introduced. Dumbledore is all three: we see his
cheerfulness depicted. His contentment comes from his spiritually
advanced awareness, knowing that pain, however prolonged, is temporary,
that grief honors the person grieved for, that death is not a disaster.
His happiness is seeing that there are young people preparing to carry
on the fight against evil when he is gone. What is the word for the 
'happiness' of knowing that one has been good, has done one's best, has
done one's duty? 

Hermione is happy at a less advanced level. She has only barely begun to
experience the horror of war, so it isn't getting her down. She has
loving parents and good friends and is doing what she was made to do:
study magic. And fights for goodness when the opportunity arises.
Temporarily crying over Cedric's death or Neville's parents or Harry's
home life does not wipe out the underlying happiness.

invizible Amber wrote:

>  if I were to know Harry in real life, I'd be 
> *jealous* of him. That's right, jealous.
> Harry does well in school, is gifted when
> it comes to flying and Quidditch, has fabulous
> friends, seems to "save the day" an awful lot,
> is destined for greatness, and has more bravery 
> than one person ought to have. He's just about
> a complete opposite to me. (snip)
> I've recently thought that perhaps some people 
> sympathize with Harry over Ron because they have
> extraordinary qualities and understand the
> persecution that comes with being singled out.
> And perhaps the reason why some people
> sympathize with Ron over Harry is people they
> don't have extraordinary qualities and sympathize
> with the frustration of being ignored. (snip)
>  Hermione is my favorite character 

I'm sorry to admit that I laughed at your claim that you like characters
who don't have great talents that get them mentioned in *every* Awards
Ceremony at school, and then cite Hermione. She got 112% on her Charms
final exam in first year! She has the top grades in her year in every
subject except Divination! In real life, SHE is the one I would be
JEALOUS of.

Allison wrote:

> I know he said he didn't have any friends
> and the Dursleys are no picnic, but surely
> he *must* have been happy at some point - 
> it seems like 10 years of perpetual unhappiness
> would kill your spirit - how could he have
> become the Harry we all know and love (or at
> least I love) if he didn't have any happy
> memories at all?

I believe this is thanks to his mother, Lily, who loved him enough to
die for him, and was a powerful and skillful witch. I believe that when
she chose to spend her last energy protecting her son rather than trying
to dodge the Avada Kevadra that was coming at her, she did magic to
leave an image of herself permanently in Harry's mind. Through his
childhood, it would appear to him like an 'imaginary mother', the same
way many children have an 'imaginary friend', and this image of Lily
would hug and comfort him when the Dursleys were particularly awful and
set him an example of better behavior. And I think that the reason we
see Harry much more eager to find memories of his father than of his
mother is that he already HAS these memories of his mother. 

------------------------------------------------------------------
R ighteous
A ttractive
V ictorious
E ager
N atural
C lassy
L uxurious
A mazing
W ise
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