Below are the 14 most recent journal entries recorded in HMS_Yowling's LiveJournal:

Saturday, July 16th, 2005
4:07 pm	Wow, something for everyone, no? ::cackles:: Well, I enjoyed it, though of course I'm disappointed that some of my pet theories have no support. I'm hanging on to some of them, though... Spoilers, spoilers, here be spoilers! ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)
Friday, July 15th, 2005
11:13 am	So, I now work across the street, more or less (catty-corner, actually) from the Scholastic store in NYC. And I hear some funny conversations on the street -- everything from the excited "Look, Mom. Harry Potter!" to the uncaring "I didn't know they published that" to the knowledgeable "Yes, it's coming out on Friday; I bet the lines will be around the block." I wrote an entry my theories on the book a week or so back but came across these two people theorizing on my friends list. Interesting stuff, but WARNING, there is speculation about an (unconfirmed, though highly likely to be true, IMO) spoiler. Go to rj_anderson's lj to see the speculation, if you're curious, because my hyperlinks did NOT work... (Comment on this)
Thursday, June 2nd, 2005
1:49 pm	It's been more than a year... Thought I'd post my theories about the Potter-verse before the book comes out. Much of the hows and whys are documented in my other posts. ( Read more... ) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 19th, 2003
8:32 pm	Smallville "Shattered" So, Lana has been stalked by several psycho boyfriends; a killer clone girl; not to mention swept up in tornado and who knows what else, but she realizes it's dangerous to be around Clark after Lex pushes her and then a horse stomps on her head. I have my yardstick here and am prepared to whap the writers on their knuckles, repeatedly, for that bit of sophistry. Also, although ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)
Saturday, September 13th, 2003
1:24 pm	Marginalization of female characters in Potterverse? rj_anderson's post about Snape's behavior toward Neville touched on a question I've been wondering about myself. As I was mulling a reply, I wandered off to re-read hackthis's "The Trouble with Harry Potter" at Dysfunctional. That story prompted more thoughts about the parallels between Harry and Neville. We found out more about Lily in OotP, and I was grateful for the new info but rather suspected that JKR was making up for past omissions rather than having some sort of plan/point in mind. But in OotP, JKR did prove herself able to follow through on other plot threads from previous novels and so... I'm now wondering whether I'm now noticing another one. While reading Zahra's story, I flashed on the scene in OotP in which Neville accepts the piece of paper from his mother (the scene I found the most emotionally effecting, btw. To the point of near-tears). We know that Neville's grandmother loves (worships?) her son Frank, but her attitude toward Alice is fairly dismissive. It's also worth noting that it's Alice who is reaching out to her son, clearly recognizing that he's important to her even if she's not clear on why. We don't get a similar picture of Frank. In the first few HP novels, we learned little about Lily. Sure, we knew she was pretty (had green eyes); was good at charms; and her mother-love was capable of protecting her son. I think we can clearly draw an inference here -- that among the other similarities Neville and Harry share, their mothers loved them deeply. But the fact that we as readers never got as clear a picture of Lily as we did of James, and the fact that Neville's grandmother is dismissive of Alice is another item of... weirdness? I'm now wondering if JKR is going to tie these threads into something in the future -- something about, perhaps, the role of females in wizarding society. Hmmm... (Oh, and re: the Snape behaving badly toward Neville -- I'm wondering if Neville's "protection" is truly what the overzealous Auror had in mind when s/he overdid it with the Obliviate spell. Could Neville have seen something or someone that he wasn't supposed? If so, what, or who? And if Neville did see something, how would Snape know? Is Snape afraid of the information coming out, and hates Neville as a result? Or does Snape know that memory charms can be overcome by extreme rage or fear or something and he's trying to provoke Neville to that point? The latter seems unlikely, since if Snape has info. he wants known, he could go to Dumbledore and tell him. But if he tried and no one believe him? Or if it's something that Snape only suspects? Frankly, I'd rather that than Snape hates Neville because Neville, should he regain his memory, is capable of revealing something damaging about Snape. I like my Snape redeemed, if you please.) Of course, I like rj_anderson's theory too. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 26th, 2003
