[HPforGrownups] Re: Faithful servant (was paranoia), Neville's name/Gran

[Edblanning at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 34572

Spy Game Fan writes
Eloise:

> What if he's been saving Harry to preserve him for that restorative 
(yikes!) 
> 
> *potion*?
> 

>Which makes ya wonder if Crouch was really Voldie's faithful servant at 
>Hogwarts. I mean only Crouch says that he is that servant. Couldn't that 
>faithful servant be another teacher -- or hell, why not a student?

>Does anyone have any theories on who  could have it in for Harry?

>The most obvious is Snape, but things tend not to be too obvious with JKR. 
>Sirius could be guilty after all... now that would be a twist.

-SpyGameFan (who is also becoming quite paranoid)

Just as I was getting over it all......
I think that Crouch *is* the faithful servant, although I have wondered about 
others including dear Severus and of course (ducking the brickbats) Bagman.
Voldemort is clear at the beginning of GoF that his faithful servant will 
return and will be installed at Hogwarts. We know that by that time he has 
questioned Bertha and knows about Crouch Jr.. It is Voldemort and Pettigrew 
who rescue Crouch Jr. from his father's.....It seems clear that having Crouch 
at Hogwarts is Voldemort's plan : it's not something Crouch is doing off his 
own bat and it is Crouch who engineers both Harry's winning of the tournament 
and the transformation of the cup into a port key. No. Much as I would like 
to find some convoluted theory which implicates someone else (only for the 
sake of it), I think Crouch *is* the faithful servant.
Having said that, Crouch does like to blow his own trumpet. His confidence 
leads him  to show off by walking right on the edge, saying and doing 
outrageous things that ought to give the game away. I actually wonder if that 
is one of the reasons for the Unforgivable Curse lessons. I don't for a 
minute believe that Dumbledore wants him to imperio the kids ( although you 
never know with Dumbledore), but I *do* think that Crouch would enjoy doing 
those curses again (hey, I suppose those *were* spiders in that jar?). I 
think perhaps teaching Harry to resist the Imperius is perhaps part of this 
too, though I don't know if I can explain it. Perhaps it makes him a more 
worthy opponent. Perhaps he thinks that if Harry can resist Imperius, 
Voldemort will be more likely to use Cruciatus or Avada Kadavera.

Alexander:

>One must be a complete paranoic to search for the
    hedgehog at the top of a fir tree.
        Pavel Shumilov.

Haven't seen one yet, but I'm still looking!


Nina ( Hello!) writes:

> I come from Lancashire in northern England, near towns such as 
> Manchester and Liverpool.  In this part of the world, surnames such 
> as Ramsbottom and Longbottom are very common, with town and village 
> names that are similar.    
> 
> Likewise Neville (and his Uncle Algie) are very northern, working 
> class names. Also mentioned in PS (SS) is my home town of Blackpool, 
> where Neville was dangled off the end of the pier.  For those from 
> foreign parts, Blackpool is a VERY brash seaside resort (often called 
> Vegas-by-the-sea) that is visited by many Brits for a day trip or 
> summer holiday (never confirmed but I'd bet JKR had a trip to 
> Blackpool as a child).  
> 

    

I'm so glad you said this. It is exactly my feeling on the name (my mother 
was a Lancashire lass), but I wasn't as sure of my ground as you are. It 
sounds just like the sort of snotty-nosed kid in clogs she would have taught 
in her young days. Well, maybe the clogs are an exaggeration, but they were 
certainly worn when she was a child. It's a very old-fashioned name, as well. 
I was at infants school (guess what, near Manchester), with a Neville, but I 
don't think I 've ever met one of my generation or younger since.
And what about Neville's Gran? I now have a vision of her as the archetypal 
northern seaside boarding house landlady - 'No sand in the bedrooms. Tea's at 
6. Don't be late.'....Although I suppose she, like the chocolcate frogs could 
have Monty Python antecedents: they were based, I believe, on Cambridge 
bedders ( the women who clean and generally 'do' for Cambridge students who 
live in College). 

Eloise


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