CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Chapter 27, The Centaur and the Sneak

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 113933

Petra Pan:
> Instead of wasting time on "trivial 
> hurts, tiny human accidents" that are 
> "of no more significance than the 
> scurryings of ants to the wide 
> universe," Firenze talks of watching 
> "the skies for the great tides of evil 
> or change that are sometimes marked 
> there" and of divining through the 
> "burning of certain herbs and leaves, 
> by the observation of fume and flame
."  

Jen: It occurred to me this might sum up Dumbledore's outlook on 
life as well. Not the burning of herbs and leaves exactly, but he 
does consult those mysterious silver instruments ;). It could 
explain some of his omissions with Harry and his belief that growing 
too close to Harry was the "flaw in his plan." 

In fact, along with the Phoenix imagery around him, I'd even say 
this isn't Dumbledore's first and only lifetime. I don't know if JKR 
wants to get into reincarnation exactly, but within the context of a 
fantasy world Dumbledore could be a 'being' who spans lifetimes. 
After living not only 150 years, but many thousands of years, it 
would make sense that Dumbledore is somewhat removed from individual 
suffering, just as the Centaurs are removed from "trivial hurts, 
tiny human accidents." Dumbledore personifies "community over the 
individual" as seen by the refuge he's created at Hogwarts and the 
creation of the Order

Petra Pan:
<snip>
> I conceive arithmancy as a process in 
> which all the forces in play are 
> quantified as vectors, which then are 
> added up to figure out which way and 
> how strong the wind is blowing, so to 
> speak.  An oversimplified example: if 
> the sum of the forces of the vectors 
> directed toward Good [i.e. members of 
> the OotP] are less than the sum of the 
> forces of the vectors directed toward 
> Evil [i.e. DEs] then it's a pretty good 
> bet that the Dark Lord is going to 
> prevail.
> 
> If I've got this even close to being 
> right, then success of arithmancy 
> depends greatly on the accuracy of the 
> assessment of a force's magnitude and 
> direction.  In terms of people, this 
> would be the person's ability to affect 
> events and the person's motivation.  
> Hmm
is Hermione good at assessing these 
> qualities?)

Jen: I like your metaphorical take on Arithmancy. Since Hermione 
approves of the study and it is 'logical' to her, there must be some 
type of measurement involved or some quantifiable data to refer to. 
It does seem conceivable in a world where Time, Death, and Love (?) 
are harnessed and examined, there would be a quantifiable way to 
discuss the "forces of nature" as well. Perhaps studying and 
understanding Arithmancy could improve a person's magical abilities 
as well? Or at least improve the understanding of magical principle.

Jen Reese