From mo.hue at agassizde.yahoo.invalid  Sat Aug  2 15:36:02 2003
From: mo.hue at agassizde.yahoo.invalid (Monika Huebner)
Date: Sat, 02 Aug 2003 17:36:02 +0200
Subject: [the_old_crowd] Snape (yes, Snape); James; Lily
In-Reply-To: <05c401c356a5$dc4e7df0$4f5ffea9@cq5hs01>
References: <bg7f6p+lubh@...> <05c401c356a5$dc4e7df0$4f5ffea9@cq5hs01>
Message-ID: <ucknivo04btugggq44jn2nmc9t2i8roaq5@...>

Hi,

I know this mail is already several days old, but I feel like I have
to add my two knuts.

On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 09:21:25 -0500, "pennylin" <pennylin at ...>
wrote:

>SNAPE --
>
>I too saw the parallel between the DEs levitating the muggles and the way Snape was treated by James, even before someone mentioned it on this list or HPfGU.  
>
>But, unlike Debbie, I did not perceive James and Sirius as bullies before OoP.  I'm not entirely sure that I'd say they were "bullies" per se even now.  As far as we know, Snape was the only target of their bullying behavior.  Snape's Pensieve Scene left far more untold than told, IMHO. 

I think so, too. And as a memory, it was also seen from a very
subjective PoV, even though we seemed to see it from a larger
perspective because Harry was able to follow James and Sirius around
rather than "being" in Snape's head.

> Is it possible for someone to be a bully to one person and not be a bully in general?  I think so.  When I think of a bully, I tend to think of someone who uses his larger size or social position or what have you to keep everyone around him/her in check.  

Exactly. I was one of those kids who were picked on at school, but I
still don't have any sympathy for Snape, even though perhaps I should.
There are people you just don't get along with, and then there are
those provoking a more rude behavior, even if you aren't a bully, and
I don't consider myself to be one. I am known to behave very oddly
around *some* people I can't avoid meeting. Of course it was very rude
of James to say that Snape bothered him by his mere existence, but I
think I know what he meant by that without being able to really
explain it. And we learned that they loathed each other from the first
moment they laid eyes on each other. As sad as it might seem, those
things do exist. James might have been *very* different around other
people, not only especially around his friends.

As for Sirius loathing Snape, I suspect he might have reminded him
strongly of this brother, so it was just right that James didn't like
him, either. And I sincerely doubt that Snape only used his knowledge
of the Dark Arts to get top marks in DADA. What struck me was the
curse he used on James to defend himself. If I remember well, James
received a cut in his face, which means Snape attacked him bodily, and
it was only *afterwards* that Snape got dangled upside down. In
Harry's generation, we only saw bodily attacks from Malfoy so far,
even during the dueling club in CoS when they were only supposed to
disarm each other. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I think it was
right that Sirius told Harry he shouldn't judge his father by this
isolated event, but then, you can hold against me that it was the
supposed "bully" who said this.

>Debbie: <<<<<After reading this scene, one can really appreciate Snape's need to start attempting to squelch any arrogant tendencies of Harry's the minute he first lays eyes on him.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>
>Snape is still judging Harry based on his appearance though!  I find that utterly despicable.  He doesn't allow himself to move past the fact that Harry is physically the very image of James and get to know who Harry is as a person before he begins to carry out his revenge on the next generation.

I agree (again). I could understand Snape's rage when he threw Harry
out of his office as an impulsive reaction to his hurt feelings, but
he didn't even give him the slightest chance to defend himself. Snape
just assumed that Harry appreciated James treating Snape the way he
did, while Harry really did not. 

>Anyway ....... what might this mean for shipping?  Do men marry women who remind them of their mothers?  Hermione does have some of Molly in her too, though it pains me deeply to admit it (since Molly is now one of my least favorite characters). 

It's interesting to hear you say this because you are a huge Hermione
fan, but I saw a couple of parallels between them, too. And Molly
definitely is one of my least favorite characters, even more so after
OoP. If Hermione continues in this direction (which I hope not), she
might rather end up with Ron, if men really do marry women who remind
them of their mothers. But we shouldn't push this too far, there are
always exceptions from the rule. I doubt Sirius would ever have
considered marrying someone who reminded him of his mother.

>It's all very interesting.  You have Hermione being physically nothing like Lily or Molly, but being very much a blend of them in terms of personality.  I would note that Rowling has indicated in interviews (ha!) that Hermione has and will continue to "lighten up" more and more.  

It's time. If she continues like this, I'll feel more and more the
urge to slap her, which would be a pity because I always liked her a
lot. It's time for her to abandon SPEW, at least in the way she was
handling it in OoP. And she regrettably adopted some of Molly's
attitudes I didn't like in the least. But she's only 16, she still has
time to grow out of it.

Monika





From jkusalavagemd at jkusalavagemd.yahoo.invalid  Sat Aug  2 23:05:47 2003
From: jkusalavagemd at jkusalavagemd.yahoo.invalid (Haggridd)
Date: Sat, 02 Aug 2003 23:05:47 -0000
Subject: Ottawa in 2004
In-Reply-To: <bfnd5a+i7kt@...>
Message-ID: <bghg4b+ak5o@...>

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "Catlady (Rita Prince 
Winston)" <catlady at w...> wrote:
> At Nimbus 2003, some kind person handed out flyers for "Convention 
> Alley" "Harry Potter's Birthday Party" in Ottawa in 2004. Is that 
> Sheryll's event? Does it have a website?

Rita, I was looking for you all convention long!  I knew you were 
there, but our paths never crossed.  I did see the back of a witch 
with cat's ears in the far distance at one session, but I never made 
the connection at the time.  I am desolate!

Well, I hope to make it to Ottawa-- to award the 2nd annual Pickled 
Toad Awards, if nothing else-- so there will be another oppertunity, 
I hope.

-Haggridd




From jkusalavagemd at jkusalavagemd.yahoo.invalid  Sun Aug  3 01:01:57 2003
From: jkusalavagemd at jkusalavagemd.yahoo.invalid (Haggridd)
Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2003 01:01:57 -0000
Subject: A Couple of Nimbus 2003 inspired filks
Message-ID: <bghmu5+jis7@...>

I was much moved by my experiences at Nimbus 2003.  I think it was a 
great goodness.  I hope we continue to have sich gatherings at least 
until JKR finishes book VII in the year 2011. <g>

These two filks were inspired not so much by the books per se, but 
by all the wonderful persons at the convention.

I regret that MIDIs are hard to come by.  I assure you I looked for 
them.  I was able to find only one.


1.I was moved by all the Sirius Black fans at Nimbus 2003 to write 
this filk of "Hard Candy Christmas", from the Larry L. King, Peter 
Masterson and Carol Hall musical "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas".

Asterisks indicate italics, as usual.

I found a MIDI at the following URL:

 http://xmascarolsonthenet.tripod.com/x-hardcandyxmas.htm


             Good-bye to Sirius


Hey, maybe it was his hair.
Hey, maybe his *savoir faire*,
Maybe the confidence,
Maybe the arrogance 
Of Sirius Black. 
Me, I want him back.


Maybe beyond the veil 
Maybe he will prevail
Maybe, as I so yearn
Maybe he will return, be my delight.
Me, I'll be just

  
Quite delirious
Having to say "Good-bye" to Sirius
I'm barely getting through tomorrow 
But still I won't let 
Sorrow bring me way down 

I'll be quite delirious
Having to say "Good-bye" to Sirius
I'm barely getting through tomorrow 
But still I won't let 
Sorrow bring me way down 


Hey, maybe Flamel did loan
Padfoot the Sorceror's Stone.
Maybe he then could boast
Maybe back as a ghost 
My heart he'll haunt,
Me, it's what I want. 


