Bit of Ivory

I slept in today. Which is very weird. I usually hear my roommate getting up and getting ready and leaving, which lets me know it’s time for me to get up, so I don’t usually bother setting up an alarm. This morning I heard her alarm go off at 7:00, and then didn’t hear a thing until I woke up at 9:40. This was bad, because I have class at 10:00. I took a mega quick shower, borrowed my sister’s hairdryer in addition to my own (I held one in each hand and dried both sides of my hair at the same time), and got to class 20 minutes late. I wish my hair wasn’t so infernally greasy and that I could skip the shower and hairdrying when I’m in a hurry, but unfortunately, if I don’t wash it every day I resemble Snape.

Now this looks fun, so I think I’ll answer it:

HP Fandom Meme (gacked from R.J. Anderson, among others):

Q: How did you get into Harry Potter?
I got a job at an LDS bookstore in April 2000, and kept getting questions on whether HP was appropriate reading or not. I decided I’d better read them myself to give an honest opinion, so I picked up SS one day when it was slow. Three days later I put down PoA and started counting down the days ’till GoF. Since I worked at the bookstore when GoF came out, and we got our copies in before we were allowed to put them on the shelf, I kept sneaking into the back room and reading. I was on chapter 8 before midnight arrived and I was able to buy my own copy. I finished it at about 7:00 on July 8, 2000.

Q: Read the books?
Probably around 15 times each.

Q: Where will you be on June 21st (release of the Fifth book)?
Standing in line wearing my Ravenclaw costume with my sisters and roommate at my local Barnes & Noble at midnight, of course. (And why is it necessary to put that parenthetical in? Who *doesn’t* know what June 21 means? Sheesh.)

Q: Who are your favorite characters?
Harry, Lupin, and Dumbledore.

Q: Who are your favorite relatively minor characters? (minor meaning they were never the main focus in any one of the books so far)
Ginny, Arthur Weasley, Fred and George.

Q: Have any HP merchandise?
Umm. How much room do I have? I have a Qudditch watch and baseball cap; Hogwarts and Gryffindor t-shirts (bought when that was about the only adult-sized t-shirt available); a HP denim jacket with the logo and a snitch on the back in sequins, a Hogwarts mug, CD case, notebook and poster; a CoS poster with the Trio on it; both of the big HP sticker books, some Bertie Botts that I should probably throw out because all that’s left is the icky ones; a couple of Chocolate Frog cards; several HP bookmarks; Harry, Ron, and Hermione statuettes/waterglobes (thank you, Lou!), a HP tin (thanks again, Lou!), the SS edition of HP trivia, the CoS edition of HP trivia (which actually belongs to my sisters but it’s all in the family), and the Quidditch card game (which is a blast). My sisters also own the Gnome Toss card game (which is WAAAY fun, I’ll be buying my own and bringing it to Nimbus) and HP Uno. I also have an entire Ravenclaw/Penelope Clearwater costume (minus the Prefect badge), and my roomie made me a Penelope Clearwater Barbie (which I will hopefully be posting pics of soon).

I think I got everything.

Q: Do you relate to any characters?
I relate to Hermione’s bookishness, and her tendency to be rather a walking encyclopedia, and Ginny’s unrequited crush.

Q: Do you look like any characters?
Not that I know of.

Q: Do you act like any characters?
I’ve been a Hermione-ish goody-goody at times, but I don’t study nearly as much as she does.

Q: What is your favorite house?
Ravenclaw.

Q: Is there a house you absolutely hate?
Not really.

Q: Honestly, not just because of what house is your favorite, what house would you be in?
Ravenclaw.

Q: Okay, suddenly you are a student in Harry’s year. Pick someone you’d die to date.
Harry. Or Ron.

Q: Who would be your secret HP crush?
Lupin. Especially if he looks like Jeremy Northam, as he always has in my imagination (see my icon).

Q: Is there a character that annoys you to no end, and should you meet them in real life, you’d want to kill them?
We haven’t seen much of him, but I’d like to punch Cornelius Fudge sometimes.

Q: Do you ever compare people to material in the Harry Potter books?
Yes.

