BedsiDDe/LeakyC/Legilimency/Myrtle/Hermione/God/CATPOO/Taxes/Warlock

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

No: HPFGUIDX 132506

Betsey Hp wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/131927 :

<< Does Dumbledore routinely visit *their* bedsides when they're 
sick? >>

Like Alla (in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/131940 ), 
I think he might. I don't think there are *that* many students in
hospital wing at any given time (for example, Pepper-Up Potion 
appears to prevent flu epidemics). This doesn't disagree with your
main point -- I doubt that the comforting words of wisdom he gives 
the others are as personalized as the ones he gives Harry.

Still, I feel sure that Dumbledore (who, after all, is super-wizard)
knows the names, faces, Houses, elective subjects, marks, hobbies,
family situations, etc of ALL Hogwarts students. So they could be
somewhat personalized.

Adi wrote in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGr
ownups/message/131929 :

<< Introducing Leaky to harry , he says it's a famous place. Why is 
it famous? There are after all other bars in winzarding world. So why
should this dingy bar be famouse? >>

It might be famous because of something that happened there -- maybe
even a famous wizard was turned into a newt in a bar fight there. But
I think more likely its fame concerns being a connection between
Muggle and wizarding worlds. I fantasize that the way Muggles send
mail to wizards is sending it by Muggle mail to an address which is 
an upper floor of one of the Muggle businesses next door to the Leaky
Cauldron, from which Tom the landlord collects it daily and brings it
to the Owl Post office in Diagon Alley. (I assume that the outer
envelope contains some money to pay for the owl as well as the 
letter in its own envelope.)

Steve bboyminn wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/132127 :

<< In fact, in the Occlumency lessons with Harry, Snape does not use
the /skill/ of Legilimency at all, instead, he uses the Legilimens
/Spell/. That implies he probably doesn't have more than a very basic
passing ability in Legilimency, if he has any skill at all. >>

I agree that he used the Spell rather than the Skill of Legilimency
during the Occlumency lessons, but not that he doesn't have the skill
of Legilimency. There are too many scenes where it makes sense that 
he is Legilimensing Harry. For example, CoS (UK paperback p 109): 

<<"But why not join the feast afterward?" said Snape, his black eyes
glittering in the candlelight. "Why go up to that corridor?"

Ron and Hermione looked at Harry.

"Because - because -" Harry said, his heart thumping very fast;
something told him it would sound very far-fetched if he told them he
had been led there by a bodiless voice no one but he could hear,
"because we were tired and wanted to go to bed," he said.

"Without any supper?" said Snape, a triumphant smile flickering 
across his gaunt face. "I didn't think ghosts provided food fit for
living people at their parties."

"We weren't hungry," said Ron loudly as his stomach gave a huge
rumble.

Snape's nasty smile widened.

"I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter is not being entirely truthful,"
he said. "It might be a good idea if he were deprived of certain
privileges until he is ready to tell us the whole story. I personally
feel he should be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until he is
ready to be honest." >>

If Snape WAS Legilimensing Harry, he knew very well that Harry was
lying, and hungry, and maybe even that being led by mysterious voices
was the top explanation on Harry's mind. 

Cynthia paddyandnick wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/132101 :

<< She wants to go as Moaning Myrtle, but we can't figure out which
house she belonged to. >>

Personally, I think Myrtle was a Slytherin. She seems very determined
about getting her own way, especially about vengefully haunting Olive
Hornby.

Davenclaw wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/132145 :

<< Hermione: She says (I think in OotP) that she was considered for
Ravenclaw >>

I think Hermione has a LOT of Slytherin traits: ambition and also
cunning schemes and dubious means to achieve her ends, such as the
whole Polyjuice Potion thing in CoS, where she nagged her friends into
it, deceived Lockhart (easy enough!) to get a note to get improper
access to the Restricted Section, had Harry throw a firecracker in
Potions class so she could steal potion ingredients from Snape, and
finally she DRUGGED Crabbe and Goyle with sleeping potion.

Brian Brinkman wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/132160 :

<<  No character has referenced God (or any other known ultimate
reality), yet. No one has even said, "Oh God," or "Thank God."  >>

Ginger replied in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/132184 :

<< Um, actually it is said by Draco. On p. 113 of the US paperback,
when he attends Hagrid's first class he says, "God, this place is
going to the dogs." >>

So does Fudge: << The face of Cornelius Fudge appeared upside-down
over Harry; it looked white, appalled. "My God – Diggory!" it
whispered. "Dumbledore – he's dead!">>

Dungrollin wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/132188 :

<< But what about Crouch Senior? We never saw DD and Crouch together,
except in the Pensieve, where they hardly had the opportunity to
give us clues about their relationship. >> 

GoF chapter 17 
<< Mr Crouch seemed to come out of a deep reverie. "Yes," he said,
"instructions. Yes ... the first task ..." He moved forwards into the
firelight. Close to, Harry thought he looked ill. There were dark
shadows beneath his eyes, and a thin, papery look about his 
wrinkled skin that had not been there at the Quidditch World Cup.
(snip)
Mr Crouch turned to look at Dumbledore. "I think that's all, is
it, Albus?"
"I think so," said Dumbledore, who was looking at Mr Crouch with 
mild concern. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay at Hogwarts
tonight, Barty?" >>

<< I don't necessarily think they particularly liked each other, but
they may well have shared a good deal of information about fighting
Voldy. The head of the Order of the Phoenix, and the head of the
Department of Magical Law Enforcement exchanging information and
working together. Sounds plausible, right? >>

But I thought the *reason* for having an Order of the Phoenix was that
Dumbledore approved neither of Crouch's methods nor of the Ministry's
information leakage.

