A few months back I got an inquiry about helping to co-host a radio program for KBYU-FM, which is a public classical music station originating from my Alma Mater. I’d been recommended by my thesis advisor, because the subject was Harry Potter. Karen A. Brown, who did her undergraduate degree at BYU, has written and published a book called Prejudice in Harry Potter’s World, and they wanted to interview her for it.

Due to the fact that she was in London and I work full-time, it was hard to schedule a time to actually do the interview, but we finally managed it on Saturday morning. The interview is 26 minutes long (with me providing what I like to call “color commentary”), and will air today at 11:00 AM mountain time on KBYU-FM (89.1 and 89.5 here on the Wasatch Front). It will also be replayed at 8:00 PM, and will eventually be uploaded as a podcast to the Thinking Aloud website. If you’d like to hear it live, you can get the streaming audio from the Classical 89 website. There are hints on the site that it might also be available via BYU radio, which is available on Dish Network at least, but we haven’t been able to find any confirmation of that.

So. Just in case you’re interested.

I’ll do a real update soon, I promise.

Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger Named Among EW’s Favorite Fictional Lovers

I’m grinning like a loon.

Also making the list are some of my favorites, like Lois/Clark, Aragorn/Arwen, Leia/Han, and of course, Lizzy/Darcy.

(Oh, and remember how I was rejoicing in the sweater weather? Yeah. Yesterday’s storm, which was supposed to be nice and short and relatively uneventful turned into a gigantic storm resulting in closed roads and kids getting stuck at school all night and school closures and a commute that usually takes about 25 minutes taking an hour and 25. Oh, Dreaded Lake Effect, how we love thee. In any case, I’ll believe the weatherman’s “this is the last storm for a while!” when I SEE it, thanks. :P)

My title also feels like a good metaphor for how I feel about my life at the moment, but I don’t want to go into that.

I’ve been spending a lot of online time at Ravelry, which is still in beta mode but which is absolute crack for knitters and crocheters. I know is on there, but other than her, I have no friends (which kinda defeats the social-networking side of the whole site). Is anyone else in yet? Or are you still waiting for your invite (they’re getting closer to going public)? Or have you never even heard of it until now?

I threw my back out last Saturday. It was almost better on Monday. Tuesday it was as bad as it’s ever been. Massive amounts of ibuprofen and Thermacare wraps make getting through the day bearable, but if it doesn’t get better soon, I guess I’ll need to call the chiropractor. Grr. But– my insurance now covers chiropractic visits! Hurrah!

Speaking of insurance, I went to the doctor for the first time in a year on Friday. Got my thyroid levels checked (normal). Got a referral to radiology to get an ultrasound, to check for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. If I have it, then the treatment is birth control pills (which I’m already on, and have been for years) and controlling weight (which I’m already trying to do). So even if I have it, nothing will change, except knowing that I have it. Joy.

Having insurance again is nice.

Overall, I like my job, but there are two definite drawbacks. One is that I have to listen to KOSY (click on the link to see what music I am subjected to, and feel my pain!) for 40 hours a week. Not only do they play the same songs every day, sometimes they play the same songs more than once in the SAME day! I swear, I’m going to go insane. And I just can’t WAIT until they switch over to all Christmas music, all the time in OCTOBER. *screams* Ahem. Anyway, the other drawback is that, unlike most office jobs, I can’t wake up in the morning and say “I can use another half-hour of sleep. I’ll go in at 8:30 and only take a half hour lunch.” I can’t just take off early to go to a doctor’s appointment. I can’t suddenly decide to take a weekend trip. And I feel like I can’t call in sick unless I truly can’t sit up. Because any time I’m not there, someone else has to cover for me. Which is a huge inconvenience to everyone else. I don’t like feeling guilty because I have a doctor’s appointment.

Of course, if I weren’t such a responsible person, I wouldn’t feel guilty. Being good is such a drag sometimes.

I’ve got two HP plot bunnies that I want to write– one a genficlet about Kingsley visiting the Muggle PM, and one a romantic H/G piece set a few weeks after the end of the battle– and I just. can’t. write. them. The H/G fic was progressing at the rate of 1 paragraph per day when my creativity completely died. It seems, then, that my writer’s block has progressed past essays and into fic, which is very bad news for my thesis. If I can’t even write H/G fluff, how can I write criticism? *sigh*

Speaking of my thesis, I need help from some of you. But that can wait for another post.

