Marcus FLINTs

[c_voth312]

No: HPFGUIDX 39689

Some thoughts, speculations, and random theories pulled out of my hey-
HEY!...

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "prefectmarcus" <prefectmarcus at y...> wrote:
> #1 What is the deal with the Hogwart's Express ticket?  Harry only 
> needs one in the first book.  Do only first years need them?  If 
so, 
> what purpose do they serve.  (I am sure this has been asked 
before.  
> I am curious as to the concensus, if any.)

You know, I've never really thought about it.  I guess I've always 
assumed he had one but since there wasn't much point to mentioning it 
in the story, they weren't.
 
> #2 Trunks.  Harry and Ron drop off their trunks at the mostly empty 
> last carriage, then hang around on the platform.  They then board 
the 
> train and search for a compartment.  They finally find the very 
last 
> compartment empty except for Lupin.  No mention is made of trunks 
> between dropping them off at the carriage and the sneakoscope going 
> off.  How did they get to the compartment?  Would they have just 
left 
> little Ginny to manhandle her trunk by herself?  Are there Train-
> elves?

Ummm...carry-ons, maybe?  I don't recall any mention of porters or 
other railroad staff (there was the old guy who's supposed to keep 
everyone from going through the barrier at once, though), but I 
imagine they're around...It's a bit like the servants in Jane 
Austen's novels; you don't hear about them but reason indicates they 
exist anyway.
 
> #3 Side question.  Why does Harry almost invariably arrive at the 
> last minute and has to take the very last compartment?

Because some people are habitually early, and some aren't.  Clearly 
Harry's the latter ;-)

> #4 The compartment is specifically mentioned as the last one in the 
> carriage of the very last carriage of the train, yet later we see 
> that "People were chasing backward and forward past the door of 
their 
> compartment."  How is that possible if it is the last compartment 
on 
> the train?

Two theories: 1) there's still a bit of passage past the door of 
their compartment--perhaps a bathroom or something similar as well. 
2) It's just an expression to indicate chaos or high activity.

> #5 When Harry comes to, he finds Ron and Herminone kneeling next to 
> him and somebody is calling "Harry!  Harry!  Are you all right?"  
The 
> other people in the compartment are Ginny, Neville, and Prof. 
Lupin.  
> Yet later it seems a big mystery that Lupin knows Harry's name.  
Why?

The real question is, why would it be a mystery in the first place?  
Nearly everyone in the books either knows who Harry is right off hand 
or figures it out within two minutes of seeing him.  You'd think by 
this point he'd be used to it...
 
> #6 The peeling letters of "Professor" R. J. Lupin.  No definitive 
> answer, but it is possible that only "R. J. Lupin" is 
> peeling.  "Professor" has been added just recently and not very 
well.

Makes sense to me...
 

> #8 (Later in the book) Why is Lupin's Boggart a silvery-white orb?  
> The moon is a sphere that is lit on one side and is in shadow on 
the 
> other.  That is why it waxes and wanes.  If Lupin was truly afraid 
of 
> the full moon, wouldn't the boggart take the form of an orb that is 
> half-lit, and half-dark?  If that be the case, it would be 
difficult 
> for the students to mistake it as a crystal ball.

Let's see...the boggart transforms into an individual's worst 
fear/phobia/terror.  That would seem to indicate they have some form 
of ESP, ie. they "see" what the person is afraid of and imitate it.  
Perhaps the boggart got an image from Lupin's mind of a full moon--
that is, a white round thing on a black background--and mistook it 
for an orb or something.

As for the question of how a twelve-foot dementor squeezes into the 
compartment...all I can say is now I've got this image of a dementor 
crouching down at the knees underneath its robe, and trying to glide 
around eerily in such an awkward position...

~Christi