Maybe I'll go away 
Maybe to THEORY BAY  
Maybe I'll take a trip
Maybe find a new SHIP, new "Mr. Right". 
Me, I'll be just

 
Quite delirious
Having to say "Good-bye" to Sirius. 
I'm barely getting through tomorrow 
But still I won't let 
Sorrow bring me way down 

I'll be quite delirious
Having to say "Good-bye" to Sirius. 
I'm barely getting through tomorrow 
But still I won't let 
Sorrow bring me way down 



2.Here is a little thing inspired by our fun at Nimbus 2003.  It is  
filk of "Buddy Beware", from the 1987 Lincoln Center revival of Cole 
Porter's "Anything Goes".

I have had no luck finding a MIDI.  

As usual, asterisks indicate italics, unless otherwise specified.


This filk is dedicated to all who gathered at the Filkers' Safe 
House over the course of the convention, but most especially to Gail 
B.


             Filkers Were There


FILK MAVEN:
Come on, fellas, writing filks is for the birds.
Who needs it?


HP FANS: 
We do!

FILK MAVEN:
Yeah?

Filkers were there,
At the Nimbus Affair,
We had the best of times
Placing difficult rhymes
In an HP air.

At Nimbus 2003
A "Filkers' Safe House" marquee 
Said that within there were friends
Cozy environs
Fine for Filk Mavens. 

At the Head of the pack,
Fiery Gail Bohacek
All activities planned;
We were hers to command
In the Filkers' lair.

In this venue were bestowed
To each who wrote the best ode.
Token of our high esteem
For each "Filk Supreme"
Was a Pickled Toad.

Though it may seem bizarre,
We took over the *sushi* bar.
All the *karakoke*
Were in praise of HP.
Yes, Filkers were there!

-Haggridd







From jkusalavagemd at jkusalavagemd.yahoo.invalid  Sun Aug  3 01:14:25 2003
From: jkusalavagemd at jkusalavagemd.yahoo.invalid (Haggridd)
Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2003 01:14:25 -0000
Subject: OOP:  O.W.L. predictions?
In-Reply-To: <behre6+igsp@...>
Message-ID: <bghnlh+s5f9@...>

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "Kaitlin" <ReinaKata02 at y...> 
wrote:
> Hey everyone, how do you think our darling 5th years will do on 
their 
> O.W.L.'s?  Here are some of my predictions:
> 1.) Harry will do surprisingly well in Potions, causing Snape to 
hate 
> him even more because he will think Harry has cheated.

I think JKR was preparing us for that when she wrote how much better 
Harry could concentrate without Snape breathing down his neck.


> 2.) Neville will surprise us all, showing his Gran that maybe he 
is 
> just as good as his father.

I am still processing the implicaions of Neville's being an 
alternate prophecy.  Perhaps, howevere, it is still too early for 
him to bloom.

> 3.) We'll find out that Draco "doesn't test well," and that Daddy 
> Malfoy will have to make a few phone calls to the Ministry to sort 
> things out.

Quite likely.  Remember in CoS Lucius berating Draco in Knockturn 
Alley for his poor grades.


> 4.) Hermione will either do so well that they skip her a grade or 
> have her teach a class, OR she will fail one of her O.W.L.s and it 
> will be a tragedy for her.  (Sidebar:  Did you notice that her 
> mistake in rune translations was substituting "defense" 
> for "partnership"?  I think something suspicious will arise from 
> that.)

I think she will do her usual best, and set her sights on blowing 
away the N.E.W.T.s.


> 5.) I don't know about Ron.  I think he will do kinda average--not 
as 
> poorly as the twins, but not as good as the older brothers.
> What do you all think?

C.R.A.B.!  Ronnie is prefect and he will end up with Hermione! :-)

> ~Kaitlin

Haggridd




From jkusalavagemd at jkusalavagemd.yahoo.invalid  Sun Aug  3 01:58:12 2003
From: jkusalavagemd at jkusalavagemd.yahoo.invalid (Haggridd)
Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2003 01:58:12 -0000
Subject: INTRO PROFILE
Message-ID: <bghq7k+gtp7@...>

I have been posting up a lot today, please forgive me.  Pursuant to 
the rules, here is my profile:

Name:  John Kusalavage, M.D.

Nicknames:  Haggridd, Potions Master, Jojokumd

Age:  54

Family:  Divorced, two lovely daughters (non-custodial), now living 
alone.

Home:  Reared in NYC, been all over since adulthood, recently 
retired from the practice of Obstetrics & Gynecology   (I note that 
the Brits address gynecologists as "Mister", not "Doctor"), recently 
moved to Aiken, SC to rusticate.

Birthday & place of Birth:  February 19th, 1949 (but I am as 
compleat an Aquarian as one could find.  All the planets were in the 
house of Aquarius the year of my birth), St. Claire Hospital, 
Manhattan, NY

Education:  Medicine, with an intense interest in history.

Things we my want to know about you:  Politically, I consider myself 
a libertarian conservative-- e.g., Free markets rule!, hawkish on 
defense, laissaez-faire on social issues. Keep the government out of 
the library, the theaters, the publishing houses and the bedrooms.

First contact with Harry Potter:  Christmas, 1999.  I bought a boxed 
set of the first three books for my girls. I read them too, of 
course, and then i was fortunate enough to hve GoF come out so soon 
after I had read the others.

Favorite Potter things:  Book was PoA, but OoP is really growing on 
me after two readings and a listening.  Character is Hagrid, with 
the Twins tied (they have pulled ahaead by leaving Hogwarts early to 
open the joke shoppe)  Liked the PS/SS movie, was appaled by the 
things Columbus did with CoS.  I love my "Filk Maven" badge courtesy 
of Frankie.

Extent of Potter obsession:  Mild.  But my mild may be 
another's "out of their mind".  I have recently started writing 
filks, and I am truly obsessed by this.  I organized the 1st annual 
Pickled Toad Awards, bestowed during the recent Nimbus 2003 
convention.

Other interests:  The theater, from both sided of the proscenium.  I 
have played Amos from "Chicago" (to rave reviews), Sancho from "Man 
of La Mancha", and FDR in "Annie" and "Annie II". among other roles.
All music except Country.

Reading interests:  Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. John Rebus 
mysteries by Ian Rankin, the McCullough biography of John Adams,the 
Robert A Caro biographies of Lyndon Johnson. any alternate history 
books-- most recently by Harry Turtledove.

recent listening:  Sondheim's "Follies" so I can appreciate Caius 
marcius's latest filks

Recent viewing:  Tomb Raider-- don't bother!

Haggridd






From lilac_bearry at lilac_bearry.yahoo.invalid  Mon Aug  4 16:02:47 2003
From: lilac_bearry at lilac_bearry.yahoo.invalid (Lilac)
Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2003 16:02:47 -0000
Subject: OT:  Introduction
Message-ID: <bgm037+6eak@...>

Hi everybody!

Lilac here.  Maybe you remember me from HPFGU?  I'm pretty quiet 
over there, except for posting filks.  

If you don't know me, I'm a 31 year old former teacher, now full-
time mom (but aren't all moms full-time?...).  I am married to a 
wonderful man and have two great kids.  I enjoy reading HP, HP fan-
fics and HP writing filks, though not at the same time.  I've slowed 
my pace on the filk writing so I can have some balance in my life, 
but I'll pump out 1-2 per month.  Hey, I ain't no CMC!  