I saw Hairspray the other day, and Stardust on Monday night. Both excellent movies. Except I didn’t like John Travolta in drag in Hairspray. Totally ruined my suspension of disbelief. Robert de Niro in Stardust, on the other hand, was hilarious. And speaking of Stardust– where has Charlie Cox been all my life? And do you think he’d object to a slightly older woman?

My recreational reading has taken an Austenish turn lately. I’ve started reading the Jane Austen Mystery series by Stephanie Barron, and actually find the books amusing. She does a pretty good job of capturing Austen’s voice, IMO. Then yesterday I read Austenland by Shannon Hale, which, despite its not-so-subtle insults of Northanger Abbey, I found thoroughly delightful. I was quite giddy at the romance, even. Almost giddy enough to forgive the Northanger Abbey digs. Hale really gets the Austen fangirl, though. Really.

I also started another reread of Pride and Prejudice. I swear I started before I read Austenland, though.

I don’t plan on seeing Becoming Jane until my sister can get me in for free. I hope I can set aside my prejudice and enjoy it, but I don’t hold much hope. I’m just so annoyed at the message it’s sending– that Jane couldn’t have written those books unless she’d actually experienced a tragic love story, and that apparently she has next to no imagination at all, anyway, since most of her best scenes, lines, and characters are copied from her life. That really, really bugs me. But that wouldn’t be so bad if Hollywood hadn’t also marketed it as 100% TRUFAX, when actually it’s (as Mags of Austenblog likes to say) an almost totally Made Up Story. Grr.

In much, much happier news– BYU Football officially begins a week from Saturday. I’ve been haunting fanboards. I’ve been eagerly gobbling up practice reports. I attended the Women’s Football Clinic and the Big Blue Bash. I nearly kissed our season tickets. I’ve changed my cell ringtone to “Rise and Shout,” and I get giddy every time I hear it. I ADORE football.

Anyway. I’m just going to post some random things that I’ve either been doing or thinking lately. ‘Cause my life has gotten rather boring lately.

I’m thoroughly sick of listening to KOSY 106.5 for 40 hours a week. They play the same dumb songs every day. And even when they play a song I like– a Carpenters song, or a few that I’ve got on my iPod– I’ve heard them all so much lately that I don’t even enjoy them any more. And why, why, do people remake stupid 60s songs? There are lots and lots of really good songs that came out of the 60s, but do people cover them? No! Instead we get “Groovy Kind of Love” and “On Broadway” and other such songs that weren’t that good to begin with, and certainly don’t improve with a modern cover. Just. . . stop, people. If you were taking these mediocre songs and making them better, I wouldn’t complain! But instead, you’re making them worse.

And if I never hear another Elton John or Rod Stewart song, it’d be too soon. Unfortunately, they play at least 3 a day. Hmph.

Vanilla Coke is back (well, it’s now “Coca-Cola Vanilla” and “Coke Zero Vanilla”, but it tastes the same). This is both wonderful and terrible news. Wonderful because I love Vanilla Coke. Terrible because I try not to drink caffeine, and I haven’t been drinking as much of it since Vanilla Coke was discontinued. Woe.

My nails and cuticles look terrible. I just bought some cuticle cream to try to whip them into shape. I don’t have much hope though– I’ve never been able to make them look anything but terrible. And my nails are so brittle. I guess I need more Vitamin E in my diet or something. Anyway, these horrible horrible cuticles have been catching on my knitting lately, so something must be done.

Speaking of knitting, I’ve been working on a silk shawl as a gift for Jen’s wedding (which was on Wednesday and which was beautiful and at which I cried and which I still haven’t recovered from, and all I did was serve cake for an hour and a half) and it’s turning out absolutely beautifully. Here’s a pic I took with my cellphone camera when I’d only done a few repeats. It’s much bigger now. I was trying to get it done for the wedding, but hurrying made me make stupid mistakes, which took more time to correct than just taking my time in the first place would have, so it didn’t get done. I am glad that I did the practice shawl (most of it, I still have to do the edging on two of the sides) beforehand, though, because if I hadn’t already had experience with the kinds of aggravating things that happen when knitting lace, I think I would have given up on it long ago. Anyway, I think I might be able to finish it by the time she gets back from her honeymoon, though. Or shortly thereafter.

