Recurrences

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 88519

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Barry Arrowsmith
<arrowsmithbt at b...> wrote:
> ... thinking about some of the creatures that Harry has had to deal
> with over the past 5 books when I began to discern a pattern.
> 
> ... he has had to  deal with some unfriendly life-form that tries to
> rip his guts out, he has already has seen/met/had dealings with ....
> 
> So we have:
> 
> -Python in zoo                
> -Snake at Duelling Club,
> -Basilisk
> -Norbert (the dragon)
> -Hungarian Horntail
> -Fang                               
> -Fluffy
> -Firenze  (in PS/SS)      
> -A rampaging mob of homicidal centaurs
> -Lee Jordan's spider (??His pet trantula??)
> -Aragog
> -Ghosts                           
> -Dementors
> 
> ...edited...
> Just about the only instances that don't fit are Blast-Ended Skrewt, 
> though this was probably bred specifically for the TWT and the Troll
> in PS/SS, though since Harry had already met Crabbe and Goyle by 
> then........
> 
> So what, you cry.
> 
> Well, there's an oddity back in PoA.  Combine that with a couple of 
> other mentions, plus a rumour (unsubstantiated) that floated across
> the site ... my suspicion index starts creeping up.
> 
> Pavarti Patil. Not an Arabic or Egyptian name.  The name sounds more
> likely to be Persian or Indian. So why does she fear a Boggart 
> masquerading as a bandage wrapped mummy, which is strictly 
> Egyptian ... and when her own mythology has some very nasty beasts
> of its own?
> 

bboy_mn:

Why does anybody fear anything? As far as I can remember, Seamus and
the Banshee is the only example of someone fearing something
significantly related to their own culture. That's one out of ten.
Given that only one out of ten had a culturally oriented Boggart, why
would it be unsual for Pavarti to fear something that she must
certainly be aware of, that most people of all cultures are aware of,
and something that most people would logically fear. We fear what we
fear, it never makes logical sense.


> Kneasy continues:
>
> Add Bill as a former Curse-Breaker in Egypt.
> 
> Add Ron whittering on about the nasty sights in Pyramid tombs.
> 
> Add the rumour that a forth-coming title for the film of a 
> yet-unwritten book is "HP and the Pyramids of Something-or-other" 
> and I begin to wonder.
> 
> If my guess is correct, Harry could meet his mummy after all.
> 
> Kneasy


bboy_mn:

I think you are stretching to get an Egypt connection, and I will
point out that you missed one very important Egyptian creature; Harry
has also encountered a SPHINX in the Tri-Wizards maze. 

Other beast and beings-

* Sphinx - in the Tri-Wizards maze. A Sphinx that would 'pounce' if he
got the riddle wrong.

* werewolf - not that many people in the wizard world can say that
they are on speaking terms with a werewolf, nor many who can say they
have had face-to-face full moon encounters with a werewolf and escaped
unscathed.

* Hungarian Horntail - yes, you already mentioned Norbert, but he was
a baby, not a full grown 50 foot dragon capable of shooting flames at
a range of 40 feet.

* Blast-Ended Skrewts - I think they certainly deserve a mention. 

* MANY Hundreds of Giant Spiders - of all the giant spiders, Aragog
was probably the tamest and most reasonable. Excluding Aragog
specifically, Harry sustained injuries in all his encounters with the
Acromatula - giant spiders.

* Merepeople - who, in Harry's opinion, seem armed and quite capable
of doing him harm.

* the giant Squid - forget for a moment how a salt-water creature
survives in fresh water, by any standard, no one want to encounter a
giant squid. I must say though, that this is the most playful,
benevolent, gentle giant squid one could ever hope to meet. Don't
beleive me, just ask Dennis Creavy.

* Giants - encountering Grawp (sp?) a couple of times would be enough
to scare the pants of anyone. Trouble with giants is that given their
size, weight, and enormous strength, the simplest gesture can have
mamoth consequences. Example, when Hermione and Harry meet Grawp for
the first time, he reaches toward them, when Hagrid yells at him,
Grawp becomes distracted and withdraws his hand, an innocent gesture,
but in the process he smack Hagrid and bloodies his nose. The most
subtle gesture of a giant can have deadly consequences if it makes
contact with a human. So, in this sense, I don't think giant intend as
much harm as they cause.

* Assorted dark creatures like Grindylows, Red Caps, etc...

* Boggarts -

* Mountain Trolls - certainly seem dangerous, far more dangerous that
the valley trolls that were used for security ;).

* Assorted other creatures like Hags who seem to move about freely in
the wizard world, but are none-the-less known to eat small children
when given a chance.

Like I said the Egypt connection seems like a stretch, but I'm not
willing to flat out say it is wrong; the clues are there.

Just a thought.

bboy_mn