A Longing for Grapefruit

Wow, something for everyone, no?

2005-07-16T20:42:47Z

::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!

Firstly, until I have absolute textual evidence otherwise, I'm hanging on to my "Percy as Dumbledore's man at the Ministry" theory. I have to, since my Ron betraying Harry theory seems to be shot to hell (damn it!).

Other than that... Who knows?

Except, there's something more going on with Snape, I think, than the obvious. I mean, if Dumbledore knew that the DADA position was cursed, and Dumbledore gave Snape the position...

Can't figure out whether Ron and Hermione not believing Harry about Draco is meant to mirror Dumbledore not believing Harry about Snape. If the answer is "yes," that would seem to prove Dumbedore's observation that his own errors tend to be more spectacular than most.

Disappointments
1. Very little Neville. Too little! After having Neville come into himself in the last novel, he's portrayed as sitting around hoping his galleon will give him the secret bat-signal?
2. Same with Luna. Never liked her character terribly much, but still -- all that build-up in the previous novel and, for what? At the very least, I expected Harry so say "So, Luna, ever heard of a Horcrux?"
3. Dobby and Kreatur -- I'd usually be glad to see so little of the house elves (although, Harry forcing them to work together was pretty amusing) but again, I feel irked on their behalf. Used and discarded! (By JKR, not Harry. Although, him too.)
4. Ron and Hermione being so unwilling to believe Harry's Draco-theory, and that Draco theory being RIGHT. Can you say "plot contrivance"? Good, I thought you could...
5. The revelation of Voldemort's backstory as Dumbledore's idea of "lessons." I understand that JKR was stuck for a graceful way to, er, expose that huge expository chunk, but in terms of storytelling? More or less lame. I also, during the "you have the ability to love" speech, half-heard a Beatles soundtrack. Meanwhile, my cynical self thought: Erm, maybe this has more to do with Harry being a boy of very little brains rather than a boy of very big heart.
6. Far too much of the Ron/Hermione/Lavendar triangle. I'm guessing that most readers do find Ron charmingly obtuse, but, ah... Maybe I've just OD'd on the golden trio's growing pains. Frankly, I was intrigued by Harry's thought that Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were growing apart, just as he, Hermione, and Ron were. Although, that proved to be true in neither case.

And, finally...

I'm assuming that there's much gnashing of teeth, beating of breasts, and tearing of hair what with all the textual (het!) relationship reveals. Lupin and Tonks? Hee! Not that I haven't seen it in fanfic, of course, but the expressions of Lupin's trust for Snape prior to that revelation had given me a bit of Snupin-related glee. Of course, Remus/Tonks also kills the Sirius/Remus ship. ::snicker::

I saw Ginny/Harry coming from a mile away, of course, and, of course, the aforementioned Ron/Hermione. About the only thing that Rowling didn't do was reveal Dumbledore's secret marriage to McGonagall...

Questions that I'm curious to hear thoughts about:

1. Why did JKR make this installment's title All About Snape?
2. Is Draco just a coward, or was his inability to kill Dumbledore a sign of something resembling morality?
3. Does anyone besides me want to throw up over Harry's Ginny-related nobility and Ginny's acceptance of same. IOW, why are Ron and Hermione allowed to freely choose to stay at Harry's side and Ginny isn't?
4. Is RAB "Regulus Something Black"?
5. If so, what does the "A" stand for? Aloysius? Alexander? Alfred?
6. Could Dumbledore made a Horcrux for himself? (Would fit in nicely with
rj_anderson's theory that Dumbledore and Snape had worked out a plan beforehand to allow Snape to "kill" Dumbledore, thereby proving his loyalty to Voldemort (meanwhile Dumbledore would rise "like a phoenix" from the ashes).

So, I now work across the street, more or less

2005-07-15T15:21:41Z

(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...

It's been more than a year...

2005-06-02T18:34:57Z

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.

