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deathtocapslock
* Collin’s really acting like an obsessive stalker here. I wonder if that’s how Harry appeared to Draco in HBP?
* Ron’s malfunctioning wand actually sounds quite dangerous, but nobody thinks it might be a good idea to replace it. Although OTOH having a lax attitude towards safety seems to be one of the few things about the WW that seems consistent throughout the books (they’ll show it again when Percy tries to stop people using dangerous cauldrons), so maybe I should be thankful that it isn’t just one of these things that changes whenever the plot demands.
* I assume that JKR’s just forgotten to mention the try-outs that every Quidditch team apparently does each year.
* I’m just going to tune out while Harry recaps the rules of Quidditch for Collin.
* Everyone’s not bothering to pay attention to Wood’s new tactics. Remember kids, teamwork’s for suckers! You just do what you want to do!
* Wood is still upset over Gryffindor losing last year. Serves him right for being too thick to have a reserve Seeker, IMHO.
* Note how Wood’s first reaction upon seeing Collin is to jump to the conclusion that he’s a Slytherin spy. Not that he’s in any way biased against Slytherin, or anything like that.
* Remember chaps, looking like a troll = evil. Part-giant, OTOH, = misunderstood woobie. Even though trolls don’t really seem much worse than giants.
* There are no girls on the Slytherin team, just to remind everyone that they’re sexist, and therefore evil. JKR hates sexism, which is why she took care to include so many liberated, independent-minded women in the novels.
* Wood’s “spitting with rage” now. Christ, Oliver, calm down, it’s not the end of the world. Maybe the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams could just play a friendly, or something.
* “Aren’t you Lucius Malfoy’s son?” says Fred, looking at Draco with dislike. Remember kids, it’s wrong to judge people based on their family.
* Is it possible to smirk so broadly that your eyes are “reduced to slits”, or is Draco actually grinning with happiness here?
* I don’t think that Malfoy did buy his way onto the team. For a start, Seeker is the most (i.e., only) important position in the game, and I don’t think that flying on better brooms would compensate for having an inferior Seeker. Secondly, he’s on the team for at least three years, when the Slytherins could easily have ditched him as soon as they’d got the brooms. They’d even have had a good excuse after losing that Quidditch match in “The Rogue Bludger”.
* Lucius seemed like quite a harsh, demanding father when we saw him in Borgin and Burke’s, IMHO, so the thought that he’s pleased daddy enough to make him buy new brooms for the team is probably making Draco grin even more.
* I bet he looks adorable in this scene.
* Now I can’t stop thinking of Lauren Lopez in A Very Potter Sequel. “Don’t worry, daddy, you’ll love me after this! I’ll catch that Snitch, mark my words!”
* Just thought it interesting to note that Malfoy wasn’t involved in the conversation until Ron brought him in. It’s not like he was strutting up and down, boasting about his new broom, or anything like that.
* Hermione’s the one who starts with the personal insults. Really, I think that the good [sic] guys are acting worse than the baddies here.
* If the theory that Draco’s really just happy because he’s finally made his daddy proud is right, then implying that he’d just bought his way onto the team is probably one of the most offensive things Hermione could say. Unsurprisingly, he responds with one of the most offensive things that he could say.
* Draco calls Hermione a “Mudblood”, despite the fact that she’s a Muggleborn, and therefore cannot be expected to know what it means, suggesting that either she’s upset him so much he’s not thinking straight, or that he wants to keep face in front of his teammates by responding to her insults, but at the same time doesn’t want to upset her. If the latter, it could be evidence for some kind of D/Hr ship.
* JKR seems to be expecting us to go “ZOMG Draco’s an evil racist!” suggesting that she’s forgotten why exactly it is that racism’s considered so wrong. I don’t think it’s just that you’re looking down on people for the way they were born – if it were, then jokes about stupid blondes would be considered as bad as jokes about stupid black people. Rather, it’s wrong because minorities often suffer from discrimination (and in many cases have suffered from it even more in the relatively recent past), and racist language helps to reinforce and normalise the prejudiced attitudes which lead to such discrimination. Because we haven’t really see people suffering from anti-Muggleborn prejudice, it’s hard to think of “Mudblood” as a particularly serious insult.
