Young Snape / Riddle and Lucius / the Map / Weasels / Ugly Baby Voldie

[catlady_de_los_angeles]

No: HPFGUIDX 40007

Darrin wrote:

<< Again, though, we have to look at the era. A kid interested in 
Dark Arts during Voldemort's reign will be looked at with suspicion 
and fear. Again, it would be similar to a Nazi sympathizer in 
occupied France. Or a Taliban sympathizer in America today. >>

First detail is, if the Voldemort Reign of Terror (RoT or "the Bad 
Years") started in 1970 (Book 1 Chapter 1, Voldemort is dis-embodied, 
is 1981 and Dumbledore says "these eleven years" = since 1970), and 
our guys were Class of '76 (having been born in 1957-58, according to 
a timeline that I worked out while waiting for GoF, while Lexicon 
Steve was working on his timeline at the same time), then the Bad 
Years hadn't started yet when Severus was a first year who knew more 
curses than most seventh years.

Second detail is, distrusting all people who are knowledgeable about 
Dark Arts is not a good way to get good DADA teachers and good Aurors.

Joe Blackish wrote:

<< [Lucius recommending to re--embodied young Diary!Tom] "You need to 
go reunite with your older, more powerful, and currently vapor self. 
>>

I think Young Tom, having just eat Ginny or whomever, would recognize 
that Lucius was advising him to commit suicide.

<< Do we have any estimate on when the elder Malfoy was in Hogwarts? 
I have this pet idea (unsupported by canon as far as I know), that he 
was there around the same time as Arthur and Molly. Maybe their 
mutual animosity was in origin a lot like the Severus/James, 
Harry/Draco feuds. >>

Their fist-fight in Flourish & Blotts and their jibes in the Top Box 
certainly give that impression. However, there is what seems to me to 
be evidence that Arthur & Molly, Minerva, and Tom Riddle were all at 
Hogwarts at more or less the same time. Arthur & Molly were at 
Hogwarts together because of Molly's reminiscence of coming back late 
to Gryffindor Tower after a date with Arthur. Arthur & Molly were at 
Hogwarts at least a little before the CoS flashback events, as Molly 
told anecdotes of Hagrid's predecessor as gamekeeper, a man named Ogg. 

Molly and Minerva look much the same age, or Molly just a little 
older (don't judge by Dame Maggie, judge by JKR's own sketch, in 
http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/lst in album 
titled "Harry Potter and Me".) JKR said in an interview that Minerva 
"is" 70. It makes a difference whether she meant "is" 70 in 2000, 
when the interview was given, or in 1991-2 school year of Book 1, or 
in 1994-5 school year of GoF, latest published book, or in 1997-8 
school year of Book 7.

Anyway, my point ("and I do have one") is that if Arthur and Lucius 
were at Hogwarts together and Arthur and Tom were at Hogwarts at the 
same time, then Lucius and Tom were in Slytherin House together. I 
envision Lucius rather younger than that, but it would be tidy for 
him to be one of the 'useful friends' Tom made at school.

<< I could imagine the map being set up so than when Fred and George 
are trying to figure out how to work it, Mssrs. MWPP give them a 
little bit of trouble, but teasingly help them along the way to the 
right phrase. >>

Could be, but the Terrible Twins are *clever*: they invented those 
Canary Creams. I wouldn't be surprised if they're clever enough to 
reverse-engineer a magical artifact. (I am sure there is such a thing 
as reverse-engineering magic; I believe that is part of what Bill does 
as a curse-breaker.) 

Jodi wrote:

<< Rowling says her favourite animal is the otter. Weasels belong to 
the same family as  otters, polecats and stoats, which all fit in 
with the place the Weasleys live - Ottery St. Catchpole, the River 
Otter, Stoatshead Hill... So would this indicate some significance of 
this whole group of animals, ? >>

Ferrets are also in that family. USAmericans tend to view ferrets as 
adorably cute furry pets, like kittens except exotic, but JKR seems 
to have a less positive view of ferrets. Buckbeak eats them and Draco 
is Transfigured into one.

Laura quoted Zoe's page:

<< It was also thought that [weasels] could hypnotize their prey by  
dancing in front of it!" >>

This, like that page Eloise cited that spoke of weasels as a 
Christian symbol because they hunt serpents, struck me as someone 
having confused weasels with Mongooses.

Nik Fry wrote:

<< JKR doesn't give us details as to how exactly one goes about 
turning vapor into an Ugly Baby. >>

It has been *very plausibly* suggested that the method involved 
keeping poor Bertha's body alive long enough to serve as surrogate 
mother.