Basically, I think the Harry/Snape slashers are going to have heart-attacks

One of the most persistent rumors is that Snape is Harry's father. I first heard of it years ago (after the second book, I think) from my then 10-year-old niece. I was dismissive at the time. But, I've changed my mind.

(There's no real solid evidence and most of the potential clues you're probably familiar with but it was really POA (the movie) that made me go... Huh. Maybe... The relevant scene? When Lupin tells Harry that Lily was able to see the good in people or some such. Also, I think it's not entirely unlikely we'll find out that Snape once had a choice between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and he based his choice on his encounter with Sirius on the Hogwart's train (or elsewhere).)

Other conclusions I've drawn (or have seen elsewhere and agree with). Yes, strong element of wishful thinking:
Hair: untameable, bushy hair is a sign of how powerful the wizard or witch is. Snape's hair isn't greasy -- it's drowned in some dreadful hair potion. Sleak-EZ, before they refined the formula.

Molly: is going to crack under the strain. Between Arthur's various injuries and Ron's encounter with the brain things, there's going to be a crucial moment when she has to either do the right thing or let someone be hurt. Given past interactions, I think the person likely to suffer as a result is Hermione.

Percy: will be revealed to be Dumbledore's man on the inside (of the Ministry).

Ron: will not have fully recovered by the time he returns to Hogwarts in fall. After tasting the heights of popularity, he's going to become Bitter and Resentful. This will be particularly aggravated by...

Neville: will have a new wand. And he will be shown to be more competent and confident than heretofore. Frankly, I'm envisioning a scene wherein Ron taunts Draco about Lucius being in Azbakan, but Neville steps in to stop it.

Hermione: will likely continue as the series' moral compass. She's going to be pulled in several directions by an angry Harry, still upset over Sirius's death (not to mention feeling guilty about Ron) and Ron's increasing bitterness.

I have no idea who or what the half-blood prince is, nor do I have strong feelings about Dumbledore dying in Book 6. Frankly, if he has to go, he has to go.

Smallville "Shattered"

2003-11-20T15:10:39Z

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 I'm disappointed that there are no clones as of yet, I do think that my sekrit Smallville theory is going to be proved true. Lex's quest for power over Clark is going to stem from his sense of betrayal, yes, but more from his belief that Clark is really here to take over the world. And more-than-a-bit-unbalanced-Lex is going to believe that only Lex can stop him. And Clark, being Clark, is going to be wracked with guilt over what happened to Lex is going to try and save Lex repeatedly, and be unable to stop him in a more, er, permanent fashion.

Marginalization of female characters in Potterverse?

2003-09-13T17:54:13Z

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.

Short Neville sketch

2003-08-26T14:48:27Z

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:

Warning: sketch only, not beta'd. And doesn't actually answer the question aquila posed.

::

Neville had dutifully followed his grandmother to Madame Malkins; waited by her side in the Apothecary as her tisane was prepared; stopped by Flourish & Blott’s so that she could find a novel; and sipped tea at Fortescue’s, unable to eat the cucumber sandwiches his grandmother offered him, and afraid to ask for an ice cream instead.

Twice that day they’d passed the shabby storefront of Ollivander’s (Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C). As they’d approached the second time, Neville had tried to force himself to say casually, “Look, here’s Ollivander’s now. Shall we stop in before we head to the book store?” But he’d only barely managed a quick pleading glance upwards before he again was staring at his feet as they plodded along the cobblestoned street. His grandmother had purported not to notice, either the store’s existence, or Neville.

When his grandmother had insisted on tea at Fortescue’s, Neville had despaired. It was late afternoon. Would Ollivander’s be closed? Would she insist that they postpone a trip to the store until next week? It had been already been three weeks since term ended.

But when she had finished sipping her second cup, and her third cucumber sandwich, she’d straightened and said, as if the task that lay before them was an unpleasant, onerous one “We should perhaps visit Ollivander’s before we return home.”

Neville shot up from his seat before he remembered to resume his patient, penitent demeanor. He’d broken his wand -- his father’s wand -- and although the news had only been greeted with an “Oh, Neville, I’d hoped you would grow out of your clumsiness,” he’d known his grandmother was deeply upset.