* This, BTW, is why I disagree with people who say things like “Rowling uses the Harry Potter books to teach children not to be racist.” If she were really doing that, she’d show how racism affects people’s lives (cf. To Kill a Mockingbird). What she’s actually doing is taking real racism and using it in lieu of actual worldbuilding and characterisation. We already know that racism is wrong, and we think Draco’s a bad person because his use of the term “Mudblood” is superficially similar to real-life examples of racism; we don’t learn about how racism is bad from its effects on HP characters, because it doesn’t really have any.
* Anyway, back to the actual story…
* Once again, the good guys are the first to use force. Why am I not surprised?
* I think it’s sweet the way Flint dives in front of Malfoy to stop him being attacked. The Slytherins often seem to look out for each other the most (see also Lucius patting Snape on the back when he’s first Sorted). Contrast this with the Gryffindors in PS, who refuse to speak to Harry, Hermione, Ron or Neville after they lose some House Points.
* What’s this, one of the good guys has suffered some negative consequences as a result of attacking someone else? Hold on while I go make a note of this in my diary.
* Again with the clothes! Lockhart’s wearing robes of “palest mauve” today. Harry’s really starting to look rather gay now; given JKR’s fondness for stereotypes (viz. the Finnegans) and inability to write a decent romance (chest monster!), I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find her way of showing homosexuality would be having someone spend all their time looking at their crush’s clothes.
* Note how Hagrid doesn’t remonstrate with Ron for trying to curse Malfoy. Clearly he’s a responsible adult and an excellent candidate for a prestigious teaching position.
* I know Hagrid doesn’t like Lockhart, but he really should know better than to undermine him like that in front of his pupils.
* So the jinx on DADA has been in place for what, forty or so years now? And people are only just starting to twig? I know wizards are slow learners, but really…
* Also, couldn’t Dumbledore find ways to either discover how Riddle jinxed the position and undo it somehow, or to get around it, such as hiring two teachers who each teach on alternate years or getting rid of DADA and replacing it with a class which is functionally indistinguishable but has a different name (“battle magic”, perhaps?).
* I think that this scene was one which the film actually did better than the books. Yes, having Hermione getting all upset may not have been fully logical, but it at least made Draco look like a hurtful bully rather than an eccentric crank. It also suggested that someone might have called Hermione that before, hinting at actual day-to-day anti-Muggleborn prejudice, which is more than the books ever managed to do.
* “Maybe it was a good thing yer wand backfired.” Wait, is Hagrid glad that Ron got to be on the receiving end in the hope that he’ll be less likely to curse people in future? No, of course not, he’s worrying that Ron might otherwise have got in trouble.
* Hagrid comes across as so judgemental when he says “’Spect Lucius Malfoy would’ve come marchin’ up ter school if yeh’d cursed his son.” Clearly, caring about your children being attacked is a sign of great evil. Good guys know that being randomly hexed is what makes a man out of you.
* Although Lucius doesn’t seem to have done much when Draco was hexed into unconsciousness on the train (twice!), which probably foreshadows the Redeemed!Malfoys situation at the end of DH.
* Hagrid’s been breaking the law to make his pumpkins grow faster. Which couldn’t possibly be dangerous in any way, oh no.
* Suddenly, Draco’s gossip about him getting drunk and setting his bed on fire looks awfully plausible.
* Everybody hates Filch, which is entirely understandable, given all the times he complains about having to clean up the mess children make and, erm, gives them detention for breaking the rules. Yep, entirely understandable.
* So how does Parseltongue work, then? ’Cause surely Lockhart ought to have heard it, even if he didn’t understand what it was saying? Or is it a sort of telepathy? But then Ron managed to speak it in DH…
* Awfully convenient the way the basilisk goes around describing its evil plan to itself, isn’t it? Do basilisks just have really bad memories, and need to keep repeating their plans to themselves in case they forget?
* Part of me can’t help but feel pleased that Ron vomited slugs over that trophy. Maybe next time he’ll think twice before hexing someone. Or not.
