amiu - "crow mother" :: PoA 11 :: metafandom

[pauraque_bk]

For cheyinka:

ngáre "crow mother"

X-SAMPA / Na_(low)r\E_(low) /

Phonetic ngéR "slime" + determinative "dragon" = ngór "crow"

ngór "crow" + animate bringer derivation = ngáre "crow mother"

One who brings forth crows -- a mother of them, naturally. A father of crows would be a "crow caller".

And that's the last of the icon requests. Merci, merci, to everyone who asked for one and everyone who commented. Next is a Shakespeare translation for lolaraincoat (oh, thought I'd forgotten, did you?).

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PoA 11: The Firebolt

He watched, as though somebody was playing a piece of film, Sirius Black blasting Peter Pettigrew (who resembled Neville Longbottom) into a thousand pieces. (158)

Ah, Neville's other symbolic purpose. JKR puts our affection and pity for Neville to use, transferring it onto Peter, about whom we know next to nothing -- only that he was a "fat little boy" (154) who followed James and Sirius around.

This completely (and deliberately) misleading parallel has ultimately affected the fandom's view of Neville more than that of Peter. Actually, Neville hardly ever follows the Trio around, and certainly doesn't fawn over Harry the way Peter did over James -- it's Colin Creevey who plays that role.

It's also our only evidence that Neville is fat. He's otherwise described as "round-faced" (PS/SS).

Those who use this line to support the theory that Neville will turn, or be tempted to turn, sometimes also point to Dumbledore's comment that it took courage for Neville to go against his friends (PS/SS), which was certainly the case for Peter.

'Listen ... you know what Pettigrew's mother got back after Black had finished with him? Dad told me -- the Order of Merlin, First Class, and Pettigrew's finger in a box. (159-160)

One does wonder what ever happened to Peter's "poor mother" (155)... and whether his father was ever on the scene.

'I'll never know what [my parents would] have wanted because, thanks to Black, I've never spoken to them,' said Harry shortly.
There was a silence, in which Crookshanks stretched luxuriously, flexing his claws. Ron's pocket quivered. (160)

JKR wants us to think Scabbers is reacting to Crookshanks, but he can't see Crookshanks, as he's in Ron's pocket! In fact, Peter has been listening to the Trio's chilling discussion of whether Harry should take revenge on Sirius, and shudders in response to Harry's coldly controlled expression of rage and grief. Excellent.

The hearing will take place on April 20th[...] (162)

And it's only Christmas! Like any good bureaucracy, the MoM is hopelessly inefficient.

'Er -- shall I make a cup of tea?' said Ron.
Harry stared at him.
'It's what my mum does whenever someone's upset,' Ron muttered, shrugging. (163)

As usual, Ron's sense of how to be a caretaker comes from Molly. fernwithy had a good post a few days back that discusses this.

'[...]An' -- an' I'm scared o' breakin' the law...' He looked up at them, tears leaking down his face again. 'I don' ever want ter go back ter Azkaban.' (164)

Perhaps an argument for brief stays in Azkaban like Hagrid's -- they can serve as a deterrent, which Muggle prison generally doesn't.

'[Dumbledore] wouldn't spend hundreds of Galleons on [a Firebolt for] me.' (166)

So, Sirius ripped off an item costing hundreds of Galleons. Niiiiiice.

[EDIT: Bad assumption, corrected by commenters. Mea culpa.]

'Crackers!' said Dumbledore enthusiastically, offering the end of a large silver one to Snape, who took it reluctantly and tugged. With a bang like a gunshot, the cracker flew apart to reveal a large, pointed witch's hat topped with a stuffed vulture.
Harry, remembering the Boggart, caught Ron's eye and they both grinned; Snape's mouth thinned and he pushed the hat towards Dumbledore, who swapped it for his wizard's hat at once. (169)

The infamous cracker incident, often brought up in snapesupport debates. Is Dumbledore being intentionally cruel here, or just ignorant of the fact that Snape has no sense of humor about himself? Is Snape really all that ticked off about being embarrassed in front of co-workers and students? Does the fact that Dumbledore doesn't harp on the joke, but gets off it "at once" change anything?

