Bloody/Peeves - cats - Arthur - Potter Inheritance - Uniforms

[catlady_de_los_angeles]

No: HPFGUIDX 39272

Dave Hardenbrook wrote:

> And why is Peeves so afraid of the Bloody Baron?

I keep wondering if maybe the Bloody Baron is the only ghost who can 
do magic ... maybe only magic can harm Peeves (viz Lupin's magic put 
the chewing gum up Peeves's nose) and only ghosts can pursue Peeves 
through walls and so on. Why would the Bloody Baron be the only ghost 
who can do magic? If the other ghosts had been Muggles in life... but 
the Far Friar said Hufflepuff was his old House...

Alora wrote:

> Is it just me, or is something "up" with all the cats in the books? 

It's not just you. I used Mike the Goat's Search page 
http://www.geocities.com/aberforths_goat/ and found the JKR interview:

Q:  Is there something more to the cats appearing in the books than 
first meets the eye? (i.e. Mrs. Figg's cats, Crookshanks, Prof. 
McGonagall as a cat, etc.)
JKR: Ooooo, another good question. Let's see what I can tell you 
without giving anything away....erm....no, can't do it, sorry.

http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/author/transcript2.htm
(by the way, this is the same interview in which someone asks if 
Voldemort is Harry's relative and JKR says that would be *so* Star 
Wars).

ELFUN Debbie wrote:

> It's not even clear when Arthur tells Hermione he agrees with her
> what his actual      position is on elf rights, because the context
> was Winky's mistreatment. Does he support freedom for house-elves,
> or does he merely mean that they should be treated with dignity and
> respect and not abused?

Or that he is merely verbally agreeing with Hermione on purpose to 
get her to shut up? I do believe that Arthur is a really nice guy,
but I don't think he's above using his niceness to manipulate people.

MidgieCat meowed:

> Also, I believe Harry was told (possibly by Hagrid,, Dumbledore, or
> one of the marauders) that James didn't have to work at a job after
> Hogwarts, that he had inherited a great deal of money. I can't 
> remember if that was in a book, or did I read that in a fanfic. 

Harry saw the money in his Gringotts vault when Hagrid took him 
shopping, but JKR said in any interview that James had inherited it, 
and his Invisibility Cloak as well.

Mike the Goat's search page again:
http://www.geocities.com/aberforths_goat/October_2000_Live_Chat_Americ
a_Online.htm

Q:   What did James and Lily Potter do when they were alive?
JKR: Well, I can't go into too much detail, because you're going to 
find out in future books. But James inherited plenty of money, so he 
didn't need a well-paid profession. You'll find out more about both 
Harry's parents later.  

Q:   Where did James get his Invisibility Cloak?
KJR: That was inherited from his own father -- a family heirloom! 

By the way, this is the same interview that says:
Q:   Does the animal one turns into as an Animagi reflect your 
personality?
JKR: Very well deduced, Narri! I personally would like to think that I 
would transform into an otter, which is my favorite animal. Imagine 
how horrible it would be if I turned out to be a cockroach! 
(When I looked directly for that quote, I found a different interview 
in which she said 'slug' instead of 'cockroach', co-incidentally the 
interview at the top of this post.) 
 
Kate Tanski wrote:

>  Visually the Quidditch uniforms (and Annie Liebowitz' pics from
> Vanity Fair) are striking similar to the 'old' Rugby styled photos
> -- all leather padding and striped sweaters.

> I remember being startled by the official Hogwarts uniforms when I
> saw the first tralier and thinking "But those are just like British
> School Uniforms! Not real Wizards' Robes!" 

> It does make me wonder, though. About the use in the film of Muggle
> clothing but the apparent rarity of this as implied by GoF and the
> infamous clothing scenes . . . How are these to be reconsiled?

The costumes in the movie were Just Plain Wrong. I don''t know how to 
find the pre-release movie publicity, but I read an article about how 
the costume designer decided to put the students into real-type 
English Boarding School Uniforms (made by a real English Boarding 
School Uniform tailor) because the book description of the students 
in plain black robes would look on the movie screen like one huge 
ocean of black with a few faces scattered about. 

