[HPforGrownups] Re: why did Voldie attack the Potter on Halloween?

[Lady Macbeth]

No: HPFGUIDX 116546

Hester  wrote:

Maybe Nick was beheaded on Halloween for the same reason it is an
important holiday in the WW, or maybe he was beheaded by dark wizards  and
they like to perform execution on Halloween.  Maybe there is some   kind of
benefit magically for performing an execution on Halloween.


Lady Macbeth replies:

Among modern (real life) witches and wizards, Halloween is an important
holiday.  It falls about the same time as the old holiday of Samhain, the
celebration of the Celtic New Year and the end of the old year.  It was a
time for bringing in the harvest so it wouldn't be blighted by frost and for
remembering the year past.

Magically, it's also significant to the spirit world.  The Veil Between
Worlds (yep, there's a reference to a Veil again) is thinnest this time of
the year, and lifts entirely during Halloween.  This allows free passage
between the Other World and our world, and any number of ghosts or other
spirits could be wandering the Earth during this time.  This is where the
tradition of guising (going out in costume) arose - travellers disguised
themselves as something other than human on that night, so that they
wouldn't be disturbed or maligned by wandering spirits.

I'm fairly certain that JK Rowling found at least a summary of the old
holiday, such as what I've posted above, during her research and has
incorporated that into the books, hence the importance of Halloween to her
witches and wizards and hence the Veil Room in the Department of Mysteries.

What advantages that would give Voldie would be anyone's guess.  I know that
I'm using it as a plot device in one of my fics, but I'm not sure if JK
Rowling is going to go anywhere with it or not.

-Lady Macbeth



No more bounces!
No limits on mailbox size or attachments
Check mail from your desktop (IMAP or POP3), from the web, or with your cell phone!
Better than YahooPlus, Hotmail, or Gmail!

http://www.unlimited-mail.com

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]