Why couldn't Giles have shackles like any self-respecting bachelor?

Xander ,'Beneath You'


The Buffista Book Club: the Harry Potter iteration  

This thread is a focused discussion group. Please see the first post below for the current topic and upcoming book discussions. While natter will inevitably happen, we encourage you to treat this like a virtual book club and try to keep your posts in that spirit.

By consensus, this thread is reopened specifically to discuss Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It will be closed again once that discussion has run its course.

***SPOILER ALERT***

  • **Spoilers for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows lie here. Read at your own risk***


megan walker - Oct 16, 2007 8:47:39 pm PDT #3004 of 3301
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist

I can't remember it either, but I was referring to major characters that we follow from book to book. It's one reason I felt all along that Snape wasn't evil .


-t - Oct 16, 2007 8:52:06 pm PDT #3005 of 3301
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration

Fair enough. I guess the Blacks were either all redeemed or dead or used their married names. Crabbe and Goyle?


megan walker - Oct 16, 2007 8:56:20 pm PDT #3006 of 3301
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist

Crabbe and Goyle?

I'd call them flunkies rather than proactively evil.


-t - Oct 16, 2007 8:57:49 pm PDT #3007 of 3301
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration

Yeah, I was thinking of them as henchmen myself, but I thought I'd throw them out for completeness's sake.


megan walker - Oct 16, 2007 9:06:12 pm PDT #3008 of 3301
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist

Of course, Goyle might very well be meant to imply a gargoyle, which would be another French image.


-t - Oct 16, 2007 9:09:54 pm PDT #3009 of 3301
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration

Are the French names meant to imply Frenchness or aristocratic/wealthy Britishness? Because I was thinking the latter but I don't know where I got that idea. Probably muddling up that beef vs chicken etymological business.


Hil R. - Oct 16, 2007 9:10:10 pm PDT #3010 of 3301
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l

Peter Pettigrew?


Hil R. - Oct 16, 2007 9:26:45 pm PDT #3011 of 3301
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l

Are the French names meant to imply Frenchness or aristocratic/wealthy Britishness? Because I was thinking the latter but I don't know where I got that idea.

I figured the latter. Plus, French and/or Latin names are good for making a family seem cleary evil without actually going so far as to name them Badfaith or something like that in English. Just about everybody who had name that connoted bad things in English ended up being on the right side.

You can also tell the people who are clearly on the right side by their salt-of-the-earth type English last names -- Potter, Granger, Weasley, Longbottom, Lovegood.

While we're on the topic of names, why all the flower names? Lily, Petunia, Lavender, Pansy, Rose, off the top of my head. I really can't think of any character traits that make those particular flowers appropriate names for those people.


megan walker - Oct 16, 2007 9:35:59 pm PDT #3012 of 3301
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist

Peter Pettigrew?

I did say really evil.

Why all the flower names?

Well, lily implies purity and royalty. Petunia and pansies are "common" flowers. And don't forget the literal flower, Fleur.


Fay - Oct 16, 2007 10:41:59 pm PDT #3013 of 3301
"Fuck Western ideologically-motivated gender identification!" Sulu gasped, and came.

Albus Dumbledore = White Bumblebee; 'cause he's a white hat and 'cause he goes around humming to himself.

Rubeus Hagrid - Rubeus 'cause he's red-faced (from the drinking) and Hagrid because of hagridden, ie looking like you've got the worst hangover known to man (because a witch was using you as a means of transport).

Sybil Trelawney, Minerva McGonnegal, Argus Filch - pretty much ALL the names are purposeful. It's like reading Dickens, or something!