I do ship R/H and H/G and I tend to defend Ginny more than anything 
(my inner pre-teen identifies with her).  I understand where H/H is 
coming from, mostly because I lurk over at the Debate Thread at FA, 
and would probably be okay if it happened.  Oh...and I don't like to 
argue (hence the opperative word "lurk" in that sentence above).  

For now, I am probably going to lurk more than anything.  Thanks for 
the invite! 

Lilac




From coriolan_cmc at coriolan_cmc2001.yahoo.invalid  Tue Aug  5 04:48:02 2003
From: coriolan_cmc at coriolan_cmc2001.yahoo.invalid (Caius Marcius)
Date: Tue, 05 Aug 2003 04:48:02 -0000
Subject: Another Flint? - GoF Carriages
Message-ID: <bgncu2+br57@...>

I haven't been following the threads in HP4GU very closely of late 
(the old had-I-but-world-enough-and-time sorta thing), so this has 
likely been pointed out ere now: but there has been some discussion 
about whether Harry's ability to see Thestrals should've been 
activated by his parents' death.

well, here we are, the final chapter of GoF, Cedric dead for about a 
month or so, and yet.....

"You'd better hurry up!"  Ron called loudly after her.  "The 
carriages'll be here in a minute!"

He let Harry keep a watch for the carriages, however, and spent the 
next few minutes craning his neck over the crowd to try and see what 
Krum and Hermione might be up to.  They returned quite soon.  Ron 
stared at Hermione, but her face was quite impassive.

"I liked Diggory," said Krum abruptly to Harry.  "He vos alvays 
polite to me.  Alvays. Even though I vos from Durmstrang - with 
Karkaroff," he added, scowling.

"Have you got a new headmaster yet?"  said Harry

Krum shrugged.  He held out his hand as Fleur had done, shook Harry's 
hand, and then Ron's. Ron looked as though he was suffering some sort 
of painful internal struggle.  Krum had already started walking away 
when Ron burst out, "Can I have your autograph?"

Hermione turned away, smiling at the horseless carriages that were 
now trundling toward them up the drive, as Krum, looking surprised 
but gratified, signed a fragment of parchment for Ron.


END QUOTE

So Harry still can't see Thestrals, though it's been at least a month 
since the Kill the Spare sequence. Admittedly, it would have been a 
clumsy piece of narrative to have Harry fisrt see these inexplicable 
critters at the end of a book, sans explanation, but then JKR should 
have invented some narrative device allowing Harry to bypass the 
carriages at the end of Book Four. 

It doesn't seem as if JKR can count on her current publishers to de-
Flint her narrative. She ought to rely on her fan-base: I'm sure that 
a half-dozen or so trustworthy individuals from HP4GU could be found 
who know Canon inside out, and who would do a much better job of 
spotting narrative inconsistencies, while preserving confidentiality.

  - CMC

HARRY POTTER FILKS
http://home.att.net/~coriolan/hpfilks.htm 
(updated 8/2/03 with 66 new filks)








From foxmoth at pippin_999.yahoo.invalid  Tue Aug  5 13:22:13 2003
From: foxmoth at pippin_999.yahoo.invalid (pippin_999)
Date: Tue, 05 Aug 2003 13:22:13 -0000
Subject: Another Flint? - GoF Carriages
In-Reply-To: <bgncu2+br57@...>
Message-ID: <bgob25+v10f@...>

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "Caius Marcius" 
<coriolan_cmc at h...> wrote:
> I haven't been following the threads in HP4GU very closely of 
late  (the old had-I-but-world-enough-and-time sorta thing), so 
this has  likely been pointed out ere now: but there has been 
some discussion  about whether Harry's ability to see Thestrals 
should've been  activated by his parents' death.<

It's been discussed, in fact it's in the OOP VFAQ. JKR was asked 
this very question at the Albert Hall interview. To summarize her 
answer, she said that she had always known that thestrals pull 
the carriages, but to have Harry see them at the end of GoF 
would introduce them at an awkward time; they really belong to 
Book 5. So she decided that you do not gain the ability to see 
Thestrals immediately on experiencing a death, but only when 
the knowledge has sunk in. 


> 
> well, here we are, the final chapter of GoF, Cedric dead for 
about a  month or so, and yet.....
> 
[quote from GoF]

> END QUOTE
> 
> So Harry still can't see Thestrals, though it's been at least a 
month  since the Kill the Spare sequence. Admittedly, it would 
have been a  clumsy piece of narrative to have Harry fisrt see 
these inexplicable  critters at the end of a book, sans 
explanation, but then JKR should  have invented some narrative 
device allowing Harry to bypass the  carriages at the end of Book 
Four. <

But she *did* use a narrative device..the actual time lapse 
between Cedric's death on June 24 and the closing feast is one 
week, and Harry leaves school the next day. The  narration, 
however, relates these events from the perspective of a month 
later, ie the "present" of the last chapter of GoF is actually
nearly concurrent with the first chapter of OOP.

 I thought this was very clever. It allows JKR to elide the period of 
denial which Harry must have gone through over Cedric's death 
so that she could deal with it   with more pathos when he loses 
Sirius. And since Harry was in denial, he hadn't gained the ability 
to see Thestrals yet.


>She ought to rely on her fan-base: I'm sure that 
 a half-dozen or so trustworthy individuals from HP4GU could be 
found  who know Canon inside out, and who would do a much 
better job of spotting narrative inconsistencies, while preserving 
confidentiality.<

I wonder. The trouble is we *do* know the story inside out. I think 
some times we are too interested in the trees and overlook the 
forest. Would OOP really be stronger if Harry had 
wondered out loud why he hadn't seen Thestrals at the end of 
year Four so that Hagrid or Hermione could tell him? It's really 
not in character for Harry to wonder about things in the past, 
maddening as that is to us.

Pippin




From estesrandy at estesrandy.yahoo.invalid  Fri Aug  8 00:24:45 2003
From: estesrandy at estesrandy.yahoo.invalid (Randy Estes)
Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2003 17:24:45 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [the_old_crowd] Dumbledad's Introduction OT
In-Reply-To: <bevdqf+f8g3@...>
Message-ID: <20030808002445.34257.qmail@...>

Hi Tim,

I see some parallels in our lives.  I also read Harry
Potter books aloud to my sons in various dialects. 
Our oldest son is Brian (10) followed by Steven (7)
and Matthew (4).

I worked in Massachusetts for 2 years and posted alot
as a release from work and other stress back in 2000. 
We have since moved back to Florida and I came without
a job in hand, but I have since found one and been
happy working for 9 months.

Due to my wife's involvement in Nimbus 2003 and the
close proximity of our home to Orlando, we have
custody of some of the Harry Potter group items for
the year.  We hope to play Quidditch with the kids
outside with the equipment used at Nimbus 2003. 
Unfortunately, I missed seeing the match and will have
to make up some of the rules unless someone else can
fill me in.  I plan to invite several of Brian's
friends over for a game next week.

Welcome to the group.  If your wife gets too involved
in the planning for the next Nimbus conference, you
may get an invitation to join SPEW (Spouses of Potter
Entranced Women), a self help group we are starting at
the suggestion of Heidi's husband.  Perhaps will plan
a retreat during the next Nimbus conference.

