Here's a shout out to Minor Characters Who Made it Big!

Rita Skeeter
"Come on Harry, there's no need to be scared of getting into trouble. We all know you shouldn't really have entered at all. But don't worry about that. Our readers love a rebel.

Firenze
"That is human nonsense. Trivial hurts, tiny human accidents, these are of no more significance than the scurryings of ants to the wide universe, and are unaffected by planetary movements."

Professor Flitwick
"I am a wizard, not a baboon brandishing a stick"
[He makes Dean Thomas write this as detention lines]

The Potato
Hagrid joined them at the table and started peeling his potatoes with a brutality that suggested that each tuber had done him a grea tpersonal wrong.
[Yes, tubers are mentioned a great deal in teh Harry Potter series, from describing garden gnomes, to the kitchens, and other such potato related areas!]

Cormac McLaggen
"Oh look! The Gryffindor Keeper's got hold of one of the Beater's bats."
Harry spun around in midair. Sure enough, McLaggen, for reasons best known to himself, had pulled Peakes's bat from him and appeared to be demonstrating how to hit a bludger at an omcoming Cadwallader.

I absolutely LOVED this character! I'd hate him in real life, but as a character he was brilliant! I actually imagine him to be a bit like James must have been!

Stan Shunpike
Stanley Shunpike, conductor on the popular Wizarding conveyance the Knight Bus, has been arrested on suspicion of Death Eater activity. Mr Shunpike, 21, was taken into custody late last night after a raid on his Clapham home...
"Stan Shunpike, a Death Eater?" said Harry, remembering the spotty youth he had met three years before. "No Way!"
"He might have been put under the Imperius Curse," said Ron reasonably. "You never can tell."
"It doesn't look like it," said Hermione, who was still reading. "It says here he was arrested after he was overheard talking about the Death Eater's secret plans in a pub. If he was under the Imperius Curse, he'd hardly stand about gossiping about their plans, would he?"

I have finally finished my ultimate 'proof Snape is on our side' essay!

I beg you to read it...you know, unless you don't care, or you already KNOW Snape is on our side, in which case......well there are pretty graphics! And everyone loves a picture book! :)

Severus Snape: Dumbledore's Man at Heart

[quote://]
[So Dumbledore's reason for trusting Snape may be a bit awkward by our standards, but the part about showing remorse appears twice in the book, and it works in my favor. You see, Dumbledore says that Snape showed remorse after Voldemort decided to kill the Potters, obviously before Voldemorts downfall. And yet..Snape tells Bellatrix that:
"I spun him a tale of deepest remorse when I joined his staff, fresh from my Death Eater days."
He applied for the job AFTER Voldemorts downfall.
In short, Snape turned to Dumbledore prior to the Lord's downfall, but did not make it known to any of his Death Eater buddies until after, making it seem as though he was just using Dumbledore's trusting nature for protection. If Snape was really a Death Eater, he would have mentioned spying on Dumbledore during that time period in order to persuade Bellatrix he was to be trusted. ]
[//:quote]

Quoted from Mugglenet:

TVGuide.com is reporting that the fourth movie, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, has been slapped with a PG-13 rating due to "sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images." If this is confirmed, GOF is the first of the Potter films to receive this rating by the MPAA

Yes......so apparently this movie is 'scarier' than  the others.
But is the real reason for the rating?


Ain't it Cool News says:
In addition, there’s bizarre sequence in a glorified jacuzzi with Harry and Moaning Myrtle (Shirley Henderson) that may provide you with some additional reasons why Myrtle is moaning. She is clearly attempting to check out his goods under the water.

A Mugglenet Reader says this:

We've got an omage  for Snape......

Now one for the Dark Lord.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
"There is no good and evil, there is only power...and those too weak to seek it."
[Few people understand what a truely GREAT evil quote this is. And certainly one of Voldemort's finest. ]

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
"It was merely a lucky chance that saved you from me. That's all I wanted to know."
[Voldemort being egotistical? Or something.....else...*mysterious finger wiggling*

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
"I miscalculated, my friends, I admit it. My curse was deflected by the woman's foolish sacrifice, and it rebounded upon myself. Aaah ... pain beyond pain, my friends; nothing could have prepared me for it. I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost ... but still, I was alive. What I was, even I do not know ... I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality. You know my goal – to conquer death. And now, I was tested, and it appeared that one or more of my experiments worked ... for I had not been killed, though the curse should have done it. Nevertheless, I was as powerless as the weakest creature alive..."