10:40 am	Short Neville sketch aquila1nz wondered, in the coments section of my post below, how strong and competent Neville would be once he got a new wand. I was inspired to write the following:( Read more... ) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, August 23rd, 2003
9:32 am	And now back to Neville The following is excerpted from Tira Nog's "A Nick in Time," which the curious can find at the SS-Fuh-Q fest (Third Wave). Link is to the warning page. The context: Snape, Hermione, Ron, and Harry are discussing magic potential and wandless magic. Snape points out that the two most powerful students in Harry's year were Harry and Neville. "I assure you, I'm not. Neville Longbottom had the potential; he was simply terrified of his own powers," Snape said. "How can you say that? He was . . . ." Looking at the four students across from him, who seemed absorbed in their own conversation, Weasley broke off, the hopeless they all heard remaining unvoiced. Lowering his voice, Snape said, "He had tremendous raw power. Even completely harmless potions would explode around Mr. Longbottom. It's my understanding that he had similar results in every one of his classes. He could rarely produce the desired result, but his mistakes were always spectacular." "He could be right," Potter thoughtfully added, "Remember our first flying lesson? The minute Neville held onto his broom, he was airborne." "And he always transfigured his object into something, just not what we were trying to achieve," Granger reminded. "Yeah, but, he was totally out of control," Weasley argued. "Yes, but the potential was still there. If he'd learned to control it . . . that's what you're talking about, isn't it?" Potter asked. So, thoughts? I have to admit that I didn't read the first 4 novels very closely -- does this make sense? Yes, I am becoming a wee bit Neville-obssessed and am toying with writing (trying to write) a Neville/somebody story. A Neville/somebody story in which Ron betrays Harry. And sets it up to look like Draco is the betrayer. Hmmm... Not going to happen since the only HP story I have in the works is sitting on my harddrive, reproaching me. Also, question about Draco -- there was a fanfic story (and no, I can't remember which one or who wrote it) in which Fred and George harassed a first-year Slytherin whose father was implicated in either illegal or Death Eater activities. Draco told F&G off, and said that Slytherin would stand behind him, although there may have been a touch of "Death Eaters stick together" to the scene. I The scene did contrast to Griffindor's yearly ritual of shunning Harry, however, and didn't show F&G in a good light. Did anything like this actually happen in the first four books? If so, which one? Just looked at the time and realized I must hie myself hence. A freelancers life is not a happy one, necessarily (for many reasons, but particularly when you have to work on a Saturday). (9 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 20th, 2003
4:40 pm	More thoughts on Ron... What if Harry and Hermione (and Neville) all get their 5 OWLs? What if Ron doesn't? Or, what if he gets 5 OWLs, but not in courses that he'd need to qualify for Auror training? We've seen that Ron and Harry are both relatively indifferent students, but Harry found himself motivated toward the end of this 5th year. This is not to say that Ron wasn't -- after all, we don't know the contents of Ron's "what have you planned for your future, young man" conversation with McGonagall. But Harry has a natural aptitude in DADA; he seems to do okay in Transfigurations (and Charms, yes?); we saw him make an increased effort in Potions... That leaves Herbology and Astronomy for him to take a 5th Owl in. I'm discounting Divination and Care of Magical Creatures because McGonagall seemed to indicate that they were "gut" courses. That leaves, uh... Arithmancy (neither Harry nor Ron are taking it, right?); History of Magic (another possible 5th OWL); Muggle Studies; and Study of Ancient Runes (have either Harry or Ron taken this class?) Hermione, I would imagine, would pass Potions, Arithmancy, DADA, HoM, Herbology, and everything else. Neville would squeak by in most classes, including Potions. JKR made a point of noting that Neville seemed much more relaxed during the Potions exam than he usually was during Potions class. Draco would also make 5 OWLs, allowing him to taunt Ron about something other than his Quidditch skills, his prolific family, or said family's lack of funds. Ron -- let's give him a pass in Charms, Herbology, and DADA and a fail in HoM, Transfiguration, and Potions. That leaves him to make up a 4th in CoMC and and a 5th in Divination. So maybe he'll get 5 OWLs, but not those that would allow him to pursue a career as an Auror. Might the number of OWLs he got (or didn't get?) disqualify