Babbling on on Avada Kadavra mechanics

[Lexa_C]

No: HPFGUIDX 172987

> > Alexa:
> > Of course, if Tom Riddle had been touched by comforting, caring hands at any point 
in his
> >life when he needed it, maybe more things would have turned out differently.
> 
> 
> editorkel:
> But neither had Harry, until he arrived at Hogwarts.

He had a foundational year of being doted on by Lily and James, as well as the literal, 
magical shield of Lily's love that saved his life.

And once at Hogwarts, I suspect the experience of being in Slytherin is significantly 
different than being in Gryffindor - something I'm sure Snape also could tell us about. Of 
course, now we're getting into issues with the Sorting Hat and the housing system, which 
appears to be a significant problem for more people than me - if there's any concrete 
support for abolishing that destructive institution, it's the "abandoned boys." Even in the 
Calvinist Potterverse, Riddle may have been born the Bad Seed, and Harry may have been 
born one of the elect Good, but I think it begs the question of how nurture and 
environment - *at Hogwarts* - was a key issue in the shaping of Snape. I can't approve of 
DD's decision to allow a kid like Riddle, with clear sociopathic tendencies, to be placed in 
Slytherin, where those tendencies are likely to be nurtured, particularly while not even 
saying anything to any of the staff about the boy's psychological and emotional problems, 
any more than I can approve of his decision to basically dump Harry at the Dursleys and 
leave him without any useful contact or support for 10 years.

- Alexa