WARNING: THIS OCNTAINS BOOK SIX SPOILERS!
DON'T GO ON........


We're all deeply in mourning for Professor Dumbledore...there is absolutely no one who could replace him. He was our pillar of safety and wisdom. Nothing in the books will be the same. Trust it from someone who lives and breathes Harry Potter: When I'm not reading it, writing fanfiction, or theorizing it, I'm roleplaying with my sister, or thinking up ideas on everything in between. (Not that i'd ever claim to be the biggest Harry Potter fan...I'm more an Arthur Weasley person myself). But everything that affects the characters also deeply affects me.
However upon Dumbledore's death, I was accepting. I could deal with it, because I knew the wizarding world would not go to pieces. The new Minister of Magic seems to know what he's doingm even if he's not the most decent. The Order still has leaders (Minerva, Alastor Moody) loyal members (Remus, Arhtur and Molly) and our favorite inventors, Fred and George.
And lets not forget spies.

Spies? Yes, I do not beleive that Snape has betrayed us. Snape has always been one of my favorite characters, and though I could deal with him as a Death Eater (I still love Lucius!).....the murder was unacceptable.
I cried for half an hour, not because of Dumbledore's death (that came later, during the funeral) but because I was sure Snape's words in chapter two were true.

But now, two days later, I'm beginning to think more reasonably. At first I was shocked and repulsed, feeling physically ill every time I thought about it (a little strange, don't you think?), but eventually my Snape fan side prevailed, and I desperately clung to every theory i could come up with.

Dumbledore was already dying from that potion.
He didn't kill Dumbledore to save himself, but to save the Malfoys, who would surely die if Draco failed.
His place as a spy was more important than Dumbledore's leadership.

But I still couldn't really hold on to it, and I kept feeling betrayed. Really betrayed, I';ve never felt anything like it.

Until a few minutes ago. It's always nice to have someone to back you up, better still when they've got good arguments.

My friend sent this to me, but the source is unkown, Anyone who knows where it came form, I'd love to know.

On Evil Characters; or, why Severus Snape isn’t One

I am certain that those of you reading this are shocked and appalled by the turn of events in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  For myself, I wasn’t so shocked by the death of Professor Dumbledore as I was by his murderer – undeniably, Professor Severus Snape.  I immediately condemned Snape; I took all his reasonings, so carefully explained to Narcissa and Bellatrix in Chapter 2, to be the absolute truth, having been previously hidden in what we believed as lies.  I believed this to be the greatest ploy of J.K. Rowling’s, for we, the readers, would never doubt Dumbledore.  His word is like gospel, after all, and since his unshakeable faith in Severus Snape has been a constant from book one on, there was no way that he could be wrong.  His death at the hands of one of his most beloved students was, I thought, Rowling’s coup de grâce.  The New York Times said today (July 16^th) that: ”Harry will learn to re-evaluate the value of first impressions and the possibility that his elders' convictions can blind them to parlous truths.”

However, I have since come up with an alternate theory. 

There can be no denying of the fact that it really was Snape who cast Avada Kedavra at Dumbledore.  No, I do believe Snape killed Dumbledore.

On chapter 27, pgs 595-596 American, three nonconsecutive quotes:

“For the first time, Dumbledore was pleading.”

“[…] there was nothing but revulsion and hatred etched in the harsh lines of his [Snape’s] face.”

“ ‘Severus… please…’ “

Nothing will convince me that Albus Dumbledore was pleading for his life.  It would be the most out-of-character thing that he has ever done; he was not the sort of man who would beg for himself.  He did not plead Severus to save his life.  In fact, I think he was pleading for Severus to kill him.  It would be necessary for Dumbledore to plead this, because if he did not impart the desperation of the moment to Snape, it is entirely possible that he might not have done it.

I believe that what we are seeing here is that the revulsion and hatred on Snape’s face is not directed at Dumbledore, as our narrator would naïvely perceive, but in fact at his self.  Harry is a biased narrator (he can’t help it, poor boy), but there is no need to believe everything he sees.

