Wizarding World Weirdos (I love alliteration)

[tex23236]

No: HPFGUIDX 38075

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "L. Terrell Gould, III" <lterrellgiii at i...
> wrote:
>     Speaking of being odd. . . . has anyone noticed how most of the 
greatest wizards in the Potterverse exhibit certain eccentricities 
(I love that word . . . . its fun!). Take, for example, Dumbledore,
 who is revered as being most definitely brilliant, and a little mad. 
He, certainly is the greatest wizard of his time. Then there is 
Crouch Sr. He is described as a particularly powerful wizard, and 
he also has his hangups (Yes, keeping a clinical demeanor while 
sending your own son to Azkaban counts). Moody, from what we 
can gather from the fake Moody who is supposed to be a diluted 
version of the real Moody, is certainly a smidgen weird, and he 
was the greatest auror of his time. Snape could also factor into this 
equation, as he seems to be  adept at potions (not to mention 
fooling the great and powerful Oz... I mean Lord Voldemort). 
He, I don't think anyone will argue, is without a doubt standing 
at the edge of a rather dark and foaming abyss of hatred, loathing, 
and melodramatic cape swishing.  I would even go so far as to make 
mention of the gregarious and misunderstood Arthur Weasely's 
obsession with plugs and flying cars. 
>     What does all this mean? Lunacy: The first step to becoming a 
great wizard.
>     Actually, I think that in Dumbledore's case, his eccentricities 
are a sign of his stage of psychic development. No, not 
"Ms. Cleo Psychic", but "psyche" psychic, as in Maslow's Hierarchy 
of Needs. I think very much that D-dore is self actualized. He is 
problem, not blame, oriented. He takes pleasure in the simple 
things. His sense of humour is not targeted at others in hurtful 
ways. He is able to work through adversity with what he is given, 
be it people, place or situation. Yes, Dumbledore has my vote for 
Self Actualized Fictional Character of the Year. 
>     Wait just a second. Dumbledore, it has always struck me, has
his 
hands in most everything that has happened in the story so far 
(or he had a prior, if not preminiscient, knowledge of it), much like 
Gandalf in the LoR and the Hobbit. Funny, he flits back and forth, 
person to person, situation to situation, spreading his will and 
encouraging the outcome he knows must occur. . . . . sort of like 
a bumblebee flitting back and forth spreading pollen to flowers 
and encouraging them to grow . . . . all that, and his name means 
"bumblebee" ("Dumbledore", not "Albus".... that means "white"!)!  
Wow! A connection? Hmmmmmmmm....... maybe just in my mind.     
> 
Please excuse the long quoting, but the reader may need to 
refer to it.  I think you're right about Wizard psychology. JKR 
tells us Hogwarts students study magical theory, but she 
understandably gives us very little of it.

I think the kids spend A LOT of time doing mental exercises to 
develop their magical abilities. This_would_ change_ the_
personalities of the kids.  They wouldn't be the ordinary kids we
see in the books.  Moreover, dealing with magic would involve a
very different world view from that of the kids we know, who
view the world through technology.(even though they may not
know much technology.)

This would make most witchards seem to us mad, or at least 
eccentric.  Think how a computer nerd would look to a 
third-world farmer.

> Ok, this was worth putting off homework, but its off, once again, 
alas, to endless Primate Behaviour papers. Bonobos Rock! 
Hip, Hip, Hooray for Pan paniscus!

Granted, the kids may be able to partition the magical world from
their social lives, (Much as LTG III partitions his HP group
activities from Bonobos(You DO keep them seperate, don't you?)), 
which they may be less inclined to do once they get older.  And 
then, the witchards do get very old.  What would a 150-year-old 
quantum solid-state micro-engineer be like? A little crazy, no?
> 
> 
> vocatus atque non vocatus deus aderit.

Nescio ne sum, ergo penso sum.

Tex