Just some last minute observations

[Kirstini]

No: HPFGUIDX 60827

QuickQuotes: Rhiannon the RavenSlyth:
But the line in question, IMHO, makes Ron sound considerably 
younger than 14. Call me an elitist, but I would expect a fourteen-
year-old of reasonable intellectual ability (which Ron certainly is) 
to know better than to start a sentence with "me and Hermione."

This afternoon I had a call from my little brother and he used that 
very phrase (except that he said "Dave", not "Hermione" ;0). My 
little brother is almost twenty, with an incredibly high IQ. He's a 
nurse.
 It's a common enough slip to make. I've just spent the last three 
weeks marking my (first ever!) set of first-year university English 
exam papers, and in some cases the grammatical standard was 
relatively poor. However, I've taught some of these students and 
know that they are all well above "reasonable intellectual ability".
Two thoughts (one of which, I promise, will get this post back on-
topic). Firstly; are we beginning to alter our standards of 
intellectualism? Does a grammatically perfect sentence no longer 
count for as much in an age where the emphasis is on verbal 
communication? 
Secondly, I think that this particular quote is a rather wonderful 
example of an author entering into a character's mind-set. Ron 
certainly displays more than "reasonable intellectual ability" when 
it comes to thinking practically, logically, or actively. But 
academically he tends to lag behind the other two. Also, remember 
that JKR has said that non-Muggle children don't necessarily have 
any sort of primary education at all. Why would Ron have mastered 
grammar by this point? The Hogwarts teachers don't appear to be 
strict about that sort of thing.
The more I think about it, the more Ron reminds me of my little 
brother (this is the cunning bit of the post where I prove that I 
was being relevant all along). Both of them are laid back, 
practically-minded, reliable, witty, intelligent, and utterly non-
academic. My brother may not talk quite properly, but he tends to 
have a lot of much more useful information in his head, and his 
patients think he's the best thing since sliced bread.
That was a rather long-winded way of calling you an elitist, I 
suppose. I really don't mean that offensively, though.
;)
Kirstini