Once I get that finished, I’ve got baby House sweaters for the niece and nephew to knit in time for the DH release, Lisa’s Hufflepuff scarf to finish in time for the OotP premiere, and then– I’ve got so many lovely projects on tap! For my birthday I requested gift certificates and/or money to spend on knitting things. So, in the past few weeks, I’ve bought lace blocking wires, 4 more sets of Knitpicks Options needle tips in the sizes I use most (6, 7, 8, and 9, if anyone was wondering) as well as another set of 24″ cables and a new set of 40″ ones (and it’s a good thing, too, because I certainly need the length for the shawl!), a set of wooden cable needles, and a magnetic chart keeper. And those are just my notions! I also bought the book No Sheep for You, which had good info on silk and also has a lot of cute patterns that I want to make. And yarn! I got three balls of this lovely, lovely DK-weight merino superwash wool that I can’t remember the name of to make an Irish Hiking Scarf (hence the cable needles– I haven’t done cables yet, and this is my project to learn), a ball of sock yarn to make my very first pair of socks with (haven’t decided what pattern to use on that yet), two skeins of a burgundy-colored laceweight merino wool to make Christmas-present shawls for my grandmothers (I’m planning on using the Shetland pattern from Victorian Lace Today for them), a cone of laceweight 100% silk yarn in Citron from Colourmart for a shawl for my mom (we haven’t decided on a specific pattern yet), and two cones of heavy-laceweight silver gray yarn from Colourmart for a Cap Shawl from VLT for me. And I still have two balls of Rowan Kidsilk Haze that I bought in Laguna Beach that’s wanting to become a Victorian Ruby scarf from VLT. But I don’t know when I’ll actually get to that.

Luckily, I still have a lot of time to knit at work. Because I’m still trying to work on my thesis at home. Which is hard. And which I haven’t done much of. Next week, I shall buckle down. Yes, I will.

And who knew that when I decided to learn how to knit so I could make myself a Ravenclaw scarf, that it would turn into this? I certainly didn’t.

I still haven’t written up my trip to Laguna, or to New York. But I have uploaded my pictures to my Flickr account. Laguna is here and New York is here. Haven’t finished writing up descriptions for all of them, though. I think some of my “artsy-fartsy”-type landscape and scenery shots turned out rather well, even with my point-and-shoot digital. One of these days I’ll bring my SLR on a trip. I hardly ever have room for it. Not that I really know how to use it, anyway.

I really need to reserve my copy of Deathly Hallows. I’ve been putting it off because plans were still hazy, but there’s not much time left! Less than a month! EEK!!

I need to see Pirates 3 again. I’ve only seen it thrice! Not nearly enough.

The owner of my place of employment comes in rarely, but he never fails to make me feel like he thinks my IQ is significantly lower than it actually is, and that I’m doing everything wrong (when I’m not). One of the drawbacks of doing a job that’s below my skill level, I suppose.

Speaking of work, they’ve been asking me to create more and more specially-formatted documents lately. And all I have to work with is Word, which SUCKS when what you’re really doing is desktop publishing, not word processing (actually, it sucks for word processing, too, but that’s another rant). When my boss gets back (she and half the rest of the company are on vacation/at conferences this weekend), I might ask if they’d be willing to spring for something rather better– especially if they’re going to do that newsletter that they’ve been talking about since I was hired. I don’t suppose InDesign would be a viable option, but I might be able to talk them into Publisher. Which would be better than nothing.

The other day in a fit of boredom I read The Mysteries of Udolpho on Project Gutenberg. Now, I knew from past experience (and several classes discussing the Gothic Novel) that Ann Radcliffe’s brand of Gothic is more of the Scooby-do type (where everything that seems supernatural has a rational explanation), but her style of giving these explanations is maddening. At one point, the heroine, Emily (and as a nitpick– if the heroine were really in 16th-century France, as the novel purports, her name would have been spelled Emilie. Just sayin’), lifts a black veil covering what is supposedly a picture, and faints dead away. She then spends the rest of the book nearly fainting with horror over what she saw. But the reader doesn’t even get to know what it was that she thought she saw until almost the last page of the book, and then it’s explained in the same breath as what it was she actually saw. Which felt a lot like being conned rather than tricked. I didn’t get that feeling with The Romance of the Forest, though. So maybe it’s unique to Udolpho. Anyway, I’m glad I read it, as I now understand the references to it in Northanger Abbey that much better, but it’s a horrid book– and not in the sense Catherine uses it, either.