Randy  
aka (Red Eye Randy)



--- Tim Regan <tim_regan82 at ...> wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
> Wow, how exciting  an invitation to join a secret
> society. That 
> doesn't happen every day. Do we have a special
> handshake? I've 
> rolled up one trouser leg in preparation for my
> first post. Here 
> goes ...
> 
> ***Name:
> Tim Regan
> 
> ***Nicknames/IDs:
> Kropotkin or Bakunin (on AlphaWorld, OnLive,
> CommunityPlace etc)
> fourthirtythree (on the Zone)
> Darth Timmy (on xbox Live)
> tim_regan82 (on hotmail and messenger)
> 11720668 (on ICQ)
> dumbledad (on yahoo, nntp, plus anything else
> recent)
> 
> ***Age & Birthday:
> Born September 27 1965, so I'm 37. A nurse at a
> blood donor session 
> whose birthday was the end of September told me that
> she saw more 
> people born then than she would expect. When I
> pointed out that it's 
> nine months after Christmas, she blushed.
> 
> ***Family:
> I started dating Kate (my wife) when I was 17. We
> have two kids 
> (Megan was born in February 1993 and William on
> Christmas Day 1994). 
> They are all HP fans. My Mum and Dad were teachers
> but are now 
> retired. My brother and sister live in London. My
> sister-in-law and 
> her family are HP fans too. 
> 
> ***Homes, Education, & Jobs
> I grew up in Essex. Moved to Yorkshire for my first
> degree in Maths. 
> Then off to Sussex for a terrible year as an
> accountant (but the 
> people were fun). Stayed in Sussex for my doctorate
> in Theoretical 
> Computer Science and then moved to Suffolk to work
> in British 
> Telecom's research labs. I moved to the Seattle area
> to work for 
> Microsoft Research in December 2000. Most of my
> research has been on 
> social software. Now (well on August 7) we fly back
> home to England. 
> I've no job lined up and feel alternately brave /
> wise / foolish / 
> scared depending what mood I am in. I guess
> Woodbridge in Suffolk is 
> where I've felt most at home as an adult.
> 
> ***Other things we might want to know about you:
> Ovo-lacto-vegetarian; raised a Quaker but left in
> 1994 to live more 
> honestly as an atheist; left wing but affected by
> Thatcher and a 
> childhood belief in anarchism. 
> 
> ***Posting habits:
> Very spasmodic. If I'm snowed under at work, with
> important 
> deadlines looming, I tend to start posting a lot as
> an avoidance 
> tactic! My first posts are: HPFGU 23 April 2002
> #38069, HPFGU-
> OTChatter 15 July 2002 #11325, and
> alt.fan.harry-potter 23 Jan 2002. 
> I feel an imposter here  but thanks for the invite
> :-)
> 
> ***First contact with Harry Potter:
> Just after PoA came out a Scottish uncle of mine,
> who lives in 
> Edinburgh, bought my kids the first three books.
> Megan read the 
> first at school and at home and started the second
> (I don't think 
> she finished). Then the film came out and we all
> went to see it. I 
> was amazed at how good the story was so read the
> books to myself and 
> as bedtime reading for the kids. I love reading them
> aloud to the 
> kids, though I wish I was better at some of the
> accents (my Hagrid 
> accent drifts worryingly towards Pakistan via Wales)
> and I wish I 
> hadn't chosen so many raspy voices. Sections with
> Dobby, Sirius, or 
> Mad-Eye in leave me horse! My Dumbledore and Snape
> voice are stolen 
> from the film. The kids really love my Trelawney
> voice and my Dobby 
> voice. Meg recons I'm better than Stephen Fry and
> Jim Dale :-)
> 
> ***Favourite Potter things:
> I like PoA best. Then there are great things about
> PS, GoF, and OoP 
> so I cannot choose between them. Although I love CoS
> too, it's my 
> least favourite. Even though the films are pale
> reflections I 
> enjoyed them. I preferred the first. I have great
> hopes for Cuaron. 
> My other favourite Potter things are HPfGU,
> HPfGU-OTC, a Dumbledad 
> beard made for me by Kate, some pensieves I did as a
> craft project 
> with the kids, and some chopsticks we use as wands
> when dressing up.
> 
> ***Other interests/activities:
> Running, cycling, swimming, cooking, hiking with our
> dog, camping, 
> 
> ***Current/recent reading:
> Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" graphic novels, Dicken's
> "Great 
> Expectations", Neil Astley's poetry anthology
> "Staying Alive", plus 
> some work stuff: "The Myth of the Paperless Office" 
> and "ActionScript for Flash MX: The Definitive
> Guide".
> 
> ***Current/recent listening:
> Britten's opera "Gloriana", Fatboy Slim's "Halfway
> between the 
> gutter and the stars", Robbie Williams "Escapology",
> a Gong 
> compilation CD, "Late Junction" on BBC Radio 3, and
> "Critical List" 
> on BBC Radio 2.
> 
> ***Current/recent viewing:
> Tour de France. Favourite TV ever was GBH starring
> Robert Lindsay, 
> and the Clangers. Favourite recent film was "Frida".
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Dumbledad.
> 
> 
> 


__________________________________
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From estesrandy at estesrandy.yahoo.invalid  Fri Aug  8 01:32:37 2003
From: estesrandy at estesrandy.yahoo.invalid (Randy)
Date: Fri, 08 Aug 2003 01:32:37 -0000
Subject: Another HP song:  "IF We Were at Hogwarts Now"
Message-ID: <bguujl+hl3h@...>

I penned a new HP song tonight.  After a bad day at work, I started 
to daydream....


If We Were at Hogwarts Now

(Words by Randy Estes)

sung to the tune of  "If I were a Carpenter"

If we were at Hogwarts now
And we were in Potions.
Would we follow the directions?
Or follow other notions? 

When Snape came to our table
And looked over our shoulders.
Would we listen to what he said?
Or start acting much bolder?

Is Detention our meeting place?
Where we decide on our next move.
Or would we try to just save face?
And do what we are told to.

I've had my eyes on that Hermione girl
She's got lots of potential.
She needs to lose those two Gryffindors
And let me charm her with my spells.

Or do you fancy Ginny Weasley?
She got some moves on that Quidditch pitch.
I like the way that she moves that broom
She's gonna make someone one fine Witch!

Was that you talking to Luna Lovegood
The other day at the table?
She seems a little bit spacey to me
I'm not sure she's too stable.

I kind of miss that guy Gilderoy
He was really a screw up!
He never got his hands dirty though
It might mess his hairdo up!

And how about that guy Mad Eye?
The one who acted so moody?
He scared the robe off me several times
He seemed to look right through me!
And who can forget that guy Lupin yeah?
The one whose clothes were a shambles.
I thought he taught us the most you know
Too bad he had to scramble.

I'm just glad they fired Umbridge though!
She nearly drove us all crazy!
Thank goodness for Fred and George
Their antics were amazing!

If we were at Hogwarts now
And we were at Hagrid's Hut.
What do you think he would show us next?
That guy is really such a nut!

Yes, If we were at Hogwarts now
We might just impress old Dumbledore.
He'd wonder what we were up to next
Our lives would never be a bore!





From estesrandy at estesrandy.yahoo.invalid  Sun Aug 10 16:39:19 2003
From: estesrandy at estesrandy.yahoo.invalid (Randy)
Date: Sun, 10 Aug 2003 16:39:19 -0000
Subject: Word Scramble Game for Book 5
Message-ID: <bh5sfn+rn6h@...>

HP Book 5 Word Scramble Game

Unscramble the letters to make phrases related to Harry Potter Book 
5.

Send your guesses to estesrandy at ... .  When I have at least 
ten entries I will post the answers!