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no subject
Date: 2010-10-29 01:20 am (UTC)Upon examining canon - I am working up a list of why - I think it fairly reasonable to suppose that the DEs/Voldemort must not have known about Remus' condition before PoA, nor therefore about Dumbles' dangerous little charity project and its narrowly-averted consequences.
But this makes no sense.
Why doesn't anyone on Voldemort's side apparently (before PoA) have any idea about Lupin's lycanthropy or the fact that Dumbles had him secretly at Hogwarts as a student? Beyond the fact that Severus never told, I mean. Because there are at least two other sources for this information: Peter, and the Werewolf Registry. Peter's not telling could perhaps be explained by some supposition that he disliked/blamed Remus least out of the other three Marauders (going with the resentful!Peter theory) or actively cared about him (going more with cowardly!Peter) enough not to tell about this right away if he could help it, but Voldie's ignorance of the Registry's contents? Not so easy to explain away.
Please help, someone!
I concentrate in my little ramble linked to mostly on the time up to the end of PoA and Severus' blowing the whistle. It is also strange that after PoA they never tried to do anything with it either...the only explanation I can come up with there is JKR's lack of thought, but it's fun to theorize about the earlier time period.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-29 03:11 am (UTC)In short, I doubt Rowling even remembers what she wrote in the charity books. In-story, maybe there is something wrong with the Register.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-29 03:11 am (UTC)1. the information is protected by Fidelius.
or
2. If you are a werewolf, you don´t turn yourself to the authorities (the register). Somebody has to find out you are one. So Remus would have difficulties not with getting a job, but with maintaining it; it would be suspicious that he is regularly ill during the full moons.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-29 03:21 am (UTC)RE 1) If it were Fidelius bound, though, Severus ought not to have been *able* to tell, ever. Only the Secret Keeper can tell - and Severus surely was not the Keeper! (And what about *after* he told?)
RE 2) So you theorize Remus' parents never sought medical treatment for their son, though he had a large nasty bite? He was a child when bitten, so it was not in his own hands. And if he had such consistent trouble keeping a job because of the full moons, why didn't any of his employers go in with the suspicion/almost proof that he was a werewolf? (I say almost proof because what other explanation is there for someone who is always sick/unavailable on the full moon, and can't/won't give a straight solid reason why?)...Also, this strikes me now (thanks for provoking more thoughts :) ), why didn't any of the DEs ever hear of the *suspicions*? It's a very small, closed society....
no subject
Date: 2010-10-29 03:33 am (UTC)Re: 2)... who were Remus´ parents, wizards or Muggles? If they went to Muggle doctors, the Register would never know. How easily can heal himself somebody bitten? I think it has to be very quick and simple, because if quite everybody bitten dies, you would have no werewolves. :-)
The suspicions... I think thats is why Remus did not dare to have a stable job, that he could not risk to go to an office or so daily. Maybe he was "working from home", somehow.
I think the real reason is, Rowling didn´t think it through, but it is fun to make theories. :-)
no subject
Date: 2010-10-29 03:54 am (UTC)He was a halfblood. We don't know if he was a full halfblood (i.e. one Muggle parent, like Severus) or a technical one like Harry (one or more Muggle grandparents, but two wizarding parents). But at the very least one of his parents was magical (his father supposedly offended Fenrir - I ought to edit the essay on that point perhaps - probably it was him), so they would likely have taken him to St. Mungo's. We see another werewolf there being treated for his recent bite in canon, so it seems likely that the bite is nasty enough to need some sort of treatment other than a quick healing spell, but this is not proven. And it needn't necessarily be close to lethal to require treatment. But an interesting thought you bring up anyway.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-29 03:48 am (UTC)My pet theory about the Register is that Newt Scamander made it so complicated nobody knew how to make it work since he left the Department for the Control of Magical Creatures. As a result no werewolf got registered in several decades.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-29 03:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-29 04:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-29 04:45 am (UTC)I think "confidentiality" (which usually applies to a whole set of relationships, including to doctors, lawyers, spouses, etc.) and "doctor-patient privilege" are the usual terms.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-29 08:38 am (UTC)But there is no healer freely giving personal information, either, as far as I remember.