As to the next part of my theory, on page 583, same chapter, from Dumbledore to Harry:

“ ‘Tell him [Snape] what has happened, and bring him to me.  Do nothing else, speak to nobody else, and do not remove your cloak.  I shall wait here.’”

Dumbledore’s last action towards Harry was to petrify him; I believe this was in order to render him in a situation similar to the one in which Lily’s protection was cast on Harry.  A baby cannot move or protect itself, and, under Petrificus, neither can Harry.  This part is somewhat ambiguous because I’m not entirely sure what makes one sacrifice for love give protection and another not, but bear with me.  As Lily’s death protected Harry, Dumbledore’s death would restore – or rather, place anew – protection upon him, another one made of love.  (And I would dare anyone to argue that Dumbledore did not love Harry.)  Of course, in order for that to work, Dumbledore needed to be killed…

Also, referring to above, I believed he needed to plead because otherwise, he might have died from the potion in the basin… and I don’t think that counts for the whole sacrificing-for-love’s-protection.

So why Snape, then?  Why does Dumbledore leave such a miserable task to someone who he trusts and respects, to someone who will live with the horror of his task for the rest of his life? 

Haven’t gotten there yet.  But what convinced me of Snape’s torment is Chapter 28, “Flight of the Prince”:

“ ‘DON’T-‘ screamed Snape, and his face was suddenly demented, inhuman, as though he was in as much pain as the yelping, howling dog stuck in the burning house behind them – ‘CALL ME COWARD!’ “ (pg 604, American)

This convinces me.  It was not a cowardly action that Snape took, but rather the most difficult thing that he could have done; one, I daresay, that Harry mirrored when he forced Dumbledore to drink the rest of that poisonous liquid.

As for Dumbledore’s golden trust in Snape that had apparently been misled:

“ ‘And Dumbledore believed that?’ said Lupin incredulously.  ‘Dumbledore believed Snape was sorry James was dead?  Snape hated James…’ “ (Chapter 29, pg 616 American)

Well, I don’t think Snape was sorry (at least, not much) that James was dead.  HOWEVER: we all know that Voldemort did not originally intend to kill Lily Potter.  We still have no reason as to why he would suddenly develop squeamish tendencies for a woman of Muggle heritage.  Though we know clearly that Voldemort has no comrades, I nevertheless believe that Snape might have been the reason Voldemort did not originally intend to kill Lily.  I think he might have been, for reasons to possibly be unveiled in book 7, truly sorry and horrified that his treachery had caused her death.  Let’s not get delusions of grandeur about unrequited love, but it’s entirely possible that he did harbor some reason for not wanting her dead – one great enough to make him deeply regret his part in it.

In a cheese-lined nutshell: Dumbledore pleaded for Severus to kill him in such a manner that would leave love’s protection once again layered on Harry.  He was already dying from the cave’s potion, and so left as a sacrifice to the one person who can kill Voldemort.  Snape, loyal to the bitter end, does as Dumbledore wishes and kills him, thus sealing his own ‘loyalty’ to Voldemort and fulfilling his Headmaster’s wishes.  Oh, and saves Draco in the process, but forget about him.

In the end, I believe the NY Times is right; Harry must re-evaluate his first impression, the one he never got past – that Snape is a traitor.

Brilliant! Don't you see! JK Rowling must know this...she must have deliberately done it. She likes Snape just as much as we do......there's something more to it.

I'm deeply indebted to the person who write this, because they explain everything wonderfully.


And, just because it's a quote blog....

"Sorry"
"Sorry sir"

"You don't have to call me sir, professor".

CF says she's far too distraught to write, so I'm posting this for her. She asked me to put up all the predictions she wrote that came true.

-large majority was flashbacks (But that was Erin, not her)
-Dumbledore sticks to his decision and lets Harry knw more...lots more.
-It wasn't a penseive on the cover
-Harry wasn't (as) angsty
-There was more Quidditch
-Harry took NEWT potions
-Luna became more prominent, but not Neville
-We don't like the new Minister (but I think we can respect him)
-Felix Felicitus wasn't a spell.....nor was it a person. This counts as half.
-Ginny was Chaser
-Fred and geroge jooined the Order
-Umbridge came back (briefly)
-New DADA teacher...certainly NOT the lion man.