1.  Vellma Petigrew Camel Mud Burn

2.  Nelsons Scumo Cycle

3.  Hire the Open Fox Rod

4.  A Lame Ben Blunt Often Lost His Canoe Dock

5.  No Lo Dog Value
	
6.  Teen Read Sex Lab

7. Stain Dilemma is Judicious For Gallant Shop Managers.

8.  Bless Or Burn Porky P- Flag

9.  W Never Quit Their Bible

10.  Bum Sold Pig Dresser For Oreo

11.  Rush Here, Feel Hot Cake




From Ali at alhewison.yahoo.invalid  Thu Aug 14 17:35:05 2003
From: Ali at alhewison.yahoo.invalid (Ali)
Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2003 17:35:05 -0000
Subject: Harry Potter: a great representation of our time?
Message-ID: <bhgh89+d6qo@...>

(Also on the Main List)

I am intrigued by the idea of what makes good literature, indeed, 
what makes anything great.

I studied both the Iliad and Odyssey at some length. Both are seen 
as "great", and yet, there is strong evidence that they are written 
down versions of oral poems. They are very repetitive, and again and 
again characters are introduced with the same epithets, just as JKR 
reinforces her characterisations with repeat descriptions ? horse 
faced, bony Petunia or Vernon with his throbbing vein in his 
forehead and purple face. These may be simple characterisations, but 
they are still very effective. Is great literature then only 
something which meets standard practices of English and grammar, or 
is it something more? English is after all evolving all the time. 
Purists might protest, but I would rather see "they" written down 
than he/she - It is or it is becoming an acceptable practice.

To me, Harry Potter is great because it speak to me and speaks of my 
time. My favourite pop group is The Beatles. Music critics rubbished 
their music in the early `60s: it wasn't real music, it was pop, it 
wasn't classical. Yet, 30 years later, the Beatles are still 
incredibly popular, but more than that, they are become a classic. 
Perhaps in 200 years they will still be liked, but they will still 
be a mouth-piece of their day and I believe that as tastes change, 
they will have become a "new" classical music.

I don't think that Harry Potter is "new" and ground breaking in the 
way that the Beatles were, but what it does do, is speak to and for 
our generation. I don't think Harry is great because of its 
popularity, - that  would infer that the Sun newspaper is great 
because it's the most popular paper in Britain, and I don't think 
that anyone can really claim greatness by reason of popularity.  I 
think that Harry Potter is great because of the way it has captured 
the popular imagination, and does strike a chord with young and old 
alike.

A parallel that I can draw, although others might disagree is 
Lady/Princess Diana. Diana recently came second to Winston Churchill 
in a poll of "Greatest" Britons. Arguably, what had Diana done? She 
might have been great with kids, great with the disadvantaged and 
under privileged, but is that really great compared to the likes of 
Elizabeth the First and Winston Churchill? Diana had shown herself 
to be real, some might say even damaged, but both in her life, and 
in her death she was able to reach out to people. This was her 
greatness. Perhaps history will forget Diana and Harry, I don't 
know, but both have reached the national and international 
conscience in a way that few have paralleled in any field.

Ali







From jflanagan1 at jamesf991.yahoo.invalid  Fri Aug 15 23:46:59 2003
From: jflanagan1 at jamesf991.yahoo.invalid (Jim Flanagan)
Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2003 23:46:59 -0000
Subject: [OT?] Trivia Questions - Reviewers wanted
Message-ID: <bhjrdj+10mar@...>

I hope this isn't too OT, but I've prepared a little trivia quiz to 
be used in our Sunday school as a special event.  

The file containing the questions is posted in the Files section of 
the_old_crowd Yahoo group, under its own directory:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/the_old_crowd/files/Trivia/

I mined some of the HP websites for questions, but I just came up 
with most of them on my own.  I'd appreciate it if a few folks would 
review them to be sure the answers are accurate and that they aren't 
too hard for a mixed group of 6-12 year olds.  Additional questions 
would be welcome.  

I plan to run the contest as follows:

1.  Go through a sorting hat procedure to sort students into teams 
(houses).  A teacher acting as the sorting hat would select the teams 
so that they are balanced by age and knowledge of Harry Potter.  I 
expect that 4-8 kids per team would be optimum.

The four houses might be called something other than Griffindor, 
Hufflepuff etc., since small children might become upset if they 
don't get to be in the house of their choice.  This is a Unitarian-
Universalist Sunday School, so we might substitute "Famous UUs" such 
as Ralph Waldo Emerson House, P.T. Barnum House, Florence Nightingale 
House, Linus Pauling House, etc.

2.  Each team should elect its own "prefect" who will give the answer 
for his/her group.  No other team member may give the "official" 
answer.

3.  Ask questions of each House in turn.  The prefect for the team 
must answer within 30 (45?, 60?) seconds.  Each question is worth 10 
points.  Points may be deducted for bad behavior, just like at 
Hogwarts.

4.  At the conclusion, offer prizes to the team with highest total 
points, etc.


Thanks for any comments or suggestions.

-Jim Flanagan





From heidit at heiditandy.yahoo.invalid  Sat Aug 16 00:26:50 2003
From: heidit at heiditandy.yahoo.invalid (Heidi Tandy)
Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2003 20:26:50 -0400
Subject: Northeasterners? Texans?
In-Reply-To: <bhjrdj+10mar@...>
References: <bhjrdj+10mar@...>
Message-ID: <1060993614.28AC14D0@...>

As the northeasterners recover from the blackout and a hurricaine bears 
down on texas, I'm going off topic to ask those affected, 'How ya 
doin'?'



From s_ings at s_ings.yahoo.invalid  Sat Aug 16 04:44:26 2003
From: s_ings at s_ings.yahoo.invalid (Sheryll Townsend)
Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 00:44:26 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [the_old_crowd] Northeasterners? Texans?
In-Reply-To: <1060993614.28AC14D0@...>
Message-ID: <20030816044426.96828.qmail@...>

 --- Heidi Tandy <heidit at ...> wrote: > As the
northeasterners recover from the blackout and
> a hurricaine bears 
> down on texas, I'm going off topic to ask those
> affected, 'How ya 
> doin'?'
> 
I was without power for about 18 hours and now am in
the midst of a rolling blackout. Means I have power
now but no guarantees that I'll continue to have it.
About 80% of the city has it's electricity back, but
we're apparently sharing, hence the rolling blackouts.


Sheryll, hot, tired and cranky and not looking forward
to tossing out the entire contents of the fridge

=====
"No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously." - Dave Barry

______________________________________________________________________ 
Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca



From john at queerasjohn.yahoo.invalid  Sat Aug 16 14:50:21 2003
From: john at queerasjohn.yahoo.invalid (Queer as John)
Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 10:50:21 -0400
Subject: [the_old_crowd] Northeasterners? Texans?
In-Reply-To: <1060993614.28AC14D0@...>
Message-ID: <BB63BCED.118F9%john@...>

Heidi Tandy said:

> As the northeasterners recover from the blackout and a hurricaine bears
> down on texas, I'm going off topic to ask those affected, 'How ya
> doin'?'

We were lucky here, north of NYC -- completely without power for about three
hours on Thursday afternoon, but then we got it back (bar 45 minutes
Thursday evening around 7 and 30 minutes Friday morning at 9:40). I suspect
that it's because we're in the grid which our local nuclear plant uses and
they want to get Old Glowy up and running soon.

--John
______________________________________

Queer as John || john at ...