But finally (finally, finally) they were stepping through the door and into the gloomy, faded shop. Dust motes spun in the light that shafted in through the few panes of the window not covered by heavy purple draperies. Neville glanced around the shop uncertainly, wondering where the famed Ollivander might be. He must be here, else the shop would have been locked, he thought.

“Well, Ollivander. I must say that your store looks just like it did when I brought my Frank in for his first wand.” Ermintrude Longbottom gaze swept over the precariously piled boxes, heavily coated with dust, then fixed itself imperiously on the pale stooping figure behind the counter.

Neville blinked, certain he hadn’t been there seconds ago.

“Ah yes. Times may change, dear lady, but I do not.” Ollivander bowed slightly, then turned to Neville. “A wand for you then, is it?”

Neville flushed slightly, trying not to betray his eagerness.

“His father’s was copper beech with manticore heartstring. Nine inches, I believe. Sadly, it was broken.”

Neville’s flush deepened.

“I remember, I remember,” Ollivander said. “Never forget a wand. But as for you -- ” Ollivander came out from behind the counter. “Wand arm up.”

Neville lifted his right arm, trying not to let it tremble. Ollivander measured, from index finger to shoulder blade, then stepped back. “I see. Well, let’s see what we have.” Briskly he disappeared toward the back of the store and came forward.”

“We’ll try the copper beech, dear lady,” he said with a nod toward his grandmother.

Neville took the wand from Ollivander and swept it through the air. Nothing. He looked hopelessly at Ollivander.

“No, no. That’s all wrong,” Ollivander said as if to himself. “Try this.” He took a box from the bottom of the pile. “Oak, griffin feather, ten inches.”

Neville gamely swung the wand and there was a faint sparkle.

“Not quite there. This.”

Neville took the wand and swept it, and this time a brilliant trail of gold sparkles emerged. He clutched the wand to his chest, wide-eyed with disbelief. The wand almost seemed to reverberate in his hand.

Ollivander’s voice broke through his stupor. “Oak, unicorn hair, ten inches. Excellent.” With a decisive nod, he packed up the other wands and returned them to the back of the shop.

Neville risked a glance upward at his grandmother, who stood looking after Ollivander. Please, he thought. Please. And, as if she heard his desperation, she sniffed disapprovingly.

“How much will that be?” Neville heard her ask. He stood, disbelieving, his grip tight around the wand.

“Seven galleons,” Ollivander returned to the front of the shop and stood there, wiping his hands on a cloth.

As the last of the galleons clinked on the countertop’s surface, Neville let the relief flow through him. Let his shoulders relax, let his fingers’ grip ease. Then he opened his hand to actually look at it -- a golden length of wood with thick grains of a darker umber running through it. Then, without looking at his grandmother, he carefully stowed it away inside his robes, daring her to try to take charge of it until they returned home.

With a long look and another sniff, she turned and sailed out of the shop. Neville followed in her wake, but feeling, for the first time, that he was moving under his own power.

::

Comments, crit welcomed.

And now back to Neville

2003-08-23T13:45:42Z

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).

More thoughts on Ron...

2003-08-20T21:22:14Z

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...

Neville, Neville, Neville

2003-08-02T12:44:45Z

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?

More on Mirroring

2003-07-23T22:57:44Z

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 = James
Hermione = Lily, although I was never quite convinced of that
Ron = Peter
Draco = Snape
Neville = ?

Having read OotP, my theories have changed, and I’ve come to the conclusion that there are no exact parallels. Certain characters in the New Marauder generation mirror more than one character in the Original Marauder generation.