And “horrid” is a word that we Yanks don’t use much. Which is a shame, because it’s much more compact than “horrible.” I always think about this fact when listening to the Keane B-side “The Way You Want It,” because they use “horrid,” and it’s just another sign of their Britishness coming out. Which I love.

I’ve been helping my mom find and plant (we both do the finding, but I’ve been doing most of the planting– mom’s back has been bothering her. The doctors think she has a herniated disc, which stinks) perennials in our yard lately. It’s quite fun. Right now we’ve gotten mostly shrubs and ornamental grasses, but we’re hoping to plant some flower seeds in the fall. In the meantime, our strawberries ripened, and they were (and are, since we made jam and froze them) delicious. They were kinda dinky, but so much sweeter than the big ones you get in stores. Mmm. Now to plant some raspberry bushes. . .

My other BFF Nicole is in town for a family reunion and for Jen’s wedding, and tomorrow we’re going to go to Kneaders for lunch. I’m really, really looking forward to it. MMM, fresh roasted turkey on foccacia with Kneader’s sauce. And I’m saving my WW points so I can indulge in a mini Key Lime tart, too. Or maybe a mini strawberry tart. We shall have to see when we get there.

Speaking of points, I’ve re-lost about half of the weight I regained between all my vacations and starting work full-time (which at first meant eating out every day, although I’m getting better at that). Slowly but surely, the weight will come off! Although it’s leaning more towards slowly these days. I bought an incentive dress the other night, though. It’ll look great about 10 pounds from now. The new Kashi frozen entrees are absolutely delicious, are very filling, and a nice change of pace from Lean Cuisines (which I rather overdosed on, hence the eating-out-too-much phenomenon). Snacking on sugar snap peas is also a good thing. The new Hostess 100 Calorie chocolate cupcake packs are only 1 point per package (if you only eat one. If you eat two, then it’s 4 points for both :P), while the yellow cake ones are 2. Packs of mini Pringles are 3. I’ve been enjoying all of them in moderation lately.

It occurs to me that this post would be more effective when broken up over several days. I bet I’d get more comments that way.

Maybe that’ll give me the incentive I need to post more.

1) School: Pretty much the same. What with starting a new job and still being quite exhausted, not much progress has been made on the thesis. But things are looking up for this week. I’m determined not to let myself get stressed out about it again, as it will simply exacerbate the problem.

2) Job: Loving it. Everyone is really friendly and they think I’m great (I’m in a fair way to getting a big head with all the praise I get). The phones are anywhere from steady to nonexistent, but never off-the-hook. During the time between phone calls I’m free to do whatever I like. They have little projects for me every now and then (they’re already quite enamoured of my editing skills), but if there’s nothing that needs to be done, I can read, play solitaire, surf the web, whatever. So yeah, good job for me. I’ll admit that it was tough getting up in time to be there at 8 every morning, but that’s the beauty of this switching-off deal– I only have to do that for a week. I am trying to be up *by* 8 on my afternoon-weeks, though.

3) Family: We’re doing well. My niece and nephew are about the most adorable things ever. We’re trying to nail down dates for a family vacation (including both married couples and my Grandma By) to upstate New York at the end of April/first of May. I’m way excited.

4) Friends: Good. Jen has invited me to join her and a couple other friends for a trip to Laguna Beach over Easter, which I’m very excited about. In the meantime, I hang out with her once a week at Institute. The trip to California will include a day at Disneyland, so I’ll get to see Nicole while I’m down there as well.

5) Fandom: Still working at Scribbulus, and am very excited that HarryPotterSeven.com is up and running. I’m the one in charge of making the .pdf version, and I’m trying to work on that a little every day– so hopefully it won’t be too long until you can download all of our brilliance as an e-book. I’m also doing a bit more at SQ (which I basically ignored for several months). I guess the excitement of a new book is bringing me back to my roots. I’m, unfortunately, a few days behind on the reading, but I hope to catch up soon. (As an aside for my Austen-loving friends: the more I hear about the upcoming Becoming Jane movie, the more I want an undead monkey around to shoot. Grrr.)