AIM, YM & LJ @ QueerAsJohn || www.queerasjohn.com

"Listening to the news! AGAIN?"
"Well, it changes every day, you see," said Harry.
    --Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling
______________________________________




From selah_1977 at selah_1977.yahoo.invalid  Sat Aug 16 22:00:56 2003
From: selah_1977 at selah_1977.yahoo.invalid (Ebony Elizabeth Thomas)
Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 15:00:56 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [the_old_crowd] Northeasterners? Texans?
In-Reply-To: <20030816044426.96828.qmail@...>
Message-ID: <20030816220056.62178.qmail@...>

Hi, everyone--
 
Same as Sheryll here (waves to Sheryll, who called her when this first hit).  Hasn't been 100% bad, though--my grandmother has what amounts to a bomb shelter beneath her basement, so we had enough to eat, batteries, candles, water, etc.  I got to her house well before dark and have been there ever since.  And don't grumble around her about any of this... this is exactly how people lived, she says, for all except the past 100 years.  When you have no electricity, sewage, or gasoline, and no A/C in sticky 90 degree weather then... well, you just have what life was like in Florida during the Depression, when she was a little girl.  Wherefore the complaining?
 
It's been great, quite shockingly.  We've been having neighborhood cookouts (even some of the local grocery stores barbecued their meats and gave away food before it spoiled!) and Thursday night when the city was pitch black, there were fireworks and bonfires (although they're totally illegal in the city) and such.  Neighbors who haven't talked to each other in years sat on porches and chatted and shared... one of our neighbors went Friday morning to get ice and dry ice for the entire block.  I got a chance to spend a lot of time with my baby nephew, as my sister was worn out from the heat and a lack of sleep, so that was good too.  I also learned a lot from my grandmother about how people lived a couple of generations ago... we cooked, cleaned, and even washed clothes without electricity.  I learned how to grill and bake much better than I did, too.
 
This weekend, people are sleeping outside and in basements under candlelight.  It was actually quite amazing to see *all* the stars, to be listening to the radio and turning meat over an open fire and laughing with family and neighbors, and I'll bet anything that there'll be a LOT of babies born in 9 months' time in this region of the US/Canada.  Hot summer night... nothing else to do... (Grin.)  The only bad thing is that you can't use the water and might not be able to use it w/o boiling until the middle of next week.  They're asking us not to turn on the A/C either, but thankfully tonight and tomorrow it will cool off to the 60s-70s F.
 
It really brought us together as a city and a metropolitan region.  We were all pretty patient... we knew that in the wide scheme of things, we'd very likely be last to get power back.  After all, we're not NYC or Toronto, not quite as strategically important.  So people just really pulled together and were prepared to last it out the weekend.  We kept hearing no power until Monday on the radio, so we love DTE Energy for buying power from elsewhere and getting almost all of us back on faster.
 
People were too busy being relieved that this wasn't terrorism to be awful.  No looting, robbery, murders, rioting etc. to speak of.  Our mayor and governor are rather put out w/ CNN and at least one other national news service re: the (stereotypical,) erroneous reports about all the looting, and one of the local anchors is going to write a letter.  There was a citywide curfew in effect, and my cousins on the police force rode by and kept us updated.  Even the thugs weren't taking advantage.
 
Virtually everyone got power by last night here--ours came on around 9:45 p.m., so that was about 28 hours in the dark.  There are still 5,000 people out, and we are in danger of rolling blackouts, but everyone's basically fine.
 
This proves to me one thing.
 
People say that Americans are lazy and spoiled and wouldn't know how to survive without our modern conveniences.  
 
They are wrong.
 
Americans underneath the 21st century veneer are hardworking, resourceful, and in most cases only 1-3 generations removed from the rural/traditional lifestyle that people have lived for hundreds, even thousands of years.  We have our laptops and our PDAs, but we also have our canned food and staples, our candles and our matches, our hunting rifles and knives and our survival gear.  (In Michigan, it's around 1... everyone was either born here, came from the South, the Middle East or Eastern Europe in about that pop. order.)  
 
We can indeed survive without all the many things we've invented.  Sure, normally we are perpetually in a hurry and our culture seems really shallow, but when adversity comes, we are just like people in other nations who like to look down upon us...
 
We can survive anything that comes our way.  And all politics aside, we are like people everywhere.  Even we lazy Americans are well able to preserve our families, our homes, and our country. 
 
I'm offline until Monday--just wanted to update folks to let you know we're doing fine here in Michigan.
 
Magically yours from the Great Lakes state--
 
--Eb (copying this into her LJ)
 
 
 
 


Sheryll Townsend <s_ings at ...> wrote:
--- Heidi Tandy <heidit at ...> wrote: > As the
northeasterners recover from the blackout and
> a hurricaine bears 
> down on texas, I'm going off topic to ask those
> affected, 'How ya 
> doin'?'
> 
I was without power for about 18 hours and now am in
the midst of a rolling blackout. Means I have power
now but no guarantees that I'll continue to have it.
About 80% of the city has it's electricity back, but
we're apparently sharing, hence the rolling blackouts.


Sheryll, hot, tired and cranky and not looking forward
to tossing out the entire contents of the fridge

=====
"No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously." - Dave Barry

______________________________________________________________________ 
Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca

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From catlady at catlady_de_los_angeles.yahoo.invalid  Sun Aug 17 01:00:42 2003
From: catlady at catlady_de_los_angeles.yahoo.invalid (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston))
Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2003 01:00:42 -0000
Subject: Northeasterners? Texans?
In-Reply-To: <20030816220056.62178.qmail@...>
Message-ID: <bhmk3q+qnd3@...>

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas 
<selah_1977 at y...> wrote:

<< and I'll bet anything that there'll be a LOT of babies born in 9 
months' time in this region of the US/Canada.  Hot summer night... 
nothing else to do... (Grin.) >>

Can you check with the registry of Birth Certificates nine months and 
a bit from now and find out? I have a highly favorable opinion of 
sex, but I also imagine that most sexually active people have 
contraception. The power outage wouldn't affect Norplant nor IUDs; 
would it prevent people from taking their Pill or inserting their 
diaphragm or using a condom?




From catlady at catlady_de_los_angeles.yahoo.invalid  Sun Aug 17 01:40:37 2003
From: catlady at catlady_de_los_angeles.yahoo.invalid (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston))
Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2003 01:40:37 -0000
Subject: Luna Lovegood (was young Dumbledore like her?)
Message-ID: <bhmmem+3poh@...>

Luna struck me as an affectionate outsider's portrayal of a New Ager. 
She reads a ridiculous journal and believes all the nonsense 
it publishes, wears necklace of Butterbeer cork (or bottle caps) ... 
and is very spiritual. An UNaffectionate outsider would have 
portrayed their New Ager with self-serving rationalizations 
rather than with courage and emotional balance.

A bit about that necklace: UK edition says "Butterbeer corks" and US 
edition says "butterbeer caps". (The US one is in error: the first 
evening at 12 Grimmauld Place had Ginny rolling butterbeer corks for 
Crookshanks to chase.) More important, why is she wearing them? Does 
she think they're beautiful? Or is she trying to save up some number 
of butterbeer corks and atringing them into a necklace is the easiest 
way to store and transport them? Or did the previous issue of The 
Quibbler explain how a necklace of corks would prevent Mugglepox?

On to spirituality: Luna does what she wants (what she thinks is 
right), wears what she want to, says whatever's on her mind, never 
constrained by fear of people mocking her. She showed physical 
courage by joining the raid on the Ministry and continually shows 
emotional courage by not minding what people say about her. She stays 
always calm and sympathetic, never weepy nor angry, despite people 
picking on her, even hiding her things, and her mother's death. 
Severus and Ron could both stand to learn some lessons from her about 
reacting to nasty words (as could I!).

Many HPfGU listies have mentioned that she thus resembles Dumbledore 
("Newt! Blubber! Oddment! Tweek!" "Would you care for a sherbert 
lemon?"). Do people think that Dumbledore was like Luna when he was 
young? I've always thought he was a clever but rowdy kid and young 
man, and learned his enlightened equanimity by long experience.

