• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Often there is a fine line between arrogance and confidence, stubbornness and being willful. Snape, for one, accuses Harry of strutting around Hogwart, arrogant like his father. For the most part, I don’t believe Harry is arrogant at all. Arrogance is defined as follows: giving one’s self an undue degree of importance; having or showing feelings of… Read More
• Timelines and calendars Life at Hogwarts revolves around classes, naturally. However, as the castle is also the students’ home for most of the year, daily life consists of far more than just academics. The students arrive at Hogwarts on September 1 by Hogwarts Express. For the next nine or ten months they eat, sleep,… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Most authors expend substantial effort on description, describing scenes, events or characters so that readers will be able to visualise them. The best descriptions often offer no more than hints, keywords, a trained butler’s unobtrusive opening of a particular door. The reader goes through that door himself or herself. Rowling,… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Essays
I am an astrologer, and I observed the types of astrology Trelawney and Firenze teach (and presumably practice) are two different types. Trelawney’s astrology is natal or genethiliacal astrology. It consists of personal birthcharts and what will happen when Mars and Saturn make an angle. As Parvati said, it has to do with individuals and their… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
A theory as to the nature and functioning of Divination as a magical art…  Divination is almost always misunderstood as “predicting the future”. Yes, it certainly is meant to do that, but successful Divination does not predict the raw future. Divination really predicts a future based on events that are currently happening outside of the wizard’s or witch’s… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
The name “Dobby” appears in A Fine Old Conflict, 1 Jessica Mitford’s memoir of her radical youth in 1950s America—and a book J K Rowling has almost certainly read. Rowling, as we know from interviews, admires Jessica Mitford—she even named her daughter after the left-wing political campaigner and journalist. “Dobby” Walker (no other… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
This is no moot point. Quite contrary to what many a reader may think, duels such as those in the Harry Potter books are not frequent in fantasy literature. That is so because it’s very difficult to convey to the audience or to the readers the precise impression of a… Read More
• Essay
Posted by in Canon discussion / Essays
Two Modest Predictions Dumbledore vivens . . . And Now Another: Dumbledore the Fraud Snape the Accessory The Unbreakable Vow Unbroken . . . Snapeque bonamicus The “Buddy” Plot Understanding Snape Harry the Adult The Proud and the Prejudiced Modest Conclusions Severe Spoiler Warning: This essay presumes that its readers have… Read More