[Trelawney:] 'Never forget that when thirteen dine together, the first to rise will be the first to die!' (169)

A Christian superstition, based on the Last Supper.


Past re-read posts are here.

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Metafandom:

There's been a discussion chez fernwithy on why fans sympathize with the characters they do, split off from the Snape vs Lupin debate in the past few chapters.

Also, from switchknife: Are you an "invisible reader"? In case anyone was curious, I do read, cherish, and answer all feedback. Even if it's only one line. Even if it isn't all positive. If you've ever sent me feedback, you know this.

Feedback for all writers! And gracious responses for all feedbackers!

Comments

[marksykins.livejournal.com]

Ah, one of my favorite chapters, this one. No need to go into yet another Neville-Peter rant, so I'll leave that be. Scabbers quivering in Ron's pocket is one of those moments I completely glazed over in my first reading (and possibly second), but when I picked up on it my "Good show, Joanne!" mentality came roaring back. Those kinds of things kill me.

One does wonder what ever happened to Peter's "poor mother"

I bet Mrs Pettigrew is still alive. She was still alive when Peter "died", he's been in hiding most of the time since. If she didn't die of natural causes and Peter decided to go kill her or something, it's possible we haven't heard of it, but it would have been a fairly recent occurrence.

In fact, I wonder who else has parents that are still around. Remus? Lucius? Snape? JKR has said Harry's grandparents are all dead, which is exactly what I assumed before she confirmed it, and I've gone off on rants because Lily, Petunia, and James were awfully young to have dead parents, even for us regular old humans. Say Lily died when she was 21 (approx.) and Petunia's, I don't know, three or four years older. That makes them both younger than I am. Both of my parents are just barely fifty and I have three surviving grandparents. If wizards are supposed to live so long, where's the rest of this 'grandparent generation' or even the one before? Killed off by Voldemort? Grindewald?

[Trelawney:] 'Never forget that when thirteen dine together, the first to rise will be the first to die!'

Who's first mentioned as up from the table? Is it Harry? I forget.

[(Anonymous)]

Who's first mentioned as up from the table? Is it Harry? I forget.

Harry and Ron, basically at the same time.

[marksykins.livejournal.com]

Eep. Yeah, considering Trelawney's track record is actually pretty good, all things considered, that worries me. Especially given that OotP thing with Sirius being the first to rise.

First actual fandom related comment...

[aristide.livejournal.com]

Considering the long life of Wizards, it's possible that they could have children far later than Muggles.
The Weasley’s are good proof of this and that could easily be the case, in a face-value sort of way that is.

It's also probable that part of Lily and James desire to going into hiding could be spurred by Death Eaters attacking family for information. Lily was muggle born, after all and it could be clued by Petunia’s distaste for the Wizarding world despite her knowledge for it.

Um, yes. That said, I'll go back to lurking in the bowels of fandom.

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

If wizards are supposed to live so long, where's the rest of this 'grandparent generation' or even the one before? Killed off by Voldemort? Grindewald?

Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if there are entire generational cohorts that were destroyed in the campaigns of Voldemort and Grindelwald.

Harry's generation, for one, seems very small -- if he was born at the height of Voldemort's first war, than it makes sense that he was born during a baby bust.

If the casualities for his parents' generation -- out of MWPP+L, two dead, one incarcerated, one in hiding, one free survivor; out of the Slytherins, two dead (Rosier & Wilkes), three incarcerated (Bellatrix and the LeStrange brothers), two free (Snape & Avery) was typical, then the Wizarding World is going through a unaknowledged population crash.

[marksykins.livejournal.com]

the Wizarding World is going through a unacknowledged population crash.

Oh goodness. A world populated entirely by Weasleys is inevitable, isn't it?

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

Even the Weasleys aren't immune to the population bobble. JKR's bad math skills not withstanding, there is a serious gap between Bill and Charlie, and Percy, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny. A gap where you could easily place one or two more children -- who aren't there.