Animagi, Ginnymort, Lucius Malfoy, Animagi, heirs, morality, etc

[ashfaex]

No: HPFGUIDX 46837

When they told me this list was high-volume, I don't think I realized
the extent to which that was meant...there's not enough space allowed
in the subject header for me to list all the things I'm replying to!


Katey
>>Hey!  this is something I've been bothered about for some time. 
I've >>heard that JKR said in many interviews that Harry won't become
an >>animagus like his dad.  Am I wrong to assume that that means
he'll >>become an animagus of a different animal?  Becomes her wording
seems >>very specific.  However, I've never actually found the
interview, >>though I've looked many times.  Could someone find a link
to the >>interview or interviews where JKR says this?  (A lot of sites
say >>that she revealed this info in "several" interviews.)

I was under the impression that she meant Harry & company were not
going to become Animagi themselves at all. It'd be fun for us to
watch, but realistically I don't think she could work it into the
story. First of all, how many unregistered Animagi can there
realistically be in the world? We've already discovered four, and that
seems quite a lot. But also, it takes years to learn how to become an
Animagus; it took James & company three years. JKR is very good about
keeping her books seperate from one another, even though elements from
past books become important later on; but unless Hermione is clever
enough to figure how to become an Animagus in one year (possible,
given that it's Hermione, but still not very likely), I don't think
JKR will introduce a plot element that will so blatantly be in the
background for more than one book.


Carol:
>>This part still gives me a bit of a problem.  Exactly how has Tom
>>enchanted Ginny to do what he wants?  Is he in her mind somehow?  I
>>had always been under the impression that he has simply charmed her
>>to do what he wants her to do.  But unless he is somehow in her
head, >>how does he know that Mrs. Norris is there petrified, ready to
be >>hung on the wall?  Unless this was part of the original plan or
>>unless Tom is somehow aware of what is going on, how would he know
to >>tell Ginny to hang the cat on the wall?  And if he did know what
was >>going on, why did he need Ginny to write to him to tell him
other >>things that were going on?  Wouldn't he know every time he
charmed >>her?  And if he doesn't know what's going on and Mrs. Norris
is not >>part of the plan, how would Ginny know to hang the cat up? 
Does that >>mean that even under Tom's spell, Ginny has some free
will?  (Which >>leads to a rather scary idea that Ginny is somehow
more evil than we >>think she is or is becoming evil due to the
influence of Tom's >>charms).  Even if Ginny doesn't have free will as
we would think of >>it, how could she make the decision on her own to
make use of Mrs. >>Norris?  Am I forgetting something else, this time
about Tom's >>charming of Ginny?

I'm with those who think that Tom was able to actually possess Ginny.
As in, he shunted her consciousness off to one side and took control
of her body; he could see and hear what happened around him, and
affect it. Ginny would be sort of asleep in a corner of her own mind
while Tom acted through her; this fits in with the fact that she says
she's been having problems remembering things. There's much precedent
for this type of possession in mythology and folklore, and JKR draws a
_lot_ on such folklore. 

Someone (sorry, can't remember where or who) commented that if this
were the case, Ginny would probably be much more traumatized than she
was. But if "Ginny" was unconscious while Tom used her body and had no
memory, she might not be quite so traumatized. And who's to say she
isn't traumatized? The Dementors affect her pretty strongly, and it's
not hard to guess what she remembers when they come near her.


-Scheherazade
>>Ah, too true.  However, if I was in the wizarding community, I would 
>>question how horrible they were in relation to one another, so I 
>>can't imagine that noone would in the Potterverse.

I'm sure they have, but I imagine different wizards have different
opinions as to whether AK is preferable to Cruciatus or not, just as
different people in real life has different preferences as to whether
torture is preferable to death. But that's a matter of variable
ethics, not Harry Potter canon, and therefore I don't think it's
appropriate to discuss it here.


Monika
>>Weasleys do not pretend that their squib cousin does not exist. They 
>>keep enough touch with him to know what his job is, most likely they 
>>know his family as well. If there was such a connection, Molly would 
>>have certainly told Harry long ago that he an Ron are related.

