SHIP Gryffindor password

[Marianne S.]

No: HPFGUIDX 136274

flyingmonkeypurple wrote:
 TO all you people out their thinking that J. K was sugesting sex why 
 would she put abstinence in the book. I think she is trying to say 
 something. JUST SAY NO!!!!!   " I've got something for you ,Harry ", 
 said Hermione, neither looking at Ron or giving any sign that she had 
 heard him." OH hand on password. Abstinence." "Precisely" said the Fat 
 Lady in a feeble voice,and swung forward to reveal the portrait hole.
 Chater seventeen page 351.
 flyingmonkeypurple

Marianne S: 
Don't forget, however, what the context of the word was... the fat lady 
had, as it says on the same page, imbibed to much alcohol.

Same page as above:

"What's up with her?" asked Harry.
"Overindulged over Christmas, apparently," said Hermione... "She and her
friend Violet DRANK their way through ALL THE WINE in the picture of those 
those drunk monks down by the Charms corridor. Anyway..."

the emphasis on DRANK ALL THE WINE was mine. 

Context aside, the primary definition for abstinence in most, if not all, non-
medical dictionaries relates to forgoing food or drink. See below. 

ab·sti·nence    
n.
1.The act or practice of refraining from indulging an appetite, as for food.
2.Abstention from alcoholic beverages

absti·nent adj. 
absti·nent·ly adv.
Synonyms: abstinence, self-denial, temperance, sobriety, continence
These nouns refer to restraint of one's appetites or desires. Abstinence
 implies the willful avoidance of pleasures, especially of food and drink, 
thought to be harmful or self-indulgent: "I vainly reminded him of his
protracted abstinence from food" (Emily Brontë). Self-denial suggests 
resisting one's own desires for the achievement of a higher goal: I 
practiced self-denial to provide for my family's needs. Temperance
 refers to moderation and self-restraint and sobriety to gravity in 
\bearing, manner, or treatment; both nouns denote moderation in 
or abstinence from the consumption of alcoholic liquor: Teetotalers 
preach temperance for everyone. "those moments which would come 
between the subsidence of actual sobriety and the commencement of 
intoxication" (Anthony Trollope). Continence specifically refers to 
abstention from sexual activity: The nun took a vow of continence.


So, I think that not only by definition but the actual CONTEXT
with the drunk Fat Lady and the fact that neither Ron nor Ginny
seemed all that chuffed to see Lavender and Dean respectively, the 
thought that this was intended to be a JUST SAY NO (to sex) message
makes for a leaky SHIP indeed. ;)


Marianne S, 
who is reminded that these books are great tools for teaching vocabulary. ;)