Of Hxs and parasites

[Barry Arrowsmith]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "dungrollin" <spotthedungbeetle at ...> wrote:
> 
> Yep, I can tell. Unfortunately JKR *doesn't* think that souls are 
> indivisible, nor, as far as I can tell, immutable. And Harry didn't 
> have to do any developing or learning to get his Parseltongue to 
> work, it was just there, ready and waiting.
> 
> I'm surprised you don't like Harry!Hedgehog. I'd have thought you'd 
> enjoy the implications, Harry having to die (or, imo more 
> interestingly, kill) to get rid of the last Hx and have a proper go 
> at the now mortal Voldybeast. Ties up lots of threads, explains the 
> scar connection amongst other things.
> 
> 

Oh, he was going to die anyway, or so I'd hoped - and along with a small 
multitude of others, with a bit of luck.

But horseboxes -  they're in the list of possible plot patches that I
mentioned previously. Doesn't seem to have been thought through, unlike
most of the other plot devices. All sorts of questions arise - how many 
pieces can it be divided into; are they all the same size; if so, how, when the 
splitting is performed piecemeal at ad hoc intervals; is a fraction is equal to
the whole; aren't souls supposed to be the one indestructible personal part?
- and so on. I get the impression that someone has painted themselves
into a corner and hxs are the only way to extricate themselves from a
sticky situation, plotwise.
Could be wrong, but there again....

Folklore regales us with tales of wizards who stuff their souls in a safe 
deposit while they get up to magical mischief, (and they seem to function 
quite satisfactorily in its abscence - a plus for the argument that the soul is 
not the source of magical power), soul-stealers (interesting plot possibilities
there) and then there's avatars (strictly speaking the incarnation of a deity, 
but that could be glossed over, nobody'd notice), but snipping souls like 
coupons whenever one feels like it is stretching it a bit for my taste.
Be difficult trying to explain that one to the Spanish Inquisition.


> 
> Not sure, but I think it's mostly falciparum we get around here. 

Ooh! Nothing but the best for Dung.

> Actually the mosquito-infested swamps (or at least the ones I 
> frequent) are pretty malaria-free, I think I got this last dose at a 
> house party in the city. Grumble grumble. If your travel itinerary 
> is limited, you have *my* sympathy; I'd still rather put up with the 
> parasitologists. I mean, parasites. For now, at least.
>

Nah. No sympathy needed, thanks. 
Spent a lot of time in a lot of places in Africa, (see list of places where 
I've been arrested - rule No. 1, it's always the wrong visa, especially at a 
land border crossing miles from anywhere), ten years in the Middle East, 
another 5 years commuting out there (usually monthly), years (or it feels 
like it) at check-ins, check-outs, customs, immigration, (with fixers intent
on baksheesh/dash/cadeau), waiting lounges with no a/c - all for the 
inestimable joys of lost baggage and airline food. Then having to get to 
grips with places hot, foreign and usually not particularly salubrious.
Now I stay in my own little lair and avoid any kind of travel whenever 
possible. In the past two years I've turned down contracts that required
travel to Russia, Pakistan, the Virgin Islands, Iraq, Mozambique and Barbados.
No regrets.
A burnt-out case.

Kneasy