It's been stated pretty clearly that Harry's only living relatives are
the Dursleys; I don't think this is something likely to come into
question. First of all, if Lily is related to the Weasley's squib
cousin, Molly would likely know. Certainly Dumbledore would know. If
the Weasley's were Harry's relatives, then whatever bizarre protection
he has while living with the Dursley's would probably still apply if
he lived with the Weasley's, and Dumbledore would let him stay there
instead of sending him back to the Dursley's every summer.

I have to admit, I passionately dislike the idea of there being any
more Founder's Heirs of any sorts other than Voldemort. It seems too
easy an explanation to me; it reduces the war against Voldemort into a
power struggle between the Heirs of Slytherin and the Heirs of
Gryffindor. It's stated clearly in CoS that Tom Riddle is the only
living descendant of Slytherin, so I can't buy the idea that the
Weasley's are also Slytherin's Heirs. Isn't there an interview in
which JKR stated that no other Heirs are going to be popping up aside
from Voldemort? I'm sure I read that somewhere...if anyone knows,
could they provide me with a link?


Pippin, your theories about Ginnymort are fascinating! I don't agree
with them entirely, but wow, very well thought out. I completely agree
that Tom Riddle probably didn't intend for anyone to die the first
time he brought out the basilisk, instead preferring to use scare
tactics to achieve results; Myrtle's death not only made it likely
that Hogwarts would close (inconvienent, and his goal was to purge the
school, not to destroy it), it also necessitated the need to find
someone to blame for the death, which meant that he was at risk of
getting caught. But a death wouldn't have been a problem the second
time around. Tom was in no danger of getting caught, as no one knew he
existed. If Ginny had been caught, Tom Riddle would still have
remained safe, unless someone just happened to find the diary and
remember that Tom Riddle later became Lord Voldemort. And who notices
a book? 

On that note also:

Chris
>>What I keep thinking is that Lucius knew perfectly well how
dangerous >>that diary was and that the intent was to drain the person
who wrote >>in it of life force so that he (Voldemort) could come back
as his 16 >>year old self.  If I remember correctly, once the life
force was >>completely transferred, the person being drained would
die.  In that >>case, Lucius would most definitely not give that diary
to his own >>son.

Not to mention that Draco, as a Slytherin and the son of a "reformed"
Death Eater, would fall under suspicion too easily. As is evidenced by
our own Trio's attempts to catch him out. *gryn* Ginny, as a pureblood
Weasley Gryffindor (not to mention an eleven-year-old girl), was above
suspicion, making her a perfect scapegoat. And if Ginny had been
caught, that would still have been to Lucius' advantage; he would have
lost use of the basilisk and failed to scare Muggleborns from the
school, but he would have disgraced the Weasleys, which would put him
in a much stronger political position at the Ministry. Again, a clever
plot on many levels.


Audra
>>I don't believe it ever mentions in the books whether Lucius even
>>went to Hogwarts or not.  He is mentioned in neither Riddle's and
>>Hagrid's time there (about 50 years ago), nor Snape's and the
>>Marauders' time there (which I imagine to be about 20 years ago). 
>>It's possible that Lucius slightly older than Snape and the
>>Marauders, say in 6th or 7th year when Snape and the Marauders
>>entered Hogwarts, and didn't have much interaction with them.  That
>>would make him in his late 20s when Voldemort was at the height of
>>his power, and in his mid-40s now.  It's also possible he went to
>>Durmstrang (he wanted to send Draco there) or even Beauxbaton
(Malfoy >>does sound like a French name).  

Draco tells Harry/Goyle and Ron/Crabbe that the Chamber of Secrets was
opened "before his father's time," which implies that there was a time
when Lucius was at Hogwarts.


>>Also if he did follow the snake through the walls, how is it that
>>neither he nor Riddle!Ginny get caught?  It seems a student hissing
>>through the halls would be quite suspicious.

I imagine Ginnymort (man I love that term!) simply walked through the
corridors. The snake had to travel through pipes in order to not be
noticed, but a Hogwarts student walking around would be completely
normal. No one would have known she was following the path of the
snake, as no one else (except, to everyone's surprise, Harry) was able
to hear the basilisk speaking to itself as it moved. It's simple
enough to wait to speak to the basilisk until no one else is around;
similarly, the basilisk could have been ordered not to attack until
given the word. 

Ashfae