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[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

No: HPFGUIDX 173597

Laura Lindsay wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/172449>:

<< how on earth did DD beat Grindelwald in the duel if Gr had an
_unbeatable_ wand??? Isn't that what they say the whole point was of
the elder wand: It can't be eaten in a duel? >>

Unless Dumbledore cheated.

He's supposed to be really clever, as well as having, at age 18, 'done
things with a wand' that his NEWT examiner 'had never seen before'. Is
it possible that the Deathstick doesn't auto-block a spell that isn't
supposed to be dangerous, and Dumbledore figured out how to use a
non-dangerous spell to disarm GeeGee (or would it be GayGay in German?)

Susan McGee wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/172451>:

<< I thought Kreacher's total reversal was a little difficult to
believe - but it was fun. >>

If a few kind words could do it, he would have stopped calling
Hermione 'mudblood filth' long ago. I figure the opportunity to
fulfill Master Reggie's last command made him sane again -- maybe not
obeying a command drives House Elves insane -- and part of House Elf
sanity is to love Master. I also think there was some magical effect
of giving him Regulus's decoy locket -- not that it was the famous
Locket of Loving Loyalty, but that it had Regulus vibes on it that
filled a hole in his heart. I think Hermione's little speech about
Kreacher being loyal to those who were nice to him only meant members
of his owning family that were nice to him, as he sure never formed
any loyalty to Hermione in OoP when she was trying so hard, even
giving him a Christmas present.

<< What was Harry's son James' middle name (Sirius?) What was Harry's
daughter Lily's middle name? >>

Harry. Ginevra. In JKR's wizarding world, the first-born child of each
sex gets the name of the parent of that sex as a middle name. Look at
all the times she tells the middle name of an oldest son or daughter
-- the latest is William Arthur Weasley. (And I have to eat some crow
over my certainty that 'Bill' was short for Bilius rather than for
William.)

Doug Samu wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/172462>:

<< So why was Voldy blasted from his body the first time and not the
second? Why was the house at Godric's Hollow destroyed but nothing in
the Forbidden Forest? >>

Because he had 6 Horcruxes the first time, and only the accidental
Horcrux in Harry the second time.

Neri wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/172626>:

<< And what about an explanation for "in essence divided"?  >>

As Lisa wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/172810>, DD was
checking whether the bit of Voldy soul inside Harry had merged into
Harry's soul, and found that it had stayed separate.

<< What was that golden light, anyway? >>

The combination of Harry's red light and Voldie's green light, as we
saw when they met and formed a golden cage in the GoF duel. Apparently
a previously unknown part of the Priori Incantatem effect when brother
wands collide is that the winning wand absorbs some of the magic from
the losing wand, and is able to shoot it back at the wizard who
wielded the losing wand even when he is using a different wand. The
Priori Incantatem effect is called rare -- I guess it could be so rare
that there is no previous record of a re-match between the two
wizards, so that no one, not even Ollivander, knew what would happen
if there were a re-match. 

Katie wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/172633>:

<< Hagrid (snip) marries Madame Maxime, and together they teach Care
of Magical Creatures >>

Is there any reason to think that Olympe has any special expertise on
Care of Magical Creatures? That she knows that her giant flying horses
drink only single malt whiskey is not evidence that she cared for them
herself instead of letting grooms or House Elves do it. It doesn't
make any sense to me that Olympe would marry Hagrid and move into his
hut; I expected that, if Hagrid lived, he would not need to stay at
Hogwarts with Dumbledore gone, so he would marry Olympe and move to
Beauxbatons. He could care for magical creatures there, even if he
could only teach kids who spoke English.

Sue wrote in <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/172667>:

<< Also, DD was correct about 11 being to soon to be sorted. They
should wait a year, >>

The first thing about the school Houses is that they are residences.
Being teams and gangs and fraternities only comes after being
residences. If student aren't Sorted on their first 'day' at Hogwarts,
where will they sleep that night?

Lady Potions wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/172701>:

<<I wanted to know how George was doing the joke shop without Fred. >>

I imagine that either twin was clever and knowledgeable and
imaginative to invent all those things on his own, but that they were
totally in the habit of saying everything out loud to each other as
they worked, so George might be terribly distracted by getting no
reply as he talked to himself while gadgeteering. So I thought maybe
Ginny would become his new partner in the joke shop, as OoP and HBP
showed her very similar to the twins. Then I thought he might just get
a mirror, an ordinary wizarding talking mirror like the one that told
Harry to 'Tuck in your shirt, scruffy!' and talk to his reflection in it.

Carol wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/172726>:

<< Lupin's ranting about Sectumsempra as Snape's signature curse made
me think *he* might be ESE. What nonsense! Severus would have been
kicked out of school if he'd been using a cutting curse that wouldn't
heal on fellow students >>

It's not a cutting curse that wouldn't heal. Molly staunched the
bleeding of George's ear (without singing) and it eventually healed.
She just couldn't regrow the ear.

Lupin could have learned about Snape's fighting style while they were
in the Order of the Phoenix, on the same side, from the end of GoF
when DD sent Sirius to summon 'the old crowd' until the end of HBP
when Snape killed DD.

<< Clearly, [Snape] has never killed anyone before. >>

On your hand, DD asked Snape how many people he had watched die, not 
how many he had killed. On another hand, Snape's concern for tearing
his soul is no proof that he hadn't torn his soul before. He could
have previously killed one or more people but believe he had repaired
his soul by repentance. Or he could have previously killed one or more
people and therefore be concerned that one more rip would make the
whole thing fall apart. DD's line to Draco about killing being more
difficult than the innocent (i.e. those who have not killed before)
expect gave me the feeling that it would be foolish of him to count on
Snape killing him if Snape had not already proved his ability to kill.
Suppose he turned out to be as squeamish as Draco?