I've always imagined the young Dumbledore and his close friend(s) 
were a lot like James and Sirius, a bit like Fred and George: 
intellectually brillliant with excellent marks, magically talented, 
athletically talented, socially talented (i.e. charming and popular) 
but also energetic, playful, and rowdy ... rule-breaking for many 
reason including to see if they could get away with it, practical 
jokes on all and sundry, fights and duels with Slytherins (I believe 
Dumbledore was a Gryffindor like Hermione said on her first Hogwarts 
Express, and that that House "rivalry" goes back a long time). 
Feeling such unenlightened emotions as anger, fear of embarrassment, 
wanting to impress people, no empathy for victims of the practical 
jokes... 

But endlessly curious. Pureblood enough for ordinary purposes, he 
took Muggle Studies, then sneaked out of school to mingle with 
Muggles and check whether what he learned in class was true. Playing 
magical practical jokes on Muggles until he noticed how *very* much 
it upset them, and had an attack of compassion. (Wizards were merely 
embarrassed at having been discomforted, but poor Muggles went into a 
total panic: they thought they were going mad or had been attacked by 
the Devil.)




From psychic_serpent at psychic_serpent.yahoo.invalid  Sun Aug 17 02:55:25 2003
From: psychic_serpent at psychic_serpent.yahoo.invalid (psychic_serpent)
Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2003 02:55:25 -0000
Subject: Luna Lovegood (was young Dumbledore like her?)
In-Reply-To: <bhmmem+3poh@...>
Message-ID: <bhmqqt+i7p4@...>

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "Catlady (Rita Prince 
Winston)" <catlady at w...> wrote:
> Luna struck me as an affectionate outsider's portrayal of a New 
> Ager. She reads a ridiculous journal and believes all the nonsense 
> it publishes, wears necklace of Butterbeer cork (or bottle 
> caps) ... and is very spiritual. An UNaffectionate outsider would 
> have portrayed their New Ager with self-serving rationalizations 
> rather than with courage and emotional balance.

I definitely think you're onto something here.  This also gibes with 
reports that Michael Gambon is going to be playing Dumbledore in PoA 
as a sort of aging hippie.  This I gotta see. ;)

> Or did the previous issue of The Quibbler explain how a necklace 
> of corks would prevent Mugglepox?

Hehe.  I like that one.
 
> On to spirituality: Luna does what she wants (what she thinks is 
> right), wears what she want to, says whatever's on her mind, never 
> constrained by fear of people mocking her. She showed physical 
> courage by joining the raid on the Ministry and continually shows 
> emotional courage by not minding what people say about her. She 
> stays always calm and sympathetic, never weepy nor angry, despite 
> people picking on her, even hiding her things, and her mother's 
> death. Severus and Ron could both stand to learn some lessons from 
> her about reacting to nasty words (as could I!).

When it comes to Luna, I definitely think it's true that still 
waters run deep.  It's also rather revealing that JKR calls her 
the "anti-Hermione."  In that people have also made much of JKR 
saying that she was very much like Hermione while in school (the 
worst bits, that is, being a bossy know-it-all) one has to wonder 
whether she considers herself to have evolved into a Luna, someone 
with a calm equanimity (the polar opposite of Hermione).  Or, when 
she isn't quite so calm (the comment about the reporter being boiled 
in oil comes to mind) one has to wonder whether she'd like to be 
more like Luna.  (I love her simple faith that all of her belongings 
will turn up again, the night before they're supposed to get the 
train back home.)

Luna also lost her mother, which was a very traumatic experience for 
JKR, and that experience made its mark on Luna (seeing thestrals) as 
it did on JKR (feeling such deep depression that it later inspired 
the Dementors).  I don't think JKR dislikes Hermione by any means, 
but it does seem that she's come a long way since her schoolgirl 
days and Luna's more intuitive approach to problems seems to be 
something that JKR is depicting as slightly more appealing in OotP 
than Hermione's constant library research. It's ironic that Luna is 
the Ravenclaw and not Hermione, although I wasn't really very fond 
of the "fandom response" included in OotP concerning Hermione and 
why she wasn't sorted into Ravenclaw.  All things considered, it 
felt a bit intrusive and I'd rather that sort of thing was confined 
to interviews or never addressed in the books at all.

--Barb
 




From catlady at catlady_de_los_angeles.yahoo.invalid  Fri Aug 22 03:43:09 2003
From: catlady at catlady_de_los_angeles.yahoo.invalid (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston))
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 03:43:09 -0000
Subject: Sirius's last words (AU) 
Message-ID: <bi43gd+ft6k@...>

Suppose that during the Christmas holiday, Harry and Hermione 
had a chance to hang out with Sirius and Remus with no Snape 
and no Kreachur and no Weasleys. Sirius would have been fairly 
cheerful, with the company; Harry, Hermione, and Remus, would have 
been careful to keep him cheerful, and Sirius, Remus, and Hermione 
would have made an effort to cajole Harry out of his book-long bad 
mood. Suppose they succeeded enough to get Harry to actually speak 
about a few of the things on his mind. Such as all those people in 
the first Order of the Phoenix group photo who had been killed, and 
Sirius's statement to Fred and George that there are some things 
worth dying for. Hermione might recite Victorian poetry about Roman 
heroes, or quote dramatic gallows speeches. The conversation might 
take a turn in which one of the kids asked the grown-ups, "What if 
you had to go with the Order on a raid to the Department of 
Mysteries to protect it from a band of escaped Death Eaters who 
had broken in and they were holding Harry hostage and you got killed 
fighting them?"

When it's a hypothetical, that gives Sirius more time to think it 
over than when it happens for real. With time to think it over, I 
think his concern would be to leave *good* last words. Not "Oops" as 
someone suggested on HPfGU main list!

I propose that he would say: "I'd say: 
"There are some things worth dying for, as I said." 
Or maybe, 
"Better me than someone useful." (nice bitterness, but is it too 
self-pitying?) 
Or,
"Better than going back to that horrible house."  




From catlady at catlady_de_los_angeles.yahoo.invalid  Sat Aug 23 23:08:01 2003
From: catlady at catlady_de_los_angeles.yahoo.invalid (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston))
Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2003 23:08:01 -0000
Subject: Hermione, and then: Re: young Dumbledore (was: was he like Luna Lovegood?)
In-Reply-To: <bhmmem+3poh@...>
Message-ID: <bi8s4h+tlkq@...>

I feel quite guilty about not replying to Barb's reply to me, but in 
all this time, I can't think of anything to add to what she said, 
except about her aside of not having liked the 'fandom response' of 
OoP including an explanation of why Hermione isn't in Ravenclaw, and 
all I can say to that is "I disagree. I enjoyed the fandom response 
in OoP. But I keep thinking that the Hat should have suggested 
Slytherin first, rather than Ravenclaw, because she has shown Slythie 
style unscrupulousness in some of her conspiracies, such as the 
Polyjuice Impersonation in CoS and the zit-curse parchment in OoP. 
Btw, who thinks that a person good enough at magic to make the 
zit-curse parchment is good enough to make the Marauder's Map or the 
Riddle Diary? 

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "Catlady_de_Los_Angeles" wrote:

> But endlessly curious. Pureblood enough for ordinary purposes, he 
> took Muggle Studies, then sneaked out of school to mingle with 
> Muggles and check whether what he learned in class was true. 
> Playing magical practical jokes on Muggles until he noticed how 
> *very* much it upset them, and had an attack of compassion. 
> (Wizards were merely  embarrassed at having been discomforted, but
> poor Muggles went into a total panic: they thought they were going 
> mad or had been attacked by the Devil.)

