Hey Lexicon Steve! McGonagall/Riddle SHIP

[Erin]

No: HPFGUIDX 90056

 Anne:
> 'Charming' does not immediately equate with dating though. 
Children 'charm' people all the time--from parents to teachers--to 
get what they want, if they have that particular skill. And you can 
bet that it DOESN'T include kissing, dating, etc. in that case. 

Erin:
*Children* do charm adults all the time, but very few of them who 
have that talent are able to articulate what they are doing in 
precisely the way that Tom does.  Besides, fifteen years of age is a 
bit old for that particular sort of charm.  The surly teenage years 
are when most people are least able to summon it up, and I'd venture 
to suggest that Tom doesn't exactly count as a child any longer, 
having just coldbloodedly carried out a plan to kill Myrtle.

And, assuming heterosexuality, when was the last time you heard a 
fifteen-year-old male talk about "charming" other males?  It makes 
more sense to me if Tom's statement refers primarily to females.   

Anne:
What it DOES include is convincing the person being charmed that the 
charmer is sweet, cute, intelligent, or whatever enough so that the 
one being charmed wants to do something for the person...so although 
I COULD see Tom 'charming' McGonagall if they were in school together 
(perhaps by compliments and hinting that she is so intelligent so he 
goes to her all the time for answers), in order to get something from 
her, I don't see it being as a 'dating' boyfriend-girlfriend kind of 
thing. <snip>

Erin:
Sure, I can see that.   That sort of thing, though, could easily get 
out of hand.  Suppose Tom was charming along, thinking he was being 
all clever and platonic, and then Minerva asked him out on a date.  
Would he turn her down?  Turning her down would expose him as a jerk 
and make it unlikely that he would ever be able to charm her into 
anything again.  I think he'd run with it, see where it went.  Maybe 
date her until she left Hogwarts. And even then, they'd keep in touch 
by owl because Tom is smart and not one to squander a potentially 
useful contact.

Suppose, then, in his seventh year, Tom reads of a Dark Arts potion 
which he believes has a good chance of making him immortal, and which 
requires, for example, fingernail clippings from the wife of the 
person drinking the potion.  Now Tom needs a wife.  He thinks, "Who 
can I get to marry me in the least amount of time and with the least 
effort on my part?  Ah, yes.... Minerva."  So he begins to write more 
romantically, to court her through his letters.  She falls back in 
love, and they are married when he graduates from Hogwarts.  He gets 
what he needs from her and then shows his true colors before leaving 
to journey around the world and learn more Dark Arts.

I'm not asking anyone to embrace this theory totally and 
wholeheartedly.  Heck, I'm not even sure I really believe it myself.  
And as Debbie pointed out (and I meant to say this earlier when Valky 
praised me for it, I just forgot, honestly) the Riddle/McGonagall 
SHIP is not my original theory or anything, that credit belongs to 
Porphyria, who wrote in message #38783:

> Wait -- didn't she go to school with Tom Riddle? Maybe they were
> lovers! Hang on: she's tall and thin and has black hair, just like
> Tom -- maybe they're cousins! Or for those of you who like it
> juicy, maybe they were both. >:-D

Erin:
Though I may possibly be the first one to be pushing StillMarried!
StillGood!McGonagall as opposed to Evil!McGonagall with Riddle SHIP 
or Good!McGonagall with *past* Riddle SHIP.  If not, I apologize to 
whoever else first thought it up.

So, as I was saying, I'm not arguing this in hopes of gaining 
anyone's wholehearted belief that this is an inevitable plotline in 
the story.  Let me quote listmember Oliver Fouquet from back in 
November:

"In fact, it raises the problem of-- what does believing in a theory 
about Harry Potter mean? I would say that I can believe in a theory 
in two ways. I can believe in a theory in the sense that I think it 
is likely that this theory will be proved in future books. Or I can 
believe in a theory in the sense that I would not consider it 
illogical that this theory is proved in the future books."

Erin:
So I guess what I'm asking for is the second sense of "belief"-- in 
other words, for people to stop screaming that the ship is completely 
impossible.  And if you can picture Tom Riddle charming Minerva 
McGonagall in *any* sense, Anne, you're already there. <eg>


--Erin