Constellations and Harry Potter

[redandgoldlion]

No: HPFGUIDX 59696

Hello everyone,  
   I'm not sure if this has been dicussed before, but I checked 
Lexicon and the archives here and didn't see anything. Sorry if this 
has already been run into the ground. I'm not the best at writing 
these things, so please excuse my mistakes. 
   I am currently reading a book called _Star Myths and Stories_. As 
I was reading, I came across some interesting things that could 
possibly be Potter-parallels. 
~   The first thing that caught my attention was under Canis Major, 
the Big Dog. The myth relating to this constellation, which is 
Orion's most fierce hunting dog. He is at the feet of Orion (a 
hunter) in the sky, with Canis Minor close by. Sometime, Canis Major 
is instead said to be Laelaps, a hound given to Cephalus. Either 
way,  this constellation is very interesting, because of it's 
brightest star *Sirius*. 
    The Egyptians honored the star, Sirius, because the appearance of 
Sirius helped them to determine how soon the annual flood of the Nile 
would occur, and give them a chance to prepare. 
    The Romans, however, were always axious at his appearance, as it 
began the "dog days" of summer, withering crops and causing everyone 
to drip with sweat. 
     Able to be seen from every part of earth with people living 
there, Sirius is most famous for his unique way of twinkling, giving 
him his nickname, the Twinkler. As it shines, it also changes color. 
Finally, this star is moving more than 40,000 mph across our line of 
vision, and has been for more than a thousand years. 
     Almost certainly, we can assume that Rowling named the Sirius 
Black just that because Sirius is the major star of the Major Dog, 
but how far do her implications go? You could say that many see 
Sirius B. completely differently. Some see him as a murderer, others 
as a wonderful person, just as the Romans and the Egyptians disagreed 
over Sirius the star.  
      As for his visibility, could that represent his fame, albeit 
mostly for something he didn't do, in the books? What about his 
twinkling, movement, and color-changing? Could that show he changes 
often, as in, say, into a dog? Or perhaps it symbolizes changes in 
his personality, or which side he's *really* on? (Though I personally 
think he's a "good-guy") I think I got a little carried away with 
this, and personally I don't think she named him for any of these 
reasons save that he's from the dog constellation, but it's still 
interesting.  ;-)
~    Now for the "Draco (One story to his appearance in the heavens 
is the following, but there is another) and Minerva" story. It is 
believed that when Jupiter and the other gods were first fighting the 
Titans and *giants*, in order to take their places as rulers of the 
world, the *Dragon* (on the side of the giants and titans) attacked 
*Minerva* near the end of the battle. Grabbing the dragon, Minerva 
threw him into the heavens near the north pole, where he was caught 
and frozen, becoming a constellation. 
   Could this represent a future confrontation between Draco M. and 
Minerva M.? Also, it places the giants as allies with the dragons. 
Maybe Hagrid and Maxime won't have much luck, eh? Just some thoughts.
~    Relating to the above story, Typon led a revolt of the *Giants* 
and *Dragons* against the gods, which failed.
     Perhaps this is what's coming with the rebirth of the Dark Lord, 
but his little (or not so little) "revolt" will fail? We can only 
hope.
~    There was more, but I'm out of time. This is the most of the 
good information, though.
   Bye, 
     ~redandgoldlion~
  "On matters of style, swim with the current. On matters of 
principle, stand like a rock." --Thomas Jefferson