6) Church: I was unexpectedly called into the Bishop’s office last week, and I got a new calling. I’m no longer teaching the adult Sunday School class– instead I’m a Ward Missionary (which mainly involves working with those within your ward boundaries that are members but not currently attending). I’ve never done anything like it before, so I’m a bit nervous, but also excited. I’m going to miss teaching, though. While I was in the interview, my Bishop (who is a close family friend– the guy who made my Ravenclaw cake at Wahleecon, actually), decided I needed a priesthood blessing (which, for the unfamilar, is where a man holding the priesthood lays their hands on your head and tells you what God needs you to hear– comfort, healing, and advice), and made me sit right down and have one. It was one of the more amazing blessings I’ve ever had. There was comfort, yes, but there was more advice. He basically told me I need to change nearly everything about my life (pray and read my scriptures more consistently, go to bed earlier and wake up earlier, eat healthier, exercise, and many more things), and that if I did these things, God would bless me in ways I’d never thought possible–including being able to write my thesis. So, I’m trying. It’s slow going, changing your life, but I know it will be worth it. This week I worked on the prayer and scripture study, and also the adjusting of sleeping patterns. Next week I’m adding in exercise. I’ve already been eating better (because of Weight Watchers–I’ve lost nearly 15 pounds so far, yay!), but I’m trying to do better at eating natural foods instead of processed stuff. So, yes. I’m on my way to a new me.

7) Hobbies: I’ve bought a fabulous new book called Victorian Lace Today, and I want to knit pretty much every single project in it. I’m starting easy, though (the very first project in the book, to help me learn how to follow a chart and such), and hope to be able to make one of the shawls as a wedding present for . I even bought some 100% silk yarn from India off eBay the other day, and I can’t wait until it arrives. I’m working on a very simple practice shawl for my sister right now, then I’ll make a more complicated one for myself, and then do Jen’s. I finally went to a new yarn store I heard about back around Thanksgiving (I’ve avoided it until now, because I didn’t have any money and knew I’d be entirely too tempted if I even set foot in it) and– I’m pretty much in love. For your basic Cascade or Plymouth or Lamb’s Pride stuff, it’s not a great store, but if you want anything exotic, three wishes Fiber Arts is the store for you. They’ve got Noro from Japan and Bamboo Silk and gorgeous 100% merino superwash wool, and– even more cool– roving to spin your own yarn. They teach classes in not just knitting and crocheting, but also weaving, spinning, dyeing, and tatting. It makes me want to be independently wealthy. I’ve never seen so many yarns I want to buy. I think that pretty much covers it. I’m going to try to update once a week, now, so you’ll hear from me soon. Great big hugs to everyone on my flist who needs them– and thanks for your love and concern. It’s helped a lot.

Just got this e-mail:

Dear Emily,

Lumos Programming is pleased to inform you that programming space has
become available for your presentation entitled, “The Sorting Hat,
Ideology, and Free Will”. We estimate that we can provide
approximately 25 minutes of programming time.

This offer is only valid if you are currently registered for Lumos.
We request your response accepting this offer no later than 23 April
2006. We look forward to hearing from you.

*does happy presenting dance of joy*

*plots ways to make BYU help pay for my vacation*

We’re reading Byron in romantic lit. I’ve decided that I’m not particularly thrilled with Byron when he’s being sterotypically Byronic. I much prefer him in his satiric moods. Maybe it’s all the House I’ve been watching lately. Or not. I’ve always loved the snark. Anyway, Childe Harold’s Pilmgrimage? Meh. The Vision of Judgement? Oh yeah, baby.

I’ve been looking at the University of Colorado-Boulder as a possible place to do my doctorate. They’ve got a great romanticism program, apparently. And it wouldn’t be too far away, and the climate agrees with me (being pretty much comparable to where I am now). I wonder if I’ve got a chance at making it in? Hmm. In any case, I’m going to have to study for the GRE Literature subject test. Blah.

