Generational Parallels

[columbiatexan]

No: HPFGUIDX 37465

My first post here, it's been fun reading y'all's messages up until 
now trying to get up to speed.  Someone said something in one 
of the more recent posts about Ginny being like Lily because 
they both had red hair, and it set me off to thinking today while I 
was at my lab...

I think if anyone in the current generation is similar to Lily, it's 
Hermione.  Please note, I'm not trying to be predictive of any kind 
of romantic relationships, though I do think Harry and Hermione 
would be better suited for a long-term relationship, personality-
wise.  Personally, I'm hoping that the members of the trio keep 
their hands off of each other until the final book, although i don't 
think that's going to happen--i seriously worry that any romantic 
relationship between Hermione and either of her best friends is 
going to ruin the dynamic of the Trio, and that's been one of the 
most fun things to read about/watch in these books.  I don't think 
there's any way it couldn't ruin that dynamic if J.K. Rowling is 
going to write it realistically, even if she doesn't set up any kind of 
triangle for Hermione's affections.  Even if the one left out is not 
interested in Hermione, he will still feel left out and be isolated; 
when my best friend started dating his current girlfriend, who 
was one of my best friends, even though I had no interest in her 
in the least , I was still a little jealous of him for having a 
girlfriend when I didn't and to this day, i feel a little left out.  Plus, I 
can't complain about one to the other :P

Anyway, back to the original point of this post, which is about 
generational parallels.  I know we don't know much about Lily, 
but from the little we've gathered, she sounds very similar to 
Hermione.  All we've been given to work with was that she was 
Head Girl, though Hagrid did allude to similarities in Book II after 
Malfoy called Hermione a "mudblood," when he's telling the trio 
that birth doesn't matter... he recalls Harry's mother, and then in 
his next sentence remarks that there's not a smell invented yet 
that Hermione can't do.  Both girls are Muggle-born (assuming 
what we've been told so far is completely true as regards their 
parentages, and there's not some secret with regards to that up 
Rowling's sleeve), and I imagine that caused both of them to 
have similar reactions to entering Hogwarts.  Lily may not have 
been as much of a pain in the butt as Hermione was at first, but I 
get this image that she was very much a hard-worker and 
enjoyed learning and that personality-wise, they were very 
similar in their desires to prove themselves academically and 
prove that they belongd to this magical world (she'd have to be 
exceptionally bright in order to be Head Girl).  Also, both girls had 
the added benefit of having parents who were very supportive 
and proud of their daughters' talents (contrast THAT to the 
Dursley's).  Part of me hopes that someday, harry and Ron go to 
spend the summer at the Granger's house (although with 
Voldemort on the loose, that's not likely to happen).  They sound 
like interesting and sympathetic characters I'd like to get to know 
better.  Plus, Hermione's best subject,or at least 1 of 2, but we 
know that she has exceptional talent at Charms--she's always 
scoring ridiculously high on Flitwick's exams--and Rowling has 
already said Lily's wand was particularly good for charms work.  
Though Hermione's OTHER best subject is Transfiguration, 
which was probably Harry's dad's and Sirius' best subject, 
considering they managed to do the Animagus transformation in 
their 5th year.  Make of that what you will....

Now, I did say this wasn't some kind of proof for romantic 
pairings, and it's not.  How you may ask?  Because, while 
everyone keeps bringing up how similar Harry is to his dad, 
again, like with Ginny to Lily, it seems to be parallel's between 
the physical likenesses for the most part (though, he is said to 
have his father's Quidditch skills (although Harry's Seeker and 
James is Chaser) and Black does remark that Harry is truly his 
father's son and Harry's Patronus... well let's just say harry has 
quite a bit of his dad in him).  But the person from the Marauders' 
generation who most recalls Harry, to me at least, is Lupin.  
Much like Lupin, Harry is isolated by something that happened to 
him when he was very young, something that he had no choice 
in.  Also like Lupin, Harry has a particular talent for Defense 
Against the Dark Arts (although, to be fair, we don't have any 
indication that Lily and James weren't talented in this area; they 
must have been to scare Voldemort, but I'm going on what we 
know so far--and so far, it seems like we're being lead to think 
that Lily's best field was Charms, James' was Transfiguration, 
and Lupin is particularly talented at DADA)  One of the major 
differences is Harry's horrible home life, whereas I get the sense 
from what little Lupin mentioned of his parents that they were 
sympathetic characters much like the Grangers and the 
Evanses.  I also get the feeling that Remus' parents are not alive 
anymore, and that, much like Harry, his entire world came 
crashing down the night James and Lily died.  As harry was 
kicked out of the wizarding world, so Remus lost all 4 of his best 
friends (really, the only family he had if his parents are dead)--
James and Lily died, Peter "dead," and Sirius in Azkaban.  Again, 
all alone (which is much like Harry--that's the most tragic thing I 
get from Harry, is how alone he really is, which I think is 
especially highlighed in Book IV, where he's sent off to fight Lord 
Voldemort without Ron and Hermione to back him up).  And 
finally, most members of the wizarding world are easily prone to 
suspect both Lupin and Harry because they don't understand 
what they are, and as a result, both Lupin and Harry, in my mind, 
feel like they have to hide a lot of who they are in order to gain 
some kind of acceptance in the wizarding world.  Example's 
include how harry was the #1 suspect in Book II, and how 
everyone automatically assumed the worst of him in Book IV 
(that he'd entered his name in the GoF, that he was lying about 
Lord Voldemort, and that he'd had something unsavory to do 
with Cedric's death).  Lastly, the fact that Remus, when relating 
the tale of his days as a Hogwarts student, was so amazed and 
thrilled to have real friends for the first time in his life (I think he 
uses those exact words, "For the first time in my life, I had 
friends")... sound like someone else we know?  Not only that, but 
he's amazed that they accept him for who he is, much like our 
beloved Ron and Hermione.

