Scrimgeour/WerewolfBites/Legilimency/DDsecrecy/DarkMagic/Umbridge/Prefect/etc

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

No: HPFGUIDX 179729

Lizzyben wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/179530>:

<< And honestly, I'm trying to remember what was so awful about
Scrimgeour. >>

He died bravely, and I'm sure his intentions were good. I want to
believe that Percy married Penelope and they named their children
Rufus and Amelia.

Montims wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/179551>:

<< and of course, as we learn in HBP when Bill is attacked, there is
NO remedy for a werewolf bite...  >>

I'm sure what the class learned about was bites from werewolves in
wolf form, not from werewolves in human form, as happened to Bill. It
is a given that there is no way to prevent a person bitten by a
werewolf in wolf form from becoming a werewolf him/her/self, and,
judging from Bill, no way to prevent the wound from leaving scars.
However, it seems there are ways to prevent the wound from bleeding to
death, from remaining an open wound forever, and from getting infected
with gangrene or other bacteria, and maybe there are other avoidable
unpleasant side effects because it's magic. 

For all I know other than that half-sentence about the DADA class, the
way to prevent this bad stuff is to leave it to the wizard's body's
own immune system and other self-healing, or to use normal first-aid
like any Muggle wound. That bit suggests that there is something more
to it, maybe a special potion to put on the wound instead of Rite-Aid
Triple Antibiotic Cream.

Lizzyben wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/179574>:

<< And hmmm, where else have we heard of a powerful wizard using
Legimancy to "extract" hidden memories? Voldemort did exactly that
to Bertha Jorkins. >>

I don't recall anything in canon that SAYS that Voldemort used
Legilimency on Bertha Jorkins. 

He said "with a little persuasion" and  (as you quote) "the means I
used to break the Memory Charm upon her were powerful, and when I had
extracted all useful information from her, her mind and body were both
damaged beyond repair." Many listies thought this meant that he used
torture and that sufficient pain will break a Memory Charm. I always
thought he used a specialized Memory Charm Breaker with major side
effects, rather than torture. It could be, as you say, that he used
Legilimency and use of Legilimency to break a Memory Charm has those
side effects.

It could be that LV and DD used the same method, whatever it was, of
breaking Memory Charms at the cost of the patient's death, as you
said. It also could be that LV and DD used different methods to break
through Memory Charms, LV using the quickest one despite the side
effects, and DD using a slower but less harmful one. I feel sure that
Rowling intended the latter, or else she would have had DD confess in
the 'King's Cross' scene.

Zara wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/179576>:

<< Adding a McGonagall or a Snape or a Neville to the list of people
one thinks should have known is not a criticism of the principle of
secrecy under which Dumbledore operated, it is a tactical disagreement
about which small subset of humanity should be told. >>

Tim's tape is now at the scene where Harry has found the DA in the ROR
while flooded with LV's discovery that his hidden Horcruxes have been
discovered. And Harry is refusing to tell the DA that he's seeking
LV's Horcruxes because Dumbledore said to keep it secret. And I am
yelling at him to tell them, Not only are they trustworthy, but LV
already knows the secret! No harm will be done to the good guys if a
spy tells him that Harry is seeking his Horcruxes. 

(At first I wrote 'no harm will be done' and then I reflected that LV
might well harm the spy. The tape just read the scene where he killed
the goblin messenger and all the DEs within reach. That is one hell of
a bad way to get accurate information, keep your followers loyal, and
build a large army of followers. Stupid LV.)

Carol replied to Zara in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/179606>:

<< And McGonagall is not exactly the type to invite confidences,
especially the revelation of past misdeeds or indiscretions. >>

Maybe McGonagall appears somewhat warmer and more forgiving with
people her own age. I gather that she's friends with Neville's Gran,
Augusta, despite knowing that Augusta failed her Charms OWL.

Pippin Fowler wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/179584>:

<< What makes magic dark? It causes pain (Cruciatus), it controls
someone else's mind (Imperius), or it kills (AK). >>

Confundus and Obliviate and Love Potions also control someone else's
mind and are not considered Dark. Other spells can kill people; canon
speaks of Stunning someone on a broomstick so they fall to their death.

