Redeemable Fred -- Neville Timeline -- Ron's Birthday

[ssk7882]

No: HPFGUIDX 36133

A few bits and pieces, here and there...

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On Fred


Debbie, forgiving George for his role in all the pranks, wrote:

> So I'd like to revise the challenge to find positive Fred moments 
> that might rehabilitate the reputation Fred has created in my mind.

I'm still amazed that you noticed all those differences between
George and Fred!  I must say that it never really occurred to me
that there was much distinction between the two.  My bad, apparently.

But if you want a redemptive Fred moment, how about Chapter Ten of
_Chamber of Secrets_?  The Gryffindor Quidditch team is preparing
to go out and play the newly Nimbus'd-up Slyths, and Wood is really
laying the pressure on poor Harry -- "Get to that Snitch before Malfoy
or die trying" -- all that sort of thing.  Enough to give anyone 
a bleeding ulcer, it is.

Fred's the one who says, "So no pressure, Harry," and winks at him.

That was pretty nice of him, I thought.

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On the Neville Timeline


In response to my compromise with the Big Bang Cindy, which suggested
a late winter 1980 birthday for Neville, Ali wrote:

> I love the theory, but I have a slight problem with your dating of 
> Neville's birthday. . . .The school year at Hogwarts runs from 
> September to August - the same as the English school year. This 
> means that all the kids in Harry's year should have their birthdays 
> between September 1979 and August 1980. . . .So, his birthday would 
> have had to have been no later than August 31 1980.

Hmmm.  Maybe I'm a little confused.  I get horribly muddled with 
dates, I'm afraid, especially when trying to wrap my brain around the 
ways that school years and calendar years intersect.

But if we declare Neville's birthday to have been in the late winter
of 1980, then doesn't that still place it within the acceptable
time-frame?  Maybe I wasn't entirely clear on what I meant by "late 
winter."  I meant late in the winter of 1980, not late in the year
of 1980.  In other words, we'd be talking either late February or 
early March, 1980, which I think would still make Neville the 
appropriate age to be in Harry's year, wouldn't it?

If we then declared the attack on the Longbottoms to have happened
precisely two years later, in February or March of 1982, then this 
would satisfy Featherboas (which insists on seeing gaily-wrapped 
parcels trampled underfoot), and it would suit the Big Bang (which 
insists on things happening quickly), and it would make Faith happy 
(as Faith has consulted canon and declared her opinion that Neville 
was "at least two" when the attack on the Longbottoms took place), 
and it would gratify *me* as well, because oh, I just *hate* that 
rotten year 1981!

So is it settled then?

Good!  I'm sure that JKR is ever so relieved that we're working out 
all of these pesky little details for her.  ;-)


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On Ron's Birthday


Catlady wrote:

> Ron seems like an Taurus to me, but JKR stated that his birthday is 
> March 1, which is Pisces. If it were March *31*, he would be an 
> Aries, which I could believe: he has a temper.

Oh, dear.  Right you are, Catlady!  I *did* say that I was easily 
muddled by dates, didn't I?

Somehow I'd misremembered that as *May* 1, which would have made Ron
not only a Taurus, but a Beltane baby as well -- which would have been
very cool.  But alas, no, you're quite right, JKR *did* say March 
1st.  And she's the one writing the books, right?  

<grumpy noise>  

We hope.

So...um...never mind that part, then.  Sorry.  My mistake. 



-- Elkins