Lupin/quilt/SlytherinHouse&theHeadmaster/Ammut/HouseElf Names&Ages /Hag/MrsB

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

No: HPFGUIDX 107692

First of all, could everyone please practise very hard to get a
Outstanding on their Snippage O.W.L.? Like not including more of the
original post in your reply than is needed for comprehension of your
reply? Thank you.

Demetra wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/106889 :

<< I have more trouble with Lupin in this [Shrieking Shack] scene 
(and I LOVE Lupin, he is one of my favorite characters). As the more
cerebral of the two, I wonder why he was so willing to kill Peter vs.
turning him over to the authorities. >>

I also love Remus and refuse to believe that he is ESE. I suppose he
joined with Sirius to kill Peter instead of suggesting to turn him
over to the authorities because wizarding notions of justice told him
that Sirius had a right to take personal revenge, and his loyalty to
Sirius told him to share the guilt and then share being on the run
afterwards. 

I agree with the poster who said that neither Sirius nor Remus had a
ny reason to *trust* the Ministry of Magic to take any action but a
cover-up, but they [thought they] could trust Dumbledore to take care
of it.

Amber Sunnylove summarised the chapter in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/106898 including :

<< Hermione has made Kreacher a quilt, >>

I always assumed that when the book said Hermione made a quilt, it
meant that she made a quilt. But many people erroneously say 'quilt'
when they mean a nice knitted or crocheted blanket, so I realised just
now that perhaps Hermione actually made a knitted afghan? The earlier
description of her not very good knitted socks and hats for the House
Elves suggests that she was not ready to take up yet another craft,
quilting. 

Del wrote in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGr
ownups/message/106942 :

<< If I were Headmistress of a school where one House is reputed for
spawning large numbers of dark wizards, and where many students of
said House came from families that don't exactly mind the Dark Arts, 
I would make sure that the students of that House receive special
instruction about why the Dark Arts are not the way to go. >>

And their parents would complain that you were trying to interfere
with the 'values' that the parents were trying to teach their
children. We see this in the US all the time; for example, when a
child brought a bag of cookies to kindergarten and the teacher forced
her to share them with the other kids and her parent complained that
the teacher is trying to turn the children into Communists. The owner
(or Board of Governors) of a private school can decide which values
the school will teach and parents who don't like it can just withdraw
their children. I think Hogwarts is more in a positiion like a state
school, ultimately under the control of some level of elected (in a
democracy) officials, who tend to go along with what the majority of
voters want. 

Kyntor wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/107665 :

<< I would deal with Snape quite differently that Pippin would. First,
I would go through official channels. I would request a meeting with
Dumbledore and McGonagall requesting that they take of the situation.
I would tell them that not only is his behavior unethical and
unprofessional, it is also unacceptable. >>

No one inside the wizarding culture thinks that Snape's behavior is
unacceptable. Shaun Hately recently posted (but I can't find it now!)
about a Real Life teacher who was considered perfectly acceptable even
tho' he did all the nasty things Snape did to students except
destroying the turned-in assignment.

<< If Dumbledore and McGonagall does nothing about the situation, then
it is time for Harry to do something himself. Harry could send a
letter to paper detailing Snapes behavior. Harry could also mention
the dark mark on his arm and the way he coddles the Slytherins.
Everything Harry reported to the newspaper would be completely true
and it would not blow any cover that Snape had to maintain. >>

The only part of that which would be of interest to the newspaper
reading wizarding public would be that Snape was a former Death Eater
with the Dark Mark on his arm. That might upset enough parents that
they would demand that Snape be fired. In which case, someone should
ask Harry how that is different from the way Snape ^^*^^ got Lupin
^==^ fired, I mean resigned.

Kneasy wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/107246 :

<< Now being sorted into Slytherin might influence Harry's attitudes,
but I can't see that it would necessarily help him to become great. He
might turn out to be another TR - bitter, petty, selfish - but great?
Greatness would need power - lots of it, and if Harry had that much
power *of his own* he could be great anywhere, not just in Slytherin
House. >>

Slytherin House would be only a HELP to Harry becoming great, not a
not prerequisite. Some ways in which it might help him: making friends
with kids who grow up to be rich and prominent useful allies; learning
to set a goal (ambition) and plan how to achieve it, instead of just
drifting; picking up the attitude of not letting compassion, chivalry,
etc interfere with his plans.

An'nai Jiriki wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/107173 :

<< Ammut is a new one on me, perhaps this is another bastardized
spelling of Apuat. >>

Surely Ammut is supposed to be Ammit the devourer of souls whose heart
fail to balance in the scales of Maat: 
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/ammit.html (thanks for pointing me
to pantheon.org)

Carol wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/107362 :

<< Otherwise, the name is no more than a cruel pun on the part of
whichever member of the Black family bestowed it. >> 

Are House Elves named by their parents or by their owners? If named by
their parents, do the names come from some House Elf native language
or House Elf history and genealogy, or just made up on the spot ? Do
such names as Dobby, Winky, and Kreachur refers to ancient heroism and
glory completely unknown to humans?

Btw, it was posted long, long ago that "dobby" was the word for a
brownie in the folklore of some English region (could the cleaning
cloth have been named after that, perhaps as a brand name?). I
searched for links and found only:
http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/folklore/englishfolkapp.html#GlossD

I agree with your points about JKR knew that "creature" not only has
the current meaning of a lesser being, but the original meaning of a
created being, but to me the name Kreachur echoes not only "creature"
but "treacher" as in treachery.

Potioncat wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/107416 :

<< I also wonder how long House-Elves live. >>

(*meow* right back at you) When Dobby introduced himself to Harry in
CoS, he mentioned how bad things had been for House Elves during the
LV Reign of Terror. It seemed like he remembered it personally. LV 
had fallen 12 years ago at that time, so Dobby must have been older
than 12. 

Pippin wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/107450 :

<< How about hags? *snip* Very pointed teeth??! Wouldn't it be just
dripping with irony if our Dolores Umbridge is a half-breed or a
disguised part-human herself? (I know this list doesn't quite go along
with Lexicon Steve in regarding the chocolate frog cards from the
video games as canon, but it does mention in the PoA game that hags
have been known to disguise themselves as human women.) >>

GoF suggests the opposite: "The Three Broomsticks was packed, mainly
with Hogwarts students enjoying their free afternoon, but also with a
variety of magical people Harry rarely saw anywhere else. Harry
supposed that as Hogsmeade was the only all-wizard village in Britain,
it was a bit of a haven for creatures like hags, who were not as adept
as wizards at disguising themselves."

Melissa wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/107460 :

<< Although cutting that portion of the wall out to get rid of her is
a good idea. I guess that it didn't occur to the order members because
it seems to be a Muggle answer to a magical problem. >>  

Or maybe cutting the wall would damage the magical protections that
Sirius's father had put on the house.