Carol wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/179606>:

<< I think [Umbridge]'s still at the Ministry because neither
Scrimgeour nor Fudge knows about the quill or that Umbridge sent the
Dementors after Harry. >>

At first I was going to write to disagree with you -- they must have
known she sent the Dementors, as Harry's trial had revealed that
someone sent them, and it would be prudent to find out who, lest that
person set Dementors on someone more valuable next time. Then I
remembered that Fudge was in a complete state of denial and didn't
believe there had been any Dementors (did he believe it after he saw
that Voldemort had indeed returned?). Still. Amelia Bones believed it
and she was Head of Dept of Magical Law Enforcment, which I think
means Azkaban was under her responsibility, so it was part of her
*job* to find out who was interfering with Azkaban Dementors. She
could ask the Dementors, check records, see who had made a day trip to
Azkaban (surely arranged by her department) recently ... but I suppose
she reported up to Fudge, who would have destroyed the memo and tried
to punish Amelia for being part of the conspiracy against him and dear
Delores...

A_svirn wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/179609>:

<< Ron's appointment is nothing if not blatant favoritism – he would
have never been made a prefect if he hadn't been Harry's friend. >>

There had to be one of the Gryffindor fifth-year boys chosen as
prefect. Harry, Ron, Neville, Dean, Seamus. I kind of expected Neville
to be appointed (a DD scheme to force him to develop his self-
confidence and leadership -- that was before I knew that DD didn't
care about any student but Harry) and Molly to be quite angry at Ron
for being found less worthy than *Neville*. Which of those five boys
deserves to a prefect -- has good enough grades if that's the
selection criterion, or has shown leadership or whatever other
criteria might be?

Steve bboyminn wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPfrGrownups/message/179624>:

<< If Harry hadn't met Ron right away, I suspect they still would have
been friends because they did share a room for 7 years. Further, I
don't think it would have taken Harry very long to understand Draco,
what with Draco's harassment of Neville, general arrogance, and sense
of entitlement. All that was quickly evident in their first meeting. >>

Suppose, as a hypothetical, that no one had come to share that
compartment with first-year Harry, until Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle came
there because Draco had found out that he was the famous Harry Potter.
Draco wouldn't have insulted Ron because Ron wasn't there. So Harry
would have shaken Draco's hand and allowed them to sit in his
compartment. Then Draco, trying to win the celebrity's allegiance,
would have tried to make a good impression on Harry. Perhaps he would
have refrained from saying anything rude about Muggleborns because of
knowing that Harry's mother was one. Then Harry might have taken his
offer to introduce him to the wizarding world as kindly. Then Harry
might wanted to be Sorted into Slytherin to be with his new friend.
Then Harry and Ron wouldn't have been in the same dorm.

Pippin Foxmoth wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/179631>: 

<< He won't rule as Minister of Magic, not because he's too noble to
want to but because he doesn't trust himself with such powers. >>

Was it a lack of Gryffindor courage that made him too scared to accept
the job and try to resist the temptation to abuse it? If he had stayed
Headmaster of Hogwarts because he thought that raising the next
generation was the most important thing he could do, that's one thing.
If he stayed Headmaster of Hogwarts just because he was scared how
much damage he might do as Minister of Magic, that's another. I'm not
sure it's fair to Hogwarts, and I am sure it deprived the wizards of
whatever good he could have done as Minister of Magic. He should have
taken the job and hired a sharp-tongued, good-hearted assistant
(Molly's tongue and Arthur's heart -- maybe Augusta would do, or maybe
she hero-worshipped DD as much as Elphias did) to nag him whenever he
started to abuse his power.

Was it pride of his abstinence from that job that made him completely
thoughtless of how he used (and of did he mis-use) his power as
Headmaster of Hogwarts, as leader of the Order of the Phoenix, and as
Harry's puppet-master? DD confessing in 'King's Cross' seemed to have
quite enjoyed using loyal, honorable people as chess pieces, every bit
as much as he wanted to eliminate the Voldemort danger.

A_svirn wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/179636>:

<< There is Scorpius Malfoy as well, and no one doubts that he is
going to be as poisonous and traitorous as his name suggests. >>

I expect him to grow up to be one of the good guys, Allie Sevvie's
best mate. Scorpius is an ASTRONOMICAL name, per Black family
tradition. It's the astrological sign Scorpio, under which I was born.
It's an excellent sign.

Pippin Fowler wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/179647>:

<< I was quite annoyed with Harry's adolescent angst through most of
OotP >>

I always thought that was supposed to be Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder from Cedric's death and the whole Graveyard scene. It appears
to me just like the descriptions I've read of PTSD. Some listies have
stated that it is leakage of Voldemort's chronic grouchiness into
Harry through the scar link. That may have been what ROwling intended,
as OoP was the book about the scar link.