Now it looks like this:

Fred & George = Sirius
Ginny = Lily. I’m fairly confident that she, rather than Hermione (or Luna) is the Lily figure. I base this on her defense of Neville on the train, and her friendship with Luna, though she does quite clearly recognize that Luna has her quirks. In terms of romantic relationships, she could, in the end, play Lily to Harry’s James, or possibly Alice to Neville’s Frank.
Harry = what James should have been/could have been/grew to be. He also parallels Snape in his horrific childhood and awful clothes. If Harry had not been The Boy Who Lived, I do wonder what his life at Hogwarts would have been like.
Hermione = Remus primarily, in that she’s the conscience of the New Marauders, but one with more of a backbone than Remus had at 15. I also see a bit of Snape in her (the obsessive studying), and I’m also willing to contemplate that she plays Lily to a hair-obsessed Draco (see below). Although, I’m not willing to rule out Hermione/Neville either. Or Ron/Hermione for that matter.
Luna = Snape, in that she’s a bit of an obsessive oddball who is regularly hazed by her peers (witness her posting a request that her belongings be returned to her at the end of the year). The advantage Luna has over Snape is that she seemingly has two parents who loved her. Her father is still living, and is quite obviously a bit of an odd duck himself, and therefore not likely to be unhappy with a daughter who marches to her own drummer.
Neville = ?
Percy = Snape (if it turns out that Percy is a spy. I do so want Percy to be a spy for the Order.)
Ron = Peter, although yes, he could also be a Remus-mirror in that he won’t confront the twins when they’re pushing matters too far.

Draco = sigh Draco is a conundrum. Based on Snape’s defense of Draco at the end of OotP, it seems to me that Snape, at least, may see Draco as his parallel. This could be for either or both of the following reasons: 1) Draco's rivalry with Harry (because it parallels Snape's "rivalry" with James and 2) Draco doesn't seem to get parental support (and OotP shows us that Snape's homelife was none too great). But as for who Draco is meant to mirror, I’m not quite sure.

I found myself confused by Draco’s behaviour early on in the book. Why, if Draco is remotely intelligent, would Draco loudly hint that Lucius had, perhaps, seen Sirius? Surely it would serve Lucius and the Death Eaters better if Harry didn’t know what the DEs knew. Draco lets slip information one or two additional times as well. It didn’t seem to be the brightest thing -- either for Lucius to share the info. with Draco or for Draco to share what he’d learned with Harry, even to taunt him. For a moment, I had wild thoughts of Draco actually being against his father and the DEs. Was he a sort of snotty Scarlet Pimpernel? I also began to speculate wildly about Dobby. Just how *did* Dobby work up the courage to go help Harry anyway? Could he have been ordered to? And then there was Dobby’s obsession with Harry not going back to Hogwarts, for Harry's “safety.” Could it be that Draco’s streak of selfishness led him to demand that Dobby keep Harry away from Hogwarts so that Draco could have his rightful place in the limelight?

Unfortunately, Draco’s wholehearted support of Umbridge lead me to throw this whole theory out the window. Draco letting info. slip in front of Harry probably just falls under the heading of “convenient plot device.” Plus, Harry getting Lucius sent to Azbakan -- and being fairly nasty to Draco about it to boot -- could drive Draco to do something very stupid. Draco could very well suffer a serious loss of status because of this, and I do believe status is very important to Draco.

On the up-side however, there are a few parallels that make it entirely possible that Draco will not “go bad.” The first is Sirius -- Sirius overcame childhood training that could have brainwashed him into becoming Death Eater fodder.

Contradictory evidence: Draco was sorted into Slytherin, Sirius into Griffindor. Rowling, however, seems to be saying that house affiliation should not be taken as an indication of morality. It also struck me, however, that Remus’s “explanation” of James’ flaws could cover Draco’s “a prat at 15” flaws as well.

The other semi-weird point in Draco’s favor is his obsession with his hair, which also leads me to wonder if he’s not meant to parallel James in some ways. Plus, it seems that Ron, even more than Harry, is the object of Draco’s ire. This could be because Draco is a classist snob; or because Draco has a deep-seated aversion to red hair; or because he resents (still) that Harry chose Ron over Draco as a friend. But Draco’s altercations with Hermione, combined with the hair obsession and the Ron loathing now make me wonder whether… Draco has deeply repressed feelings for Miss Granger. And so, as James did with Lily, is acting even more like a prat to get her attention?

