thanks for the lines

[chesterr]

No: HPFGUIDX 59897

Thank you to all of those who posted their favourite lines. I've added 
some of them to the list of what I had.

FYI, here's the story (although in the unsubbed version, so forgive any spellers). It's running (well, probably a smaller version seeing I got carried away) in The Courier-Mail (www.couriermail.com.au) on Saturday.

cheers

Rod Chester (who is also counting the days to the next book)

FOR even the most dedicated fan, J.K. Rowling can be a frustrating 
woman.

At a surface level, her stories are entertaining tales that slowly unfold, detailing the life of a young wizard.

But it's the bits below the surface that have Harry Potter fans scratching their heads. Read the stories carefully, and they contain a trail of hints that could reveal secrets about Harry's future challenges. But they're also just as likely to lead you astray.

Some of the clues can be as simple as a name. Take Hermione, who shares her name with a character in Greek mythology who was loved by two men. Is this a hint that she will be the apex in a love triangle. Perhaps between Harry and Ron? Or Krum and Ron? Or Harry and Krum? Or is it not a clue at all.

An ongoing discussion at Harry Potter for Grown Ups (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/) continues to debate the significance of a line in the fourth Potter book Goblet of Fire 

"For a fleeting instant, Harry thought he saw a gleam of something like triumph in Dumbledore's eyes. But next second, Harry was sure he had imagined it, for when Dumbledore returned to his seat behind the desk, he looked as old and weary as Harry had ever seen him."

So, what is the gleam about? Does Dumbledore has a magical plan? Does he have a secret way of protecting Harry against the evil Lord Voldemort? And what is it? Does it involve Arabella Figg, referred to at the end of book four, who could be the same Mrs Figg, an old spinster who lives with a family of cats, that the Dursley's sometimes call upon to babysit Harry.

And when you start thinking along these lines, you find the tales of Harry Potter are littered with what could be clues. The first time you read the first Harry Potter story, you are likely to read over a line when Hagrid 


Sometimes the lines aren't a clue. Sometimes they're just funny.

At one point, in discussing Harry's famous forehead, Dumbledore muses: "Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground." While giving the reader an amusing image of a grey-bearded wizard consulting his upper leg before jumping on the Tube, it's unlikely 
that this is a clue that somehow the ability to navigate the Underground will be difference between the 

Bad news, Harry. I've just been to see Professor McGonagall about the 
Firebolt. She - er got a bit shirty with me. Told me I'd got my 
priorities wrong. Seemed to think I cared more about winning the Cup 
than I do about staying alive. Just because I told her I didn't care 
if it threw you off, as long as you caught the Snitch first." --Oliver Wood

"I told you!" Ron hissed at Hermione as she stared down the article. "I told you not to annoy Rita Skeeter! She's made you out to be some sort of--scarlet woman!"
Hermione stopped looking atonished and snorted with laughter. "Scarlet woman?" she repeated, shaking with surpressed giggles as she looked around at Ron.
"It's what my mum calls them," Ron muttered, his ears going red.

"A study of Hogwarts prefects and their later careers," Ron read aloud off the back cover. "That sounds fascinating."

"Oh, are you a prefect Percy? You should have said something we had no idea."
"Hang on I think I remember him saying something about it, Once..."
"Or twice-"
"A minute-"
"All summer-"

Why," demanded Ron, seizing her schedule, "have you outlined all Lockhart's lessons in little hearts?"

"We tried to shut him (Percy) in a pyramid, but Mum spotted us." --George Weasley

"You don't know how bizarre it is to see Goyle thinking." --Ron Weasley as Crabbe

(Harry is reading Ron's letter...) Thought I'd send this with Pig anyway. Harry stared at the word "Pig", and looked up at the tiny owl now fluttering around the light fixture on the ceiling. He had never seen anything that looked less like a pig.

"Well...when we were in our first year, Harry--young, carefree, and innocent--"
Harry snorted. He doubted whether Fred and George had ever been innocent.

