HouseElves / Sinistra / Cho / Something Silvery / TMR / Escape from Azkaban

[catlady_de_los_angeles]

No: HPFGUIDX 41921

Marc Nguyen wrote:

<< if Apparating was not possible within Hogwarts, how can Dobby do 
it? >>

There are a lot of clues that "house-elves have got powerful magic of 
their own" (as Fred said when he came with the flying car). I 
emphasive "powerful" and "their own", because the theory previous 
listies came up with to explain that apparent discrepancy, is that 
House Elves don't Apparate, they do Something Else, which we can call
Pop!: mere human magic-users can't Pop! and Hogwarts' anti-Apparation 
spells don't interfere with Pop!ping.

WvB wrote:

<< I have heard once that our galaxy (?) forms a left (counter - 
clockwise) spiral. This may relate her name with Astronomy, class 
she teaches. >>

In post 3795, Fiat Incantatum explained: 

"<G> I know this one! The name is actually a valid (if medieval) 
astronomical concept. To whit:

"According to the Aristotelian convention as established in the De 
Caelo and understood in the Middle Ages, absolute "up" in the cosmos 
correspond to the Southern Hemisphere; from this perspective absolute 
"right' is associated with the East, from which the heavens initiate 
their apparent movement across the sky; and clockwise motion a 
sinistra in the Northern Hemisphere is therefore movement to the 
"right' and only apparently to the left. "

That's from a discussion of Dante's Inferno, the rest of which is 
irrelevant here, the reference to the De Caelo is the important bit. 
The stars move "a sinistra", to the left or towards the west. Using 
this, Sinistra would seem to be a perfectly understandable surname 
for a professor of Astronomy."

Lizbot wrote:

<< Does anyone think Cho's past injuries are significant? Or do they 
just demonstrate more about Oliver's need to win, and dissapointment 
that Ravenclaw had a good seeker?"

It never occurs to me that JKR meant anything by Cho having been 
injured, except to explain why Harry had never seen her before (if 
she had been playing in Ravenclaw's first string all along, Harry 
should have seen her in a Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw/Slytherin 
match).

Lilac wrote:

<< "(Dumbledore) raised his wand (which was lit from lumos) into the 
air and pointed it in the direction of Hagrid's cabin. Harry saw 
something silvery dart out of it and streak away through the trees 
like a ghostly bird." >>

Did the something silvery dart out of [Hagrid's cabin] or out of 
[Dumbledore's wand]? "Something silvery" rushing out from a wand is 
canon's common description of a Patronus. "Like a ghostly bird" -- if 
it *is* Dumbledore's Patronus, then you've found can(n)on to support 
my belief that Dumbledore's Patronus is a Phoenix.

Eric Oppen wrote:

<< Part of the story of "Harry Potter" could be called "The Tragedy 
of Thomas Marvolo Riddle." The guy had unbelievable talent and skill 
and drive, and perverted every gift he had in the service of what I 
honestly think is an unattainable dream in the Potterverse ... even 
the Philosopher's Stone is not a guarantee of immortality. (snip) I 
do wonder, though, if he's really as into this "purebloods rule, 
Mudbloods drool" thing as he lets on to his followers. >>

I don't think TMR wanted immortality as much as he wanted to be 
feared ... the CoS TMR told Harry: "I fashioned myself a new name, a 
name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak", not that 
the new name representd his plan to become immortal. I read TMR as 
consumed by his obsessive hatred and full of desire to destroy; 
destroying Muggle and Muggle-borns is in line with those tastes.

Btw, is his anagram Lord Voldemort Ash?

Constance Vigilance wrote:

<< Why did Sirius stay in Azkhaban those 12 years if he could 
transform into a dog and escape, apparently easily, at any time? >>

The presence of Dementors causes people to despair (clincal  
depression). Therefore, the typical Azkaban prisoner cannot think
 of anything happy, such as the hope of escape. Even Sirius never 
got the notion of escaping until he saw the photo that showed that 
Pettigrew was alive, and spending school terms at Hogwarts -- with 
Harry. Then it was not the happy thought of escape, but his dog 
loyalty beating up on him to do his duty of defending the ... what IS 
it that dogs think they're doing when they defend their human against 
real and imaginary dangers?