him as Prefect for sixth year? If Ron's career options are narrower due to his OWL results, I'm envisioning him having a few resentful moments wondering whether Harry's status as "TBWL" garnered him unearned points when OWLS were scored. Plus, I think Ron would, as a result, also be jealous because Harry and Hermione would be thrown together that much more, (to his exclusion, a la Harry's resentment of Ron and Hermione's Prefect duties). Meanwhile, Hermione's proved to be Ms. Guidepost/Voice of Reason, and I think Harry's going to be listening to her take on things (like the status of houselves, for example, a position for which Ron, seemingly, still has little sympathy.). This may leave Ron, rather than Hermione, as odd-person-out when it comes to arguments, attention to schoolwork, and such. I also can't help but feel it's significant that Harry and Hermione having the end-of-year-saving-Hagrid's-brother-adventure while Ron played Quidditch. It might just be significant in the sense that JKR has realized that male characters tend to get to do the more exciting things/hold the higher positions of power in the books and OotP was just remedying that. OTOH, it also might be another indication that the power balance in the threesome has shifted from Ron-Harry to Harry-Hermione. Throw in Ron discovering that he was second choice as Prefect (and/or Harry being named Head Boy in 7th year) and you have a recipe for very bad feelings. And Ron has been showed to have a resentful nature, though he's always managed to overcome it in the past. JKR could even be really mean and have a rising first-year prove to be an awesome goal keeper, sidelining Ron. Except for the latter, I do actually think that JKR has prepared the groundwork for these potentialities. Hmm... (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, August 2nd, 2003
8:36 am	Neville, Neville, Neville pandarus first turned me on to the possibilities of Harry/Neville with her gorgeous Invisible to See and then fearlessdiva pointed me in hackthis's direction for more great Neville/Harry. And while we're at it, let's not leave out the great Neville/Draco of ajhalluk. But the real point of this post is that in hackthis's story Accidentally on Purpose, she plays on a plot point in OotP -- that Neville broke Harry's prophecy crystal. Hmmm.... Raises interesting possibilities, no, both for fanfic and for canon? (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2003
7:00 pm	More on Mirroring I'm planning on seeing Pirates by the end of the week and so wanted to get all my theorizing out of my system before I switched to a new obsession. In looking at parallels between the Marauder and the New Marauder generations, I initially came up with the following: Harry</b> = James Hermione</b> = Lily, although I was never quite convinced of that Ron</b> = Peter Draco</b> = Snape Neville</b> = ? ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)
11:00 am	Traitorous Weasleys, or, who will betray Harry, Ron or Percy? It seemed to me when I was reading the first few HP novels that Rowling intended Harry’s generation to mirror the Marauders generation. The problem was that, prior to OotP, there were too few players. The Marauders were four, plus Lily, and the “New” Marauders consisted of three total. If the mirror was fairly exact, that should have meant that seemingly weak and wimpy hanger-on Neville Longbottom would turn out to be Pettigrew-like. Neville siding with Voldmort seems unlikely, if only because Neville’s parents were tortured into insanity by Voldemort’s followers. But there’s the matter of his last name. Longbottom may seem a silly name, perhaps especially to Americans, but “bottom,” is British slang for “courage.” Rowling likes to play the names-as-clues game, so it seemed likely that Neville, instead of being like Peter and growing petty, would be long on courage. ( Read more... ) (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, July 7th, 2003
12:41 pm	A Longing for Something I wrote this to amuse myself and a few friends. Not to be taken as an indication of anything other than my dubious sense of humor, and my irritation at Clark. Er, and my desire for stories featuring Snape and just-about-anyone. ( Lex at Hogwarts (Smallville/Potterverse crossover) ) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, June 28th, 2003
7:07 pm	Sirius Black memorialized in the pages of The Quibbler. Sirius lovers may not be amused. (Comment on this)
Saturday, June 21st, 2003
7:38 pm	I swore that I'd never to succumb to the LJ phenomenon Apparently I misspoke. Right now, I'm thinking it will only be a way for me to keep track of others LJs, and saving me from having to post as anonymous. I could be wrong about that, too. And as I'm tempted to post a long essay about my reaction to OotP, that could happen sooner rather than later. (Comment on this)