In the Photo Album section of the HPfGU Yahoogroup Website, there is 
an album named Harry Potter and Me, which is screen captures of the 
TV special of that name, and it includes some of JKR's own drawings 
of the characters. The picture titled 'weasleys' shows Percy in his 
school uniform, so we can see what the school uniform looks like 
(there is a better picture of it on one of the foreign book covers of 
Book 1 but I forgot which one!), and the other three boys are in 
Muggle clothing.

That costume designer also invented the Quidditch uniforms used in 
the movie, copying them from Muggle sports uniforms. The only picture 
of a real Quidditch uniform that I know of is JKR's crude drawing of 
the "Starfish and Stick" manuver in QUIDDITCH THROUGH THE AGES, but I 
can cite that none of the books mention anything about leather or 
padding or protectors when speaking of the Quidditch robes.

Referring to the BOOKS, there seems to be a generational divide about 
wearing Muggle clothing. GoF Chapter Four: the Weasleys are coming to 
pick Harry up and Uncle Vernon snarls: "I hope you told them to dress 
properly" and so on. Next paragraph: "Harry felt a slight sense of 
foreboding. He had rarely seen Mr or Mrs Weasley wearing anything 
that the Dursleys would call 'normal'. Their children might don 
Muggle clothing during the holidays, but Mr and Mrs Weasley usually 
wore long robes in varying states of shabbiness."

(Hmm, I thought that had said 'never seen Mr or Mrs Weasley wearing' 
Muggle clothing and wondered about people staring at the them at 
King's Cross Station, but now I see that they did wear Muggle clothes 
for that purpose. That would explain why Arthur's QWC costume was 
adequate (beginning of Chapter Six): "He was wearing what appeared 
to be a golfing jumper and a very old pair of jeans, slightly too big 
for him and held up with a thick leather belt." Unlike Old Archie!)

The quote from Chapter Four, above, says that the Weasley kids wore 
Muggle clothing during the holidays, but they (and apparently most of 
the kids) wear a certain amount of Muggle clothing while at Hogwarts. 
Someone has already mentioned Harry wearing a t-shirt under his 
Quidditch robes. Many of the kids wear trainers (sneakers, tennies) 
with their black uniform robes. And wear pajamas to bed, while the 
only evidence of grown-ups' sleepwear is that appearance of Snape 
in a nightshirt.

I feel that the twentieth century must have been a tumultous time for 
the wizard folk, during which there were two major changes of 
costume. Wizard folk born, say, before World War I, wear only 
wizarding robes and cloaks (in layers for warmth), and no underwear 
(per old Archie). And weird fancy purple high-heeled boots (book 1 
chapter 1 description of Dumbledore).

Wizard folk born after the first fall of Voldemort wear a lot of 
jeans and t-shirt and jumpers (sweaters) and trainers (sneakers), 
altho' I am not certain that the wizard-born ones KNOW that those are 
Muggle clothing. I am sure they wear Muggle underwear. I've already 
mentioned the pajamas.

With less canon evidence, I believe that the generation in-between 
(from Arthur and Molly to Sirius and Remus) wears an intermediate 
style: mostly wizard robes, but occasional Muggle clothing, and some 
NEW wizarding fashions with trousers/britches/pantalons. A more 
practical kind of low-heeled and undecorated boot. And, totally 
without canon basis, I believe they wore non-Muggle underwear: 
knee-length knickers tied at waist and knee for drawers, and shirts 
with gathered neckline (called 'peasant blouses' as a Muggle style) 
for chemises (undershirts), and possibly corsets (stays) for the 
witches: are spells enough for bosom support?

My guess as to how such a style of underwear could have suddenly 
become the fashion for a whole generation (or two) is that a famous 
witch actress was in a play in Diagon Alley's best theater, a play 
with a boudoir scene, and she couldn't very well be *naked* on stage, 
so the play's costume designed invented a fetching outfit for her 
that looks much more immodest than it really was, and the fashion was 
copied from that costume.