I got a phone call yesterday from the guy who heads the Center for the Study of Europe at BYU. Apparently my theory discourse prof from spring term recommended me to help them put out a newsletter. I’m seriously considering taking it on, even though I already have too darn much to do. It’d only be another 3-5 hours a week, and I think I’d like it better than the rewriting project, which probably won’t last much longer anyway. I think I could do it if I exercised more self-discipline than I am currently. I told him I’d let him know on Monday, though.

My fellow Mormons will understand this one: I’ve been asked to speak in Stake Conference in two weeks. The general session. As the first speaker. The topic is “Faith in Jesus Christ.” Gah.

I’m liking the new Leaky design, except for the extra clicks necessary to read the full news items. I suppose I’ll get used to that. In all other ways it’s beautiful and cool– although the Harry portrait in the corner creeps me out a bit.

I’m fully satisfied with the OoTP casting we’ve seen thus far. Isn’t Evanna Lynch absolutely perfect? And I adore the fact that she’s a die-hard HP fan. She’ll be a wonderful Luna. Can’t wait to see her in radish earrings. First glance on all the other roles gets me a thumbs-up, too. I like the girl they picked for Tonks, and Imelda Staunton is absolutley inspired.

I’m getting anxious about Lumos presentations, even though I know they’ll probably come out closer to the end of the month than the beginning. Grr. We need to get arrangements finalized for our Shakespeare trip, too. Anyone else want to accompany me, Jen, Pam, and maybe Katrina to the Utah Shakespearean Festival from July 24-26? It’ll be awesome!

On a related note, my sister-in-law’s due date is currently July 31. It would royally suck if she had the baby while I’m in Vegas. Hope for an early delivery!

Wanna see what I’m hoping to say? Click the link below!

Title: The Sorting Hat, Ideology, and Free Will

Name and affiliation: Emily Bytheway, Brigham Young University

Contact information: wahlee@gmail.com 801-***-****

Type of presentation: Individual presentation

Abstract:

The Sorting Ceremony is perhaps the most important event in a young wizard or witch’s life. As Professor McGonagall states: “The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room� (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, 114). But the Sorting and the House system does more than provide a community for the students: it gives them an identity that follows them throughout their lives, a heritage to be proud of. By fostering this identity through encouraging House pride and inter-house competition, the Hogwarts House system promotes the values each House supposedly embodies, and perpetuates the ideology of the Founders.

Marxist critic Louis Althusser believed that the primary way a regime, government, or ruling body gained—benevolent and malevolent—and maintains their power and control of a populace was through ideology—the way a person views his or her world. By using such institutions as the church, the family, and the school, a government is able to train young people to think as it would wish them to think, and to behave as they would wish them to behave. Hogwarts itself serves this function for the wizarding world at large, especially for those students who, like Harry, did not grow up in that society and do not know its values and rules. In the same way, the process of Sorting the students into houses based on their talents, abilities, and values enables the ideology of the Founders of those houses to be passed down from generation to generation. Year after year Gryffindors learn to value bravery, Ravenclaws take pride in intellectual pursuits, Hufflepuffs appreciate hard work and loyalty, and Slytherins prize ambition—and purity of blood. Families tend to end up in the same houses, as students of each house teach their children to prize that which they were taught to prize.

This presentation will explore in detail the balance between the pull of ideology and the concept of free will as it relates to the House system: both the ways in which it succeeds, as in the Weasleys, and the instances where it fails, such as with Sirius Black. Of particular interest is how the House system influences those who were raised outside of the wizarding world, especially Harry Potter and Tom Riddle. Through the act of Sorting, Rowling makes it clear that though ideology may have a strong influence, free will can and does have the final say.

Summary:

This presentation will reflect upon the ways in which the Hogwarts House system allows the ideology of the Founders to be perpetuated through the generations. Using the theories of Louis Althusser as a framework, we will explore how the House system perpetuates the values of each house and the ways in which it fails to do so. Of particular interest will be the effects of the House system upon those who were not raised in the wizarding, especially Tom Riddle and Harry Potter.

