OOP: Petunia, Neville, and others (spoilers)

[tina21209]

No: HPFGUIDX 62671

Jana:
>I think Petunia definately knows more than she is letting on. 
>Rowling said at some point that someone that hasnt used magic yet 
>will use it later in the series, and I think it definately has to 
>be Petunia. I think Petunia used to hang out with Lilly and James 
>and perhaps other magic folks. How else would she have heard "that 
>boy telling my sister about it." There must at some point have 
>been a massive falling out between them. Perhaps Petunia even went 
>to hogwarts for a while.

Me:
I agree that there is something up with Petunia. I know we find out 
in the end that DD sent her the howler, but I really don't 
understand it. I've gone back over it a couple of times. Can someone 
explain what they think "Remember my last" might mean and why it 
would have convinced Petunia to allow Harry to stay at Privet Drive?

Edis:
>But Neville has in a sense been 'marked'... maybe its more than a 
>memory charm that keeps him dopey. 

>It seems to me that Neville has a lot more powers than we 
>originally thought, look how he florishes in 'Dumbledores Army' 
>training. What is shielding him from access to these powers, at 
>least so far? 


aRk:
>I'm so angry at Gran for letting Neville use his father's wand all 
>this time, and for insulting him that he's bad at magic. Maybe if 
>she had got him his own wand, he wouldn't be having so much 
>trouble. I know, I know, she probably thought it was nice for him 
>to have his father's wand, but we all know that effective magic 
>cannot be performed without your own special wand.


Me: As I was reading, I thought it strange that Neville's Gran 
insulted him in front of his friends. She's never been described as 
a cruel person, only formidable. But then I got to thinking: it's 
fifteen years ago, the Potters have been killed and their son 
attacked, my son and daughter-in-law have been tortured to insanity. 
If someone (DD perhaps) hinted to me that there was a prophecy and 
LV might be after my grandson because he sees him as a threat I 
might be tempted to do something (a charm?) to make it seem as if 
Neville doesn't have much power at all, and therefore is not a 
threat. To make him seem rather bumbling. And then make sure I 
complain about his lack of talent where others can hear. Nope...no 
threat here. It might not be the best course of action, but if I 
were grief sticken and desperate to keep the last of my family safe, 
I may have been tempted to it.


Samantha:
>It is basically confirmed that Snape is now spying on Voldemort as 
>a Deatheather he really has to show favoritism to the children of 
>other Deatheaters especially Draco. 

Me:
Do we really know that Snape is still posing as a DE? This was 
bothering me as I read. My copy of GoF is on loan, so I can't 
verify, but this is what I think. We know that Snape was a DE 
because he had the Dark Mark. But at Karkaroff's trial in the 
pensieve DD clearly tells all of the witches and wizards in the room 
that Snape left LV's service before his downfall at great risk to 
himself. Isn't that pretty much telling the world that he became a 
double agent? Then, when LV calls the DE to the graveyard, Snape 
does not go. LV comments on who is missing,saying that one is too 
cowardly to return (Karkaroff) and one has left him forever and will 
be killed (Snape). So Malfoy and the rest of the DEs should already 
know that Snape is no longer one of them. 

If that's the case, it makes even less sense that Snape continues to 
treat Draco with favoritism since Lucius must know that Snape is not 
on LV's side.

Jodel:
>As for Percy the ingrate; doesn't it occur to anyone that a 
>complete, public and acrimonious break with his family is the one 
>biggest requirement for the Redheaded Pimpernel scenario?

Me: 
Gosh, I hope so. On the other hand, his defection does tie nicely 
into JKR's theme of choices: Tom Riddle had a horrible home life and 
chose to be evil...Harry had an equally hard home life and chooses 
to do what's right as best as he can see it...James apparently had a 
very nice home life, was a prat for a while, and then chooses to do 
what's right...Percy comes from a loving family and yet goes over to 
the dark side?

Marina:
>I think Dolores Umbridge is the nastiest villain we've seen so far, 
>and the fact that the Ministry employs a monster like her only goes 
>to confirm my belief that wizard society needs to be reformed from 
>the ground up, and that part of Harry's job as hero is to achieve 
>this.

Me:
I agree. She was horrible. Painful to read. This may have soemthing 
to do with the fact that I am a teacher in a place where there is 
way too much government involvement in standardizing and testing 
everything that is taught, so her vileness truly resonated with me. 
I think, also, she is so horrible because she is insidious. No one 
in their right mind thinks that LV's right. He's a one dimensional 
dark character. But Delores has been able to rise through the ranks 
of the MoM. She is able to convince others to follow her lead 
(although thankfully not the Hogwarts teachers... that would have 
been way too painful to read about).

As for reforming wizard society, no one except Hermione seems really 
interested in doing that, although I agree that it needs to be done. 
JKR makes that abundantly clear through the centaurs and the lying 
fountain.

Gertie:
>(I vote Kathy Bates to play Umbridge.)

Me:
That's exactly who I was thinking of as I read her character.

"tina21209"