Predictions & PS on Sirius

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 129025

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Hans Andréa <hansandrea1 at y...> 
wrote:

Hans:
> PS
> I'd just like to refer back to something Geoff said ages ago (well, 
> months actually). I have repeatedly stated that Sirius' friends' 
> I'm referring to JAMES Potter, PETER Pettigrew and Remus JOHN 
> Lupin. I've pointed out that the TRANSFIGURATION (know that word?) 
> of Jesus on the mount was watched by James, Peter and John. Geoff  
> said that those three are the most common names in England, and    
> that it was all coincidence.

> I'd like to take this up again. Yes, I agree they probably are the  
> most common names. It just so happens that I was a teacher in the  
> years Sirius and his friends went to school. Certainly in every    
> class there were boys with those names, but I remember just as many 
> Scotts, Terrys, Patricks, Geoffs,Robins, Christophers, Gregs,      
> Michaels, Adams, Ians etc. Let's do some statistics and            
> probability. In a class of 40 boys, let's really exaggerate and     
> say the 10% of boys at the time of the Marauders were called Peter, 
> 10% John and 10% James (or Jim). That would actually be a very rare 
> occurrence, because in my experience there would never have been   
> 4 Peters, 4 Johns and 4 James's in a class of 40 boys ( I myself   
> was in a class of 54 boys for a number of years); 2 of each at the 
> most. But to prove my point let's take 10% each. In mathematical   
> terms, the probability of one person having three friends with     
> those three names would be one in 10 x 10 x 10 = 1000. That's the   
> maximum! It's more likely to be 20 x 20 x 20 = 6000.

> So to say that it's a coincidence that Sirius' friends happened to 
> be the same as Jesus' 3 top disciples is possible, but the chances 
> are one in thousands.

Geoff:
Just in passing, your Maths is incorrect. The second probability 
should be 1 in 8000.

With respect, the possibility in such a situation might be that 
someone would have more than one of each name as a friend. The 
problem with your approach is that you are not considering the fact 
that friendship is dictated by emotional feelings and not by the 
statistics of how many names you have in a group. You don't pick your 
friends' according to their names out of a hat at random....

As an example to demonstrate that fact: in the boys' club which my 
wife and I run at our Baptist church in Minehead, there is one Peter, 
one James and one John. Just to muddy the waters, they are friends 
with each other and there are other boys in the same little group 
which would therefore fit the parameters you have suggested.

There is also a problem here for you that readers may not pick up on 
the fact that Lupin's second name is John because it is not used in 
canon. It was revealed by JKR in answer to a question at World Book 
Day in 2004.

Hans:
> In fact I think it's underestimating Jo's intelligence to say a    
> thing  like that. Everything she does is so obviously deliberate,  
> so calculated (in the kindest meaning of the word) and so          
> intelligently put together, that I think this whole thing is no    
> coincidence at all, but deliberate. Jo is nailing her flag to the  
> mast.

Geoff:
Which raises the question of "which mast"?  I incline more to the 
likelihood of a Christian one.

Hans:
> This is the same sort of thing as saying "Christian Rosycross" 
> doesn't prove the Alchemical Wedding of Christian Rosycross is     
> Christian, which I discussed in my last post.

> I think the problem is that Sirius doesn't look and act like a 
> Christ figure, and so we dismiss the evidence.

Geoff:
I am concerned that you are confusing the issue by writing things 
which are seemingly contradictory. Way back in message 84481 (10th 
November 2003), writing as Ivan Vablatsky) you said:

> A few months ago there was a big debate in this group about whether 
> Harry Potter is everyman or Christ. I say he is both!

You are now suggesting that because of your theory about the 
Transfiguration parallel that Sirius is a Christ figure which is in 
conflict with your previous statement.

Hans (as Ivan in 84481)
> This is the new religion of the Age of Aquarius. Man will realise 
> that everyone is called to become a Son of God through the self-   
> sacrifice of the limited, earthly self, for the inner God Who lies 
> dormant in each of us.

Geoff (replying in 84552): 
I feel that I can only disagree with your view on Harry Potter. He 
cannot be an everyman or Christ. No person can be a Christ figure 
except Christ himself, God in human form. We can be Christ-like; we 
are enjoined to imitate Christ – read Philippians 2 for example.

Christ is referred to as the Son of Man or the Son of God. We are 
told in John 1 that, speaking of Jesus, "to all who received him, to 
those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the 
children of God" – not the same.

We know from interviews etc. that Jo Rowling claims to be a
Christian. I am not sure whether her membership of the Church of
Scotland indicates nominal Christianity or real belief; that is not
for me to judge. 

JKR has not written overtly as a Christian; neither did Tolkien, But, 
with a Christian background, I find that many of the items you detail 
as part of the "new religion of the Age of Aquarius" merely shadow 
central parts of Christian faith when that faith is really followed 
and not merely paid lip service.

Can't JKR write her own story? Yes. Isn't it interesting though that
JKR has made Harry the Seeker in the Quidditch team? That's the term
often used in Christian circles for those who truly look for the
right way to go in life. Harry may make many mistakes along the way,
but he is anxious that the right is seen to prevail for the benefit
of his friends, the Wizarding World and the future.