SHIP: Banter and other SHIP subjects

[serenadust <jmmears@comcast.net>]

No: HPFGUIDX 50937

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Falcon" <falcon21 at f...> wrote:


 On a separate note, I did discover in GoF that Harry is no longer 
short, but rather he is average height. It's in the Divination 
class, where Trelawney says, "your dark hair and mean stature." Mean 
means average, and stature refers to height. I looked it up in three 
different books just to make sure.

I'm afraid that I must disagree here about the word "mean".  When I 
read this section of GoF, I immediately assumed that when Trelawney 
mentions Harry's mean stature, she meant that he was small and thin.
I checked the Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary to be sure and 
where the word "mean" is listed as an adjective, the first 
definition was "1. lacking in distinction or eminence".  There are a 
great many definitions for the word "mean" listed and I can 
understand how this can be confusing.  I think that the way 
Trelawney is using the word is more common in English usage than 
American, however.  Perhaps one of our British listmembers could 
help clarify this point.

Anyway, although I'm sure that Harry is growing to some extent every 
year, I think that he is still short and small for his age.  After 
all, on the same page in GoF as Trelawney's remark about his "mean" 
stature we have:

"I've got two Neptunes here," said Harry after a while, frowning 
down at his piece of parchment, "that can't be right, can it?"
"Aaaah"' said Ron, imitating Professor Trelawney's mystical 
whisper, "when two Neptunes appear in the sky, it is a sure sign 
that a midget in glasses is being born, Harry..."

Jo Serenadust, who thinks that most of Ron and Hermione's exchanges 
are pretty hilarious