[HPforGrownups] Fawkes; semi-guilty characters

[porphyria at mindspring.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 34231

Hello, all! I had some remarks on a couple of separate subjects:

> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "judyserenity"  wrote:
> In message #34196, Lucky_Kari suggested that if Guy Fawkes was a 
> wizard, this would explain why Dumbledore's phoenix is named 
Fawkes. 
> Actually, JKR may have named Fawkes after a character in another 
book. 
> I've heard that there is a children's fantasy book, featuring a 
> phoenix named Fawkes, and that JKR really likes this book.  
> Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of it. 

Eileen answered:
> "The Phoenix and the Carpet", by Edith Nesbit, by any chance? The 
> phoenix there isn't named Fawkes, but he arrives in conjunction with 
> Guy Fawkes day, IIRC. 

I just wanted to add to this that I figured that Fawkes was named Fawkes because he bursts into flames on a regular basis, reminiscent of the celebratory bonfires. :-)

I also wanted to weigh in on the discussion of the possible guilt of Bagman -- I've been enjoying this discussion so far, but I also agree it might be impossible to demonstrate his guilt or innocence right now.

When I first read GoF I got the distinct impression that both Bagman and Fudge were wildly guilty, unrepentant DE's. Then I wondered if I was being led down the garden path... So my guess is that Bagman and Fudge will serve as the red herrings for future books, at the end of which the *real* villain will turn out to be totally innocent-appearing characters. I also have to agree with the essence of Elkin's post on the subject today (34182) that it will be disappointing if every seemingly bad character will be proven to be *totally* bad. Aren't there people who might be helping Voldemort by virtue of their own stupidty?

On the other hand, re Elkins:
> For heaven's 
> sake, where are all of the patsies and the weaklings?

That's a good question, but I guess my reply would be, where do you draw the line between weak and unwilling? Peter sure seems to me to act more on fear than conviction; he seems really disgusted with what he's doing and living in constant fear that he'll be axed once his usefulness is over. Do we know the dark mark on his arm indicates that he's truly a *willing* DE, or is that just another thing he got browbeaten into? Also, Avery seems like a coward -- maybe he's really evil but just hyper. So far it seems like only Lucius and Mrs. Lestrange stick with Voldemort because they feel they have a stake in what he's doing.

Does anyone but me wonder if Rita Skeeter will wind up delivering information to Voldemort -- wittingly or unwittingly? She's be a good candidate for some Imperius duty.

Did JKR ever say something in an interview about trying to paint some characters in shades of gray, or depict degress of evil, or words to that effect? I dutifully tried out this site: http://www.geocities.com/aberforths_goat/, but I still couldn't find that reference.

Hoping it gets more complicated,
~~Porphyria