Creating spells

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 186073

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "dumbledore11214" <dumbledore11214 at ...> wrote:

Geoff:
> > You're not being one.
 
> > I set out to pose one of those threads lacking in philosophical depth and 
> > having profound repercussions on the Wizarding World such as many we 
> > have had recently rumbling on ad infinitum. Threads intended to revive 
> > the spirits of those of us who think back to those delightful diversions 
> > such as the whereabouts of Hogwarts, where Riddle got his diary from 
> > and the mystery - if any - of Mark Evans to scratch away at the dust of 
> > canon in search of the odd gold nugget.
 
Alla:
> And I am so so happy as a reader that you did start this thread. I always thought that the variety of topics (ethical, discussing little detais of canon, any other topics) is what makes this list so great and never would want anybody to think that any topic should not be discussed. So I am keeping my fingers crossed that this thread would thrive and diverge in many other topics, etc.

<snip>

> I am not saying that books became bad because of it, quite the contrary. I am just saying that I think that since we lived through the times when JKR was writing the books, I think it is to be expected that the closer we got to the ending, the less things we could discuss, no?

Geoff:
My answer would be "no". I will enlarge on that lower down the page...

Alla: 
> Which is why it is even more wonderful to me when threads like yours start :-)
> 
> Hmmm, I know that my post is canon lite, but posting it anyway, since it makes sense in my head.

Geoff:
Let me expand on my last remark. First of all, I have commented on- 
and off-group on several occasions that I sensed a sea change in the 
style of the group after HBP was published. We suddenly seemed to 
get threads which were very involved, sometimes dealing with 
psychological issues while Snape's loyalty and Dumbledore's death 
occupied hours of members' time and I felt that the camaraderie 
which had existed in which we often discussed things in a light-
hearted manner and also dealt with lightweight topics seemed to 
have been lost in a SIbelius-like Scandinavian forest environment 
- if you see what I mean.

I can get a snapshot of  my own feelings by looking at the number 
of posts I sent. I will have been a member of HPFGU for six years in 
July. One thing I have always done is to keep an archive of the posts I 
have sent so that I can sometimes track down a previous discussion 
more easily if I have been involved.

Up to my last post before this one, I have sent 2413 messages. Now 
the interesting statistic (to me) is that in the first full year I was a 
member, I sent 927 posts. This was before the 5-a-day rule although 
I rarely exceeded that. In the last year up to my latest message sent
today, I posted on 91 occasions.

That reveals partly that I have not felt inspired to contribute to those 
threads which have gone round and round on a roundabout, reiterating 
the same ideas (my "famous" tennis match picture) , sometimes 
triggered by members hellbent on always having the last word. 
Sometimes, I have not had the time to construct the sort of reasoned 
post which I like writing. Some of you know that I have had a very 
difficult few months with my daughter's broken marriage, a suicide 
in the family and a road accident demanding my attention. So I have 
spent a lot more time on OTC where I can get away with thinking less...

However, I still feel that by ceasing to introduce lightweight (and 
sometimes lighthearted) threads, we have lost a valuable line of 
communication between ourselves.

I would disagree somewhat with Alla because many of these threads 
were not world-shattering ideas linked to the main thrust of the story 
but created little excursions into the trivia of the books, often hung 
onto flimsy pieces of canon.

OK, perhaps the precise whereabouts of Hogwarts was not absolutely 
essential to the plot. here were interesting spinoffs. Take the thread 
which Shaun and I spent quite a bit of time on - the whereabouts of 
the bookshop where Riddle's diary was purchased and hence possible
locations of the orphanage where he lived.

What was of particular interest to me was that I lived for 45 years in 
South London and know the area pretty well but this thread produced a 
lot of historical material which was a goldmine for me. Those are just 
two topics which I, personally, enjoyed hugely in the past and which still 
carry validity.

I did, of course, spend a fair amount of time maintaining that Harry would 
live, and also hoped that he would not marry Ginny. Those matters are 
settled but were the source of much interchange of ideas - and fun. And 
my own personal views as an evangelical Christian often led to interesting 
exchanges - and again contacts with group members across the glob.

It is this sort of exchange on the group for which I willingly suspend my 
disbelief and which is a vehicle to get to know other members more 
closely and by which I have built friendships with a number of other 
people on the group.

No, Alla, I do not believe that we have run out of discussion ideas which 
are still useable in the post-Voldemort era. But I for one would like to 
have threads which are like eating ice-cream or something similar for 
pudding and not like getting through a mountain of mashed potatoes! 

That way, I avoid mental and intellectual indigestion.
:-)