Bad guys and black hats (was Re: Unreliable narrator)

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 117803


http://www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/2000/1000-cbc-rogers.ht
> > m
> > 
> > Rowling: Mm hmm. I know exactly what's going to be in five, 
six  and seven. And when I've finished that, then we can have the 
full  and frank discussion, but until then, if I give full and frank 
answers I'm giving away things about the plot, so I don't want to 
 do that.
> > ---
> > 
> > That sounds to me like JKR admitting she isn't giving frank 
answers till Book Seven is on the racks, but I'm sure somebody 
 will be able to explain that this wasn't what she meant to say at 
 all ;-)<<
> > 
> 
> Alla:
> 
> Ummmm, of course not, Pippin. But could you please give me 
ONE  example when she was caught in LYING while answering.
> 
> Definitely, she is hiding things and covering tracks, but I am not 
> sure about that kind of sneakiness, which you are implying. :o)

Pippin:
What other kind of sneakiness is there? I assume she is hiding 
things the same way that Dumbledore and Dobby do -- by saying 
things which are not demonstrably false but aren't "full and frank" 
either and allowing people to draw false conclusions from 
limited information.She has secrets to keep until Book Seven. 
Why should she uncover her tracks before then?

She's said there are some surprises coming, but she's also 
said that Book Five had to be so long because she wanted 
people to be able to guess what's coming if they kept their wits 
about them.

 Most of what makes Book Five so looong is Harry's repeated 
confrontations with Umbridge. They aren't just there to show us 
what a despicable creature she is, they've got some other 
purpose...like maybe showing us what it's like to be Remus 
Lupin and have the Umbridges of the WW on your case 24/7. 
See, we think Slytherin House is the racist house. The sad truth 
is they're *all* racist. How many House Elves are going to school 
at Hogwarts? Merchildren? Goblins? I thought so.

  Would Lupin fight fire with fire? He was ready to, with Peter.


Maybe  Jo can't like the villains -- but she keeps saying she 
does. IIRC, the only ones she's ever said she doesn't like are 
Vernon and Umbridge. For example in the Edinburgh transcript 
at the website, she says that she loves Rita, that she quite likes 
Rita, no "as a character" qualifiers and then she says that Rita is 
"loathsome -- morally horrible."

Alla:
> By the way, you frogot about this quote:
> 
> 
> Who is your favourite character?
> I love: Harry, Hermione, Ron, Hagrid, Dumbledore, Ginny, Fred, 
> George and Lupin. I love writing (though would not necessarily 
want  to meet) Snape. My favourite new character is Luna 
Lovegood.

Pippin:

Hmmm...which section is that from?  -- this is from the 
Edinburgh transcript  in the News section:

I have loads of favourite characters. I really like writing Harry, 
Ron, Hermione, Hagrid and Dumbledore. I love writing Snape -- 
even though he is not always the nicest person, he is really fun 
to write. I love writing Dudley. If I could meet anyone I might 
choose Lupin. I really like him. My favorite new character is Luna 
--I am very fond of her.

Then there's this one from the Albert Hall transcript:
http://www.mugglenet.com/jkr-royalalbert.shtml

I really like Professor Lupin as a character because he's 
someone that also has a failing, because although he is a 
wonderful teacher (one I myself would have liked to have had as 
a teacher) and a wonderful man, he does like to be liked and 
that's where he slips up. He's been disliked so often that he's 
always so pleased to have friends, so he cuts them an awful lot 
of slack. 
---

I just can't help being very afraid of  what would happen to Lupin 
if he met some friends who weren't as nice as Sirius and 
James. Resisting peer pressure doesn't seem to be something 
he's good at. 

I think it would be dangerous to assume that Voldemort has lost 
his ability to charm just because he looks like he's part snake 
and has a dodgy reputation. Lupin wouldn't judge anybody by 
their reputation and he wouldn't think someone was evil just 
because they had undergone a dangerous transformation. 

Pippin