"Lockhart'll sign anything if it stands still long enough." --Ron Weasley

"Sure you can manage that broom, Potter?" said a cold, drawling voice. Draco Malfoy had arrived for a closer look, Crabbe and Goyle right behind him.
"Yeah, reckon so," said Harry casually.
"Got plenty of special features, hasn't it? said Malfoy, eyes glittering maliciously. "Shame it doesn't come with a parachute--in case you get too near a Dementor."
Crabbe and Goyle sniggered.
"Pity you can't attach an extra arm to yours, Malfoy," said Harry. "Then it could catch the Snitch for you."

"Yeah, I've seen those things they think are gnomes," said Ron, bent double with his head in a peony bush, "like fat little Santa Clauses with fishing rods." --Ron Weasley

Ron was staring at Pettigrew with the utmost revulsion. "I let you sleep in my bed!" he said.

"What would we want to be prefects for?" said George looking revolted at the very idea. "It'd take all the fun out of life." --George Weasley

Dudley had done the thing he was threatening to to do since age three: He had become wider than he was tall.

(Dumbledore talking to Professor McGonagall...) "It's lucky it's dark... I haven't blushed so much since Madame Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs." --Albus Dumbledore

"Enjoying it?" said Ron darkly. "I don't reckon he'd come home if Dad didn't make him. He's obsessed. Just don't get him onto the subject of his boss. According to Mr. Crouch...as I was saying to Mr Crouch...Mr. Crouch is of the opinion...Mr. Crouch was telling me... They'll be announcing their engagement any day now."

Dudley looked alot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small watery blue eyes, and thick blonde hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel. Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.

"Don't tell your mother you've been gambling," Mr. Weasley implored Fred and George as they all made their way slowly down the purple-carpeted stairs. "Don't worry, Dad," said Fred gleefully, "we've got big plans for this money. We don't want it confiscated." Mr. Weasley looked for a moment as though he was going to ask what these big plans were, but seemed to decide, upon reflection, that he didn't want to know.

"Yer' great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley don' worry." --Hagrid

"Poor old Snuffles," said Ron, breathing deeply. "He must really like you, Harry... imagine having to live off rats."

(Ron talking about Norbert the dragon...) "I tell you, that dragon is the most horrible creature I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes about it you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me, he told me off for frightening it. And when I left he was singing it a lullaby." --Ron Weasley

"Well, I can certainly see why were trying to keep them alive." said Malfoy sarcastically. "Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting, and suck blood all at once?"

(While under the trap door over Fluffy...) "So light a fire!" Harry choked.
"Yes... Of course... But there's no wood!" Hermione cried wringing her hands.
"HAVE YOU GONE MAD!" Ron bellowed, "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT!"

(Lavender...) "Oh Professor look! I think I found an unaspected planet! Oooh, which one's that, Professor?"
"It is Uranus my dear." said Professor Trelawney peering down a the chart.
"Can I have a look at Uranus too, Lavender?" said Ron.

(Dumbledore talking to Harry while he is in the hospital wing...) "I believe misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you a toilet seat." --Dumbledore

"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."

"We had to write about our hero at school Mr. Mason, I wrote about you." --Dudley

(While Ron and Harry are doing their Divination homework...) "You seem to be drowning twice," said Hermione.
"Oh, am I?" said Ron peering down at his predictions. "I'd better change one of them to getting trampled by a rampaging Hippogriff."
"Don't you think it's a bit obvious you've made these up?" said Hermione.
"How dare you!" said Ron in mock outrage. "We've been working like house elves here!"

Fred and George, however, found all this very funny. They went out of their way to march ahead of Harry down the corridors, shouting, "Make way for the Heir of Slytherin, seriously evil wizard coming through. . ."

"You're alive," she said blankly to Harry.
"There's no need to sound so disappointed," he said grimly, wiping flecks of blood and slime off his glasses.
"Oh, well...I'd just been thinking...if you had died, you'd have been welcome to share my toilet," said Myrtle, blushing silver.