Lastly, and also oddly, the whole “Weasley Is Our King” bit gives me hope that Draco is too smart to simply fall in with the Death Eaters. I found the song very clever, and amusing. Yes, of course I felt sorry for Ron, but it was a brilliant nonmagical way to accomplish his ends.

Edited 8/24: One thing about Hermione that makes her more of a Lupin than a Lily: she, unlike Ginny, is not tremendously tolerant of Luna Lovegood. Ginny may admit to finding Luna odd, but it's not the same thing. (This thought came to me as I was riding the subway yesterday. The passenger next to me was reading OotP, and when I glanced over to see what page she was on, Hermione's irritation with Luna leapt out at me.)
</lj>

Traitorous Weasleys, or, who will betray Harry, Ron or Percy?

2003-07-23T14:57:36Z

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.

But then who would be the Pettigrew character (if in fact there is one)? I looked to the names again and came up with the rather obvious: Weasley is a lot like “weasel.”

Who then, might be the weasel Weasley? I elected Ron, mostly because none of the other Weasley’s were that close to Harry. Also, prior to the events of OotP, we had seen Ron behave badly toward Harry -- roughly one incident per book -- although Harry and Ron always managed to work their differences out in the end. And it’s true that their battles could represent nothing more than adolescent growing pains. Nevertheless, we do see Ron express jealousy of Harry’s fame, success, and money. Also prior to OotP, Harry began to keep secrets from Ron: that he’d given the twins his Triwizard winnings.

This last secret is revealed in OotP, and Ron isn’t at all upset. In fact he’s grateful -- his mother now has someone else to blame for the twins leaving school. But Harry now has two new secrets to keep: the first is that Ron was more-or-less Angelina’s last choice for goalkeeper. That, of course, may amount to nothing since Ron came into his own by the end of the book, and perhaps more importantly, achieved a success, and helped Griffindor win the house cup, all without playing the part of Harry’s sidekick. The other “secret” Harry knows is that Ron was actually Dumbledore’s second choice as prefect. This, potentially, could be more damaging to the friends’ relationship depending on whether, and how, it is revealed.

On balance, the evidence for Ron being the traitor is fairly weak, especially since there now seems to be a more obvious Weasley traitor: Percy.

Frankly I’m hoping that Percy is a red herring, meant to look like a traitor, rather than actually be one. The textual evidence is a little slim, granted. The first bit of evidence is that Percy may be named for Dumbledore. We find this out during Harry’s trial, when both Percy’s and Dumbledore’s full names are read aloud. Just this little mention was enough to make me theorize that…. Percy is Dumbledore’s mole inside the Ministry.

The name-sharing may seem unimportant, but the reveal, especially considering that Rowling likes to use names as clues, is significant. If Rowling didn’t mean something by it, it probably wouldn’t be there at all, much less included on successive lines (top of page 139, American edition). More name clues: Percival a loyal knight of the Round Table. The significance of Ignatius, Percy’s middle name, is unclear to me. Two Catholic saints bear his name. St. Ignatius of Loyola is the better known one and was apparently an ambitious SOB before he found God. Perhaps that’s significant as well.

My second bit of evidence is the horrible letter Percy sends to Ron. If Percy is a mole, and is afraid of being caught or is under suspicion, it was rather a clever way to warn Dumbledore -- providing Ron had shared the letter with him -- that Fudge was moving against him in a big way. It was also a good, if rather painful, way for Percy to confirm his family’s worst suspicions, thereby maintaining his cover. The high drama surrounding Percy’s defection, not to mention that he of all the Weasley’s knew best what Ginny had gone through when possessed by Riddle, means that I’m going to cling to this theory for the next two years, or until Rowling provides evidence otherwise.

