Padfoot's Breed

[annoni_no]

Rowling never specified what breed of dog Sirius' Animagus form was, and 'a bear-like black dog' doesn't do much to narrow the field of possibilities. However, if we assume that the transformation closely reflects the wizard's personality, and perhaps reinforces it, I think I might have identified our mystery breed.

Comments

[hwyla]

I'm afraid I disagree. I'm sure that Sirius' form is actually a Grim

[annoni_no]

The problem with Sirius being a Grim is that that would make him the only character whose Animagus form was a magical beast of some kind. I'm pretty sure Rowling has outright stated (though in interviews) that no Animagus ever takes the form of a magical beast or being. Besides, when Sirius hitches a ride to Platform 9 3/4 the primary concern is about his behavior, not the fact that a dog that is literally (as opposed to metaphorically) as large as a bear would be impossible to miss or even fit in the vehicles in the first place. Also, if he were a dog physically the size of a bear/cow, how could he wander through all of England and Scotland utterly unremarked? Surely we would have had word of Obliviators being called in to deal with sightings of such a beast if that was truly Sirius' size. Would he even have fit though the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack

[oneandthetruth]

Instead of consigning a human to such a cruel fate, a pure black dog would be buried alive, and after its death would become a Grim watching over the graveyard.

What a hideous story! No thanks for sharing that. Our ancestors were certainly fiendish. >:-( It's that kind of thing that makes me think Christopher Hitchens was right about religion being poisonous.

[for_diddled]

In defence of our ancestors, I think that the secular twentieth century could beat them on the fiendishness front.

[nx74defiant]

--It should also be remembered that while Trelawny is a True Seer, she is abysmal at correctly interpreting what she Sees

[oneandthetruth]

This made me realize how much Dumbledore is manipulating Trelawny...He is shown dismissing her concerns and her predictions. Like he does with Snape he works to to damage her self estem. I think Dumbledore encourges the rest of the staff to notice how wrong her interpetations are so they won't take her seriously...Trelawny is exactly where he wants her. She has no self-confidence. She tries to hard so, no one takes her seriously. She is dependent on him. Can't have her leaving Hogwarts now can we? There she is safe and Dumbledore can watch her.

Scummywhore really sounds like an abusive spouse here. I know we all know he's an abuser and manipulator, but I don't think I've ever seen his tactics laid out so clearly as you do here.

[terri_testing]

Ugh. Word to both of you

[annoni_no]

This is probably the ultimate rebuttal to anyone who argues that Albus was essentially Good, and only behaved questionably in a utilitarian pursuit of the good for the many over the good of particular individuals

[dracasadiablo]

It also took care of any possible Seer students.
If somebody with the true talent was taught by Trelawny their would either learn to interpret the omens in all wrong ways or the Divination's reputation (and peer pressure) would make them too ashamed to do anything with their talent.

[terri_testing]

AARGH! I hate it that it took me this long to see this.

The following is from Swythyv’s essay on Albus and the Dumbledores. S/he’s talking about how the Slytherins are treated at Hogwarts, but it generalizes….

An organization whose parts are at war with each other is acting out the internal conflicts of its executive: this is a fish that rots from the head down. I've seen it in real life, and it is creepy beyond my powers to describe. Subordinates always do the knife work unsolicited, and it always manifests in the same way, too: Dirty tricks. Dirty tricks that hamstring the victimized person or department, but that make them look like fools if reported. And when the emboldened aggressors do cross the line, there's always some reason why no action can be taken - usually re when or how the victim reported it - delivered with a gentle sigh.

http://hp-essays.livejournal.com/243418.html

From PoA, c 11,
Professor McGonagall poked a large spoon into the nearest tureen

[hwyla]

To be 'fair' to Minerva - she doesn't know about the existence of the prophecy or that Albus believes it. She also only sees just what the students see. She is unaware that Albus places stock in Sybil's talent.

A bit off topic, but notice that Snape is not anywhere near as derisive to Sybil at Horace's Christmas Party as Minerva is at the Christmas Dinner you cited. A dinner that Sybil has come down especially to have with her co-workers (and a few students) on Christmas Day, when she rarely appears out of her tower. Note that we don't ever hear of Sybil coming to join a holiday meal again. What a lonely life! Want to bet she asked Horace whether Minerva was coming or not before she decided to attend his party?

And 'mean and nasty' Snape never says anything to Sybil that implies he thinks her a fool. Not even when she apparently has a bit too much sherry. Compare that to when he leads the 'attack' on Gilderoy among his fellow professors. So, it isn't as if he'll keep his snide comments to himself if he thinks them warranted.

[annoni_no]

Minerva might not know about the prophecy, but under normal circumstances there is still an expectation of basic politeness among colleagues. Dumbledore would have been fulfilling his duties as headmaster for once if he insisted that Minerva offer Sybill that minimal courtesy. He could frame it as a matter of professionalism if, for some unknown reason, he felt there was a genuine need to keep her true gifts a secret.

He didn't.

If he ever said anything I'll bet it was in line with his occasional admonishments to Harry to refer to his potions master as "Professor Snape," but which injunction he never reinforces with point losses when Harry inevitably ignores it.

I wonder how often Minerva, and the other teachers, saw Sybill and Severus interact, and how they interpreted the relationship between the two of them.

[oryx_leucoryx]

Yes, and I was disappointed that in Unlikely Allies Severus had to Obliviate Sybil. Maybe in the future he can show some appreciation some other way?

[nx74defiant]

Albus had been considering dropping Divination entirely (did he intend to replace it with anything? Hogwarts' educational offerings are already pretty sparse).

It's been notice how understaffed Hogwarts is. I think Dumbledore was reducing the staff by attrition. Whenever he could get away with it if someone left he didn't bother to replace them.

Binn's ghost want to teach, let it. No need to hire a competent replacement History teacher.

Lockhart wanted to bring back the dueling club. So there had been a dueling club in the past. Did Dumbledore encourage it to fade away?

If Minerva had an assistant who left - why Dumbledore would just explain "Minerva, I know how capable your are. You really don't need an assistant. It will be more work but I have every confidence you can handle."

[lynn_waterfall]

Maybe, but why would Dumbledore *want* to reduce the number of teachers?

I can certainly understand his wanting to get rid of teachers who aren't entirely under his control. No surprise that he'd be happy to replace Slughorn. However, as long as he could control them, more teachers means more people under his day-to-day authority. I don't know why he wouldn't want that.

I can see the signs you're pointing to as possible evidence that Dumbledore may have wanted to reduce the number of teachers, but if that was his goal, I think we need a reason why he'd want that.

[annoni_no]

It makes sense if we assume that Dumbledore has been working to dumb down Hogwarts' education in general. Ignoring the excuses compelling reasons for his hires, consider the quality of the teachers Albus has introduced to and maintained at Hogwarts