Questions

[meriaugust]

No: HPFGUIDX 118965


Snow asks: 
> (1)Nearly Headless Nick is the Gryffindor house ghost. The Sorting 
> Hat claims of Gryffindor's traits: "You might belong in 
Gryffindor, 
> where dwell the brave at heart, their daring, nerve, and chivalry 
set 
> Gryffindor's apart" (SS The Sorting Hat)
but
in OOP The Second War 
> Begins: Nick tells Harry "I was afraid of death," [
] "I chose to 
> remain behind
" If the house's ghost had the traits belonging to 
> their house, why was Sir Nicholas afraid to die? Isn't bravery and 
> chivalry equal to fearlessness like when Harry dashes off without 
a 
> thought to his own safety? It seems quite odd that Nick was in 
> Gryffindor when he didn't display such qualities. 

Meri: I agree that it seems out of character for a Gryffindor to be 
afraid to die (as Sirius so obvoiusly wasn't) but fear comes in many 
shapes and forms. After all, Ron is a Gryffindor and he's terrified 
of spiders (though he did brave them in CoS to find out about 
Aragog, brave boy!) and just because NHN ran from death doesn't mean 
he wasn't exceptionally brave in life. We shouldn't jusdge the 
character of a person from one act, like we learned in the Pensieve 
scene in Order. 

Snow:
> (2)If the Dursley's are so against anything having to do with 
magic, 
> why was Dudley allowed to watch a magician on television? SS The 
> Letters From No One: Dudley whining to his mother
 "It's Monday 
[
] 
> The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a 
> television." I may be wrong to think that the Great Humberto is a 
> magician but it sounds awfully similar to the Great Houdini. Also 
it 
> sounds as though this were a regiment of Dudley's weekly routine. 
I 
> realize that the Dursley's are more than permissive when it comes 
to 
> Dudley but when it comes to the dirty "M" word and the possibility 
> that Harry might be influenced if he were to see the magician 
> program, why was Dudley allowed to watch it?  (It is the small 
> somewhat insignificant details I tend to question)

Meri: Not being British myself, I just assumed that this was some 
superhero show, and since Harry isn't really allowed to watch 
television then I don't think the Dursleys are that worried that 
Harry will catch on to it. 

Snow:
> (3)Why do the 3rd year students need a permission form signed by 
> their guardians to visit Hogsmeade but the children who were 
underage 
> participants of the 2nd task in Goblet, i.e. Hermione, Gabrielle, 
> Ron, did not need to inform their parents or have permission, 
> wouldn't this task be more dangerous than Hogsmeade? 

Meri: Well, technically we don't know whether or not they had 
permission. We have no actual canon to back it up, but I would 
assume that DD or MM would have written Hermione's parents and asked 
the Delacours and the Weasleys and the Changs if it was okay to 
bewitch their kids for a few hours, with all reassurances of their 
safety. But, OTOH, classes at Hogwarts are far more dangerous than 
Hogsmeade and that task (heck, even walking through the halls might 
leave you with leeks sprouting from your ears!) so maybe it's all 
just par for the course at Hogwarts. 

Meri