Harry Potter

So yeah, there's a Syltherin standing up for Hogwarts and it's in the book.

@Red Hunter 543

Really? That's fucked. At least Cho got to live.

Lavender was unfortunately pushed into the wrong person first role you see in many romances. Despite Harry/Hermione shippers being blinder than bats, Ron/Hermione was obvious since Book 4, maybe Book 3. As such, when two characters are clearly going to end up together, the author sees it as their job to shove somebody into the mix to complicate things and draw out the drama. Lavender was saddled with that thankless job.

And I'm genuinely sorry to hear she died. The non-Trio members of Harry's Year in Gryffindor were very good support characters. EDIT: Okay, I think I'm remembering this snow. It's been so long. Her being savaged by Greyback was in the book, I'm pretty sure.

Although if we're getting into Lavender, obviously one of her key traits was a profound respect for Professor Trelawney. This, after Book 3, is something you only see with her and Parvati. Yet, in Prisoner of Azkiban, everybody takes Trelawney seriously except Hermione. I always found it strange Ron and the others were off-put by her predictions and then the next year they're just like "haha, she's dumb and crazy." Literally nothing changed but they stopped giving a shit about her.

Edited by Nikkolas on Jun 23rd 2020 at 6:28:16 AM

"Wait, I'm pretty sure the Slytherins did come back in the books. Didn't they come back in with Hogsmeade reinforcements? I literally remember that after reading the book."

The Slytherins aren't described as coming back. Slughorn is, but he's written as leading reinforcements from across the country. The "Slytherins left to gather reinforcements" thing is from an interview and another example of JKR using Word of God for something she neglected — and could have very easily included — to put on the page.

That's because they realized that she doesn't really know anything about Divination. Most of the time her predictions don't mean anything. She does have some ability to make prophecies thanks to her Seer heritage, but she has no control over it. It's not a skill that can be taught.

IIRC, we don't see that much of Divination after Hermione drops it fairly quickly that first year they have it. Some in the exams.

(Am I right about that?)

No denied the fact that Slughorn returned or fought, but there are no explicit reference to any other Slytherin fighting alongside Hogwarts at least not in the version I read.

Adding to this Slytherin was the first to evacuate at the request of McGonagall with Voldemort stating they went to him. IIRC the movie changed the former to them being held in the dungeon and there has been debate on whether or not Voldemort was lying about the latter. Rowling's comment on the matter seems to be something she thought she added or wanted to.

Didn't have strong feelings either way for Lavender, but I can't help feeling that she was done dirty. Not a fan of Romantic False Lead, which can probably tell you feeling about Cho without the Edgecombe bit, and her death was unnecessary bit of WOG.

- - - - -

We see frequent bits of the class until Harry formally drops it, so it gets more focus than the likes of History of Magic, Astrology, and even Charms/Herbology. And according to Firenze, Divination is not something that can be really taught. Sybil is better than she realizes with the bigger issue of presenting herself with unnecessary grandeur.

Edited by Cross on Jun 23rd 2020 at 10:47:22 AM

If you can't learn Divination why is it a class at a school...?

Anyway, JK fumbled pretty much all the romantic relationships in the books. I like Harry/Cho and Ron/Hermione because they are built on a solid foundation over multiple books. Every other romantic relationship in the series is just thrown at us and we're told to accept it. Remus and Tonks? How, why, what? It all happens in the background of one book and so it's totally lacking in any appeal.

i recall people deriding Neville x Luna s fanon Pair the Spares or whatever it's called but they still had more interaction and chemistry than most of the canon couples.

Edited by Nikkolas on Jun 23rd 2020 at 7:53:16 AM

Dumbledore was wondering that, and only the Prophecy kept it going. At this point, it was only there to protect Trelawey and pissing off the government. Most students just treat it as a fluff class.

Edited by Blueace on Jun 23rd 2020 at 10:55:14 AM

You can learn methods of divining, but it's not an exact science (so to speak). Besides, it's a elective so nobody is being forced to take it. More confused as to why Arithmancy is a separate course.

Edited by Cross on Jun 23rd 2020 at 11:03:22 AM

I'm willing to overlook the 'no buildup' aspect of Tonks and Lupin given that the books are from Harry's perspective so it's pretty natural we don't see the beginning of their romance. Okay, and I like the characters individually.

