Head Boy an' Girl

[danajsparks.livejournal.com]

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!

--PS chapt. 4 Many of us have questioned how James (and, to a lesser extent, Lily) could have been head boy, given everything we've been told about his behavior as a teenager. But I'm wondering... are we absolutely certain that he actually was head boy?

It occurred to me this morning that the only mention of James and Lily as having been head boy and girl in the entire series is Hagrid's statement above, which he makes soon after delivering Harry his Hogwarts letter. We are told multiple times in multiple books that Tom, Bill, and Percy were all head boys, but it is never once stated again that James and Lily were head boy and girl, not even when the trio is looking through an old list of head boys in chapter 13 of CoS.

We know that Hagrid is not the most reliable source of information. Just a few hours later, he will tell Harry, "There’s not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn’t in Slytherin," completely glossing over the fact that man who betrayed Harry's family was a Gryffindor. When he declares that James and Lily were head boy and girl, he is in the midst of countering Petunia's claims that they were strange and abnormal freaks who got themselves blown up. Could he be lying here... or, umm, exaggerating the truth a bit? (They weren't really head boy and girl, but they should've been, given how totally awesome they were).

After all, it is Hagrid's assigned duty to make sure that Harry agrees to go to Hogwarts and follows in his parents' footsteps... including, eventually, the whole getting themselves blown up part.

Comments

Re: The Potter fortune, plugging the plothole

[danajsparks.livejournal.com]

----I suspect she feels she *earned* her money.

Probably true. But if she manages the money well, her children will never have to work.

Re: The Potter fortune, plugging the plothole

[oneandthetruth.livejournal.com]

Well, gosh, she's a billionaire. Even with poor management, it would be hard to blow through that much money in one lifetime, unless she starts buying jets right and left or financing expensive movies all on her own.

Which reminds me--the thing I found most annoying about that interview Oprah did with her last year was the sight of these two billionaires commiserating with each other about how hard it was to *sob* get used to the idea that *boo hoo* they'd never have to worry about money again! Doesn't your heard just bleed for them?

Let me be clear: I don't begrudge either JKR or Oprah their wealth and success. They've both worked hard for what they have, and they earned their money honestly in our capitalist system. What I do object to is their acting like being fabulously wealthy is some kind of burden. That comes particularly ill when millions of people are losing everything they own and can't even find a job because of the worldwide financial collapse that isn't their fault, and that they can't do anything to fix.

Re: The Potter fortune, plugging the plothole

[charlottehywd.livejournal.com]

Let me be clear: I don't begrudge either JKR or Oprah their wealth and success. They've both worked hard for what they have, and they earned their money honestly in our capitalist system. What I do object to is their acting like being fabulously wealthy is some kind of burden. That comes particularly ill when millions of people are losing everything they own and can't even find a job because of the worldwide financial collapse that isn't their fault, and that they can't do anything to fix.

Wow... that's sickening in so many ways, isn't it? Poor, poor billionaires. As an impoverished grad student that kind of thing makes me want to give these people a good slap.

Re: The Potter fortune, plugging the plothole

[oneandthetruth.livejournal.com]

Amen, sister, testify! I'm an impoverished middle aged woman who was out of work for over a year because I couldn't even get a job at Walmart or McDonald's. Where I live, those places won't hire you if you're even slightly overqualified (college degree, management experience, worked in a bank or office, etc). My formerly impeccable credit was destroyed because I had to live on my credit cards. When I finally got a job, it didn't pay enough for me to live on and pay them back, so I had to default on all of them. I wanted to slug Oprah when I watched her final show and she started prating about how we're all entirely responsible for our own lives, and whatever you give out is what you get back. Right. She's a billionaire and we're not because she gave so much more than you or I or billions of other people. It has nothing to do with being extremely charismatic, or having a gift for tapping into what the public wants to see, or being in the right place at the right time, none of which anyone has any control over. The first and second you're born with, and the last is just an accident.

One of the reasons I'm a fan of Trent Reznor is because he acknowledges the impact luck had on his success. In an interview in 1994 he said, "Sometimes I want to complain about how hard it is to be rich and famous, but I have to stop myself because it's such bullshit. I know how lucky I am to have gotten a record deal. I know how lucky I am to have had a platinum album." Now that is a rich, famous person I can respect for his integrity and honesty.

Re: The Potter fortune, plugging the plothole

[charlottehywd.livejournal.com]

I can definitely relate to that- my mom was actually in a similar situation for several years, though thank God my grandmother left her some money to live on. I don't begrudge rich people their money if they earned it, but if they start whining about how HAAAARD it is to be wealthy and expect to get sympathy, they sure won't get it from me.
Of course, I have always been annoyed by Oprah- she seems very condescending and has a weird sort of sentimentalism that I can't quite put my finger on. Oh, and apparently she had a whole show a few years back on how to harass salespeople into giving you a discount. As a former Macy's sales associate, I do not approve, and neither did my coworkers who told me about it. I wonder if she does that at whatever ridiculously overpriced stores she shops at? ;-)