OotP Harry not a prefect & his Inner Voice

[shallowdwell]

No: HPFGUIDX 115298



Delurking

> DuffyPoo:
> OotP "If anything more was needed to complete Harry's happiness, it 
was the reaction he got from Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle.  He saw them 
with their heads together later that afternoon in the library; they 
were with a weedy-looking boy Hermione whispered was called Theodore 
Nott."  

Please forgive me if I have missed something, but does that passage 
(or any other in cannon) clearly state that Nott is in Harry's year 
or in his potions class? 

 It would be quite possible, IMO, for four slytherins whose fathers 
were alike named as Death Eaters to want to hash the matter out 
together, even if one of them was not in the same year.  Odds are 
good that they know each other through their parents', um, 
association.  And Harry and company are also known to associate with 
Gryffindors from other years.  But Harry couldn't necessarily be 
expected to learn the name of every Slytherin in classes above and 
below his.

So I repeat, other than Theodore Nott's  conversation with Malfoy, 
C&G, have we seen him before in cannon?  Is there any evidence that 
he is, in fact, in their year and in their potions class?

As for how Hermione knew to tell Harry his name, I've noticed that  
her excellent memory and attention to fine details appears to extend 
to interpersonal relationships, as well.  We see this especially in 
OOtP, in which she frequently explains relationships and psychology 
of more familiar characters, to which Ron and Harry, being far less 
aware, are obliviious.

My guess is that Hermione, having long since memorized Hogwarts, a 
History, along with most significant library books, has now applied 
herself to the more significant (and ultimately rewarding) task of 
really knowing about people.  Perhaps she felt it part of her duty as 
Prefect.  Or potentially useful in working against Voldemort.  Or 
perhaps she has an interest that matches her apparent aptitude.  In 
that I envy her-- names and people never came that easily for me-- 
especially as a teenager.

So clearly, she would be willing and able to explain to Harry who the 
mostly unfamiliar underclassman (or perhaps upperclassman) was and 
why he was joining M,C&G in their counsels.


>Harry's lack of knowledge about other kids in his house/classes has 
always sort of bothered me.  At the most, using the number in HP's 
year, there are 70 kids in Gryffindor house, and a maximum of 20 kids 
in any class when two classes are together.  Yet HP doesn't know 
their names?  This boggles my mind.  Harry's been in Potions class 
with the Slytherin ten for five years and Care of Magical Creatures 
for three, and he doesn't even know this kid's first name?  I knew 
the names of every kid in my home form (which was made up of all 5 
grades) in high school, and there were more than 20 for sure.  I may 
not have known them all personally, but I knew their names at least.  
> 
 
You are to be commended-- and possibly, like Hermione, envied-- for 
your capacity to recall names and people.  Some of us have to 
struggle to remember names even within our class.  

I had fewer than 50 people in my graduating class, and did not know 
all of them by name.  I knew my friends, and I knew the people who 
were not nice to me, and those in my smaller classes by name at least.
People who were school celebrities or villains, of course.  People 
who stood out for their actions or appearance.  But otherwise, names 
and relationships usually escaped me, to my occasional 
embarrassment.  

Perhaps this means I was self-absorbed.  But I had lots of other 
things to remember and deal with besides memorizing names of people 
who never bothered with me, either.  I was never offended if someone 
didn't remember my name, for I could sympathize.

Oddly enough, my mother is the sort of person who (having grown up in 
our community) knew everyone and their families rather naturally.  It 
took hours to complete a grocery expedition, because every other 
aisle she would run into peopple she knew and have a lengthy 
converstion with them about their family members (whose names always 
called forth readily.)  Give her five minutes with a stranger from 
another town in the county, and she could find some common 
acquaintance, friend, or relative.  On at least one occasion, she 
knew a new student's name before I did, and she was annoyed with me 
for not having more information to share with her.

I really think that there is a range of social awareness (like most 
other personality traits).  People like Dumbledore, Hermione, and my 
mother are on one end of the spectrum.  And people like Ron, Harry, 
and I are closer to the other side. 

Harry has lots of other talents, and was once wisely advised to play 
to his strengths.  So perhaps he can be forgiven for not seizing a 
Hogwarts roster and committing it to memory?  As has been observed, 
he has "quite enough to be getting on with."

Andrea