Harry learned quickly not to feel to sorry for the gnomes. He decided to just drop the first one just over the hedge, but the gnome, sensing weakness, sank his razor sharp teeth into Harry's finger and he had a hard job shaking it off until --
"Wow, Harry-that must have been fifty feet."

"Don't be prat, Neville, that's illegal," said George. "They wouldn't use the Cruciatus Curse on the champions. I thought it sounded a bit like Percy singing... maybe you've got to attack him while he's in the shower, Harry."

George looked up in time to see Malfoy pretending to faint with terror again.
"That little git," he said calmly. "He wasn't so cocky last night when the dementors were down our end of the train. Came running into our compartment, didn't he, Fred?"
"Nearly wet himself," said Fred, with a contemptuous glance at Malfoy.

"Excuse me, I don't like people just because they're handsome!" said Hermione indignantly.
Ron gave a loud false cough, which sounded oddly like "Lockhart!"

Percy had what were possibly the least helpful words of comfort.
"They make a fuss about Hogsmeade, but I assure you, Harry, it's not 
all it's cracked up to be," he said seriously. "All right, the sweetshop's rather good, and Zonko's Joke Shop's frankly dangerous, and yes, the Shrieking Shack alway's worth a visit, but really, Harry, apart from that, you're not missing anything."

"OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIE!"
Harry spun around. Professor Moody was limping down the marble staircase. His wand was out and it was pointing right at a pure white ferret.
"I want to fix that in my memory forever," said Ron, his closed and an uplifted expression on his face. "Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret..."

"Where is Wood?" said Harry, suddenly realizing he wasn't there.
"Still in the showers," said Fred. "We think he's trying to drown himself."

(Professor Trelawney...) "I was saying that Saturn was surely in a position of power in the heavens at the moment of your birth...your dark hair...your mean stature...tragic losses so young in life...I think I am right in saying, my dear, that you were born in midwinter?"
"No," said Harry, "I was born in July."
Ron hastily turned his laugh into a hacking cough.

"Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business."
"Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony, and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git."
"Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a professor."

"Mad-Eye Moody?" said George thoughtfully, spreading marmalade on his toast. "Isn't he that nutter--"
"Your father thinks very highly of Mad-Eye Moody," said Mrs. Weasley sternly.
"Yeah, well, Dad collects plugs, doesn't he?" said Fred quietly as Mrs. Weasley left the room. "Birds of a feather..."

(Talking to Percy..) "That'll change the world, that report will," said Ron. "Front page of the Daily Prophet, I expect, cauldron leaks."

One of them was a very old wizard who was wearing a long flowery nightgown. The other was clearly a Ministry wizard; he was holding out a pair of pinstriped trousers and almost crying with exasperation. "Just put them on, Archie, there's a good chap. You can't walk around like that, the Muggle at the gate's already getting suspicious--"
"I bought this in a Muggle shop," said the old wizard stubbornly. "Muggles wear them."
"Muggle women wear them, Archie, not the men, they wear these," said the Ministry wizard, and he brandished the pinstriped trousers.
"I'm not putting them on," said old Archie in indignation. "I like a healthy breeze 'round my privates, thanks."

"Yeah, someone might slip dragon dung in it again, eh, Perce?" said Fred. 
"That was a sample of fertilizer from Norway!" said Percy, going very red in the face. "It was nothing personal!"
"It was," Fred whispered to Harry as they got up from the table. "We sent it."

Furious, Harry threw his ingredients and his bag into his cauldron and dragged it up to the front of the dungeon to the empty table. Snape followed, sat down at his desk and watched Harry unload his cauldron. Determined not to look at Snape, Harry resumed the mashing of his scarab beetles, imagining each one to have Snape's face. 

"He sounds exactly like Moody," said Harry quietly, tucking the letter away again inside his robes. "'Constant vigilance!' You'd think I walk around with my eyes shut, banging off the walls...." 

"How're we getting to King's Cross tomorrow, Dad?" asked Fred as they dug into a sumptuous pudding. "The Ministry's providing a couple of cars," said Mr. Weasley. Everyone looked up at him. 
"Why?" said Percy curiously. "It's because of you, Perce," said George seriously. "And there'll be little flags on the hoods, with HB on them-" 
"-for Humongous Bighead," said Fred. 