So that's like....eleven out of thirty something.

On the deluxe edition;s cover:
Harry is in his pajamas, and Dumbledore has none of his normal attire on. They're waltzing about in a forest sans wands concern
for the
tree. They appear, to my mind, to be in a memory. In that case, who are they following?

Erin and I were talking of it. We decided that the man must be Godric Gryffindor., This is working off our theory that the lion dude is Godric himself. In the excerpt released by JK Rowling, she said that the man had a 'loping grace' though he walked with a limp. This character has a walking stick. Small coincidence, but enough for us to work our theory off of. :)
If he is Godric Gryffindor, we assume he uis going into the forest to see Slazar. THis hut is randomly placed, and has a snake on the door. We assume that this is right after they've had their fight, and Salazar is getting ready to leave and/or having a temper tantrum. A very manly one.
This means we will hear about the Chamber again, which would corrolate with another hint from JKR which says something in CoS is important to this book.


JK Rowling also said that the first chapter of HBP has been years in the making. She wanted to be the first chapter of PS, and CoS, but it never made it in.

Erin: I think that they're going to end up in the chamber again, it's important to the plot. When that happens it will link to why Voldemort is evil; why he is a descendent is really important

Me: I think that the first chpater will be like in GoF, where it's something vcompletely outside of the setting. Maybe that halloween Night when Lily and James died.

Erin: Yeah...I get the feeling that most of the book will not be in the setting aand that the large majority of the book will be dealt with in flashbacks and memories, or testimonies from the other characters; example, Barty Crouch Jr's monolague or Hagrid's story about the giants.

Me: If the wizarding world is coming, all the action can't really be being fought at Hogwarts. Maybe Dumbledore will stick to his newfound decision to let Harry know about what's going on. We also need a lot more information on the first war, so we know what we're getting into
.
Erin:I think that at least part of a flashback will be part of Lily and Petunia's relationship. After all, we've recently found out she knows a lot more than she's letting on.

Me: But you don't think she's a witch, right.

Erin: Right. I also have this other theory which is more like a hope: If they start to have a war with all the advanced magic and stuff....the muggles will start to notice. It'll be pretty hard to hide having a WAR. Those British pick up a war But I'm not sure how she'd write it to satisfy me.

Me: Well muggles will definitely notice, but probably not as a whole. As Stan Shunpike says..."Muggles? They don't notice nothin, do they?"

Seeing as the sixth book comes out in 1 day and seven hours, I've decided that NOW would be a good time to write up my list of predictions regarding the book.
If you have any, by golly I'd love to hear them!!!
And please keep in mind....I have not looked at THE SUMMARY, so if any of them have already been proved/disproved....I'm not going to be spoiled.

1. The half blood prince is someone we haven't met, or is a historical figure.
2. That is NOT a penseive on the cover.
3. Dumbledore will die
4. We will Sirius again....as a memory
5. We will see more of the Marauders
6. Harry will not be so angsty
7. There will be more Quidditch
8. Ron will be Team Captain
9. Ginny will be a prefect
10. Harry will take NEWT potions (what other reason for the Adult Cover?)
11. Neville will become a more prominent character, as will Luna
12. Neville will become more adept at magic with his new wand
13. We will NOT like the new Minister
14. We will find out where Hagrid took Harry during the missing 24 hours
15. We will find more about what the rebounded AK curse did to Voldie
16. The man described as 'lion-like' is Godric Gryffindor
17. Felix Felicitus is NOT a spell, but a person.
18. Ginny will be Chaser
19. We'll find out more about Sirius's motorbike
20. We'll meet Aberforth face to face
21. Grawp will make the same mysterious dissapearence as the Skrewts and Fluffy (Note: Hagrid may have said what he did with the last Skrewt, I'm not sure)
22. This book will be darker, but have more funny bits
23. Harry gets to play Quidditch again
24. Remus plays a bigger part in the book
25. The twins will join the Order
26. Percy will rejoin the family
27. The DA will continue
28. Umbridge will resurface....unchanged
29. The new DADA teacher is NOT the lion man, or McLaggan (just to be different!)
30. Lucius will 'escape' from prison.

