Is there anything in the HP world that bothers you?... And Neville

[serenadust]

No: HPFGUIDX 56648

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Melanie L Ellis <emeleel at j...> 
wrote:
> Thanks for the replies on the Mandrakes. I realize JKR was just 
playing
> off the folklore of the mandrakes (I had looked it up, and read 
basically
> what was posted here, that the roots look human and they were 
thought to
> make noises.) but I still say she made them sound too realistic. 
As one
> poster said (sorry, I forget who) all it would have taken is one 
or two
> sentences in Hermoine's explanation of them to set the tone for 
them
> *not* being real, living beings. Something along the lines 
of, "Mandrakes
> are a magical plant who resemble humans in their appearance and 
life
> cycle, and whose properties are.....". Sure, it's a small extra 
mouthful,
> but coming out of Hermoine, wouldn't sound out of place at all!
> 
> I think JKR probably just got carried away with her descriptive 
version
> of a "play on words" and didn't stop to think about how it *really*
> sounds when you read it closely.


We also have to remember that Ms Rowling has made a point of saying 
that she's writing these books mainly for herself. She has mentioned 
in a number of interviews that she often cautions parents of young 
children (under 8 or 9) that the books may not be appropriate for 
them, especially the ones who are particularly sensitive to the more 
violent or scary aspects.  Another thing that occurs to me is that 
British writers tend to be "edgier" than Americans (think Roal 
Dahl), and that this particular cultural difference tends to cause 
many Americans to find British humor a bit harsh at times, when it 
really isn't intended to be.  JKR is known to be a fan of Monty 
Python, and it seems to me that cutting up and stewing the mandrakes 
fits in very well with the Pythonesque "dead parrot" humor tradition.



Melanie continued:

> Now, about Neville. I think the poor boy is a much more powerful 
wizard
> than anyone believes him to be. I think he's just *scared* to be 
anything
> more than the mediocre bumbler that he is. <snip>


I agree that something is definitely up with Neville and that he's 
really a very powerful wizard.  There's been considerable theorizing 
about Neville on this list over the past few years, and many believe 
that he's been subjected to powerful memory charms, or 
alternatively "reverse" memory charms, which are blocking his innate 
abilities.  If you are interested, there are several old threads on 
the subject, and they make very interesting reading.  You may be 
able to start by typing "Memory charm Neville" into the search 
function. 


Jo Serenadust