OOP: Harry/Neville, James, Snape, et al

[Cohen, Meg]

No: HPFGUIDX 62623

I have actually managed to get caught up on posts, though the main reason I
did it was to 
keep my email admins from fussing at me too much!  Still, I'm sure much of
what I'll say here has been discussed somewhere.  Here are some questions
and comments.
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(obligatory spoiler space)
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First, about the whole Neville/Harry prophecy thing.  I'm still not
convinced that Neville is out of the running as the one that can destroy the
Dark Lord.  I know the prophecy says that the Dark Lord would mark the one
as his equal, but has he really done that?  At the end of GoF, he taunts
Harry, and delights in showing the DEs how much more powerful than Harry he
is.  I can't accept that merely trying to kill Harry indicates that he
marked him as an equal -- he could've been pulling a Pharaoh thing and
trying to kill off every male wizard child that fit the prophecy, and simply
happened to get to Harry before Neville for some reason.  I think it's
wonderful that Neville has finally shown some magical ability, and I
personally think that with a new wand he'll be significantly more powerful
in books 5 and 6.  What if Neville is the one who finally defeats the Dark
Lord and the last sentence of book 7 is something to the effect that Harry
is no longer special, but just a young man with untidy hair and a scar.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.  Oh, and what's with all the ellipses in the prophecy?  Are
they just to indicate pauses, or is Dumbledore editing it?

Second, the Snape's worst nightmare scene.  I don't believe that what Harry
saw in the pensieve was colored by Snape's perception of it -- it's obvious
from the use of the pensieve in GoF that it does provide more than just the
memories of the person using it.  However, I also think some people are
being a little hard on James.  I, for one, did some things in elementary and
high school that I am hideously ashamed of as an adult, and that, I know,
hurt others tremendously.  I'm not a bad person, and I doubt that I'm all
that unusual.  (anybody remember the confession scene in the movie The
Breakfast Club?)  Yes, what James (and Sirius) did was reprehensible, but I
don't think it makes them evil.  And, I still think that regardless of what
happened, Snape has acted just as immaturely and badly.  Incidentally, I'm
glad Harry got to see it; seeing one's parents as people, and especially as
flawed people who are still loving and lovable, is one of the big steps to
maturity, and I think Harry will need a great deal of maturity in the next
two books.

About Harry's anger:  I LOVED it.  All of it, including and especially his
refusal to forgive Snape and to continue the occlumency lessons with him.
My mother died when I was 8; I went through a fairly nasty spell during
adolescence where I was angry at pretty much anyone, and did some really
stupid things.  Nothing too horrible, but along the lines of refusing to do
school-work when I didn't like the teacher even though I knew it would only
hurt me in the end.  I think Harry's anger and destructive streak are dead
on.  I say bravo to JKR for letting Harry vent his feelings.

On Ginny Weasley:  LOVED her!

On Aunt Petunia:  Very unsatisfying.  I thought for sure Dumbledore's "tell
you everything" was going to include more information on the Dursleys.
Hopefully we'll get more in later books.

I, too thought that the earlier books implied that the Potters were being
destroyed by LV, so I was a little taken aback by the prophecy.

Finally, does anyone else start singing the Elvis Costello song "Oliver's
Army" whenever they read Dumbledore's Army?  The meter even fits
(Dumbledore's Army is on it's way, Dumbledore's Army is here to stay...).

I think that's it for now.  I'm re-reading OoP (which as a programmer I
can't help but translate as Object Oriented Programming....), so I may have
more later.

Meg Cohen
Applications Analyst Programmer
Information Services Division
UNC Health Care System
voice: (919) 966-7605 / fax: (919) 966-2110
mailto:mcohen at unch.unc.edu
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