I'm not making predictions on romance....to tricky, and shippers are nasty people. I'd know. I'm one of them. :)

And here's an interesting one I got from here:
~ Petunia Dursley will do magic.
I'm not too sure about it....but she is a favorite for the person who comes into magic alte in life!

[This is taken directly from JK Rowling's Website]

Result of F.A.Q. Poll

What is the significance of Neville being the other boy to whom the prophecy might have referred?

Finally, I am answering the poll question! I am sorry it has taken so long, but let me start by saying how glad I am that this was the question that received the most votes, because this was the one that I most wanted to answer. Some of you might not like what I am going to say – but I'll address that issue at the end of my response!

To recap: Neville was born on the 30th of July, the day before Harry, so he too was born 'as the seventh month dies'. His parents, who were both famous Aurors, had 'thrice defied' Voldemort, just as Lily and James had. Voldemort was therefore presented with the choice of two baby boys to whom the prophecy might apply. However, he did not entirely realise what the implications of attacking them might be, because he had not heard the entire prophecy. As Dumbledore says:

'He [the eavesdropper] only heard the beginning, the part foretelling the birth of a boy in July to parents who had thrice defied Voldemort. Consequently, he could not warn his master that to attack you would be to risk transferring power to you.'

In effect, the prophecy gave Voldemort the choice of two candidates for his possible nemesis. In choosing which boy to murder, he was also (without realising it) choosing which boy to anoint as the Chosen One – to give him tools no other wizard possessed – the scar and the ability it conferred, a magical window into Voldemort's mind.

So what would have happened if Voldemort had decided that the pure-blood, not the half-blood, was the bigger threat? What would have happened if he had attacked Neville instead? Harry wonders this during the course of 'Half-Blood Prince' and concludes, rightly, that the answer hinges on whether or not one of Neville's parents would have been able, or prepared, to die for their son in the way that Lily died for Harry. If they hadn't, Neville would have been killed outright. Had Frank or Alice thrown themselves in front of Neville, however, the killing curse would have rebounded just as it did in Harry's case, and Neville would have been the one who survived with the lightning scar. What would this have meant? Would a Neville bearing the lightning scar have been as successful at evading Voldemort as Harry has been? Would Neville have had the qualities that have enabled Harry to remain strong and sane throughout all of his many ordeals? Although Dumbledore does not say as much, he does not believe so: he believes Voldemort did indeed choose the boy most likely to be able to topple him, for Harry's survival has not depended wholly or even mainly upon his scar.

So where does this leave Neville, the boy who was so nearly King? Well, it does not give him either hidden powers or a mysterious destiny. He remains a 'normal' wizarding boy, albeit one with a past, in its way, as tragic as Harry's. As you saw in 'Order of the Phoenix,' however, Neville is not without his own latent strengths. It remains to be seen how he will feel if he ever finds out how close he came to being the Chosen One.

Some of you, who have been convinced that the prophecy marked Neville, in some mystical fashion, for a fate intertwined with Harry's, may find this answer rather dull. Yet I was making what I felt was a significant point about Harry and Voldemort, and about prophecies themselves, in showing Neville as the also-ran. If neither boy was 'pre-ordained' before Voldemort's attack to become his possible vanquisher, then the prophecy (like the one the witches make to Macbeth, if anyone has read the play of the same name) becomes the catalyst for a situation that would never have occurred if it had not been made. Harry is propelled into a terrifying position he might never have sought, while Neville remains the tantalising 'might-have-been'. Destiny is a name often given in retrospect to choices that had dramatic consequences.

Of course, none of this should be taken to mean that Neville does not have a significant part to play in the last two novels, or the fight against Voldemort. As for the prophecy itself, it remains ambiguous, not only to readers, but to my characters. Prophecies (think of Nostradamus!) are usually open to many different interpretations. That is both their strength and their weakness.

Quote:

---

So where does this leave Neville, the boy who was so nearly King?

---

Umm.....King!?? KING!! What does this mean! Is there really a wizarding monarchy??? Is it some sort of 'swrod in the stone' thing, where whomever defeats Voldemort gets to be King?? Oh JKR, you can only give an answer that only spawns more questions!!