Prophecy/ Wizarding&MugglePlaces - FlyingFordAnglia - Funeral/ Snape/ Sirius

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

No: HPFGUIDX 128387

B.G. wrote in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforG
rownups/message/127971 :

<< IMHO Neville and Harry are in this together - they will join forces
to defeat the Dark Lord. >>

I hope so!

<< But mid-Prophecy it gets disturbing, "And either must die at the
hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...."
The other is LV and either/neither refer to Neville and Harry. And
(they) either must die at the hand of LV for neither (of them) can
live while LV survives. >> 

"And either (Harry or Neville) must die at the hand of the other (LV)
for neither (Harry nor Neville) can live while the other (LV)
survives."? I don't remember who suggested this interpretation, but I
like it.

Sandra wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/128009 :

<< After re-reading book two the other night (well, flicked through
it) I'm having trouble figuring out what parts of the WW are
accessible (either visually or physically) to muggles, and what parts
only exist through hidden doorways. For example, even though the
Hogwarts Express leaves from a magical hidden platform in some kind of
parallel world, Harry and Ron could chase it in their car. They didn't
go through any magic gateway... >>

Somewhere in some book one of the characters tells Harry: "We have our
own places, like Diagon Alley and Platform 9 3/4". Apparently wizards
can Apparate or Floo into Diagon Alley (and its sub-alleys, like
Knockturn Alley) but can walk into it only through a hidden doorway.
As far as I know, the Leaky Cauldron has the only hidden doorwar to
Diagon Alley. The Leaky Cauldron is hidden by being invisible to
Muggles (their eyes slide past it as if it wasn't there), but they can
come in if led by a wizard -- Hermione's parents came in, presumably
with her leading them. I suppose they had to hold her hands and close
their eyes. 

But there must be two hidden doorways to Platform 9 3/4, one for
pedestrians and one for the train on the track. The boys in the flying
car could chase the train because it had returned to the shared/Muggle
world, and the car had never left it.

The Burrow is located in the shared/Muggle world; the taxis which Mrs
Weasley had reserved found it okay. It's down a long road or trail
from the nearest street which winds so it can't be seen from the
street, so few Muggles would have a reason to go there uninvited. In
addition, it probably is guarded by 'Not at all interesting' Charms.
Muggles who did go there would see eccentrics living in a remarkable
shack built of odds and ends with some farm animals (chickens, anyway,
and I think they have a cow) hanging around (and might mutter to
themselves about hippies, travellers, and crazy people who choose to
live like that that shouldn't be allowed to keep children in such
conditions) but I'm sure there is a charm on The Burrow so that Muggle
eyes don't see how tall and gravity-defying it is. I like to think
that one way Mrs Weasley adds to the family income is by selling
organic eggs and milk and homemade jam to Muggles in Ottery St.
Catchpole -- she brings the goods to either a farmers' market or to
the houses of regular customers, I don't know which would be more
normal in England, let alone to wizards.

I think someplace Hermione tells Harry that Hogwarts Castle's
protections include Muggle-repellingn Charms (more powerful than 'Not
at all interesting' Charms, they cause Muggles who come near to
suddenly remember that they very urgently have to be at some other
place) and if a Muggle did come to the Castle, all the Muggle would
see would be an old ruin of a castle, presumably with 'Danger: Falling
Rocks' signs. Maybe a hiveload of angry bees would encourage them to
stop trying to climb on the ruin.

Speaking of Muggle-repellent: one of the ads on the Rumors tabloid on
JKR's website is for a Muggle Deterring Doorbell: "Tried of Muggle
neighbors walking in when you're got a Potion on the Boil? Weary of
the scramble to hide Broomsticks when the doorbell rings?" which
detects the presence of a Muggle finger and scares them away by making
it sound like scary noises are coming from inside the house. The ad
gives three scary noises to choose among: "ghostly wail of woe,
sinister cackle of laughter, or eerie scream of pain". Personally, I
don't want neighbors to associate me with ANY of those noises (that
would be like volunteering to be the lynchee if, god forbid, a serial
rapist/murderer of young children acted in our neighborhood). I would
rather that the doorbell 'emit[ted]' cries of orgasmic pleasure,
trusting the neighbors' politeness to make them go away until a more
convenient time. 

So I suppose that most Wizarding houses are in the shared/Muggle
world. The Black House is in the shared/Muggle world between two
Muggle houses, hidden by the Order's Fidelius Charm and all the other
spells of deterrence and defense which Sirius's father (and maybe
previous ancestors) had already put on it. Whenever it went invisible
(with the Fidelius or at some earlier time), it would be wise to
Obliviate all the Muggles who used to see it all the time.

(Shout-out to Finwitch, who answered the question before I did!)

