TWO BUSY WEEKS worth of posts

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

No: HPFGUIDX 106841

Amey wrote in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/104641 :

<< (Though I received no comments on my theory of Slytherin being HBP). >>

Didn't I mention, in one of my very long multi-topic posts, that while
I was much impressed with the suggestion of Merlin, I consider Salazar
Slytherin and Tom Riddle the most likely possibilities for HBP and
adore the idea that Salazar the bigot was himself a half-blood?

Sherry G wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/104762 :

<< I guess the question is, how does JKR feel about dogs? 

She *has* a dog, presumably the one in the photo on the "Extras"
bulletin board on her website; her confession that Mark Evans is not
important contains: "(Checks that Neil has immunized the dog, and that
Jessica has packed her Gameboy, and continues.)" I imagine that her
dog provided the barking heard on that site.

Smart wrote in 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/104883 :

<< What is Neville gonna do after he graduates, and how is that going
to be affected by his grade in Potions? >>

A lot of people expect Neville to become a Healer, due to his kindness
and his desire to cure his parents, or at least other people's
parents. Other people expect him to become a herbologist because
that's his best subject. It seems to me that NEWT-level Potions would
be useful in both those fields, but I know of no evidence that it's
required. Healers use Potions but for all we've seen in canon, the
Potions they use are made by a separate profession of Potioners. 

Pam wrote in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/104884 :

<< (Albania?--why was LV so quick to seek refuge there? >>

I have a completely uncanonical theory that one side-effect of the
spell that finally made LV immortal is that, whenever he is
disembodied, his vapor self is pulled back to the place where he did
that spell (e.g. drank that potion), which happens to be in Albania.
Maybe it was an ancient Thracian spell. He can only leave that place
in a body. Since canon says he wasn't living on the back of Quirrel's
head until Quirrel's bank robbery failed to get the Stone, in my
theory he must have been possessing some creature (maybe a rat) for it
to be possible for Quirrel to carry him away.

Katie wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/104950 :

<< will cry her eyes out if Sirius and Remus didn't have anything
going on after all >>

Me, too, altho' I think the bit in the Pensieve memory was Sirius
*pretending* to be entirely unaware of an admiring girl. Wolves mate
for life but dogs are promiscuous; Remus doesn't seem the jealous
type; I believe that Sirius was very much a womanizer AND serious
about Remus. I want Remus for myself and I can't have him, so I don't
spare much pity for RL women who want Sirius so much that they don't
want Remus to have him. 

Amey wrote in 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/105088 :

<< give me one example of Sirius being a bully, a risk to himself and
others, all together, a dangerous person? >>

Remember in OoP when he wanted to meet Harry in Hogsmeade? While that
was a risk primarily to himself, it wouldn't have done Harry or
Dumbledore or the Order any good for Harry to have been caught
consorting with an escaped prisoner, nor for Sirius to be questioned
under Veritaserum by Fudge's side. I'd call that Sirius wanting to be
a risk to himself and others. When Harry refused, Sirius taunted him:
"You're not as much like your father as I thought. The risk would have
made it fun for James." That was a Snape-like statement: hurting
someone with words by knowing where their feelings are vulnerable.

Koinonia wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/105187 :

<< I think many people misunderstand some Snape fans. I would say that
the great majority of us do not approve of any of the crimes you
mentioned. >>

I've never thought that Snape fans approve of murder, rape, torture,
arson, and other DE amusements. (Other than Kneasy thinking that the
fictional story gets more exciting when the bad guys do those things.)
I do think that there are people in RL who have participated in some
nasty things in their pasts (including murder, torture, gang rape).
Sometimes somewhat under duress (clearly under duress was the soldier
who voluntarily turned himself in to the War Crimes Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia, confessing that after a battle, his commanding
officer had ordered him and some comrades to shoot all the prisoners
they had taken, and when he protested that that was against the laws
of war, his commanding officer said: "Okay, then we shoot you, too").
Sometimes under stirred up emotions, drunkenness, going along with the
crowd ...

... and when it's all over (including prison time if any) and the
person tries to make a civilized life with decent behavior, they
remain haunted by memories of what they did ... some bury it better
than others ...

I'm sure Snape must have participated in murders or torture as a DE,
even if he didn't have the necessary will to actually cast AK or
Crucius, he could helped round up the victims, not let them escape --
surely the other DEs would have very much doubted the loyalty of a DE
who objected to murdering or torturing Muggles or Mudbloods -- I think
he was disgusted by it at the time and that is why he turned to
Dumbledore, altho' Elkins thought he enjoyed it and gave it up out of
a rigorously intellectual decision that Evil is bad ...

... anyway, I don't see why people think that Dumbledore wouldn't have
taken on a repetant former murderer or torturer. DD is a *big
believer* in second chances. 

Credit to people who already said the above:
Melanie in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/105568 
Alla in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/105576

Antosha wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/105197 :

<< UNLESS she doesn't mean a prince who is a half-blood.

What the other meaning of Half Blood Prince could be, I am unsure. But
could she have a different meaning altogether? Is there such a thing
as a Blood Prince? There is the phrase, "a prince of the blood,"
meaning of the royal family. Can anyone out there come up with
something else? >>

In http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/104215 I
suggested that a 'bionic' Prince could be described as "half blood and
half steel". Perhaps there are ways he could be 'half blood and half
milk' or something.

