Cats/Sword/

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

No: HPFGUIDX 186736

Carol wondered in <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/186661>:

<< how Crookshanks got into a closed room >>

Cats are good at that. I even have an example that doesn't violate the laws of physics. Long ago, I lived in a kind of L shaped apartment on the fourth floor of a building in far north Manhattan, and my roommate insisted that when we left for work in the morning, we lock my cat and her cat in the bathroom until we got home. So how is it that I always came home and my Nan greeted me at the front door? Eventually I figured it out: the bathroom window and the kitchen were both open because it was summer and we didn't have air conditioning, and the leap from one to the other was a straight line four or five yards long (estimated by eye), and Nan was a brave and bold predator ... I shuddered to think of her jumping. It's not so long a jump, but it is way too long a fall, and how could she even be sure that the kitchen window was open? Without my glasses, I couldn't, and cats are supposed to be just as near-sighted as I am ... Note that the other cat remained locked in the bathroom until I came  home and released her.

Carol wrote in <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/186678>:

<< -it's not going to provide Harry with any sort of love protection (impossible, anyway, because they don't share the same blood) >>

I don't recall that the 'love protection' had anything to do with shared blood -- isn't there an argument that Harry's temporary death put love protection on all the Hogwarts defenders? Where the blood comes in is that DD cast a spell that Lily's love protection on Harry would last as long as he lived with her 'blood' (meaning Petunia and Dudley, not a precious sealed test tube drawn for a Muggle blood test but never used). So if Ron died leaving a love protection on Harry, such a spell would keep him protected as long as he lived with Ron's blood - conveniently in the form of Ginny.

<< wondering what would happen if an "unworthy Gryffindor" or a
non-Gryffindor ("worthy" or "unworthy") tried to use the Sword >>

Would it turn against them? Turn against them only if they were attempting an evil use? Fly away out of their hands back to the Headmaster's Office?

Steve bboyminn wrote in <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/186680>:

<< The boy whose brain is downing in stress chemical to the point of making him disfunction, seem to have found a way to deal with very stressful situation in end. So, do you suppose he did that by facing stress and overcoming it, or do you suppose he did that by being made to feel good all the time and avoiding stress? Yes, Snape's methods were unkind, but in the end, they produced a Neville who openly challenge the darkest most dangerous wizard of all time. >>

Neville was ALWAYS brave: wasn't it in PS/SS that he started a physical fight with both Crabbe and Goyle? Definitely it was in PS/SS that he told the Trio that he wouldn't allow them to go out after curfew and lose still more House points. What he gained was competence; maybe the missing ingredient was taming his adrenaline enough that he could hear something besides the pounding of his blood in his ears and that his hands weren't shaking to hard to hold his wand steady; maybe the missing ingredient was a drop of self-confidence; maybe something else.

Whatever it was, I don't see anywhere in canon that he got it as a result of Snape's teaching or McGonagall's teaching. It appears that he got some of it from HARRY's teaching in the Defense Association, where Harry's way of correcting Neville's clumsiness was gentle, such as saying something like 'Very good, Neville, but next time aim at your opponent instead of at me'. I believe it was teacher Harry's encouragement as much as Neville's desire to avenge his parents that led him to practise for hours and hours and get good at this stuff. 

Of course it was the end of Year 5 when he duelled Death Eaters, and already at the beginning of Year 4, Neville was showing a bit of confidence by proudly explaining the wonders of Mimulus mimbletonia, and not collapsing when it misbehaved. The Mimulus mimbletonia was a gift from Uncle Algie acknowledging that our little Neville is really good at Herbology.

I suppose Neville had some innate talent for Herbology, but I also suppose that it would have come to naught if Professor Sprout used the same techniques (humiliation and punishment) on him as Professors Snape and McGonagall did. I imagine that she used the same techniques as Harry did - praising the part he did right while suggesting improvement in the part he did wrong, rather than ignoring the part he did right and making a very big deal about the part he did wrong. No shouting (except urgent safety instructions).

Carol wrote in <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/186701>:

<< Evidently, Hogwarts has no rules regarding hairstyles (or unnatural hair color--Tonks would have been in violation of the rules for her whole seven years!). >>

I agree with Shaun in <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/186709> that << for Tonks, bubblegum pink is a natural hair color.>> What is 'natural' is a little different in a group of supernatural people.

Alla wrote in <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/186714>:

<< I mean, isn't it sort of a symbolic moment when Dumbledore tells Harry to say Voldemort and gives him that famous line about fear of the name only increasing fear of the person? So I am wondering isn't this moment sort of negates that earlier symbolism? The reason I feel that way is because now anybody who is going to say the name will basically be sort of suicidal, no? I mean, of course I am not saying that it is BAD to try and escape trace, but now the symbolic standingup to the tyrant is sort of not possible, unless you are an idiot? >>

I agree with you, or actually I speculate that the Trace was already on the name during Vold War I, and DD's advice to his Phoenices not to fear a name is part of the reason they were being picked off like low-hanging fruit, maybe more of the reason than Peter's spy reports.

Alla wrote in <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/186717>:

<< Would you consider even for one second that Hogwarts has a rule
**against reading books in the company of your two friends outside**. Whether or not Ron would have said anything, I did not need him to. >>

While I would never have predicted that any school had a rule against taking library books outdoors, it strikes me as a perfectly possible rule. When Snape said taking library books outdoors was against the rules, I would have assumed he was telling the truth if it wasn't for Ron's statement, and even so, I can't decide if I believe he was telling the truth because I didn't hear from Hermione about it. I believe Hermione is better informed of the library rules than Ron is. 

And I have encountered school library that had stupid rules that I never would have guessed if I hadn't been told about them. I can check out the book and keep it in my locker but I can't take it home to read overnight? Well, if someone takes it home and forgets to bring it back, it's harder to retrieve than from school premises.