Chys wrote in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforG
rownups/message/128264 :

<< I don't understand the Blacks in particular, having a house in a
muggle area at all. If they're an old family, pureblood and all of
that, what's the point in mingling with the 'commonfolk and muddies'?
I would have thought they would be more secluded or in a more
wizarding territory. This just puzzles me. >>

I imagine that a roughly four square block area centered on 12
Grimmauld Place was originally Black Manor, and out in the rural
countryside. The population rose over time and real estate became far
more expensive and the area all around Black Manor became a
concentration of Muggles, the Black ancestors had to sell off most of
the land to Muggle developers for money with which (converted at
Gringotts) to buy ever more Muggle-deterrence magic for the
smaller-footprint replacement house they built on the bit of land that
they kept.

Ffred Manawydan wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/128064 :

<< The car's an unofficial artefact. Arthur's done the work on it in
his back garden. Either it doesn't have the "don't notice me" charm on
it, or it's worn off (it doesn't run very well, but then it's a pretty
old car!)  >>

IIRC the Flying Ford Anglia's Invisibility was optional -- didn't Ron
press the Invisibility button at one point?

<< It's highly illegal for anyone in the WW to interact with the
muggle world. Statute of Secrecy forbids it. >>   

It doesn't forbid *interacting*, as when Seamus's mother dated Muggles
and married one, or old Archie bought his nightgown in a Muggle shop.
It only forbids revealing magic to Muggles.

Kemper wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/128232 :

<< I been able to come up with a weak story on why Harry didn't go to
Cedric's funeral. It has to do with Harry feeling uncomfortable as he
witnessed it and not wanting to be around Cedric's folks and their
grief. >>

I wrote a fanfic about Harry going to Cedric's funeral (CofE), but you
*know* the Dursleys were not going to drive him there or even give him
train fare. My weak solution is that Harry flew there on his
broomstick, but how did he avoid getting in trouble for being seen
(like with the flying car) AND how did he get his broomstick out from
wherever the Dursleys had locked it up?

AyanEva wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/128010 :

<< It's hard to like both Sirius and Severus at the same time, >>

I like them both. Of course I like Severus if he were my colleague
(or, better yet, subordinate!) who had to behave collegially to me. I
hate him as my teacher. It's one thing to be an audience to his
nastiness, enjoy the humor and sympathize with the internal
psychological pain causing it, and another to be the victim of it! My
feelings get hurt very bit as easily as Sevvie's, and my emotional
wounds never heal any faster than his do, so I would not resemble all
the listies who claim that they're grateful to the sadistically cruel
teachers they had in school days by forgiving Snape!

Mz_annethrope wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/128099 :

<< according to my dictionary of surnames "Snape" means either a
"boggy patch" or "a place where sheep snuffle for grass." >>

Yes, but 'sneap' is 'rebuke':
http://machaut.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/WEBSTER.sh?WORD=sneap
"Sneap (Page: 1362)
Sneap (?), v. t. [Cf. Icel. sneypa to dishonor, disgrace, chide, but
also E. snip, and snub.]
1. To check; to reprimand; to rebuke; to chide. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.
2. To nip; to blast; to blight. [Obs.]
    Biron is like an envious, sneaping frost. Shak.

Sneap (Page: 1362)
Sneap, n. A reprimand; a rebuke. [Obs.]
    My lord, I will not undergo this sneap without reply. Shak."

Pippin wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/128311 :

<< speculating that Snape is also the source of Hermione's knowledge
of murtlap juice >>

Isn't the info on murtlap juice in even the Muggle edition of
FANTASTIC BEASTS, whose wizarding edition was a set book for First
Year? I think it was set for DADA class, that First Years were
supposed to have those lessons about grindylows and kappas and
boggarts that Harry's class finally got in Third Year.

Kathy J wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/128117 :

<< Frankly my dog would leave me in six lanes of traffic to save his
own skin, and would not even feel bad about it. There are dogs and
then there are dogs. I just think that Sirius might be a wolf in dog's
clothing. >>

There are dogs and there are dogs, but I believe JKR intended Sirius
to be the kind of dog which is utterly loyal and protective of its
human and its human's child. She said in
http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/faq_view.cfm?id=61 that Sirius is
loyal, loved James like a brother, and feels the same about Harry:

<<Sirius is brave, loyal, reckless, embittered and slightly unbalanced
by his long stay in Azkaban. He has never really had the chance to
grow up; he was around twenty-two when he was sent off to Azkaban, and
has had very little normal adult life. Lupin, who is the same age,
seems much older and more mature. Sirius's great redeeming quality is
how much affection he is capable of feeling. He loved James like a
brother and he went on to transfer that attachment to Harry.>>