Official Nel Question #4; Draco; House-elves

[gwendolyngrace]

No: HPFGUIDX 38195

Howdy!

I wrote:
> For that's the final criterion and perhaps the most important: a
> "classic" must be an overall *satisfying* story. And that
satisfaction
> must continue, no matter how often or how many times one returns.
The
> reader need not be *happy* with every authorial decision, but rather
> the reader must concede that, after all, it's for the best.

And Eileen replied:
> Oh, I don't know. I'm still very offended over what George Lucas did
> with Star Wars. Nothing can convince me that Return of the Jedi was
> for the best. I find it totally unsatisfactory, and yet I love Star
> Wars. Maybe movie classics are different than book classics?

No, it's not that they're different, it's that I misexpressed myself.
What you're talking about is the textbook definition of the dichotomy
between "happy" and "satisfied."

For my part, RotJ was okay with me, if a little weaker than ESB.
Episode I, otoh, was where I felt betrayal. But I too, find SW to be
"classic," and the satisfactory parts (still) outweigh the things I'm
not happy about. Ditto Star Trek and the misery that was movie V.
Also, remember that RotJ is not "really" the end of the story as Lucas
conceived it (though it's doubtful we'll see the end).

Like I said, it's a delicate distinction and one that's difficult to
pin down, and it's different for every individual. Let me ask it this
way: even if you can conceive of a plotline or event that in your
estimation would have been "better" than the actual, can you accept
the story as it is, warts and all?

Here's an HP example: Let's take the whole Lily angle. *Hypothetically
speaking,* if LOLLIPOPS turned out to be true, to what extent would it
affect the "satisfactory" feeling of the non-Lily/Snape camp? Some
might lose interest altogether: the presence of a Lily/Snape SHIP, no
matter how it is presented, may ruin the HP experience for them. But
some might *accept* its validity as a plot curve, while still not
*liking* that it is so. Indeed, while *hating* that it is so. And the
reverse is true for the LOLLIPOPS crew if Rowling ignores that angle.

For the majority of people, though, I think that such an authorial
decision would not have an overweening impact on whether they continue
to like/recommend/laud/purchase the series as a whole. It depends on
how pivotal the information is, of course, but overall, I think most
people who already love the books could convince themselves to be
"satisfied," if not joyously "happy," about that turn of events.

Start to make sense?


A word on Draco:
There's only one year when Draco is on the team and Harry plays a
Quidditch final: Third year. And in that year, Draco *would* have
caught the Snitch if Harry hadn't had a slightly faster broom. Well,
at least the second time; but the kid would've tugged on Harry's twigs
regardless. The point is, when he saw the Snitch, he hauled broom.

As for the second-year match, perhaps his lapse in concentration
taught him an important lesson about the game, which is reflected in
his playing during the match in 3rd year.

"It all depends on the points"
In chapter 9 of PoA, Fred and George try to figure the odds of making
the finals. The first scenario requires that Hufflepuff lose to
Ravenclaw and Gryffindor win against Ravenclaw and Slytherin both.
They then go on to mention Slytherin losing to Hufflepuff as another
possibility.

I actually drew up a round-robin score sheet for the year.

For those who don't know what a round-robin looks like, it's a grid:

      G          H          R          S
G     x


H                x


R                           x


S                                      x


Because each team can't play itself. So the "points" are added to each
team as it plays the other houses: Horizontally, one records the
points "earned" by the team. Ignore the vertical, it's just for
bookkeeping.

I hope the spacing comes out on everyone's computers. Anyway, we know
some facts about the matches for the year, at least by the time we
reach the finals. We know:

1. Gryffindor lost to Hufflepuff by 100 points.
2. Gryffindor won over Ravenclaw by 200 points (up by 50 when Harry
caught the Snitch).
3. Gryffindor was behind Slytherin's overall score by 200 points going
into the final (Oliver's constant mantra to Harry).

Given these facts, we can construct a grid like this:

     G          H          R          S          Total Points

G    X         +50       +230         ?          +280


H   +150        X         ?           ?


R   +30         ?         X           ?


S    ?          ?         ?           X          +480


We don't know how many points Slytherin won in each match, but we know
it must total 480 between the two teams, because it has to be 200 more
than Gryffindor. We also know that Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff each must
have totals LESS than Slytherin's 480, or on the basis of points, one
of them could still win or tie for the cup even if Gryffindor wins by
160, as they do. Regardless of how one divides those points, Slytherin
must have won the other two games by a wide enough margin to put
Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw out of the running. So let's say that George
is right and Ravenclaw beats Hufflepuff, but each of them loses to
Slytherin by 240 points. One last grid, and then I'm done:

     G          H          R          S          Total Points

G    X         +50        +230       +230         +510


H   +150        X        +50           0          +200


R   +30        +100        X           0          +130


S   +20       +240       +240         X           +500


That's what the point spread looks like for 3rd year. Looks like
Slytherin must have won over the other two handily. Some of those
victories must be due to Draco, unless we're to believe that their
Chasers and Beaters are so good, no one can keep up with them.


Whew. Can it be that JKR actually got something *right* having to do
with maths? Nah....


House Elves:

May 20...May 20...May 20...May 20...May 20....

Um. We're on schedule to discuss the Philip Nel questions about house
elves on May 20.

Rest assured, I'm paying acute attention to what is being said on this
thread currently and adding my own thoughts as we go. It's only
through great restraint that I am not posting a comparison of
House-elf speech with the "slave dialect" that others mention.

But I figured, I just bored everyone quite enough with that Quidditch
nonsense!

Gwen