A quote, and RE: Potter family / The correct Slytherin thing to do

[catlady_de_los_angeles]

No: HPFGUIDX 36876

I found a JKR quote:
<<She's a member of the Church of Scotland and, whenever she's asked, 
says, "I believe in God, not magic." In fact, Rowling initially was 
afraid that if people were aware of her Christian faith, she would 
give away too much of what's coming in the series. "If I talk too 
freely about that," she told a Canadian reporter, "I think the 
intelligent reader -- whether ten[years old] or sixty -- will be able 
to guess what is coming in the books.">>

I gloated at it, because to me saying that mentioning Christianity 
will give the plot away means I'm right in my theory that Harry will 
die to destroy Voldemort. Here's the citation:
"Fantasia: The Gospel According to C.S. Lewis" By Michael Nelson
The American Prospect Issue Date: 2/25/02
http://www.prospect.org/print/V13/4/nelson-m.html

The teaser in the print version: "What do J.R.R.Tolkien and 
J.K.Rowling owe to C.S.Lewis? And what do Christian conservatives
have against Lewis's publisher?"

Melanie Brackney wrote:

> But I mean you would think that James Potter would have some living
> relatives, grandparents, cousins, parents, siblings? Perhaps there 
> is some secret reason they are being kept away from Harry? Perhaps 
> they are just all dead or at St. Mungo's but it got me thinking at 
> least a little bit.

In Book 1, when McGonagall protests against leaving baby Harry with 
the Dursleys, Dumbledore tells her: "I've come to bring Harry to his 
aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now." 

To me, that means there is no one alive, not in St. Mungo's 
"incurable" ward, not in Azkaban, and not a Death Eater, who is 
related to Harry except those Dursleys. THEREFORE, despite the red 
hair, Lily was not related to Weasleys, nor to Dumbledore (whose hair 
was auburn in the CoS flashback). Alas, it doesn't rule out Lily 
being descended from Riddle, who was not exactly alive.

Marina Rusalka wrote:

> But why would Snape be ashamed of running away? Seems to me that
> running away and leaving the other guy to be eaten by the werewolf
> is the perfectly correct Slytherin thing to do, 

I cannot answered this question half as well as Elkins explained 
it in her post  on 01/31/02 about the wizarding folk's warrior 
culture. Therefore, a long three paragraph quote: 

<<It's always struck me as amusing -- amusing and also kind of sad,
really -- that the Slytherins seem to ascribe to this ethos very
nearly as closely as the Gryffyndors do. They're supposed to value 
cunning and deceit, and achievement through any means possible, and 
all of that, right? They're supposed to value *sneakiness*. They're
supposed to value the ends over the means. So why on earth should
they care about things like warrior pride, or physical courage, or
dignitas, or in-group loyalty?>>

<<But they do. They care about all of that a great deal. We see it 
with Voldie and his Death Eaters, and we see a lot of it with Draco 
Malfoy. Accused of having bought his way onto the Quiddich team, 
Draco actually loses his *temper.* If he's such a good little Slyth 
boy, then shouldn't he have simply smirked? After all, isn't that 
just the sort of practice that he's *supposed* to be engaged in? 
Finding the underhanded way to get things for himself? Exploiting a 
situation by any means possible? Really, he should be taking *pride* 
in his utterly House-sanctioned behavior. But he's not. He's ashamed. 
And he doesn't like being accused of cowardice, either. And he feels 
honor-bound to avenge insults against his mother's name.>> 

<<And, well, it's all just plain *sad,* if you ask me. The poor 
Slyths just can't win: their House emphasizes the very values that 
their overall culture most strongly militates against. No matter how 
many times they may win the House Cup, no matter how loudly and 
shrilly they may proclaim their superiority by virtue of blood or 
money, no matter how successful their Old Boys may have been at 
attaining positions of power and prestige, the fact still remains 
that they're losers by cultural default, and they know it. Small 
wonder that they're so prone to envy and resentment, or that Evil 
Powers find them so very easy to corrupt and to seduce.>>