Hog-names/Pig-names/Merlin/Poltergeist/IsThereaRuleAgainstSnogging/SortingHa

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

No: HPFGUIDX 59017

Phyllis erisedstraeh wrote:

<< But the interview segment seems fairly clear that JKR didn't 
intend for the Hogwarts name to "mean something." Or at least, it 
doesn't have a meaning that she's willing to divulge just yet! >>

I like my theory (almost halfway down 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/58092 ) that all 
its local geographic features are named after the local mountain, Mt. 
Hog or Hogmount. 

Becky gopotter2004 wrote:

<< this much *pork* in a book, in my humble opinion.
HOGwarts
HOGsmeade
HOG's Head >>

As Steve bboy_mn pointed out, those three go together.

<< PIGwidgeon >>

Which happens to be a real word. One-Look Dictionary 
http://www.onelook.com offers: "(n.) A cant word for anything petty 
or small. It is used by Drayton as the name  of a fairy. (This 
definition is from the 1913 Webster's Dictionary and may be 
outdated.)" 

<< PIG snout (the password) >>

There are MANY passwords quoted. Another is "caput draconis", which I 
believe means "dragon snout".

<< Hagrid gives Dudley a PIG's tail when he gets upset >>

Surely because JKR had already discribed Dudley as looking like a pig 
in a wig? (chapter two of PS/SS). Btw 
http://www.pacprod.com/cgi-bin/hazelnt.exe?client=97769165&action=DETA
IL&item=7611

J H Lupin wrote:

<< Merlin himself. I know, how great could he be, he wasn't even a 
founder? >>

He was some centuries too early. Hogwarts was founded (per Binns) 
"more than a thousand years ago", which I take to mean in the 900s. I 
gather that Merlin is generally placed right after the Roman Empire 
left Britain, which IIRC was in the 400s.

Kelly Grosskreutz wrote:

<< She is a ghost, but yet she has the ability to displace water when 
she dives into her toilet. She is known for causing flood after flood 
in that bathroom. Binns, if I'm recalling it correctly, can write on 
the chalkboard with chalk. So what, in this setting, sets a ghost 
apart from a poltergeist? >>

Peeves the poltergeist can push material objects more than Nick the 
ghost can. See CoS: "I persuaded Peeves to crash it right over 
Filch's office," said Nick eagerly. "Thought it might distract him -"

Debbie wrote:

<< While it's not clear that this was a violation of the rules, 
Snape's attitude toward fraternization between the sexes at the Yule 
Ball suggests that it is, as Snape took house points away from the 
transgressors. >>

I always think that Snape took those points arbitrarily, because he 
had a bad mood to vent on the nearest victims, and possibly also out 
of spiteful envy of young lovers.

Koticzka wrote:

<< Taking into consideration that the Sorting Hat has much more sense 
than anyone else and is fully or at least partly conscious of its 
choices and their consequences, my theory is that the Hat will save 
Hogwarts by executing a subtle plan and ignoring students basic 
personality for a greater good. However, I am open to hearing other 
opinions, and I will consider them with curiosity. >>

Some time ago, someone proposed a detailed theory in which the 
Sorting Hat *is* executing a subtle plan ... it is causing all the 
bad things in the wizarding world (by controlling their culture) in 
order to maintain its own power. And the only happy ending would be 
to destroy the Sorting Hat, and the House system...