A bit of silliness.

I stumbled across the blog post "The meaning of Expecto Patronum: From Hogwarts to Ancient Rome," which discusses the meaning of "patronus" in ancient Rome, and notes that a patron is more like a (legal) Mafia don bribing officials to protect you from the law than a sparkly representation of your soul protecting you against ( Read more... )

I've been trying to piece together the Marauders' group dynamic from what little we see, and found something that didn't quite square with how the characters themselves describe things. I know, shocker. But it's a discrepancy which might mean something ( Read more... )

Sorry, the post was too long and I had to split it.
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I posted this on Snapedom in 2008 or so; my apologies to those who have already read it.

A comparison of Pride and Prejudice and JKR’s romances between James/ Lily and Severus/Lily.
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Another spark struck from Condwiramurs’  “Indestructable” series.  I started this, then got distracted by fresh posts and had to address them first.  This was sparked by Part II, in which she meditated on Galadriel’s gift to Frodo:  a light in dark places. And on the fact that only Gollum’s inner struggle, his better self against his worst, had him ( Read more... )

Indestructible - Part II

”May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out.”So says Galadriel of her gift to Frodo, upon the Fellowship's departure from Lorien. (No, I haven't forgotten which book series I'm meant to be writing about. Humor me for a moment.) The beautiful and wise elf queen gives each member of the party a ( Read more... )

I think some/many of us here abhor Rowling's immense commercial success because it wasn't truly 'earnt' or deserved. She was fine with the early books for the kiddies in waving her hands about and fabricating a whimsical magical universe in which things happened because MAGIC! but when it came down to the crunch in writing a satisfactory ( Read more... )

“Tell me honestly . . . do you think me most a knave or a fool ?’” asked John Willoughby of Miss Dashwood, and I think it’s time we addressed that question directly with regards to our friend and mentor Albus.

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When Harry comes to, he’s in some strange woods with Ron and Hermione. All three are changing back into themselves. Hermione is okay--of course, because the boys couldn’t survive without her--but Ron has Splinched. (I have to say, Rowling is very good at coming up with these silly sounding words.) With typical thoughtlessness, Harry has always ( Read more... )

Author’s note: This installment contains spoilers for the first Warriors series by Erin Hunter.

The title of this chapter makes me think of Voldemort rising into the air in a hot air balloon. No doubt it would be green with a silver Dark Mark on it. Given how full of hot air this book is, this is a remarkable example of accidental truth in ( Read more... )