15 February 2013

Harry Potter HFriday - The End of PoA



We have reached the end of Prisoner of Azkaban and have therefore been introduced to the majority of the major characters in this series. Sure, there are a few more to come – some of them near and dear to my heart – and some who appear minor FOR NOW and will become major later.


This is the genius of JK, my friends. Drink it in.

I have another issue I’d like to address: I know we’ve sort of beaten the money thing to death, BUT!  What if tuition at Hogwarts were paid by wizard taxes? Harry and Hermione and Dean Thomas would go to Hogwarts essentially for free (I guess?) but then when they got out they’d have wizarding jobs and would then pay wizard taxes – not the regular Muggle ones.

This could explain why no one mentions the actual tuition – just paying for books and wands and stuff. Also, it upholds principles of education with which I agree.

Wizard taxes and dragon heartstrings are the things that keep me up at night, friends.


Okay, so are we ready to jump on our respective Sirius hating/loving bandwagons? Personally I think he’s a terrible role model for Harry and doesn’t consider his safety as a godfather should. On the other hand, let’s do a little Googling:


Ok, so Lily had Harry when she was 20, and Harry is now 13, so Sirius is 33 years old when PoA takes place, but ONE COULD ARGUE that he’s really still only 20ish, as it’s pretty well established (by me) that one does not mature properly when one is being tormented by dementors. Plus his own childhood was mumbleBOOKFIVEmumble, so I’m filing him under “doing the best he can with the little he’s got.”

Point of Order #1: we are all older than Lily and James when they died, and I (at least) am older than Sirius. This freaks me out a little. (Also, the Marauders were awful but they were children. Many of whom never had the opportunity to mature for one reason or another, and we will talk about this later.)

Point of Order #2: If Hagrid was a 3rd year 51 years ago (in CoS), then he’s something like 64, and while I think he was VERY well cast in the movies, there is no way that Hagrid is 64 years old. Conversely, Gary Oldman is SO OLD to play Sirius. The casting director played a little fast and loose with the adults, is what I’m saying. Not that I object, but it does make me feel ancient to think that Sirius is supposed to be MY AGE in these movies and look at Gary Oldman in the role. It’s like thinking you’re going to be played by Emma Stone and instead it’s Glenn Close. Still amazing (actually more so), just… we’re not in Kansas or our 20’s any more, children. Someone bring me some Botox.

 9.5 of 11 Missing Hedwigs (seriously, where was Hedwig this whole time?!?)

BRING ON THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP! 


Comments (24)

Loading... Logging you in...
  • Logged in as
YES so much to Sirius being unable to mature and be a fully functional adult after more than a decade of dementor psychological torture.

I am so torn on the casting in the movie cos I LOVE Oldman and Rickman but yeah, they are both way too old to play these 33 year olds. ALSO I read something that Bill & Charlie Weasley would have been at school with the Marauders, which seems like some odd overlap there. And a big age gap between Bill and Ginny. Poor Mrs. Weasley.
3 replies · active 647 weeks ago
OMG that Bill and Charlie thing just blew my mind a little. Maybe a lottle. I'm going to have to look that shit up now instead of doing my work.

What the hell.
I found this link that goes over their ages, based on what Rowling has said and how the ages match up with what happens in the story. http://www.hp-lexicon.org/essays/essay-quidditch-...
Lessons in Close Reading, brought to you by Harry Potter.

I think we could probably bump it forward a year or two - Charlie could have been in his, say, 5th or 6th year when they last won the cup. But EVEN SO, Bill would still have been at Hogwarts at the same time as the Mauraders.

So weird.
I mean... Does there even have to be tuition? It's a by invitation only school, so it seems kind of churlish to be like 'come here and GIVE US YOUR MONEY'. So yeah, maybe it's like a wizard state school. Probs.

I JUST DON'T KNOW THE ANSWERS TO ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS TIKA!
4 replies · active 647 weeks ago
Well if there's one thing I've learned as an American, it's that SOMEONE is paying for everything!

And you are British! Why don't you know these things?!? LAURA!!! All that real Cadbury's and clotted cream is fogging your brain. Get it together.
Ughhhhh I hate clotted cream. Actually, all kinds of cream except ice cream. Which is surely American.