Going on with my fantasy: he learned his way around 19th century 
British Muggle society and had Muggle friends and lovers. He was from 
a poor wizarding family (like the Weasleys but not as many children), 
so he had to make a living. Instead of seeking a job from some wizard 
employer, he started his own import-export business, importing 
Muggle-made products into the wizarding world, and got rich from it 
(and probably other investments). He may have been involved with 
various exemplars of Muggle idealism, such as the Anti-Slavery League 
or the societies against cruelty to animals and cruelty to children. 
He may have been attracted to Theosophy, as a possible bridge between 
wizards and Muggles. As a Yank among Brits, I hesitate to mention 
Ireland Home Rule...

He may have married a Muggle. Maybe *two* Muggles, one after the 
first one died -- but losing two spouses to old age might well 
motivate a person to stop marrying Muggles, to withdraw a bit from 
Muggle society and take a job teaching Transfiguration at Hogwarts. 
I'm inclined, for no reason, to believe that when Dumbledore was the 
Transfiguration Professor, his (second or third, and witch) wife (the 
one who knit the horrible socks -- her death is a bigger wound 
because it was a Surprise) was the DADA Professor, and a very good 
one, but killed when she fought Grindelwald ... I try to figure out 
the plot of a fanfic in which Tom Riddle, McGonagall, and an older 
sister of Arthur Weasley who gets killed figure in the story of Mr 
and Mrs Dumbledore versus Grindelwald.

**IF** Harry is a great-great-grand-son of Dumbledore, I figure it 
would be through Lily (both auburn hair -- that's a Clue, not 
evidence): one of her grand-parents (born ca. 1900, when Dumbledore 
was a young man of 60) was Dumbledore's half-Muggle Squib child. 
Considering that Dumbledore was born ca. 1840, all that genealogy 
could be pushed back another generation, and Dumbledore *could* have 
involved himself in the USA Muggle Civil War.) Lily having ONE 
wizarding GREAT-grand-parent would be little enough that it wouldn't 
offend my sense that Lily HAS to be pure Muggleborn to make JKR's 
point against judging people by their pedigrees. (Hermione has to be 
pure Muggleborn for the same reason.)




From catlady at catlady_de_los_angeles.yahoo.invalid  Sat Aug 23 23:21:18 2003
From: catlady at catlady_de_los_angeles.yahoo.invalid (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston))
Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2003 23:21:18 -0000
Subject: Sirius's last words (AU)
In-Reply-To: <bi43gd+ft6k@...>
Message-ID: <bi8ste+g6dn@...>

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "Catlady_de_Los_Angeles" wrote:

> I propose that he would say: "I'd say: 
> "There are some things worth dying for, as I said." 
> "Better me than someone useful." 
> "Better than going back to that horrible house."

That last could be better phrased: "At least I don't have to go back 
to *that* house".

Another: "Vanquish Voldemort for me, lads!"

Yet another (too soppy to say when discussing Hypotheticals): "Remus, 
Harry, take care of each other!" (maybe too soppy to add even in Real 
death scene:) "I love you both!"

That last is Not what he would be saying if he had seen Remus 
(following Dumbledore's secret instructions) be the one who shot 
him, an idea which was suggested on main list, which I convulsively 
reject, as just TOO CRUEL TO SIRIUS!




From estesrandy at estesrandy.yahoo.invalid  Sun Aug 24 20:44:00 2003
From: estesrandy at estesrandy.yahoo.invalid (Randy)
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2003 20:44:00 -0000
Subject: Indoor Quidditch Match Results OT
Message-ID: <bib82g+2ro3@...>

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I just wanted to inform you of the results of the first match 
sanctioned by the Lakeland Indoor Quidditch Association (LIQA) held 
today August 24 at 1:30 pm (EST) at Gymnastics Ect.  Griffindor Team 
led by Brian Estes won two games, and Hufflepuff, led by Steven 
Estes, won one game.  A small celebration followed the event which 
also honored Brian's 10th birthday which occurred earlier this month.

The games were held without any brooms do to the lack of suitable 
broom flying contestants.  LIQA altered the game slightly from the 
HP books, we forced players to dribble the quaffle like a basketball 
and bounce pass to team mates.  Parents stood on the sidelines 
throwing bludgers (black nerf balls) at the kids and occasionally 
yelling "Snitch" and tossing one of the yellow snitch balls into the 
air.  Despite little practice time (to the dismay of Oliver Wood 
watching from the sidelines), both teams played well. The beaters 
ran around with nerf bats protecting their team from the bludgers.

Everyone had a great time and no injuries were recorded.  Thanks to 
the Orlando Indoor Quidditch Association and HP Educational Fanon 
for making the quidditch equipment available for the event.

RED EYE RANDY reporting from Lakeland, Florida.






From estesrandy at estesrandy.yahoo.invalid  Fri Aug 29 00:14:33 2003
From: estesrandy at estesrandy.yahoo.invalid (Randy)
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2003 00:14:33 -0000
Subject: Is He Dead Jim?
Message-ID: <bim5t9+i1qt@...>

Has anyone noticed that 3 people account for over half of the 
messages posted on this list in August?

Did everyone else dissapparate?

Perhaps we should pick a topic that someone would like to discuss?

Politics?
Music?
Other authors?

That jerk that keeps bothering me?
That nice person I want to get to know?

Why does JKR have to kill off a great character and piss off half of 
her fans?
What I did on my summer vacation?

Who would I like to turn into a toad?
Why does Neville have a toad?
Is the toad an important character like Scabbers?
Perhaps the toad is Voldemort's twin brother separated at Birth?

What brother?  You know the nicer looking one in the baby picture!
Perhaps the toad is chewing all of that gum and leaving the wrappers!
Perhaps Neville's twin brother was turned into the toad!
Perhaps the toad carries the Mark of Voldemort and will save the day 
at the end of the books!

Why did we ever let this guy on the list, anyway?

Is there anyone out there?

OKAY
Let's say Harry,Ron, and Hermione walk into a bar....
What do they say?
"Ouch!"  
Because it hurts when you walk into a bar! (and bonk your head or 
something on the bar!)

Okay, Let's say the Toad leads the House Elfs in the next great Elf 
rebellion and ...
Hey!  Enough about the toad already!!!!
Well, I was just trying to start some discussion....
Well, this kind of inane drivel is what drove all these people away 
in the first place!
OK, I know when I'm not wanted.
Fine.
POOF!  Both of them dissapparate.







From catlady at catlady_de_los_angeles.yahoo.invalid  Fri Aug 29 02:12:51 2003
From: catlady at catlady_de_los_angeles.yahoo.invalid (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston))
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2003 02:12:51 -0000
Subject: Is He Dead Jim?
In-Reply-To: <bim5t9+i1qt@...>
Message-ID: <bimcr3+3pga@...>

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "Randy" <estesrandy at y...> 
wrote:

> Has anyone noticed that 3 people account for over half of the 
> messages posted on this list in August?

Yes, I noticed. I was hoping that this was a place where we could 
get some kind-of-vague, diffuse, speculative, verging on fanficcy 
discussion that wouldn't be suitable for the high volume (and 
therefore requisite fast pace) of HPfGU main list (as well as 
getting fanficcy is forbidden there). Maybe no one but me likes being 
vague and diffuse.

Btw, I noticed and enjoyed your Quidditch matches report here and on 
main list ... how convenient that the Birthday Honoree's
team won more matches than the competition did.