New(?) observations.....

[KLMF at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 57683

Hello List, 

While I have nothing profound to add to any of the current threads (which, by 
the way I'm enjoying thoroughly!) , I do have a couple observations I'd like 
to throw out to the List...They are kind of minor and nitpicky, but I'm 
seeing that even the most innocent detail may in the end hold great 
significance. My _extreme_ apologies if this has already been discussed ad 
nauseum....

First, I think it kind of an interesting coincidence that the very match in 
PoA that the Slytherins backed out of (claiming Draco's arm injury) is the 
very same match that the Dementors decide to pay a visit.  Was it really the 
high spirits of the people attending the match that lured them to it, or was 
it a tip or a push from another party?  After all, it was by then common 
knowledge that Harry was susceptible to the power of the Dementors. What a 
great way to get rid of Harry and make it look like an accident....

Second,a contradiction----in CoS we see the start of a "dueling club", yet in 
GoF,  Percy is quoted (American version, pg. 425)"...And then we've been 
trying to persuade the Transylvanians to sign the International Ban on 
Dueling.  I've got a meeting with their Head of Magical Cooperation in the 
new year--".  Now, there's dueling and there's Dueling. I assume that there 
is a difference between sport dueling (Like muggle fencing) and dueling to do 
harm or to kill?  Nothing is clarified in the canon.

Thirdly, and this is probably as meaningless as I first assumed it, is the 
dog references. Not the Sirius Black or Grim kind of dog references, but 
references specifically to dog breeders and show dogs.....respectively, Aunt 
Marge and as a bulldog breeder, and then Parvati in the quote in GoF 
(American, page 415) "Harry concentrated on not tripping over his feet. 
Parvati seemed to be enjoying herself; she was beaming around at everybody, 
steering Harry so forcefully that he felt as though he were a show dog she 
was putting through its paces."  This only attracted my attention since I do 
breed dogs and do occassionally show them.....I don't know if the general 
public in the UK is more aware of the dog fancy...in the US the general 
public knows very little about it.  References to the Dog Fancy, especially 
(more or less) accurate ones, are almost unheard of. In the HP series, one 
reference made to it for illustrative purpose I could see ....but twice?  
Either JKR has some actual firsthand knowledge or experience with the Fancy 
from which she draws for descriptive purposes, or maybe there's some kind of 
link between Parvati and Aunt Marge...?  It's probably all just a meaningless 
coincidence, but I found it curious none-the-less...

Karen


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