LOOK all I knows is that we have BOTH schools you have to pay for and schools you don't! So... I'm thinking the wizard government funds Hogwarts, there I said it!
Actually Boyfriend+'s school was private BUT every student there had to get in on full scholarship. So I guess someone was paying but it wasn't the students (or their families). And since it wasn't a public school it didn't come from taxes.

...Who the hell was paying for that school...
Watch out, guys...we have REAL LIFE mysteries now. Look what all your question-asking has led to!
I am bothered by how young James and Lily were. That is crazy sad. And makes me feel old. And also makes me wonder when James did all this niceness everyone says he did when he was alive. I guess he just COMPLETELY REFORMS and we never see it. Alas.
I didn't realize there was anything in canon about Bill & Charlie being at school during the time of the Marauders. I don't see how that could be right. Unless they were first & second years during the Marauders' 7th year, but even that doesn't add up in terms of Mr & Mrs Weasleys' ages.

Tika, wizarding taxes and their equivalent have keep me awake nights ever since I read these books. I think we're in good company.
2 replies · active 647 weeks ago
I thought Mr and Mrs Weasley were at school with the Marauders, tbh. Although now that I think about it, that doesn't make sense either. But I never really grasped how young James and Lily were. AND NEITHER DID JK, if you ask me!
The thing I read got the Weasleys' ages based on the fact that Bill & Charlie had already left Hogwarts when Harry was starting and also based on how long it had been since the Griffs last won the house cup, when Charlie was seeker.
"Wizard taxes and dragon heartstrings are the things that keep me up at night, friends."

Favorite.

Ok. OKAY. I'll buy that argument about Sirius. But he's still not an appropriate guardian for Harry. His suckiness is just understandable.
JK AND NUMBERS = EPIC FAILURE!

I tried to sort out whether Bill and Charlie would have been at school with the Marauders after the re-read of the first book and it just made my head hurt because I'm pretty sure JK didn't plan for them to, but there is definitely an overlap.

I also don't think she considered the ages of the Marauders/Snape until much later, so they read as much older adults than they actually are (the Dursleys especially) and I think that's why they were cast as so much older in the films.

Love that final gif btw!
3 replies · active 647 weeks ago
Rowling had a lot of say in the movie casting, didn't she? Cos if so, that definitely suggests she had imagined Snape, Marauders, etc as much older than she actually made them in the books
Yea, but her focus may have been in a different place - adult ages are easier to fudge (so to speak...) thank kids', and getting 1) English and 2) famous actors probably superseded any age issues with the grown-ups.

Although the other things - like her telling World Book Night that Bill, Charlie, and Percy are all 2 years apart - point to just bad math. Which is FINE because HP is GREAT over all.
That's a good point. Since the kids are the focus of the films I wouldn't be surprised if that's where all her power went, while the adults were probably cast by the production team to get the star power that they needed.

JK should take a night class in basic addition. Jeez.
Good lord are we ever not in our 20s. It hits 8:00 and I'm like, How soon can I respectably go to bed.

Good call on the taxes.
That is ridiculous that we're all older than Lily and James were when they died. Holy crap - I'm just getting over being older than Harry!

I think your school explanation makes complete sense.
My stance on Sirius: great as a friend, passionate as an Order member, but terrible as a "parent/guardian". Azkaban isn't the best place to mature into a nurturing grownup.

I'm TOTALLY with you on the casting - yes, Gary Oldman and Alan Rickman are AWESOME, but I was expecting hot British 33 year old professors! Boo.
Gah, you've made me feel old! I'm 33 and I always considered Sirius (in the movie) and Snape (again, in the movie) to be way older than I am. Share out a little botox love, ok?
Hmm... I feel like the wizarding taxes would need to be supplemented for Muggle-borns' education... maybe there's an arrangement where some Muggle taxes are transferred over? Or maybe there are education vouchers, lol. The tuition thing drives me crazy too.

You make a good point about Sirius's level of maturity. If anything, I'd imagine that he would regress in Azkaban, which could explain why he's not as great a role model for Harry as he could be. I don't think he's terrible, but he's not the best. He's nowhere near Lupin levels.

Post a new comment

Comments by