My last bizarre theory is that Percy is actually a correspondent for The Quibbler simply because it’s a fun image: A frustrated and lonely Percy pouring out what he knows, disguising it sufficiently so it can’t be traced back to him, and sending it to the Quibbler where it gets edited to become preposterous. Based on Umbridge’s attempts to regulate half- and non-humans out of existence, I wouldn’t be surprised if Fudge is anti-Goblin, especially since the Goblins do control money in the wizarding world.

But what does this mean for Ron? Well, it could mean that Rowling is setting up things so that the New Marauder generation succeeds where the Marauder generation failed. And that may mean that Ron is being set up to have the motivation to betray Harry, but enough of a sense of his own self-worth so that he doesn’t. In the interest of Drama, however, I admit to rooting for Ron-as-Traitor. I’m also thinking that if both Percy and Snape survive the war, they should get together to discuss the difficulties of maintaining their cover.
</lj>

A Longing for Something

2003-07-07T16:49:46Z

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.

He'd thought it strange when he'd heard a tapping noise on the French doors that led out to the balcony. The Forum was the tallest hotel in London and he really didn't see how the noise could be made by anything other than an unusually enterprising pigeon. Or Clark, his traitorous mind had whispered.

Lex had sighed and taken another slug of whiskey as he moved forward to pull back the curtains, only to reveal... An owl. A large owl. A barn owl, he thought. A barn owl that was, moreover, staring at him insistently as it hovered, tapping its beak repeatedly on the glass. Shrugging his shoulders, he opened the door, and the owl had fluttered in to land on the coffee table, proferring its leg to Lex. And Lex, no longer even vaguely confounded by the strangeness the universe served up -- although, granted, usually only within the confines of Smallville -- unwound a message from its leg. A message that invited him to attend remedial classes at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

At the time, his only thought had been that someone in London had a strange sense of humor. And yet, here he was, sitting in a chair amid a gaggle of staring children with a floppy hat perched on his head. A hat that, moreover, not only sang, but seemed to be able to poke around in his brain. Right now it was muttering, "Intelligent enough for Ravenclaw, no doubt, and with a reserve of almost-Gryffindor-like courage, hmm, hmmm, -- but, yes, curiousity, cunning, oh yes, Slytherin." But Lex negated that with a shake of his head -- he'd been educated according to Lionel's principles and the word Slytherin seemed to embody them. Enough was enough.

He'd come to London to get away from Smallville, from his father, from *everything*. A *complete* change of pace. "What's the other house?" he thought at the hat. "There are four, based on the banners I'm seeing." An eagle, a lion (another reminder of his father), a snake, and... what was that thing? A hedgehog? A badger?

That hat fell silent. "Hufflepuff?" it at last said questioningly.

The name Hufflepuff filled Lex with glee -- his father would never live down the idea of his son as a Hufflepuff, whatever that might be. "Put me in Hufflepuff," he said commandingly.

The hat seemed stunned.

Lex considered his request again. The Hufflepuffs were not courageous, not smart, not cunning. What did that leave? He glanced around the hall, his gaze finally falling on the troupe of open-faced, happy-eyed, not-particularly-bright looking students sitting beneath the banner with the badger.

"I'd very much like to be in Hufflepuff, if you wouldn't mind, sir," Lex thought at the hat.

The hat suddenly emitted what sounded like a snicker. "Well, that will set the cat among the pigeons, won't it. Well, if you're sure, boy." But without waiting for Lex's answer it roared, "HUFFLEPUFF!" Lex clapped his hands to his ears. It did no good since the echo was now reverbrating inside his brain.

With grace, Lex removed the hat from his head, set it down on the stool, and walked calmly to the Hufflepuff table. Smiling sweetly at the now nervous-looking children, he slid into place on the end of the bench, and wondered when... whether... this hallucination would ever end.

--------------

Just to be clear, this is a one-off.

Sirius Black

2003-06-28T23:06:32Z

memorialized in the pages of The Quibbler.

Sirius lovers may not be amused.

I swore that I'd never to succumb to the LJ phenomenon

2003-06-21T23:39:45Z

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.