James and Sirius make me think more of Fred and George than 
anything else (this is especially interesting since Madam 
Rosmerta observes you never saw one without the other much 
like our favorite twins!), but they're described as being 
exceptionally bright, among the brightest students to go to 
Hogwarts (James would have to be, to be Head Boy; I imagine it 
was extremely controversial to have 2 Gryffindors named Head 
Boy and Head Girl in the same year--and there's an interview in 
which Rowling acknowledges that Lily was in Gryffindor and that 
James was Gryffindor Chaser).  That actually makes me think 
there are 2 prefects, one male and one female, for each year at 
Hogwarts, though others parts of the canon make me think 
otherwise (2 compartments wouldn't be enough to hold the 22 
prefects and Head boy and girl, would it?).  But it sounds like 
James was a lot more light-hearted than Harry is during his 
days at Hogwarts (understandable, considering how different 
their upbringings were).  

I guess, in short, this highlights the extreme danger in trying to 
look at previous generations to figure out what's going to happen 
in the books.  I like to look at it because it gives me a better idea 
of what makes the characters tick.  But I definitely think Ginny 
Weasley being a parallel for Lily Potter is a red herring (sorry, I 
couldn't resist), and I think automatically assuming Harry is like 
James is a little too easy.  He reminds me far more of Lupin, 
and Hermione is much more like what I picture Lily to be, though 
that may change as we get futher into the books.  

Neville=Pettigrew is the obvious (wrong) connection that 
Rowling was trying to lead us to, perhaps to make us view him 
as a sympathetic character at first in Book 3 (imagine, little old 
Neville going up against Voldemort's right hand man!  What a 
brave fellow, and how evil of Sirius to kill him so brutally!) or to 
make us suspect Neville.  but I'd find it really hard to believe Nev 
would betray HRH knowing what we now know about his 
parents.  And I think neville is as brave as the Trio, in his own 
way--he did after all ask Hermione and ginny to the dance before 
either Ron or Harry asked girls out, and he stood up the trio in 
Book I to protect Gryffindor.  I'm actually really hoping Ginny 
doesn't end up with Harry, because I don't think they'll ever be on 
an equal footing, and, barring some major change in the next 3 
books, Ginny's so far not had a chance to really get to know 
Harry for who he is and fall in love with that person.  And I think it 
would be better for her to fall in love with someone whom she 
was on an equal footing with, someone like... Neville?  I dunno, 
could be an interesting pairing, how could any of the Weasley's 
have a problem with ol' Neville, especially if he steps up to the 
plate in the upcoming war as I fully expect him to.  it's awfully 
interesting we don't hear a word about Ginny after her date with 
neville to the Yule Ball... yeah, he stepped on her feet, but don't 
tell me you girls don't find that charming sometimes or that it 
would have prevented the two of them from becoming better 
friends and getting to know each other better?

i don't think any of the friends will knowingly betray Harry, though 
I could totally see Ron being tricked into it... but hopefully no 
sacrifice!  I'm hoping the trio make it out alive and well through 
these books, though i could see A Tale of Two Cities ending 
(rowling reminds me of dickens the most among all my favorite 
authors, not dahl or tolkien) in this case and it would be awfully 
poetic. Very tragic, and very beautiful, and so depressing.

But there's my bit on generational parallels... I'm really actually 
quite shocked I haven't heard anyone else bring up the 
similarities between Lily and Hermione, to me, it's been obvious 
since the 1st book, something that's always been in the back of 
my head.  The Lupin/Harry parallel hit me much more recently; 
and I never go to thinking about how tragic that night must have 
been for Lupin until a few days ago, when i realized that in that 
one night, he lost the 4 people who were most important to him 
in the world.  But I don't think generational parallels are a good 
predictor of future events or of who's going to end up with who... 
so far, we've seen Harry go after a girl who most CERTAINLY 
does not resemble his mother either physically or personality 
wise (well that's not necessarily true, cho has to be smart to be 
in Ravenclaw, but I get the feeling she's not of the same 
breathtaking brilliance of Lily Potter, and that she's a lot more 
athletic than Lily ever was).  But it's certainly interesting to think 
about them as we wait for Book V.

looking forward to your hopefully not too scathing replies.

"Columbiatexan"