Btw, the line about 'Lately, only those whom I could not save' means
that *previously*, he watched people die whom he could have saved, but
didn't try to save them.

Maria wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/172947>:

<< I am trying to remember how much choice one had in the animal one
transforms into when becoming an animagus. There is some degree of
choice, I am quite sure, as I recall Sirius or Lupin saying that
Sirius and James transformed into big animals and could keep Lupin
under control. >>

People have no control at all over what animal they will turn into.
JKR has confirmed in interviews that the Animagus doesn't get to
choose his/her animal form, but instead the animal form is a
reflection of his/her personality. James, Sirius, and Peter originally
planned that if they turned into any kind of animal, the werewolf
wouldn't go crazy to bite them, and they wouldn't be infected if he
did, so they could wait with him in the Shrieking Shack. Only when
they succeeded in the Animagus spell did they discovered what animals
they turned into. Then they decided that, because they were such large
animals, they could do more than wait around indoors.

http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2000/1000-aol-chat.htm
Q: Does the animal one turns into as an Animagi reflect your personality?
JKR: Very well deduced, Narri! I personally would like to think that 
I would transform into an otter, which is my favorite animal. Imagine
how horrible it would be if I turned out to be a cockroach! 

http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/author/transcript2.htm
Q: If you were Animagus, what kind of animal would you be?
A: I'd like to be an otter -- that's my favourite animal. It would be
depressing if I turned out to be a slug or something.

http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2004/0304-wbd.htm
Q: When you turn into an Animagus, can you choose what animal you
become? Or does this get "assigned" to you?
JK Rowling replies -> No, you can't choose. You become the animal that
suits you best. Imagine the humiliation when you finally transform
after years of study and find that you most closely resemble a warthog.

Julie wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/173143>:

<< Anyone with half a brain, who could think at all outside his own
needs and experiences, who could *strategize* worth crap, would have
given Snape what he wanted, as it came with no downside whatsoever. >>

It has the downside of leaving someone alive with a strong cause for
desiring revenge on you. I suppose LV would have expected Snape to
keep her permanently under Imperius, under command to love and obey
Snape and be loyal to to LV, but sometimes Imperius wears off.

Joan of Anarchy wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/173330>:

<<until Umbridge mentioned that the locket belonged to her Ancestors>>

I'm sure Umbridge was lying. Not only lying about where she got the
locket (she said she inherited it from a relative, but she really
'bought' it from a thief), but about being related to the Selwyns or
any other pureblood family.

Angel Lima wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/173408>:

<< to have both his parents given precedence in their children's names
felt awkward - not only selfish of Harry but docile of Ginny >> 

There is the detail that both Harry's parents were dead and both
Ginny's parents were alive.

Lenore wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/173531>:

<< That episode seems to show [Narcissa] as a soft, gentle woman, and
I began to realize that I had never seen her characterized in any
other way >>

Even in Madam Malkin's shop when she said: "I expect Potter will be
reunited with dear Sirius before I am reunited with Lucius"? That
sounded like a hard woman to me, and before that she had threatened
Harry with DE violence.

Ceridwen wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/173547>:

<< To me, too. I was taken aback when Harry refused to shake hands
with Draco Malfoy in the first book. >>

That wasn't anti-Slytherin prejudice. Harry was having a nice
conversation with Ron when Draco walked up and insulted Ron, then
offered his hand to Harry. Harry stood up for Ron. It might have been
more cautious if he'd told Draco 'Whatever is between you two, leave
me out of it'. But shaking Draco's hand then would have been taking
Draco's side.

David breakfree wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/173589>:

<< without the houses, there would be no competing in Quidditch, no
points deducted, no house winner at the end of the year. >>

They could have Quidditch separate from the House system. The try-outs
at the beginning of every year could be for everyone who wanted to
play, not just new players, and the whole school try-out together.
Then Madam Hooch or a committee of professors could pick four or six
of the best to be team captains, and the captains could pick their
team members from everyone who had tried out. Like pro league drafts
or Harry's elementary school, the captains take turns picking their
first each, then turns picking their second each, and so on. The
sequence could be chosen by random drawing or assigned so that the
captain who got the best score in the try-outs picked first and so on.
Then there would be people from each House on each team. People would
have to choose which team to cheer for by which team had one of their
friends on it rather than by House Loyalty.  

Estelle wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/173590>:

<< did anyone else think of Ofsted when they read about Umbridge in
book 5? >>

As an American, I thought of 'No Child Left Behind', but yes.

<< We're left to wonder (assuming an afterlife)- will Lily forgive
Snape in the afterlife, is there reconciliation between them? Is
there reconciliation and forgiveness between he and the mauraders?
(I know its JKR's book, not mine, but I wish I'd seen him show up
with Lily MWPP when he calls them to walk with him to Voldemort,
this could have very simply expressed reconciliation between all
parties, and show the support between Harry and Snape as he has been
so central to Harry's survival since book 1.) >>

If there isn't an afterlife, James and Lily and Sirius and Remus
showing up to walk Harry to his sacrifce was some kind of fake. 

If there is an afterlife, I hope people don't just hang around forever
the same as they were when they died (or on the last healthy day
before they died). If they can't get over their hatreds and obsessive
infatuations, they'll have a pretty unpleasant time of it. Lily can't
have to commute between being Sevvie's friend and being James &
Sirius's friend just because Sevvie and James & Sirius are always
squabbling. Remus only wants to be with James & Sirius, but Tonks
would pursue him as relentlessly after death as she did in life.