Slytherins come back WAS: Re: My Most Annoying Character

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 180317

> Angel:
> I will definitely take DD being an @$$ lol.
> 
> However he, of profound knowledge and wisdom who plotted just about 
every nook and cranny of this war even posthumously and whose word 
was command to almost all especially Harry, said it with such depth 
and emotion.
> 
> Alla:
> Why is that? Harry never had been known for remembering many names, 
> he sees Slughorn already, so many other things are on his mind - 
> finding diadema, etc. You think he will be oh so very concerned 
with 
> whether Blaise and Theo and others returned to fight?

Magpie:
Not to jump back to this post that I think I already responded to, 
but I feel compelled to jump off it to put in that I think the whole 
issue of remembering names is irrelevent. First because it makes it 
seem like Harry's being called upon to start reciting names or 
something, which is far more absurd than the narration saying 
Slytherins returned. The scene names plenty of other people without 
Harry actually having to call them to his own mind or not. When Harry 
notes Zacharias running away in battle-somebody he's no more fond of 
than Blaise Zabini--it doesn't seem odd that he'd remember his name 
at such a moment. The narration says Zach Smith, whom readers know, 
is pushing away first years. 

Names may be important for Harry but they're far more important for 
us as readers. Usually in books--and JKR has never stepped outside 
this particular usually that I remember--once a character's name has 
been established they just are their name (probably naturally and 
with relief). The narrator can tell us that Harry has forgotten a 
name, but the limited 3rd person narration efficiently using the 
labels we readers know (be it a name or "Slytherin students") is not 
the same as Harry listing or even consciously remembering anybody's 
name. Sometimes the narration makes a point of Harry learning a name, 
in which case it describes the person and then we learn the name with 
Harry, but once the name's learned it's just used. Theo Nott is 
something like "a weedy boy Hermione said was called Theo Nott" in 
the library--after that he's just Theo Nott. Though like I said I 
don't think it's relevent here anyway, because these people wouldn't 
need to be identified by name anyway. "Slytherins who left" or 
whatever is even easier than the descriptions we do get in the 
sentence. 

-m