Thanks for the term, I´m copying it down! :-))
no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 06:34 am (UTC)My theory is that what Lupin told Harry about his mission to "spy on the werewolves" was absolute truth. As far as it went. However, he didn't tell Harry that there was nothing new about his spying on Fenrir's band. In fact, I think he'd started doing it since he finished Hogwarts. Or started doing it within a year or so after finishing when he found that while he might be able to *get* a job, he wasn't able to keep one.
And in fact any of the DEs who knew anything about Fenrir's group *knew* that Remus was one of the hangers on. What they didn't know, because Fenrir didn't bother to boast about it was *how long* Lupin had been a werewolf. If any of them stopped to think about it, without asking Geryback, they'd simply assumed that he'd been bitten in his late teens or early 20s.
Of course "spying on the werewolves" is a bit of an overstatement. Werewolves aren't entrusted with any sensitive information. But he was monitoring their movements, and letting someone know what part of the country they were in, so someone could manage whatever damage control was possible.
And he was probably doing it at Albus's behest. From where he was standing, Albus had gone out on a limb to see to it that he had an education and he was beholden. And, besides, he couldn't keep a job for long anyway, so he might as well be of use. Albus probably diverted living expenses from one of the school funds and paid him a pittance, and Lupin's living expenses were not high in any case, since the role of a disaffected werewolf, while uncomfortable, is not a role that needs a lot of funding to support.
And, in fact, the likelyhood that he was off with the werewolves a good deal of the time is probably why Sirius suspected him (or had been led to suspect him) of being the spy in the Order.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 11:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 04:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 05:10 pm (UTC)But for one thing, not that many people probably did know, even if he was listed in the registry. I suspect the registry is confidential. I also suspect that the Prophet may not report werewolf bites. For one thing, it's too easy to have the outraged families of the victims come down hard on them if they did--and some of those families have power. For another, I suspect that most of the weres were originally Muggles, and the Prophet doesn't give squat about them.
Plus, the general public doesn't go checking the werewolf registry every year when the school has to replace the DADA teacher. The post is a revolving door, and most of the wizarding public has become fairly indiferent to who may be in it now. They know they are not going to last.
As for Lucius knowing about whether Lupin was a were or not, I'm pretty sure that Lucius pretty carefully *didn't* know any more about the were "community" than he could avoid. I am convinced that Greyback was extorting money from Malfoy, after Malfoy was outed as having gotten mixed up in the DEs and only escaped Azkaban with that Imperius defense. In return, Lucius probably used Greyback to threaten rivals. But for all Draco may say Greyback was a friend of his father's, I suspect that friendship had nothing to do with the relationship. As was certainly demonstrated in DHs when Greyback showed up at the manor with the trio in tow.
Indeed, Lucius may not have known at all, since by the end of the first war Greyback was hardly boasting of how many wizard children he had ruined, or spreading around their names. Particularly once they were no longer children. (Assuming there even were any others.) And since Lucius was known to have a "wolf at the door" Snape may never have mentioned the business since he assumed that Lucius *did* know.
The Ministry almost certainly *did* know when Lupin went to teach. But Albus probably tap danced past that with all sorts of assurances of being able to control the situation. Amd, in fact, Belby's wolfsbane potion really did make a difference in the degree of risk. It brought the issue down to the level of acceptable risk, but a potential public relations nightmare.
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:Thanks for keeping essays up
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:Severus, the most honest and loyal of them all.
Date: 2010-10-29 01:13 pm (UTC)If you want some more evidence that Severus never told anyone, how about Lucius.
Would Lucius have allowed Dumbledore to get away with having a Werewolf DADA teacher while Draco was there?
If Severus had of told Voldie and the DE about Lupin, Lucius would have already known during Harry's first year, second year, third year, etc. etc. that Remus Lupin was a werewolf.
Lucius Malfoy was a Governor of Hogwarts and I'm fairly sure they have to know who Dumbledore is hiring. Even if it is Dumbledore's privilage to hire professors I think at least the Governors would be notified who was going to teach.
