OoP - Jenny's Big Questions and others - Spoilers!

[Guess ...]

No: HPFGUIDX 62765

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "kiricat2001" <Zarleycat at a...> 
wrote:
> 
> And here are some questions of my own:
> 
> 1. When/how did Harry get the Map back?

Whoops. That will probably be explained away in an interview, though 
("Oh, Moody gave it back to him,"). 

> 2. Why did Harry not unwrap that present from Sirius (mirror)?

I think it shows that our lives are full of "If I had only done 
this ..." - big regrets, big mistakes, things we'd like to do over, 
things we'd like to take back. We've all thought we've known a 
person so well, had them all figured out, and then found out we were 
completely wrong. Harry thought that by unwrapping Sirius's present, 
and therefore letting him know that Snape was bugging him, that 
Sirius would go charging over to Hogwarts and do something stupid 
and put himself in danger. Really, it turned out that all he wanted 
to do was talk. I think Harry was probably feeling a bit resentful 
towards Sirius too, for comparing him to his father, and thus, felt 
less enthusiastic about his gift. Anyway, it ties in with what Molly 
says in the beginning, about Percy ... something like, "What if he 
dies and the last things we said to each other were nasty," an issue 
she brought up in GoF as well, with the twins. Sometimes, people die 
and the last thing a loved one said to them was something inane, or 
insulting, or nothing at all ... and that, unfortunately, is life. I 
wonder if that has happened to Rowling herself, hmm ... 

> 3.  Why did Sirius have to stay virtually locked up in that awful 
> house?  Could he not occasionally have gone out Polyjuiced as 
someone 
> else?  And, perhaps not have been stir-crazy to the point that 
> knowing Harry was in danger led him out?

I thought Polyjuice potion was illegal ... but my other four books 
are nowhere near me. Once again, people make mistakes. I think one 
of the biggest messages in this book is "Nobody's Perfect." The more 
perfect we expect a character to be, the more "mistake-free," the 
worse their mistakes are, it seems. Dumbledore is amazing, but even 
he admits he is not perfect. He made a bad decision. 

> 4. How could Sirius, with no disguise, waltz into the MoM?

No guards. And the escaped-from-Azkaban Death Eaters were already 
there. They probably already took care of anyone who was still in 
their way, any alarms, anything. They wanted to be able to lure 
Harry there in peace after all.

> 5. Does wizard society not have funerals?  Granted, a public 
memorial 
> for Sirius was out of the question, and there was no body to bury, 
> but is anyone else disturbed that there was not even a mention of 
a 
> private service for those who knew him?  Wouldn't Harry have 
> benefitted from something like that rather than grieving by 
himself 
> at the edge of the lake?

Funerals and memorial services are religious services, a lot of the 
time. Maybe Rowling just honestly didn't feel like treading those 
waters. She'd have to favor a style of spirituality, which may be 
more toruble than it's worth. Plus, Harry doesn't strike 
me as an emotionally open person. Sure, he can let fly with the 
anger, but there's power behind anger. It puts you on the offensive. 
With sadness, you're more open and raw. I don't think he's ready to 
be that vulnerable yet, especially if there are more deaths coming. 
It sounds kind of cold, but soldiers don't get memorial services on 
the battlefield. They get them long after the war is over.  

~ Wanderlust - who forgot her password to her other Yahoo! account, 
and who finally, finally, finally has something to post!