Crookledore/dead!Evanses/broomFlooApparate/Sorting Hat/OotP/unblockableAK

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

No: HPFGUIDX 44677

Daharja wrote:

<< I'm suggesting (if this hasn't already been suggested), that 
Dumbledore may well be Crookshanks. >>

Dumbledore probably is an Animagus, but so far most people have 
suggested that he's a bumblebee or a phoenix ... someone suggested he 
could be Fawkes, and the way that Fawkes and Dumbledore can be seen 
together is because he's using a Time Turner. I suspect that an 
Animagus cannot become a magical animal ... which would rule out 
Dumbledore being Crookshanks, because JKR said that Crookshanks is 
part-Kneazle and Kneazles are magical animals.

Any way, I feel sure that JKR's publishers would do everything in 
their power to prevent her from having Dumbledore (in cat disguise) 
hanging out in the girls' bedrooms and sitting on girls' laps. 

I also have trouble believing that the great and powerful Dumbledore 
is a little bitty bee.

bbhoy_mn wrote:

<< I guess we gave to assume that Petunia's parents are dead. 
While they aren't Potters, they are Harry's grandparents and would 
certainly be considered family. >>

Yes. I have often speculated that Petunia murdered them in a fit of 
rage over them preferring Lily.

bboy_mn wrote:

<< Does the Floo network reach all the way to the US, China, and 
Australia? Do protkey have a limited range? Are there travel networks 
that use portkey that you can use to  travel just like the muggles 
use trains? >>

I'm pretty sure that the Floo Network DOESN'T reach North America, 
and neither does any Portkey network: QTTA says that before the 
famous first trans-Atlantic broom crossing, wizards preferred to use 
ships. Ships, not Floo, not Portkey. (Altho' I can't think of any 
reason but tradition that there wouldn't be Floo across the Channel.) 
It IS possible to Portkey from Britain to the Sahara, as in the case 
of the referee whose broomstick was turned into a Portkey ... but 
there's no reason to assume that the person who did it cared whether 
it was risky.

<< I got the impression,  although it isn't clearly stated, in the 
Philosopher's Stone when Dumbledore was called away by an owl from 
the Ministry, that he flew a broom to London. I would think a great 
wizard like Dumbledore could apparate a long way. But apparently the 
600 to 700 kilometers from North Scotland to London was beyond his 
capacity. >>

Yes, that whole scene is very confusing. Dumbledore *did* give the 
impression that he had travelled by broom, that he had been deceived 
by a fake owl that lured him away, and that he had returned on a 
hunch. It's enough to make one join the conspiracy theorists and 
suppose that Dumbledore was merely *pretending* to be absent so as to 
let Harry and Quirrelmort have it out one-on-one. 

Psycho Dude Neo wrote:

<< We're never really explained quite WHAT the Sorting Hat is. Is it 
a totally independed entity? Does it draw on the spirits of the 
founders of Hogwarts? We don't really know quite what goes on during 
a Sorting. We know what the Hat says to Harry, but we don't really 
know how it's getting it's information. It's assumed that it just 
reads minds, but it seems to do more than that. Besides, I'm inclined 
to trust any item enchanted by 4 of history's greatest Wizards and 
Witches. >>

There was speculation on the list (I have no idea what keyword to use 
to search for it) that the Sorting Hat is an independent entity that 
is ESE so evil, or at least does all in its power to make sure that 
the wizarding community is too busy fighting civil wars to make 
progress.  

Nitpick: the Founders were the four greatest Wizards and Witches in 
Britain in the 10th century, which leaves a lot of room for even 
greater Wizards and Witches in other places and other centuries.

Judy Ellis:

<< according to a [2000] interview with JKR, Ginny will play a 
larger role in the upcoming OoP. >>

The same JKR who told Lizo that Ron's cousin would appear in Book 4.

Eloise wrote:

<< Since AK is unblockable, why is it so important to be able to 
anticipate that someone is about to cast it on you or to know what it 
looks like? It is only of any use to anticipate it if you are taught 
some trick for physically avoiding it. >>

Dodge. Apparate out of the way (if Apparation is fast enough).