(no subject)
APPLICATION FORM
Real Name (or name you wish to be referred to): Ashley
LJ Username: getaway_machine
Age: 19
Living In: Orlando, Florida, USA.
CHARACTERS
Are you applying for yourself or for a character you've created? Myself.
If you are NOT applying for a character there is no need to fill in the following part:
Name of Character:
Heritage (pure-blood, half-blood, muggle-born): Pureblood. Because I say so. xp
Background:
Please answer the following questions, and assume there is an "and Why?" on the end of ALL of them:
SORTING HAT
You're just about to sorted into your first year at Hogwarts! What would be going through your mind?
That I would want the sorting to be over and done with, so that we could get on with the feast already. It takes a long time and is very public and I don't have patience for that sort of thing.
Professor McGonnagall shows you towards the stool and places the hat upon your head - it takes a moment to think before shouting out your House. How do you react? How do the students of your sorted house react?
Well, hopefully the house I was put into would accept me, but if they don't, oh well. I might be pleased or I might not be, but I don't tend to express my emotions outwardly, so you probably wouldn't know either way.
Sitting at the dinner table with fellow students around you, what kind of people would you want to talk to first? The busy ones, or the very quiet ones? Who would interest you? Who would you observe?
I wouldn't talk first, I would observe. After watching my classmates for a while, I would choose who I would want to interract with... I don't have many friends, and I'm pretty choosy about the people I do become friends with. I can get along with most everyone, but that's not the same as being friends with them..
Imagine you're sat at your dormitory window on your first night: the others are asleep in their beds. What's going through your mind?
I'm happy to be at Hogwarts, and I'm excited to start learning new spells and such. If I've made friends, I'm excited to get to know them better -- if I haven't, I'm wondering who I'll meet in my classes. I'm probably not worried about classes -- I rarely am for school.
Of course, this is all made null and void that I'd probably be the first person to pass out. haha. I like sleeping.
ABOUT YOU
Who is your favourite character in HP?:
Remus Lupin. I've gone back and forth between characters during the time I've been a fan (I started on Draco Malfoy, then moved on to Severus Snape, before I finally settled on Remus) but Remus has captured my heart in a way few characters have. He's fiercely loyal to those he cares about, which is something I have always admired. It's a quality that, I think, everyone should have. At the same time, he's reserved and quiet, but he knows what he's doing. He's not the most powerful wizard, and he's not the cleverest, but he'll try his best to help, and he'll work hard to get to where he needs or wants to be. He has had an intensely depressing life (werewolf at a young age, losing all of his friends not long out of Hogwarts, regaining Sirius only to lose him again) but he doesn't mope around and wallow. He's a survivor; he stands up and makes himself move on, because he knows that there is something that he needs to do, or can do, so he will not let himself fail. I think the reason I enjoy reading him so much is that I find I identify with him -- not on the surface, maybe, but in a deeper way that has him touching my heart in a way that no other character in the series has.
Who is your LEAST favourite character in HP?
Dumbledore. I know that a lot of people like him, but I really don't. My friends and I joke that "Dumbledore is evil" but of course I don't really believe that. I do believe that he is highly manipulative and too secretive. While it is important to have your secrets in a time of war, he keeps secrets that hinder rather than help the Order, I believe. It's hard to trust anyone in situations like that, but you have to trust someone. Despite how powerful he is, he is still only one man, and he refuses to seek the help that he should be seeking from the Order. And he manipulates Harry -- one of his students, someone he should be protecting -- into situations that are dangerous. While I understand this from a storytelling point of view -- someone has to move the story along and Harry has to end up in these situations or there would be no story -- it doesn't make for a sympathetic character.
I also blame him greatly for Voldemort. He saw how much Tom Riddle needed help and guidance, and yet seemed quite reluctant to offer that guidance. Instead he watched him and kept him under suspicion, before he had even done anything irreversibly wrong; by believing that Tom Riddle was beyond saving, he made him beyond saving. Perhaps reaching out to Tom wouldn't have helped or changed anything -- but we'll never know, because Dumbledore didn't even bother to try.
What occupation interests you / what would you most like to do in the HP books?:
Probably some sort of desk job at the Ministry. I like that sort of work -- organizing and filing and keeping things where you can find them if you ever need them. A lot of people don't realize how important that job is, but I really believe it is. Also, in a job of that nature, it's easy to do any number of things -- fade into the background if that's what you want, or show how good you can be and move up the ranks, which is what I'm more likely to do. In any case, it's what I've done with the two office jobs I've had so far.
To you, what is the most important message in the Harry Potter books?:
That the choices you make are worth more than the life you were born to.
[Though this is almost derailed by Tom Riddle, but that's another rant, and I won't get into it.]
If you were told you had to kill off someone in the HP books, who would it be? (please don't answer Voldemort, we'd all like to see the back of him):
Either Ron or Hermione. I have nothing against either of them, and actually like both their characters quite a lot -- but no one should be safe, not even the people Harry is closest to. He lost his parents, he lost his father figure, he lost his mentor -- next up is one of his friends. [Yes, I'm all about the angst... I really don't hate Harry, even if it seems like it.]
