Crouch in 9 parts

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston) <catlady@wicca.net>]

No: HPFGUIDX 47951

If I hadn't read Elkins's book on the Crouch family, I might have 
gone to bed last night (it's now 8.30 in the morning my time). I 
can rave vaguely about the writing, so dramatic, the range of 
knowledge shown, the passion ... but it is VERY hard to 
actually comment on, despite having done a good bit of 
re-reading while reading it....

Is it Livius Junius Brutus (in post 2 of 9) or Lucius Junius Brutus 
(in post 3 of 9)?

<< an acronym like 'Classy, Rich, Ambitious, Bold: Crouch's Unsung 
Sexiness Tempts All Raunchy Damsels.' I mean, that's really rather 
*racy,* don't you think?" >>

The problem is that word "raunchy". Would the name be better if it 
were changed to "randy"? No? How about "reasonable"?

<<  Reader identification based on strong *autobiographical 
congruence.* >>

I know it's very impolite to make personal comments, but ... *you* 
have shown no signs of being a dedicate servant of an Evil Overlord.

<< You don't really think that the politicians *themselves* believe 
that when they say it, do you? They don't. They know full well that 
those measures are ineffective. >>

This is a forbidden RL not HP comment: Actually, I *do* believe that 
some few of the politicians themselves *do* believe it. 

<< Who really never once allowed love -- *any* of the four loves -- 
to dictate his actions? >>

I can NEVER remember what the four loves are, but isn't Junior's 
devotion to Voldemort (which is dictating his actions once he escapes 
his father's Imperius) some kind of love? 

<< "No, I mean its source *within* the canon. Where does this idea 
that Crouch only saved his son to honor his wife's dying request come 
from in the first place? Where does it originate? How do we know that 
it really happened that way?" >>

In my opinion, which has a very poor track record: it has been 
surprised by EVERY plot twist except Lupin being a werewolf (that 
was pretty obvious from first seeing that name on his luggage!) -- 
JKR isn't going to re-visit the Crouches, and therefore is not going 
to confirm or deny what was said under Veritaserum, but I think she 
intended that what was said under Snape's strongest Veritaserum to 
be truth.

Of course, some people are convinced that Junior will re-appear, 
getting his soul back by using some variant of Voldemort's spell for 
getting his body back because that spell uses "bone of the father" 
and JKR so carefully made sure that bone of Senior is available -- a 
plot device reason for transfiguring him into a bone and hiding it 
that has *nothing* to do with wizarding opinion of what is to be done 
with dead bodies ... altho' Ebony's fanfic hypothesizes that the 
necessity for proper, prompt disposal of wizarding corpses is that 
they are magic and sprout monsters (I don't remember the details) 
otherwise.

But while I was reading this part of your discourse, I was heard to 
clearly say: "Oh, shit" because I thought you were about to prove 
that Mrs. Crouch had NOT gone to her horrible death of her own will, 
but rather her husband had bullied her into it with remarks like 
"It's not such a big sacrifice for you; you're already dying" and 
"What kind of mother could let her child suffer like that?"

<< 'Just so you know, boy, I would have happily left you to rot in 
Azkaban, if only your sainted mother hadn't forced my hand with that 
blasted dying request of hers.' >>

I don't think that's so implausible, at least maybe phrased 
differently. My understanding of parents is that they are people who 
get exasperated at their children and rant about how the children 
should be *grateful* for everything the parents are doing for them, 
especially considering that the parents are not doing it because of 
there being anything so great about the child, but merely because of 
their own sense of social reasonsibility.... "Goddamn inconvenient 
death-eating brat, *could* you *top *trying* to get me thrown in 
Azkaban just for taking you out of there? I knew it was a bloody damn 
bad idea, I didn't want to do it, said you'd made your own bed and 
should lie in it, but your silly sentimental mother insisted ... " 

<< He has become *Nemesis.*"  >>

well .... Mad-Eye Moody's given name is Alastor. NOT Alaister or 
Allister as some fans have it, and NOT named after Shelley(?)'s 
poem of "Alastor, the Spirit of Solitude", but named after the same 
original Greek source as the poem was: my year 2000 searches on 
mythology websites all found that an "alastor" is a spirit of 
vengeance, a male nemesis.

9.11AM