And reguardless if Severus told Voldie back in the day, then Lucius seemingly would have known. But reguardless of that, Even if by the end of Harry's second year Dumbledore said, I'm going to hire Lupin, We know that Severus did not go running to Lucius and complain that a werewolf was getting hired for DADA.
This would have been a clear example of a place Lucius could have pushed for Dumbledore's removal as a Headmaster if he had already known about Lupin
So it's pretty clear to me Severus never told anyone, even Voldie and DE. Lucius clearly didn't know or I'm pretty sure he would have fought Remus coming to teach at Hogwarts.
Re: Severus, the most honest and loyal of them all.
Date: 2010-10-29 03:33 pm (UTC)So Severus - spiteful, grudge-holding, petty, immature Severus, we are told - kept mum about Remus for 18 years, despite it being of probable benefit to him to have told at times, and with no known external or magical compulsion to silence him, and only spilled the beans after a year in which their only known interactions (other than mutual insults/shows of disrespect) included 1) Remus refusing to assure Severus that he is *drinking* the potion Severus has brewed (chapter 8), 2) Severus making the students research how to identify and defend themselves from werewolves earlier than it was listed in the textbook (chapter 9) without saying anything beyond that, and 3) Remus leaving his potion until the last minute/too late with no known explanation for why, leading him to transform in the midst of a tense situation, endangering three students (at least) including Harry Potter and allowing Peter Pettigrew to escape to go find Voldemort.
I probably would have told someone in that situation too. It's clear that Remus can't be trusted to take responsibility for managing himself (or for saying no to old friends) even when children's lives are at stake, and it's equally clear that Dumbledore is continuing his pattern of dismissing Severus' concerns and covering up for the murderously irresponsible Marauders. It's not nice, Remus certainly was negatively affected, but the man proved he can't be trusted to act like an adult when entrusted with children's *lives.* Should Severus have kept silent - risking anyone who trusts Lupin similarly in the future, plus his own life and crucial mission once Voldie hears of the incident from Peter?
Re: Severus, the most honest and loyal of them all.
Date: 2010-10-29 04:12 pm (UTC)Only demonstrating how doing 'nice' things isn't the same as doing right things.
Re: Severus, the most honest and loyal of them all.
Date: 2010-10-29 04:17 pm (UTC)Well look at it this way. There were werewolve in with Voldemort. You don't even have to use the idea that Lucius would have been offended necessarily by werewolves.
Lucius would use the fact that most people WOULD oppose a werewolf teacher. It would be a reason for Lucius to go against Dumbledore as much as anything else. He would play it off as a reason to make DD look bad the same way he used the Hippogriff situation to make DD look bad.
So you don't even have to consider Lucius motives as really being conserned as much as He would have opposed it to make Dumbledore look bad. Especially in book 3, where Lucius was still acting in character.
I wonder at the end, where we're told Remus is outed as a werwolf. Do you suppose the whole truth was told then or did Remus cover for Dumbledore and keep his name out of it? Because I seriously have to wonder about the situation and if the whole story was revealed or really it sounds like a case of JKR not allowing other characters to put two and two together.
Someone would have known Remus had been a student so someone wasn't adding up that Dumbledore had to have allowed him to come to school. So when Remus was outed at the end of POA, nobody seems to have asked the question, when did he become a werewolf.
I'm just sort of wondering did Remus covered it up and maybe they pretended like Dumbledore didn't know? To keep his name out of it so he wouldn't suffer questions about the situation.
Re: Severus, the most honest and loyal of them all.
Date: 2010-10-29 07:31 pm (UTC)I'm not sure it would have been something that Snape would have thought to bring up to Voldie, but it seems to me that when Snape first became a DE as a sullen, angry teenager, it would have been something he'd have told Malfoy, or other DEs...
I mean, Snape was out of school and had no loyalty to Dumbledore at that point, there would have been no reason to not mention it.
Re: Severus, the most honest and loyal of them all.