How would YOU finish the HP series in book 7?:
First of all, Harry wouldn't die -- but there wouldn't be a happy ending. Just because Voldemort is defeated [and I do believe that will happen and needs to happen] doesn't mean there's a happy ending. It's totally bittersweet, because they've won the war, but they've lost so much in the process. Harry doesn't get to die, because a heroic death is so much easier than surviving, and Harry's life was never meant to be easy, not even in death.
Other than that... well, I don't, really. Even if Voldemort is defeated, the war isn't over. It would be a very open sort of ending, for me... like, you could see that those left alive might end up happy, but you could see that they might not, too. I like that sort of thing.
If you were chosen to carry on the HP series by JK Rowling and to carry on the adventures, would you or wouldn't you and why?
No. I might like writing fanfic and all that sort of thing, but I could never live up to the standards she has left behind, so why would I even try? She says the books are going to end at seven, and so I think that's where they should end.
If you answered 'Yes' to the previous question, how would you continue the series, what stories?
N/A.
THE CLINCHER
If you were a jewel you'd be:
A sapphire, because it's my birth stone.
If you were an animagus you'd be:
Hmm... after some thought, a house cat. Probably some long-haired variety. Mostly because I'm lazy -- being able to sleep all day like some cats do? That's the life. They have people to take care of them, and they don't have to work at anything, they just get everything. And I'm just lazy enough that I would enjoy that. At the same time, though, they can be quite active, and when I feel like it, so can I. But I can be mean, too -- mess with me when I don't want you to, and I'd take a swipe at you. Plus, cats are intelligent, and I value my own intelligence, so I think that would be reflected in my animagus form.
If you were an emotion you'd be:
Probably anger, because I'm quick to feel it and respond to it, though I do so in a very sarcastic manner a lot of the time.
If you were a weapon you'd be:
Words. Words cut sharp and deep, and if used properly can be the most powerful weapon ever weilded.
If you were a tool you'd be:
Hmm. Some sort of power tool... or a crowbar? I like taking things apart and examining them, both literally and metaphorically, so I guess that works.
If you were a spell you'd be:
Sectumsempra. Seemingly innocent, incredibly powerful, potentially devestating. I like to think of myself that way, really.
If you were a good quality in a person, you'd be:
Loyalty. I'm loyal to a fault, even when I probably shouldn't be... both to people and things. It's kind of sad sometimes.
If you were a bad quality, you'd be:
Impatience. I am so beyond impatient. When I want something, I want it now and I abhor waiting.
If you were someone / something in Hogwarts you'd be:
Someone.... James Potter. He loves his friends, but he can be cruel, and sometimes he thinks too much of himself.
Something... A secret passage, because I have mysteries of my own, as well.
If you were anywhere on earth, you'd be:
Tokyo, Japan. I want to go there so badly, I can't even explain it. It's this... such a strong desire, I don't know.
I guess I could choose something else, like my house I grew up in or something cheesy like that... but my second choice would be NYC, and I don't feel it the way I do Tokyo, anyway.
If you were anything on earth or in your life, you'd be:
Myself. I don't like putting on airs and pretending to be something I not, and I really like myself the way that I am. And, hey, I'm on earth, so that's not cheating. ;D
If you had to choose:
The Order or the Death Eaters?
If it was real life and myself? Neither -- I'd be much more likely to be supporting the Order, but not actually active in it, because that is, unfortunately, the type of person I am. As far as the books go... it's a tough call. I find characters in both exceedingly interesting. I guess the Order, because it does house my favorite character, but it's hard to let go of Voldemort and Regulus, who interest me to no end.
Snape or Malfoy?
Snape. He's just got so much more depth to his character. Draco was starting to gain it a little in HBP, but he still doesn't come close to the intricacies that build Snape.
Luna or Ginny?
Luna. She's so endearing, I love her so much. Her commentary in HBP? Priceless. She sees things and she understands things and people may think she's nutty, but I think she's got a lot to offer.
Crucio or Avada Kedavra?
Crucio. It's both crueler and kinder than Avada Kedavra, I think. On the one hand, it's not killing a person -- but on the other hand, it's incredibly painful and can drive someone to insanity, as we have seen. In a life-or-death situation, I would use Avada Kedavra first, of course, because I want to survive. But taking this in another sense, simply in the idea that I hate someone and am doing something out of revenge or whatnot... Crucio.
Harry dying or Harry living in book 7?
I think he's going to live... mostly just because JKR has made such a big thing about "how do you know if he lives or not?" that totally makes me think he is going to live, instead of the opposite like with some people. Plus, as I've stated before, I want Harry to live... so that helps. xp
Voldemort dead (Closed ending) or Voldemort not-quite-dead-but-people-think-he is (Open ending)?:
Well, I think it'll be a closed ending. But I prefer open endings... I like open endings because that way it seems like the characters are still living, somewhere, and that's comforting in an odd sort of way.
Any last words?
Not really.