Other schools, the Lake, Dumbledore and the Truth

[merimom3]

No: HPFGUIDX 43672

Other schools, evidence for or against
Jeff said:
>Neville states: 
>"And you should have seen their faces when I got in here -- they 
>thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle 
>Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad."

>The key words here are "When I got in here." If there was the 
>possibility that he may not get into Hogwart's then there must be 
>other schools.

I disagree.  Saying you didn't "get in" does not imply there were 
other places to get into.  You could say you didn't get in to a club 
or a college, and mean that therefore you aren't in any club or 
college.  It doesn't help us either way, I'm afraid.


The Lake: Deep Psychological waters?
[bboy and Amy discussed the importance of first years taking boats 
to the castle.]

I just wanted to point out that the first years also took boats BACK 
to the train.  "Hagrid was there to take them down to the fleet of 
boats that sailed across the lake," third from last page of PS/SS.  
While I was enjoying finding significance in their arrival, I can't 
see any in their departure by the same route.  While it seems clear 
that only first years went by boat TO Hogwarts, no mention is made 
of how upperclassmen got there.  And it is not clear that 
upperclassmen took a different route back to the train.  IMHO, JK 
had not thought about it until she had to write something in PoA 
(having conveniently avoided it in CoS), and came up with carriages.

Carol said:
>When Dumbledore chooses not to tell Harry the reason Voldemort 
>tried to kill him, he doesn't add that it's best for Harry to grow 
>up ignorant.  That is an interpretation of his remark.  And he says 
>he CAN'T tell him, not that he WON'T tell him.  That makes me think 
>there's more to it than Dumbledore wanting Harry to be ignorant and 
>in the dark.

I had not noticed this before, but you're right, and maybe it's 
because he's a Secret Keeper!  Nothing says there wasn't more than 
one aspect of whatever James and Lily were up to / why Voldemort 
wanted to kill them.  Maybe they took him up on his offer of Secret 
Keeper-ship for the "why" part, while eventually giving Peter care 
of the "where" part.  Got it backwards, if you ask me, but there ya 
go.  So even if Dumbledore wants to tell Harry, he is bound by a 
promise not to, under what conditions we won't know until they are 
met, like Harry coming of age or Dumbledore dying.

Ginny (not THAT Ginny)