DUngrollin wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/132338 :

<< You remember when Crouch!Moody told Neville that Professor Sprout
had said he was good at Herbology? Do you think Professor Sprout
had ever said anything of the kind? No, neither do I. It was simply
Crouch!Moody's way of getting the book describing Gillyweed into
Harry's dormitory. From that moment on, though, from having had
no confidence in anything at all, Neville believes (erroneously)
that a *teacher* said that he's good at something. As his
confidence in Herbology increases, so do his marks, until Herbology
is clearly his best subject. >>

Herbology was already his best subject in PS/SS: 
<< Harry had almost forgotten that the exam results were still to
come, but come they did. To their great surprise, both he and Ron
passed with good marks; Hermione, of course, had the best grades of
the first years. Even Neville scraped through, his good Herbology mark
making up for his abysmal Potions one. >>

And *I* suppose that Professor Sprout had indeed said Neville was 
good in Herbology -- that way Fake!Moody knew to WHICH of Harry's
roommates to slip the book. I fantasize a staff room conversation
beginning when McGonagall came into the room, threw herself into a
chair, and exclaimed something like: "That Neville Longbottom is a
walking disaster area! Instead of turning his beetle into a button, 
he enlarged it until it exploded. What a mess in my classroom!" Then
the other teachers replied with their own comments about Neville. In
the BOOKS he didn't faint from a mandrake scream.

Steve bboyminn asked in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/132367 :

<< How do wizards deal with property taxes? Malfoy manor, I'm lead to
believe, is a pretty significant mansion in Wiltshire. How does Malfoy
manage to hide that from the taxman? How did the Black family deal
with the taxman? >>

I'm sure that the old family homes of old wizarding families, like 
the Malfoy and Blacks and Crouches, are outside our Muggle world, 
like Diagon Alley and Platform 9 3/4, so Muggle taxes are irrelevant
to them. Because they took them out of the Muggle world before the
Muggles had made any official records of them. For homes which were
already officially recorded by Muggles before they were acquired by
wizards, I imagine they settle for bewitching the official record (on
paper or computer) so that it always shows that they're fully paid-up.
Wizards who buy a house from Muggles and are not strong enough mages
to cast that spell will just have to change Galleons to pounds at
Gringotts and pay up.

flyingmonkeypurple wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/132460 :

<< I want to know what the difference between Warlocks and Wizards.
I know that Warlocks are male witches in other shows but what are
they in this book. The school is called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft
and Wizardry. Does this mean that Warlocks are included in this school
or not, or do they go to a different school all together. They have
never mentiond warlocks before. I'm just wondering. Help please!!! >>

None of us know for sure (or if someone does, they haven't told).
Some threads on the subject begin with the following posts:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/106697
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/23351

In those threads, Steve b_boymn suggests that 'wizards' are Western
European and 'warlocks' are Eastern European. That doesn't explain why
Dumbledore's title as chairman of the Wizengamot is Chief Warlock, and
why Quidditch, a sport invented in England, is called 'the noble sport
of warlocks'.

My theory is that 'warlock' means a member of the wizarding parliament
(which might be the Wizengamot, named as it is after the Saxon
parliament, Witangemot). I assume that the word acquired additional
meaning: as being chosen by your neighbors to represent them is
something of an honor, 'warlock' came to mean a respected person, 
thus 'the noble sport of warlocks'; but public opinion of politicians
being what it is, 'warlock' also came to mean a person full of hot
air, which might explain the 'wild-looking' warlocks arguing over the
latest issue of Transfiguration Quarterly at the Leaky Cauldron.

There's a bit in OoP where Lupin says: "Dumbledore's 'been voted out
of the Chairmanship of the International Confederation of Wizards...
they've demoted him from chief Warlock on the Wizengamot... and
they're talking about taking away his Order of Merlin, First Class,
too.'

If you remember Dumbledore's official Headmaster letterhead in PS/SS,
his name was followed by "Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc.,
Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards".
There has long been discussion of what those titles could possibly
mean.

I think Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorceror is the highest
honor, perhaps given to people who have already been given the Order
of Merlin a couple of times:
Order of Merlin, third class
Order of Merlin, second class
Order of Merlin, first class
Order of Merlin, first class, Sorceror
Order of Merlin, first class, Grand Sorceror

I think Supreme Mugwump is the title of the 'chairman' of the
International [Con]federation of Wizards/Warlocks.

(I think all those names have appeared in canon, and I think they all
mean the same organization.) 
International Federation of Wizards, pages 90 and 120 of UK OoP 
International Federation of Warlocks, pages 30 and 128 of UK OoP 
International Confederation of Wizards, on DD's letterhead in SS and
GoF ch.17
International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy in Mafalda
Hopkirk's letter in CoS
International Warlock Convention of 1289, also in CoS
Fudge has been criticized by some members of the International
Federation of Warlocks for informing the Muggle Prime Minister of the
crisis. PoA

As for 'warlock', I long held that it was a title meaning an elective
representative to wizarding legislature council (so that the medieval
Wizards' Council, precursor to the Ministry of Magic as we were told
in the schoolbooks, could perfectly well be called the Warlocks'
Council). I said, the Saxon meaning of "warlock = oath breaker" would
apply quite well to the wizarding equivalent of a Congressman or M.P. 

While I was at it, I proposed that the Wizards' Council was earlier
named the Witchingameet, based on the name 'Witangamot' of the Saxon
parliament before the Norman Conquest. Wizengamot clearly is named
from the same source, so I patted myself on the back for an "almost
right" prediction.

So now I am proposing that Warlock means 'member of the Wizengamot'.
'Chief Warlock' should mean Chairman of the Wizengamot.