Date: 2010-10-29 08:56 pm (UTC)Making me think that some residual sense of decency or having to honor his word, or *something,* held him back from saying it right away the moment they started courting him, and that after he joined up he very quickly grew disenchanted enough to think that maybe knocking DD down with the revelation might not be something he wanted to do just yet.
We do see that Severus prizes honesty (if sometimes to the point of uncomfortable bluntness) - his first charge against DD is that he *lied* for him - and we see him resolve to keep his word even when he clearly does not want to at all.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-29 09:37 pm (UTC)Remus is a werewolf.
1. Dumbledore and at least Pomfrey know it, but they are not telling anyone.
2a. School day Marauders know it, but they aren't telling, especially Peter whose friends would kill him if he told.
2b. Death Eater spy Peter knows it, but nobody cares, as Voldemort is close to taking over the Wizarding World regardless of Dumbledore's standing in it, and Hogwarts is so last year... and, can they even prove Remus was a werewolf while in school without outing Peter?
3a. Severus knows it, but he's just such a man of honor he won't tell once he's given his word, for whatever reason, even as a young Death Eater, until others, and especially the boy he's sworn to guard, are threatened by Remus.
3b. Severus knows it, but he's been be-spelled, maybe because of the "life debt," to be unable to speak of it directly until Remus again proves beyond a shadow of a doubt to be a menace to others.
3c. Severus knows it... or does he? He only has a theory, after all. He may have been Marietta-ized in Dumbledore's office. He knows something bad happened to him, but he's not quite sure what it was or if what he was told was what really happened, or why James would be a hero out of it. He can't really speak coherently to Lily about it. He only realizes what happened when he is asked to prepare Wolfsbane potion each month for the new DADA teacher who he previously knew as Sirius Black's friend. Soon enough, with his old suspicions and rusty memories, he puts two and two together, supplying the motive for James' supposed saving of him, and attempting to circumvent Dumbledore's orders in order to alert others to Remus' condition.
4. Fenrir knows it, but see 2b above. Did Fenrir align himself with the Death Eaters in the 1970s? If he joined just before the Potters' deaths, then it's likely nobody cares about Dumbledore's pet project with the world on the brink, supposedly. Or maybe Fenrir likes to protect fellow werewolves from wizard interference, or just wants to be the only werewolf Voldemort deals with. Closer to the end of POA, Voldemort has other things on his mind, like reconstituting his body, so there's no point in telling him about Remus.
5. Remus knows it, but for some reason, he forgets his extremely dangerous and painful condition whenever it is convenient for the plot. Then, when Voldemort knows about his condition for sure and after the furor about Dumbledore hiring a werewolf blows over (although I don't remember much furor), Remus becomes an ineffective spy and an ineffective love interest for Tonks.
6. Voldemort knows it, but 2b and 4, and not only does Voldemort have little liking or use for werewolves, especially conflicted ones like Remus, Voldemort has a short attention span. He could trot out the werewolf story for Show and Tell to the whole Wizarding World to discredit Dumbledore, but does he? No, he's on to some other obsessive goal. Stupid. Not only that, Dumbledore has done a million bone-headed things in his tenure at Hogwarts and only bad characters get bent out of shape about it. Short attention spans and stupidity all around.
7. Everyone at Hogwarts knows it, but wizards being terminally stupid and irresponsible, doomed to relearn previous lessons each year, the story never went very far.
8. The werewolf registry was made up to make Umbridge look especially bad. It didn't exist as a concept before OOTP, either in the Wizarding World, or in JKR's mind. It was a paper tiger pasted onto the story. If it existed before the end of OOTP, only cranks like Umbridge, who still wants to discredit Dumbledore, care about it.
9. JKR knows it, but for her, Remus is a wishy-washy stand-in for an ambiguous message in an inconsistent story.
I doubt we will ever get satisfactory answers on inconsequential things like werewolf status and house-elf powers and Dark Magic and wand allegiance and life debts and... ad nauseum.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-29 10:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-30 12:23 am (UTC)I actually think this theory could have some legs to it! :-)
Marietta-ized Snape
Date: 2010-11-03 08:52 pm (UTC)