Q: Do you ever privately sort people into houses when you meet them?
Not really, although I have sorted most of my friends and family.

Q: Who is your favorite founder?
Don’t really know enough about them to have a favorite. I guess Rowena Ravenclaw.

Q: Do you really believe the statement “Not a witch or wizard in Slytherin doesn’t go bad”?
Actually, didn’t Hagrid say “There wasn’t a witch or wizard who went bad that wasn’t in Slytherin”? I think that’s the right quote. I think Hagrid was probably exaggerating, in any case. I mean, we don’t know for sure that Sirius or Pettigrew were in Grffindor, but either of those people break the rule (Sirius, of course, only being *suspected* of going bad). Doesn’t the narrator say in CoS that Slytherin had turned out more dark wizards than any other? I think that’s probably the more accurate statement.

Q: Do you really blame the founder of the house for all of the out-of-date prejudices that Slytherins seem to have?
Not directly, but by prising people with his own characteristics, those prejudices tend to be perpetuated in his house.

Q: Do you think that Draco Malfoy will actually redeem himself as many fandom folk try to portray him as doing?
Absolutely not.

Q: Do you think that Professor Snape can actually go back to spying?
I think he may be able to pull it off for a while, but he’s going to have to declare his true loyalties sooner rather than later, methinks.

Q: Is there any character you would give your wand arm for, just to see them die? Voldemort doesn’t count.
Peter Pettigrew.

Q: Is there any character that in the event of their death you would have no qualms about holding Rowling hostage until the author writes the next book and finds some way to bring them back?
I wouldn’t go that far, but if she kills Lupin, Ron, or Ginny I will be very upset. Well, no, I take that back. I guess the above would be true if she killed Harry in the end. Because that would mean that Voldemort *won*. I’ll explain more if anyone wants me to.

Q: Do you read fan fiction?
Yes.

Q: Where do you usually haunt for fan fiction?
Sugar Quill.

Q: What is your favorite fandom pairing?
Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione. Really, REALLY good H/G fics are hard to come by, though.

Q: Who was the first pairing you ever read?
Umm. . .what was the pairing in Harry Potter and the Heir of Slytherin? R/H and H/G I guess, although it’s not really a romantic fic. I guess there’s always the Snape/Persephone Green pairing.

Q: Has the slash bug caught you?
Nope, and it never will.

Q: What sort of pairings are you most willing to read?
Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione, Sirius/FOC and Remus/FOC. I don’t buy into the One True Way, sorry folks.

Q: Is there any pairing that when you see it, you want to beat someone over the head with a blunt object? If so, who?
Harry/Hermione and Hermione/Draco. Yuck.

Q: Which rare pairing are you currently on a kick about? In other words, reading every fan fiction of them you can get your hands on?
None. Although I have given into the evil Draco/Ginny bug, thanks to Rising from Ashes (thanks a lot, Arabella and Jedi Boadicea). I always said I’d never like that pairing.

Q: How are you about original characters serving as the main character in a story, particularly in a romance with a canon character?
That works just fine for me. I actually like seeing more of the HP world than just the trio, so OC as main characters are fun. As long as they’re well-written of course, but most OC’s I read are, simply because of the quality of writing on the sites I visit.

Q: What do you think of when people use aliases like DracoMalfoysGurl?
Eww. Who would want to date Malfoy, I mean *really* date him? I wish people would learn to spell, too.

Q: Do you think that there is any elitism among authors in fandom groups? If so, who?
Yes. I don’t feel like naming names around here.

Q: Who is your favorite author?
I can’t pick a clear favorite. I adore R.J. Anderson, Arabella & Zsenya, Firelocks, Raven Snape, Angua, Murasaki99, Gwendolyn, Teri Krenek & Alec Dossetor, and Persephone(Drummergirl).

Q: What makes you love a fan fiction?
Canonicity, humor, excitement, well-drawn characters.

Q: What makes you hate a fan fiction?
I don’t like blatant AU’s. Bad grammar, spelling, and complete disregard for canon come to mind. I also tend to avoid anything with blatant sex and continal bad language.

Q: How often a day to check fan fiction?
At least once an hour when near a computer.