FLINT!

[psychic_serpent]

I finally finished last night at 1:15 am, despite a day full of 
distractions. A bunch of people have posted on my list so far about 
the book, but no one noticed one fairly Flinty item that leapt off 
the page at me immediately.

Further 

spoiler 

space 

to 

be 

nice 

to 

those 

still 

reading 

the 

book.

In the very first book, Hagrid says to Harry when he come to get him 
in the hut on the rock: "Now, yer mum an/dad were as good a witch 
an/ wizard as I ever knew. Head Boy an' Girl at Hogwarts in their 
day!"

Why should Hagrid get this wrong? His exaggeration about all dark 
wizards coming from Slytherin is one thing; there's such a thing as 
hyperbole. But this is just getting the facts wrong if Lupin was 
indeed the prefect in their year in Gryffindor. And the way Lupin 
talked about him being the prefect, not James or Sirius, certainly 
made it clear, I thought, that they were all--including Peter--in 
the same house.

Now, I suppose certain things are possible. It's POSSIBLE that you 
don't have to have been a prefect to become Head Boy. But if that's 
so, why was it so strongly implied that this IS the case when Percy 
went from prefect to Head? And if this is so, why didn't Lupin say 
something about James finally getting his act together by the time 
James became Head? I suppose it's possible that after Sirius tried 
to get Snape killed by Lupin and James saved him Dumbledore took 
Lupin's prefect badge from him and transferred it to James, but 
that's hardly fair considering that the whole affair wasn't Lupin's 
fault.

Has anyone attended a British school with a prefect/head system 
where someone could become Head Girl or Boy without being a prefect 
first? Did JKR forget she had Hagrid say this? (And once again--
she has him exaggerate, but she's never had him get the FACTS this 
badly wrong.)

Inquiring minds want to know...

--Barb