Flitwick, Harry's book, sexy Snape, Harry's heart

[quigonginger]

No: HPFGUIDX 139594

Whew!  I'm caught up and addressing all the issues on my brain.  The 
usual "this is my opinion and others are free to have theirs" applies 
throughout.  Here goes!

Flitwick:
There's been a lot of discussion about FF's deuling ability.  Was he 
a champ?  The quote comes to mind:  "Judge me by my size, do you?  
And well you should not."  

The quote comes from Yoda, one of only 2 Jedi to survive Episode III 
(counting Vader as a Sith and not including babies).  Hand to hand 
combat may favour a larger person, but when wands and light sabres 
come into play, only skill, practice and knowledge count.  

So... Did he startle Snape, who blasted first and asked questions 
later, and then realized what had been said and rushed off to deal 
with the situation at hand? Did he collapse on his own 
after "sprinting" down to the dungeons?  Did Snape zap him purposly 
to keep from being followed?  I'd think that as a dueler, FF is a 
force to be reckoned with.  Perhaps Snape didn't want the Force to be 
with him.

I'd say all 3 are valid readings.  If I had to pick, I'd say #1.  
Never startle a sleeping man with a wand.

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Harry's book:
I don't think this has been brought up, (sorry if it has) but at the 
beginning of the year Harry has no idea how old the book is, how long 
Sluggy has been teaching, whether or not there was a teacher between 
Sluggy and Snape, or when the notes were added to the book.

For all he knows, the notes could have been taken by a student from 
things said by a teacher (Snape, Sluggy or other) and written in the 
book rather than on parchment.  On the first day of class, he wins 
the Felix potion, following the directions in the book.  At this 
point, I don't think he's cheating.  He hasn't had time to really 
look at the book and see the questionable things like the spells.  

For all he knew at that point, someone may just have updated an old 
book, and the others, with newer texts may have had those in their 
book to begin with.  

When I was in 6th grade, a teacher once (after the usual 
admonishments that the books were school property and we should never 
write in them) had us correct an outdated sentance.  The book said 
that for proper hygiene, a person should bathe or shower once a 
week.  The teacher had us change that to "at least twice a week".  

The original note that Harry followed, "crush it with a silver 
knife", seems to be in that vein.  Something new was discovered and 
noted in the book.  

So at the start, I don't think he was doing anything wrong.  After 
clearly seeing that Hermione's text differs, and later when he finds 
the spells, he is fully aware that his book is indeed different.

>From that point on, he crossed into questionable territory.  Had it 
been me, I'd have asked Sluggy about the notes to find out whether 
they were valid or not.  But then, it would have killed the plot.  I 
guess that's why there never was a book called "QuiGon-Ginger and the 
Half-Bathed Prince".

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Sexy Snape:
Am I the only one who found JKR's drawing of Snape to be Sexy?  
Rickman was sexy in Robin Hood.  I didn't find his Snape to be 
anything near that drool-worthy.  My reading of Snape is far sexier 
than that.  But to each our own ;)

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Harry's heart:

A thought struck me from out of the blue.  We know that Harry has 
a "power that LV knows not".  The general belief is that it is love.  
I'll go with that, but I think there is something else that Harry has 
in his heart that LV only understands in a half-twisted way.  That is 
courage.  (Yes, I know, this isn't a news flash.  He is, after all, a 
Gryffidor.)

Different people fear different things.  LV fears death.  I fear car 
washes, snakes, and lawn chairs, but not death.  Who's braver?  Me or 
LV?  It depends on whether we are faced with an AK (or, in my case, 
AK-47) or those nasty revolving brushes coming at you with nothing 
but a bit of glass that could break at any minute and be ground into 
your face by those nasty revolving brushes.

Eww, back to Harry and LV.

I think it is courage that saved him in the DoM.  When he realized 
that in dying, he'd be with Sirius again, he not only showed love, 
but courage.  He overcame the fear of death, which is LV's greatest 
fear.  

If we go back to the graveyard scene in GoF, Harry decided to face, 
and possibly accept, death.  He decided to die on his feet, fighting 
like his father.  This courage in the face of death happened even 
before the Phoenix started singing.  

LV, on the other hand, was described as "his face livid with fear" 
when facing the echos of his victims.  Death looked him in the face, 
and he was afraid.  Death looked Harry in the face, and he rose to 
the challenge.

I think in the end this will be Harry's strongest weapon.  He is not 
afraid of LV's greatest fear.

He will go into their final battle no holds barred, no fear, ready to 
give everything, even his life if necessary, to defeat LV.  
Hopefully, he will have destroyed the Horcruces by then.  If he keeps 
his wits about him, this will be a powerful weapon in addition to 
dueling.  

If he can keep up an ongoing patter along the lines of "You're going 
to die, Tom.  I destroyed your locket.  And your cup.  And your ...
(insert other Horcruces)  You will die.  Perhaps not today, but you 
will die.  If you kill me, there will always be another.  And 
another.  I am but one man.  You can kill me and others will come 
after.  But you will die.  It's over.  You are no more immortal than 
I." he may wear LV down and force him to make crucial mistakes. 

OK, so there's a reason I'm not a writer, (That last paragraph sounds 
familiar- does it ring a bell with anyone else?  Reply offlist, 
please.  It's bugging me.) but you get the gist of it.  Harry's 
courage will wear down LV faster than his deuling skills.  That said, 
Harry'd better get working on those skills so that he lasts long 
enough to get through the first sentance.

Oh, another thought from out of the blue!  What if that Sectumsempra 
is the spell needed to split open the Horcruces and release the 
trapped Voldysoul?  Cool or what?

Winding down now.  Thanks to everyone who has read this far.  If this 
posts twice, please accept my appologies.  YM seems to have eaten the 
original draft.  

Ginger, asking that we keep the hurricane victims in our thoughts 
and/or prayers and help as we can.  It's times like this we need each 
other.