OOP: Genetics, HRHN/MWPP, Cho, Hermione/SPEW, Neville, Sirius, more

[clicketykeys]

No: HPFGUIDX 61702

Wow. Okay. It took me ALL DAY to get caught up. Sheesh! And by the 
time I finish this there's liable to be about twenty  more posts up, 
but oh well...

Also spoilers for <i>Patch Adams,</i> if you haven't seen it.
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(Spoiler space)
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* Sirius - All right. Well, JKR has said that Sirius is dead. Dead-
dead, and she doesn't seem to be the kind of person who'd fib about 
that - at least not when there's two more books coming out and she'd 
be nailed on it before she was finished! I'm just not comfortable 
with it as it stands. There are too many variables to have any 
certainty of what happened or what the fallout will be.

* Next - oh, some people have said or hinted that maybe Harry is a 
Weasley by birth. Highly doubtful, as he's the spitting image of 
James, and if he wasn't Lily's son, you'd think folks would know. 
It's possible that he's related to them distantly, though.

* Cho - Now, as this isn't a single story (though there is of course 
the overarching story and a sense of continuity) this may be out of 
line, but when Harry started getting mushy on her I was reminded of a 
line from a review of <i>Patch Adams,</i> about the "love interest" 
in that movie. Someone said that when the girl made her appearance, 
it was "too late" for her to be a "real" love interest, which meant 
that her character showed up with only one real purpose - to die. 
We're given enough character development to allow us to care when it 
happens. And then - bam! Awww, isn't that sad? 

I really hope this isn't the case, I really hope Cho just kind of 
fades out of the spotlight, because if she DOES get kakked I'll wind 
up in a fit of giggles.

* Hermione - CAN she free the Hogwarts house-elves? One would think 
that as a mere student she wouldn't have the authority to do so. It'd 
have to be ... I dunno, Dumbledore or somebody. I'm not sure, though, 
because you'd think Hermione would be clever enough to have checked 
up on something like that. Maybe she just really likes knitting and 
wanted an excuse to practice, I don't know. ;)

* After reading this book, I think Judi Densch would have been a 
better pick for Prof. McG. Maggie Smith is excellent, but Dame Judi 
just has that very /regal/ aura about her that McG shows brilliantly 
in this story.

* Neville - Hate to say this, everyone, but I think Neville's going 
to go bad. He's even got it in his name! (Can't escape your name-
destiny, yanno.) And there's the parallel between HRHN and MWPP... 
Neville's the afterthought, the incompetent one, the one who's 
consistently told that he's not nearly as good as his parents were. I 
see Harry following in his father's footsteps as the leader, Ron 
being the instigator like Sirius, Hermione providing Lupin's voice of 
reason, and Neville... well, there's only one guy left. Remember how 
the Sorting Hat took a long time with him? Bet Slytherin was an 
option along with Hufflepuff.

* Tying in with that is the prophecy. The use of the word "either" 
bothered me as well, because given the apparent meaning of the 
prophecy, "one" would have been more appropriate. However, "either" 
implies a CHOICE. This ties in with my second observation, the use of 
the word "other." Remember that this prophecy was told, not written 
down. What if "other" refers to someone OTHER than Voldemort and the 
one who can strike him down? Finally, I think it's pretty clear that 
the last part of the prophecy is referring to a specific event - 
something will happen that will result in the death of either 
Voldemort or the one with the power to overthrow him, possibly both.

Also, yes, Voldemort has marked Harry, but it's entirely possible 
that THE mark hasn't happened yet. I really feel that "will mark him 
as an equal" does not refer to the scar and the transfer of powers. 
Harry wasn't marked AS an equal (he wasn't given the mark as a sign 
that he was recognized as Voldemort's equal) but has the potential to 
become an equal because of the mark. 

And don't get me STARTED on Pronoun Trouble. ("Shoot him now! Shoot 
him now!" "He doesn't have to shoot you now." "Yes you do! SHOOT ME 
NOW!" BANG.)

Prophecies in literature only make sense AFTER the events have 
transpired. It's way too early for this prophecy to have such a clear-
cut meaning as is given in the conversation between Harry and 
Dumbledore.