I don't think they were given quite their due as a couple who obviously cared about each other (even if they had issues) when we do see them as a couple, though.

Edited by PointMaid on Jun 23rd 2020 at 11:04:13 AM

Yep, Dumbledore was so unimpressed by his interview with Trelawney that he considered dumping the class entirely. Then she gave a prophecy right in front of him about Voldemort. That's when he realized he needed to keep her safe and so hired her.

Edited by M84 on Jun 23rd 2020 at 11:18:26 PM

Plus while Trelawney absolutely fails at divination outside of her visions, the Centaurs genuinely COULD do it, or something similar to it anyway. It's maybe not something humans can do very well but as the Centaurs would no doubt point out that doesn't inherently make it worthless or pointless.

As for Lavender herself? She was done dirty by the narrative. She was primarily comic relief but once she became a love interest she should have been treated more like an actual character instead of what we got.

Not that Rowling is any good at romance anyways given that she failed at all of them. Harry's parents? Lily hated James until their seventh year when he matured offscreen. Remus/Tonks? Tonks's crush comes out of nowhere in book six. Harry/Ginny? Yeah Ginny had a crush on Harry from the start but up until book five Ginny's barely treated as one of Harry's friends, she suddenly becomes one of his friends in book five, and Harry gets a crush on her out of nowhere in book six. Ron/Hermione? People claim it's been foreshadowed all along but they barely act like friends and neither of them seems to have any feelings for each other until book six. Rowling sucks at romance so Ron/Lavender was doomed from the start.

Edited by Chariot on Jun 23rd 2020 at 1:21:35 PM

Did Katie Bell have anything to do except almost die from that necklace?

I like Ron and Hermione, i feel they are a good couple. Like sure they fight, but it's clear they mean a lot to each other, and complement each other.

I mean, she’s one of the Gryffindor Chasers, but other than that…

The last we hear of Lavender Brown in the narrative, she’s “faintly twitching” or something of the like. Enough for me to believe she survived long enough to get medical attention.

Edited by HeraldAlberich on Jun 23rd 2020 at 7:47:42 AM

Edited by zsmg on Jun 24th 2020 at 11:59:35 AM

Lavender does definitely die in the movie version.

"Jessie Cave was also happy to come back, even knowing that Lavender Brown wasn't going to survive the final film. "She's not very lucky," the actress understates. "She doesn't meet a nice ending. She gets eaten by Fenrir Greyback. Cave recalls her death scene, which took several nights of shooting. "I had the most amazing prosthetic of a scar that looks so scary, it looked like I was actually mauled to death."

And then Pottermore the website Rowling oversees has Lavender presumed dead in may 2 1998. So presumably making it canon in the books that Lavender died.

'Presumed dead' just makes me think she survived, became a werewolf, and had epic werewolf adventures. XD

See now that's the sequel we needed, not cursed child. XD.

Time is wrong, but it would be interesting.

Has anybody ever thought about how relatively little connection Harry and Sirius had? Sirius was really only around for two books as he's barely present in POA. He certainly has no connection to Harry in that book.

Yet Harry - and a lot of the audience - were pretty broken up about his death.

I bring this up mainly because he's credited as a mix of father and brother to Harry. I've read some discussion about who was Harry's "father figure" as not everyone agrees it was Sirius. Other suggestions include Hagrid, Dumbledore and, most interesting to me, Lupin.

Hagrid I don't think fits at all. He's like Harry's little big brother. Dumbledore is...complicated but paternal? I dunno.

But I think Harry and Lupin have a very interesting relationship in POA. Some discount Lupin as Harry's pseudo dad because he never writes to Harry nor is as close to him after Book 3. I think his failure to write to Harry is actually addressed in one of the books. He's apologetic and does have a reason for it. But it's true he and Harry are never as close later on as as they were in Harry's third year.

I have, and when it comes to father figure I usually point to Arthur.

Harry and Sirius's connection is as deep as it because of James. They don't really get enough time with one another to know each other as individuals. That's what makes it even more heartbreaking when he dies, as he was Harry's last "relative" and he lost him before he even got a chance to really know him.

I'd say Sirius was more a cool uncle than a father figure.

Edited by Kickisan on Jun 25th 2020 at 2:30:53 PM