[HPforGrownups] ghosts, magicians and babies was Re: Questions

[Vivamus]

No: HPFGUIDX 118974

> Potioncat:
> But we don't know what brave things he faced prior to death.  
> And we've seen Neville who is very frightened fit well in 
> Gryffindor.  

Vivamus:
Being frightened has nothing to do with courage.  Only a fool is never
afraid.  Courage is doing what you are afraid of doing because you must.

My impression of Neville is that he is shaken by what happened to his
parents, and he has very little confidence in himself, but he has as much
courage as anyone.  Think about a small, pudgy boy, for the sake of honor,
climbing over the back of his chair to start a fight with the likes of
Crabbe and Goyle.  He may have started out inept and forgetful, but I don't
think he is either one, any more -- just lacking in confidence.  At any
rate, he showed his true Gryffindor heart when he took on Crabbe and Goyle
by himself.   

In fact, remember that he won the final points for Gryffindor that earned
the House Cup in PS/SS, because of his courage in facing his friends.  I
don't think that was merely a kindness.   I think DD was also showing
Neville that he does, in fact, have a great deal of courage, because Neville
is *important*.

(In fact, I'll go even farther and say that I think that Neville is by far
the best candidate I've seen in the books for the HBP, even though he is a
pure blood wizard.  This has probably been talked about at great length
already, but I can go into the reasons why I think it might be the case, if
not.)

Peter Pettigrew in Gryffindor remains the puzzle for me.   We also don't
know why, exactly, the Sorting Hat puts students in different houses.  Do
they go to Gryffindor because they ARE brave, or because they WANT to be
brave?   The SH put Harry in Gryffindor because that was Harry's choice.
What if it is always the boy or girl's choice?  Slytherin is the path to
power/wealth/easy victory, so it can be just as appealing as the other
houses in terms of what the child wants.  If PP wanted to be brave more than
anything, perhaps he would be chosen for Gryffindor even though his personal
moral character just wasn't up to it.

I am hoping we'll find out more about the sorting and the houses in the next
couple of books.

> Potioncat:
> A bigger question I think is why the Fat Friar, of all 
> people, would be afraid to go on to the Hereafter.

Vivamus:
Think about it this way.  If you were a member of a religious order that
believed there was eternal punishment for those that did not fulfill the
larger requirements of the hereafter, and a very long but temporary
punishment for those that fulfilled the larger requirements but had
neglected the required disciplines of daily living, and you had spent a
lifetime indulging rather than abstaining, wouldn't you be hesitant?   

My grandmother, when she was near death, used to speak very irritably about
the people in her nursing home who had been stalwart members of the church
their entire lives, but were terrified of death.  It's one thing to say you
are not afraid to die because you believe in the afterlife; it is quite
another to say it fearlessly when death is staring you in the face.

Vivamus