[HPforGrownups] Re: An idea...

[elfundeb]

No: HPFGUIDX 171861

Lisa:
I don't know that any family knows their child is "put down for
Hogwarts" at birth -- we don't know that James & Lily knew about
Harry. We only know that Hagrid knew that Harry was, and likely that
is because Dumbledore told him.

Debbie:
I tend to think that Hagrid's statement in PS/SS is just a bit of hyperbole,
based on his knowledge of the magical quill which inscribes the names at
birth.  If Harry got a Hogwarts letter, Hagrid could accept this as proof
that Harry's name had been down since birth.  There was no need for
Dumbledore to tell him anything (the fact that Voldemort transferred some of
his powers to Harry had not been discovered at that point).

Neville's story also suggests that parents can't simply contact Hogwarts to
see if their son's name is inscribed in the book.  I envision each page as
being unavailable until it's time to send out the Hogwarts letters for that
year.

On a side note, Neville's statement that his family thought he "might not be
magical enough to come" is curious because it's at odds with JKR's comments
that either you're magical or you're not.  Having always been a great fan
of backstories in which Neville witnessed his parents' torture but had his
memories of such torture suppressed, it has occurred to me that Neville
might have shown signs of magical ability before his parents' torture but
showed no signs afterward.  Accordingly, Great Uncle Algie kept throwing
him out windows and off piers in an attempt to reawaken that magic out of
fears that he might be denied admission to Hogwarts if his magical ability
was hidden (1) in response to having witnessed his parents' torture, (2)
under
a Memory Charm, or (3) in the vain hope that he would never be forced to
take Potions with Snape.  (I'll vote for (2), with a side order of (1).)

Debbie
who finally saw the film-that-must-not-be-named today


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]