[HPforGrownups] Re: Harry's Height /Cho's a midget?

[Laura Huntley]

No: HPFGUIDX 36865


Jo Serendust Said:
>My 11 year old son is in the 50% range for his age and is almost 
>exactly 5' tall.  In the beginning of CofS it states, "Harry, 
>thought still rather small and skinny for his age, had grown a few 
>inches over the last year." (Chapter 1, CofS).  So my assumption is 
>that if 5' is average for an 11 year old boy, then Harry would be in 
>the range of 5'3" for a "rather small" 13 year old (since boys in 
>the 11 to 13 y.o. range seem to do quite a bit of growing).  What 
>has always seemed very wierd to me was that in Chapter 13 of the 
>same book Cho Chang is described as being shorter than Harry by 
>about a head.  Most girls are close to their eventual adult height 
>by the age of 14 (she's a year older than Harry, right?).  I'm 
>mortified to admit that I measured my 13 year old daughter's head 
>(didn't tell her why, of course, since she already has her doubts 
>about my sanity), and it's about 8 1/2 inches long.  This would 
>indicate to me that Cho is only about 4 1/2' tall!  Since she's a 
>seeker I would expect that she would be relatively small, but 
>wouldn't this make her almost freakishly short?  I wonder if JKR 
>thought this through.

Being one of the "little people" I feel obligated to add my own two cents to this matter.  I'm about 5' 1or so and I'm pretty sure I won't be growing anymore.  *accepting sigh*  Anyway, this is short for a female, but not "freakishly", as Jo put it. ^_~  In fact, I've known quite a few women who were actually shorter than me.  The thing is, though, if you ask anyone to look at me and then look at, say, my friend Amy ( 4' 10"), they will invariably describe me as smaller/littler/shorter, even though this is not true.  Amy is by *no* means overweight.  I'm just really, really *little*.  Obviously, I don't view myself this way, but other people do a pretty good job of reminding me.  (actually, I'm usually given kid's menus and discounts at restaurants, provided I wear baggy clothing or a coat and no make-up, this is sometimes useful, but mostly just embarrassing.)

Anyway, my *point* is, you can be skinny and small for your age, but that doesn't mean you're incredibly short.  I'm not saying that Harry is actually tall and skinny, or anything, just perhaps he is only a inch or two under average and really scrawny (if there *is* an average at that age...my little brother is around that age. The difference in appearance/height/etc between his classmates is frankly alarming).  My brother, for instance, managed to stay shorter than me until he was oh...lemme see..12 or 13?  Mind you, this is some achievement.  I *used* to be pretty freakishly short -- had a growth spurt.  And them BAM! BOOM! The kid is growing like it's nobody's business.  This, I understand, is normal for boys.  They have a growth spurt a little after the onset of puberty, grow slowly for a few years, have another growth spurt, and then grow slowly again until their around 18 or 19 (which is why they're so short freshman year, but end up towering over everyone by the time they're seniors).  Anyway, my brother, who was really little and scrawny until he got his growth spurt going is now alot taller than a head above me, and he's 14 (same as Harry in GoF when Cho is around a head shorter)..and I'm older to him than Cho is to Harry.

Therefore, even if Harry hasn't been growing with the same vigor that my brother has, Cho still needn't be *that* short. 

Oh yeah, lemme see.  *whips out her trusty measuring tape* Uh, okay.  My head is around 7.5 inches long.  Gee, that's still alot, isn't it?  Hum.  Well, you also have to realize that this is from Harry's POV, and I don't know this is just something that happens to us shorties, but I'm always misjudging other people's heights.  I tend to think that I'm at least as tall (if not taller) as most all the other girls I know, when in reality (as is painfully obvious when I look in the mirror with one of them or in a picture or something) I'm *alot* shorter.  And even when people *are* actually shorter than me by a significant enough amount that I can like...almost see the top of their heads (at least with my big shoes on), I will routinely say they're about a head shorter than me, when in actuality they really come up all the way to my nose (I do this pretty often).  And that's about...3.5 inches.  It's all in the perspective, you see -- and it's perfectly reasonable that Cho be 5' and Harry around 5' 4", 5' 5".

mmm..well..

laura

you're dangerous
cause you're honest
you're dangerous
you don't know what you are
well, you left my heart
empty as a vacant lot
for any
spirit to haunt
[...]
you're an accident
waiting to happen
you're a piece of glass
left there on the beach
well, you tell me things
you know you're not supposed to
you leave me
just out of reach
[...]
who's gonna ride your wild horses?
who's drown in your blue sea?
who's gonna ride your wild horses?
who's gonna fall in front of thee?
well, you stole it
cause I needed the cash
and you killed it
cause I wanted revenge
well, you lied to me
cause I asked you too
baby, can we still be friends
[...]
Heaven knows
the doors you opened
I just can't close
[...]
who's gonna ride your wild horses?
who's gonna drown in your blue sea?
who's gonna taste your salt water kisses?
who's gonna take the place of me?
U2


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