MsgPatronus/ChapterQuestions/Village/Narcissa/Gobstones/Draco/PurpleCurse/LV

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

No: HPFGUIDX 142306

houyhnhnm wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/142013 :

<< No canon support whatsoever except for the fact that patroni are
bright and silvery, but I imagine a message being incorporated into
the happy thought that produces the patronus. I imagine when a
patronus is intercepted it is drawn into the wand of the Witch or
Wizard who receives it, and then put into the head like a thought
being retrieved from a pensieve. >>

Oh, no, how embarrassing! For example, if at one time Hermione's happy
thought was kissing Viktor, she would probably be embarrassed for
anyone to know, and especially *un*happy for Ron to know, which would
make a problem if she had to send a message to Ron.

Potioncat summarised Chapter 2 in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/142027 and asked:

<< 1. Bellatrix kills a fox, thinking it could be an Auror. Does she
suspect Snape's home is being watched, or is she always looking over
her shoulder for an Auror? Do you think all DEs would be this trigger
happy, or is it just Bella? >>

I think Bella just enjoys killing (altho' she enjoys preceding it with
torture even more) and said 'Auror' just as an excuse. Some of the
other DEs would do the same, some would like to but are too cautious,
some don't actually enjoy killing as fun. Poor fox.

( *big grin* at Marianne's reply in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/142036 : 
<< OTOH, maybe she's fixated on canine Animagi <g>. >> )

<< 3. Bella knows Narcissa is going to visit Snape, but she is caught
by surprise (equaling that of many from this list) at the location.
She calls it a Muggle dunghill and doubts that any of "our kind" has
ever set foot there. In fact, Snape, Pettigrew and Narcissa all seem
familiar with the area. Yet it was Bella who was supposed to be part
of young Severus's gang. What do you think is going on here? How long
do you think Snape has been using this location? >>

Unlike most people in this list, I don't assume it was Snape's
childhood home (so far, my assumptions have turned out wrong and the
majority assumptions right *sigh*). I think he bought it from Muggles,
and repaired, remodelled, furnished, and magically concealed it from
Muggles with money from his Hogwarts salary.

<< 4. Snape's tiny sitting room is lined with leather bound books and
contains a threadbare sofa, an old armchair and a rickety table. It
had the "feeling of a dark, padded cell." A padded cell is used for
someone who needs protection from himself. What does this room, or the
house and neighborhood, tell us about Snape? Do you think this is his
usual home away from Hogwarts? >>

I never thought about the "padded cell" description before! My
emotional reaction to walls covered with shelves of leatherbound
books, coupled with my emotional reaction to shabby but overstuffed
furniture, had me feeling more like he was inside a jewelry box 
(also padded, often in quilted velvet or satin, for protection and
cherishing of the valuable contents). Thus, I assumed it was his 
usual hide-out when compelled to leave Hogwarts for summer holiday.

Krista wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/142205 :

<< (Hence the only things in the house of a personal nature are his
books, which are all in the front room, giving a sense that he hasn't
quite "entered" the house himself, to ditch his stuff in the front
room.) >>

I hate to interfere with such a nice bit of literary analysis, but we
never saw any other rooms of the house, so how do we KNOW that they
aren't stuffed with personal items? I assume he had at least some
clothing in his bedroom. I don't *really* believe that his summer
hobby was being a fanatic gourmet chef with a kitchen full of
carefully chosen and even more carefully cared for carbon-steel knives
and copper-bottom saucepans....

Alla replied  to 'What does this room, or the house and neighborhood,
tell us about Snape?' in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/142030 :

<< That he needs a better looking furniture and is in desperate need
of more socialising with his neighbors? :-) >>

I think (maybe the invoked sociologist will tell us) that most of the
houses in that neighborhood are uninhabited, and the inhabited ones
(other than Snape's) are occupied by squatters. (It seems that there
is some other section of town within walking distance where these
squatters find people from whom to beg for 'spare change' and fast
food places where to spend the receipts.) Snape would choose a
deserted neighborhood both for ease of hiding and for misanthropy.

Jaimee wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/142280 :

<< this truly seemed like Snape was pleased that Naracissa was there
to see him. I have seen him be catty to Harry, Hermione, Bellatrix,
any number of people; respectful toward Dumbledore; even shown
favoritism to Draco; but never truly pleased to see anyone. >>

Um. In OoP, I think he was pleased to see McGonagall return from St
Mungo's healthy again. My mind 'sees' him 'striding forward' with a
smile on his face and warmth in his voice, but I must admit that the
canon doesn't *specify* his tone of voice or facial expression:
"Professor McGonagall had just stumped up the stone, steps into the
castle; she was carrying a tartan carpetbag in one hand and leaning
heavily on a walking stick with her other, but otherwise looked quite
well.
    'Professor McGonagall!' said Snape, striding forwards. 'Out of St
Mungo's, I see!'"

Goddlefrood wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/142047 :

<< When an Englishwoman describes a charming village, as JKR does
thorugh Dumbledore, >>

Wasn't Dumbledore description of Budleigh Babberton as a 'charming
village' pure sarcasm? Now that you've got me thinking, maybe it's a
'charming' village because many houses are occupied by wizards and
witches who cast charms.

Carol wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/142057 :

<< On a side note, I think that Narcissa's parents named their last
child after a flower, breaking with the family tradition of using
stars or constellations, because with her blue eyes and golden hair,
she didn't look like a Black. >>

Good idea, maybe better than mine that maybe the wizarding folk 
have named some star 'Narcissa', so that she *is* named after a star. 
I tried to make 'Elladora' into an astronomical name, but could not
find any L Doradus for her to be named after.

Potioncat wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/142089 :

<< I think Eileen gets "No respect" for being President of the
Gobstones Club. (snip) we see her in a leadership role on a
recreational team that is competitive enough to play against other
schools. >>

What I've wondered since first reading that Daily Prophet caption is
WHAT other schools does the Hogwarts Gobstones Club play against?
Beauxbatons and Durmstrang? 

Kmalone1127 wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/142092 :

<< Why did he take Draco with him as he fled Hogwarts? Snape has just
made himself Voldemort's top man, he could have left him there for the
Order to deal with. I firmly believe that Voldemort meant for Draco to
fail, so is Snape taking him back for punishment or for some other
reason? >>

I thought Snape was taking Draco away to hide him, to save him from
LV. Which could mean that Snape has to run and hide as much from LV's
followers as from the good guys, if he can't talk LV out of being
angry at being deprived of the opportunity to kill Draco.

Carol wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/142259 :

<< what was that purple one cast silently by Dolohov that sent
Hermione to the hospital wing? >>

Someone suggested that it was the Entrail-Expelling Curse mentioned in
OoP: "there was a portrait of a rather vicious-looking wizard on the
wall, captioned: Urquhart Rackharrow, 1612-1697, Inventor of the
Entrail-expelling Curse." (Seen when they first visit Arthur at St
Mungo's.) A nice, comforting thing to put on the wall of an injured
person's hospital room! I am reminded of one of my friends who had a
heart attack in a very sweet Catholic hospital and complained that the
dripping blood in the Crucification picture on the wall gave him
nightmares, so the nice nun took it down.

Eileen Nicholson wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/142290 :

<< Voldemort seems fairly one-dimensional now - did he ever have a
conscience >>

I think he never did. I think he was born a sociopath, I mean
something in his brain that didn't let him have a choice as to how he
would respond to the unfortunate circumstances of his upbringing.