Bio:

Emily Bytheway (Wahlee) has been a member of the HP fandom since 2001. The author of several short fanfics (mostly Harry/Ginny fluff), she hopes one day to complete her work-in-progress depicting Albus Dumbledore at age 11. Emily participated in two panel discussions at Nimbus 2003: Sail On, Good Ship (the R/Hr vs. H/Hr ship debate) as the 2nd chair for the R/Hr side, and Can Any Wisdom Come From Wizardry? which explored Harry Potter and Christianity. Emily received her BA and MA in English from Brigham Young University, and hopes one day to complete a PhD in Rhetoric and/or Literature.

AV equipment: Projector for laptop

Time estimate: 30 min

I’ve spent mucho time at the Quill, stayed up late and slept in, gone shopping (I got two new pairs of boots! Yay!), met up with my fellow SQUtah Quillers, locked my keys in the trunk at said summit and had to have my mom rescue me, played games and ate pizza and the chocolate waffles Alton Brown made in the Waffler episode (yummy!) at my brother’s and sister-in-law’s, and generally goofed off. I like it. I like it a lot.

I got my grades, finally. A- in rhetoric, A in British mystery writers. Whee. I can handle that.

Has anyone listened to the newest Pottercast? Hear anyone you know? No? Well, listen at about 30 min, and you just might hear yours truly gushing about H/G. I hope I don’t sound like a complete idiot. And I really didn’t mean to plug This Moment, really I didn’t. Melissa stampeded me into it.

Now, I need to go make a spice cake to take to my grandma’s tonight. We gave her Persuasion for Christmas, and she doesn’t like to watch movies alone, so we’re going up for dinner, and we’re bringing dessert. I always like watching Persuasion.

Seeing GoF has reawakened my love for HP. Not that it was ever particularly asleep. Anyway, I’ve been re-reading canon. Sometimes I forget how truly delightful canon is. JKR is a friggin’ genius, no matter what some people say. On almost every page is a reminder of why I love this series so much– the whimsy of Dumbledore, the antics of Fred and George, the swottiness of Hermione, the Ron-ness of Ron, the mixture of sweetness and archness that is Ginny, and above all, the adorableness of Harry.

So I’m rereading HBP, and I just read chapter 9, The Half-Blood Prince. And something struck me.

Harry doesn’t really have an unfair advantage, in using Snape’s old book. Rather, everyone else has an unfair disadvantage, with Slughorn.

Now, now, hear me out.

What Harry has is the same advantage he and the rest of the school has been enjoying for the past 14 years– the guidance of Severus Snape. Harry has an advantage, yes, but only because the rest of the students are now at a disadvantage.

You see, even though Harry, in his first year, bought Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger, we never actually see him using any recipes from it. In fact, in OotP, Snape explicity puts the recipe on the chalkboard:

“Today we will be mixing a potion that often comes up at Ordinary Wizarding Level: the Draught of Peace, a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. Be warned: if you are too heavy-handed with the ingredients you will put the drinker into a heavy and sometimes irreversible sleep, so you will need to pay close attention to what you are doing.” On Harry’s left, Hermione sat up a little straighter, her expression one of utmost attention. “The ingredients and method ???” Snape flicked his wand “??? are on the blackboard ???” (they appeared there) “??? you will find everything you need ???” he flicked his wand again “??? in the store cupboard ???” (the door of the said cupboard sprang open) “??? you have an hour and a half???. Start.” (OotP, 232-233, emphasis mine)

On the other hand, Slughorn works exlusively from Advanced Potion Making. The recipe and the method are Libatius Borage’s, not Severus Snape’s. But Harry’s using Snape’s recipe, just like he’s been using for the first 5 years. Hermione’s still doing better than most of the class, but not as well as she used to when Snape was teaching. Harry, on the other hand, is doing much better–not only because he’s using the Half-Blood Prince’s book, because he’s been using Snape’s recipes and methods forever– but because Snape himself isn’t there. It’s a combination of the two.

It’s a testament to what could have been, I think, had Snape been able to set aside his feelings about James Potter and actually bothered to evaluate what Harry was really like. Harry was kept from suceeding by Snape’s teaching methods, not by any lack of ability in Potions. Of course, with Slughorn he would have failed because of inferior instructions. Harry’s success with the combination of an encouraging environment and superior instructions proves that had Harry and Snape been able to have a positive relationship rather than a negative one, great things could have happened.

Anyway. Food for thought.