[HPforGrownups] CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Chapter 19: the Lion and the Serpant

[Alina]

No: HPFGUIDX 99891


From: Melody
To: HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, May 31, 2004 3:47 PM
Subject: [HPforGrownups] CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Chapter 19: the Lion and the
Serpant

2)  Hermione finally revealed she was almost in Ravenclaw.  This has
been a fan question for a long time.  Did JKR add that bit in there to
answer our question, or was is a natural progression in the book?  Or
another way of asking, why have they not asked this before?  Or are
the houses integrating more now and these questions often come up?

Melody

*****

I think this was done mostly to clear up the question: is Harry special
because he had a say into which House he got sorted, or do all students have
a chance to make their choice? Now we see that Harry wasn't special in this
case, this gives us a deeper understanding of how the Hat works and also
gives more weight to DD's words about actions deciding what a person is. I
also think this was included more for the benefit of the readers than the
characters in the book. I'm sure Jo (wow I called her Jo...) was aware that
Hermione's bookishness brought this question up almost immediately and
didn't mind dispelling our doubts on this subject.

HOWEVER! How often have all of us been led on by something we took for
granted? Yes, Hermione said that the Hat offered her Ravenclaw, but she
chose Gryffindor and her intelligence would support that. BUT we also know
(from Hermione's boggart) that she is afraid of failure, and what if she
sees not being put into the "smart" House as a failure? In other words, what
if Hermione lied? Does that mean that Harry is still the special "choice"
kid?

Alina.