Potioncat wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/105552 :

<< If we assume he is telling the truth that Wolfsbane is a difficult
potion and that Snape is a powerful potion maker, then it does not
speak poorly of Lupin that he cannot make the potion. (snip) BTW, I
wonder who is making it for him now? >>

My guess: Snape, irately, as one of his duties to the Order of the
Phoenix.

Vivian vmonte wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/105615 :

<< It is unusual that Snape's obstacle has to do with logic, not
potions. (snip) (Or, maybe he did mean it for Hermione to solve.) >>

If Snape intended it for Hermione, he must respect her mind more than
he ever shows in class.

Halli wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/105648 :

<< Well anyone could figure that out if they ever paid an inkling of
attention in Herbology. And if it wasn't geared at HRH, then it was
geared at an adult wizard, who would probably know this stuff
anyways. >>

Healer Strout, who is supposed to be educated, didn't recognize
Devil's Snare. Has anyone mentioned lately that the Devil's Snare was
intended for Neville the herbology student, as Dumbledore expected him
to be part of the Stone group? Either DD was observing in detail and
expected HRH to drag him along instead of paralyzing him, or DD wasn't
observing in detail and thought it would be a Foursome rather than a
Trio becasue Neville was also a prophecy boy.

Huntergreen wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/105956 :

<< Harry only disliked Draco because he happened to remind him of
Dudley. Had the Dursley's lavished as much material things on Harry
as they did on Dudley, Harry might have seen Draco in a different
light, and thus seen Slytherin in a different light. Then Harry would
have been in Slytherin, where he doesn't belong. >>

Perhaps if Harry had been coddled like Dudley, he would have become
the kind of person who belongs in Slytherin ... no chivalric impulse
to defend the weak or rescue people, because he has no sympathy
because he had never felt troubles like theirs.

Jem squeakinby wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/105978 :

<< Nothing left for Ron but death, the sooner the better to avoid
further humilation. >>

No, he should die heroically, saving Harry's life, not to avoid future
humiliation, but to achieve his goal (as stated by DD in PS/SS) of
doing something none of his brothers had done before him.

Del wrote in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/106178 :

<< The fact that Molly is so surprised when Ron gets to be Prefect
shows that she *had* abandoned all hope for Ron to be the Next Perfect
Weasley Boy. >>

I don't think that means that Molly has given up on Ron. I think she
figures that even if Ron does better in schoolwork and Quidditch than
all his older brothers put together, still HARRY POTTER will get the
one prefect job available instead of Ron.

Sue wrote in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/106375 :

<< Personally, I suspect I'd have been one of the nerds in Ravenclaw.
:-) >>

Once on list, maybe in 2000, someone posted something about 'everyone
wants to be a Gryffindor' and I pointed out that many more listies had
called themselves Ravenclaws (like me, for example), and some clever
listie replied: "That's because the Gryffindors are too busy saving
the world to have time to go on-line."

Hickengruendler wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/106515 :

<< also Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw were biased people, who
only accept the students they consider to be worthy. (snip) Gryffindor
nd Ravenclaw seem to me like Snobs at best, racists at worst, who
consider some people to be worthier than others. >>

Just because someone is one of the four greatest wizards and witches
in Britain doesn't mean they're a good pedagogue. I'm not a great
witch, but I know a few things about COBOL programming, but I'm a
lousy pedagogue. If I had to teach a House full of apprentices, I
would have the same selection criterion as Rowena Ravenclaw did,
because I had learned from experience that for me to try to teach Slow
Students results in them getting confused and me getting frustrated
and everyone gets unlikely and it is no favor to the students, because
they don't learn from me.

Del wrote in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/106526 :

<< Another interesting comparison is the colours of each House.
Gryffindor : red and gold
Slytherin : green and silver
Ravenclaw : blue and bronze
Hufflepuff : yellow and black
Once again, Hufflepuff stands apart. The other 3 Houses all chose a
noble metal as one of their colours (aren't they the 3 metals of the
medals given to the 3 winners of a sport competition ?). But
Hufflepuff just took black and yellow. Nothing noble. Could it be
another sign of the Hufflepuffs' humility ? They don't try to stand
out, they don't pride themselves on their accomplishments, unlike the
other 3 Houses. The Hufflepuffs pride themselves on doing their job as
best they can. They truly rejoice when one of them gets a bit of fame,
but they don't ask for that fame. >>

I agree with you about the metals of the prize medals, but (as a
Ravenclaw) must point out that the prize RIBBONS are 1st place = Blue,
2nd = Red, 3rd = Yellow, 4th = Green. Does Britain have that system:
both the 1st and 2nd place ribbons on JKR's website are red?

More important, in heraldy, Hufflepuff's yellow IS gold, as is
Ravenclaw's bronze. More than Hufflepuff modesty, it seems to me to
show Slytherin being odd man out.

Anastasia wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/106549 :

<< As far as we know, there is only one curse to kill somebody - Adava
Kedavra. >>

I feel sure that there are lots of spells to kill someone. Howe about
Levitating a Big Rock and dropping it on their head? (similar to club
and troll in PS/SS). How about Summoning their heart from their chest?
Throwring a big poisonous snake at them with Serpensortia?
Transfiguring the walls of their aorta to thin tissue paper, or sand?