HBP/Harry/Sirius/Snape/Patronus/Sn./Neville/Sn./Doge/C.Drac./Kreachur/abusedH

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

No: HPFGUIDX 129667

Chys Sage Lattes wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/129304 :

<< Things you'd like to see in Half Blood Prince:
Haha, maybe the Bloody Baron is the HBP? >>

Now that you remind me, I Really Want to be told the Bloody Baron's
story and why Peeves obeys him.

Kristen wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/129328 :

<< I mean Harry would hardly think Sirius would go out if the MOM
thought he was in London. >>

You assume that Harry thought Sirius has a bit of common sense, but it
seems to me that Harry has learned that Sirius did not have anything
of the sort.

Pippin wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/129368 :

<< [Snape] may be crawling on broken glass; it would account for his
disposition. >>

This is a forbidden "LOL and good point" post.

Chris flowerchild wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/129414 :

<< Hermione's patronus is an otter, and we know from JKR that the
patronus and animagus are the same. >>

I don't THINK we know from JKR that patronus and animagus form are the
same, altho' I agree that JKR would make Hermione's animagus form be
an otter. But I think Hermione would need to develop more of a sense
of humor before she would be able to turn into an otter. (I checked
Quick Quotes Quill and didn't find anything about patronus vs
animagus.)

Phoenixgod2000 wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/129434 :

<< Snape lets him down when he tries to get Harry expelled *every
single year*. >>

I am sure that Dumbledore would never allow Harry to be expelled,
because the Chosen One needs the Hogwarts education and because
Hogwarts is the safest place for the Chosen One to await his destiny.
I am sure Snape knows that DD would never allow Harry to be expelled.
Therefore, I think it might be more accurate to refer to Snape as 'he
pretends to try to get Harry expells *every single year*'.

Betsy horridporrid wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/129463 :

<< It would take a major twist of logic indeed to presume that Snape
actually *does* want Hermione to "help" Neville. (And I don't
recall claiming Snape is not logical.) To make it even clearer that
Snape wishes Neville to continue on his own, Snape assigns him a
mini-exam.

"Longbottom, at the end of this lesson we will feed a few drops of
this potion to your toad and see what happens. Perhaps that will
encourage you to do it properly." (ibid p.126)

Snape sets a task before Neville, with the hope that he's given the
boy enough motivation to reach his full potential. Hermione
sabatoges Snape's efforts. And Hermione is fully aware that she is
cheating.

"Hermione was muttering instructions to him out of the corner of her
mouth, so that Snape wouldn't see." (ibid p. 127)

By telling Neville exactly what to do, Hermione prevents Neville
from learning on his own, reinforces Neville's belief that he can't
do potions and gets in the way of Snape's efforts to get through to
a troubled student. Hermione was trying to be nice, but she acted
as an enabler and in the end did Neville no favors. >>

Do we actually KNOW that Neville's problem with getting the
ingredients and instructions right is not that he has an undiagnosed
eyesight/vision problem with reading from the chalkboard? Does reading
the chalkboard aloud to a student who can't SEE it prevent that
student from learning? He still has to pick up and cut and pour and
stir the ingredients himself.

I don't really think that Gran never had Neville's eyes tested, but to
me it seems that, considering how much Neville's memory problems are
emphasized, he may have an absolutely legitimate learning disability
that he can Read the chalkboard, but he can't Remember what he read
for the one second it takes him to turn back to his work bench and
cauldron. In which case it would help if he copied down the
instructions in such a way that he could hold them in front of his
eyes at The Same Time he is looking at his potion. Me, I do not
perceive someone reading the chalkboard aloud to him as being so very
different from him reading a closer copy of the chalkboard.  

Magda Grantwitch wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/129550 :

<< And it might even further undermine his already fragile
self-confidence (as it was at that point in the series) if he thinks
he almost lost his pet and can't be sure that he'll do better next
time. >>

And it might boost his self-confidence that he did it right this time,
with only verbal help. 

Magda wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/129465 :

<< Snape's a git and an all-around nasty guy, but he's still within
the limits of crappy teacherdom in the real world that we live in.
(And while I don't want to offend the teachers on the list - come on,
guys, we know it's true; everyone has Snape-clone horror stories.) >>

I doubt you offended any of the listies who have proudly posted that
they themselves are Snape-like teachers.

Cleverwitch predicted in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/129503 :

<< We will learn who killed Broderick Bode. My money is on Elphias
Doge. >>

Is that because his name sounds dodgey?

"njelliot2003" predicted in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/129569 :

<< the first Fat Lady password Harry hears is "Caput Draconis" (pg.
96). >>

Caput Draconis means 'head of dragon'. I think it is the name of
something astrological, like some point in the Moon's orbit. I have a
gut feeling that it is related somehow to another password: "Pig's
snout". Because Pig and Dragon are both animals, and the snout is part
of the head. But I can't figure out that such a relationship would
mean anything for the plot.

Gerry festuco wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/129595 :

<< It would be really interesting if Sirius did leave a will and left
all his posessions, including Kreacher to Harry. Not only will it be
very interesting how Harry deals with it. How will Hermione react that
one of her best friens now owns a house-elf who is obviously too
dangerous to set free. >>

Can we Obliviate his memories of the OoP year and then free him?

Sienna wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/129580 :

<< Firstly, I'd like to point out that Harry, technically, is an
abused child. And as a sufferer of abuse for most of his life, his is
actually quite stable and compassionate (moreso I think than should
realistically be expected). >>

I have a theory about that. I think I think Lily was able,
with her magic, to put an image of herself in her baby's mind, that
would be like an 'imaginary mum' (by analogy with 'imaginary friend')
who would cuddle Harry and tell him that he's a good kid who doesn't
deserve Dursley abuse and tell him about how decent people behave,
thus being that one caring adult said to be necessary to even a
'resilient' child's survival of serious abuse, and an example of
goodness he could learn from.

I kind of think Lily used her last magic to put this image in
his head intentionally, instead of using her last magic in one last
attempt to escape Voldemort. That is the heroic self-sacrifce that
canon credits her, accepting her own death because it was more
important to her to give this protection (from abusive Dursleys) of
her love. I don't know why she would do that if she really believed
that he would be dead seconds after she was, so I am left sympathetic
to the theories that Harry survived AK because of some magic that had
been done on him (presumably by Lily) or that he had been born with.

When Harry resisted the Imperius Curse, the Curse's Moody-voice in his
head told him to jump up on the desk, and "another voice had awoken in
the back of his brain. Stupid to do, really, said the voice." I
believe that that other voice is what's left of the image-Lily after
all these years; she doesn't appear often, she appears as Harry's
voice instead of her own, but she still is caring for Harry -- and
still has free will.

In addition, so far we've always seen Harry wondering and trying to
find out about his father, and not about his mother. Some say that's a
plot device because JKR is saving some big surprise about Lily, and
some say it's normal because Harry is 11 to 15 so far, puberty and
adolescence, and much more concerned about a male image to identify
with. But *I* say that he doesn't search so much for Lily because,
unknown to himself, he already has her with him.