(Harry had just been greeted by Percy...) "Harry!" said Fred, elbowing Percy out of the way and bowing deeply. "Simply splendid to see you, old boy-" 
"Marvelous," said George, pushing Fred aside and seizing Harry's hand in turn. "Absolutely spiffing." 
Percy scowled. "That's enough, now," said Mrs. Weasley. "Mum!" said Fred as 
though he'd only just spotted her and seized her hand too. "How really corking to see you-" 

Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. 

"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words, and here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" 

"Wild! I can make that old bloke down there pick his nose again...and again...and again..." --Ron 

"Ah, of course! There is no need to tell me any more, Ms. Granger. Which one of you will be dying this year?" --Prof. McGonagall 

"Harry, this is no time to be a gentleman! Knock her off her broom if 
you have to!" --Oliver Wood 

"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," sighed George, patting the heading of the map. "We owe them so much."
"Noble men, working tirelessly to help a new generation of lawbreakers." said Fred solemnly..." 

"Longbottom, if brains were gold then you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something." --Draco 

"Ah, well, people can be stupid abou' their pets." --Hagrid 

"But we're not stupid -- we know we're called Gred and Forge." --George Weasley

Trelawny: "Would anyone like me to help interpet the shadowy realms within their orb?" 
Ron: "I don't need help, it's obvious what this means: there's going to be loads of fog tonight." 

Trelawney: "The fates have informed me that your examination in June will concern the orb, and I am anxious to give you sufficient practice."
Hermione: "Well honestly...'the fates have informed her'...who sets date of the exam? She does! What an amazing prediction!" 

"Percy wouldn't recognize a joke if it danced naked in front of him wearing Dobby's tea cozy." --Ron 

"Viktor? Hasn't he asked you to call him Vicky yet?" --A very jealous Ron

"I don't know who Maxime thinks she's kidding. If Hagrid's a half-giant, she definitely is. Big bones...the only thing that's got bigger bones than her is a dinosaur." --Harry 

"Half an inch of skin and sinew holding my neck on, Harry! Most people would think that's good as beheaded, but oh, no, it's not enough for Sir Properly Decapitated-Podmore." --Nearly Headless Nick 

"Azkaban -- the wizard prison, Goyle," said Malfoy, looking at him in disbelief. "Honestly, if you were any slower, you'd be going backward." --Draco
 
Moaning Myrtle: "Peeves upset me so much that I came in here and tried to kill myself. Then, of course, I remembered that I'm -- that I'm--"
"Already dead?" 

"Shouldn'ta lost me temper, but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I s'pose he was so much like a pig anyway that there wasn't much left ter do." --Hagrid
 
"I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could have been killed -- or worse, expelled!" -Hermione 

He therefore had to endure over an hour of Professor Trelawney, who spent half the lesson telling everyone that the position of Mars with relation to Saturn at that moment meant that people born in July were in great danger of sudden, violent deaths. "Well, that's good," said Harry loudly, his temper getting the better of him, "just as long as it's not drawn out. I don't want to suffer."

Lee Jordan was finding it difficult not to take sides.
"So--after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating--"
"Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall.
"I mean, after that open and revolting foul--"
"Jordan, I'm warning you--"
"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure..." 

"Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs." --Dumbledore

Ron: "Who're you going with then?"
Fred: "Angelina."
Ron: "What? You've already asked her?"
Fred: "Good point. Oi, Angelina! Want to come to the ball with me?" 

"Twitchy little ferret, aren't you Malfoy?" --Hermione

Ron: "I could've taken those mer-idiots any time I wanted."
Hermione: "What were you going to do, snore at them?" 

Hermione: "Harry, I've been thinking -- you know what we've got to do, don't you? Straight away, the moment we get back to the castle?" 
Harry: "Yeah, give Ron a good kick up the--" 
Hermione: "Write to Sirius."

"I will only truly have left this school none here are loyal to me... Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it." --Dumbledore

"The first word out of those poor Petrified people's mouths will be 'It was Hagrid.' Frankly, I'm astounded Professor McGonagall thinks all these security measures are necessary."--Gilderoy Lockhart 

"There is no good and evil, there is only power...and those too weak to seek it." --Quirrel 

"If you made a better rat than a human, that's not much to boast about." --Sirius Black

"To the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure." --Albus Dumbledore 

"Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where it keeps its brain." --Arthur Weasley 

"It is our choices Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." --Dumbledore 

"You should have died! Died rather than betray your friends, as we would have done for you!" --Sirius Black 

"Fear of a name increases fear of a thing itself." --Dumbledore 

"Voldemort...is my past, present and future..." --Tom Riddle
 
"When a wizard goes over to the dark side there's nothin', and no one matters to 'em anymore." --Hagrid 

"Haven't I already told you that killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me any more? For many months now, my new target has been -- you." --Tom Riddle 

"Humans have a knack for choosing precisely the things that are worst for them."
--Dumbledore 

"Quite the double act, Sirius Black and James Potter." --Madame Rosmerta 

"His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad
his hair as dark as a blackboard,
I wish he was mine, he's really divine,
The hero who conquered the dark lord." 
--Ginny
 
"I'm not blamin' yeh...but I gotta tell yeh, I thought you two'd value yer friend more'n broomsticks or rats. Tha's all." --Hagrid 

"If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." --Sirius Black 

"Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory." --Dumbledore 

"Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world." --Ron 

"I don't need a cloak to become invisible." --Dumbledore 

"I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death -- if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach." --Snape 

"Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort can't understand, it's love." --Dumbledore 

"I seem to remember telling you both that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules," said Dumbledore. Ron opened his mouth in horror. "Which goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words," Dumbledore went on, smiling. 

"And Potter -- do try and win, won't you? Or we'll be out of the running for the eighth year in a row, as Professor Snape was kind enough to remind me only last night..." --Prof. McGonagall 

"I don't go looking for trouble. Trouble usually finds me." --Harry 

"What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed? Only innocent lives, Peter." --Sirius Black 

"There's enough filth on my robes without you touching them." --Sirius Black
 
"Are you insane? Of course I want to leave the Dursleys! Have you got a house? When can I move in?" --Harry 

"Not at all up to your usual standard, Hermione," he said. "Only one out of three, I'm afraid. I have not been helping Sirius get into the castle and I certainly don't want Harry dead...but I won't deny that I am a werewolf." --Lupin

 
"He was my mum and dad's best friend. He's a convicted murderer, but he's broken out of wizard prison and he's on the run. He likes to keep in touch with me, though...keep up with news...check if I'm happy..." --Harry 

"Please, sir," said Hermione, whose hand was still in the air, "the werewolf differs from the true wolf in several small ways. The snout of the werewolf--"
"That is the second time you have spoken out of turn, Miss Granger," Snape said coolly. "Five more points from Gryffindor for being an insufferable know-it-all."
Hermione went very red, put down her hand and stared at the floor with her eyes full of tears. It was a mark of how much the class loathed Snape, they were all glaring at him, because every one of them had called Hermione a know-it-all at least once, and Ron, who told Hermione she was a know-it-all at least twice a week, said loudly, "You asked us a question and she knows the answer! Why ask if 
you don't want to be told?" 

"I still don't like your tone, boy. If you can speak of your beatings in that casual way, they clearly aren't hitting you hard enough. Petunia, I'd write to them if I were you. Make it clear that you approve the use of extreme force in this boy's case." --Aunt Marge 

"You might even have a scar now, if you're lucky...that's what you want, isn't it?" --Harry to Ron 

"There you go, Harry! You weren't being thick after all -- you were just showing moral fiber!" --Ron 

"You are truly your father's son, Harry..." --Sirius Black 

"'Course Dumbledore trusts you. He's a trusting man, isn't he? Believes in second chances. But me -- I say there are spots that don't come off, Snape. Spots that never come off, know what I mean?" --Moody