Comments on: Percy and Padfoot

By: Jose Lopes

Jose Lopes — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:48:23 +0000

Another subject: Hermione corrects Ron’s essay about Jupiter’s moons “and it’s Io that’s got the volcanoes”. If I’m not mistaken not even Hubble can see Io’s volcanoes, you have to send a probe to Jupiter to actually see them. Wizard telescopes are THAT good?

By: Charlotte

Charlotte — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:18:40 +0000

After reading John’s last post, I’ve had a small revelation about an often-used statement in the series – people often say that Harry looks like his dad but has his mum’s eyes etc, and I’ve just thought that this is maybe a clue as to Harry’s similarities to his mother. The eyes are often considered as ‘windows to the soul’, and the similarities between Harry’s and his mother’s eyes could symbolise this similarity in character. People often just assume that Harry’s ‘uncanny knack’ for getting into trouble means he is much more like his father, but I think that it does make sense that he has a lot more in common with his mother than people originally think. For example, he is certainly willing to put his life on the line for the people he loves (i.e Sirius), which although I don’t doubt James doing, his mother certainly shows this when protecting him.

By: Sean

Sean — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:46:58 +0000

Jeremy – yes! The resemblance is uncanny!

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 03:30:42 +0000

Does anyone else think that LMRourke’s picture of Sirius looks like actor Hugh Jackman?

By: emily

emily — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:44:48 +0000

john,
what I understood from that quote was that Harry was freaking out about turning into voldemort because of his visions, and because he thought of biting professor dumbledore and it was better to distance himself from people, and what sirius said “about the world not divided into good people and deatheaters” kind saying yes, you might have thought of wanting to bite prof dumbledore but that doesn’t make you bad, nad staying away from your friends is not going to help you or fix the problem

not so sure if i made sense this time, but hopefully

By: Mickey

Mickey — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:18:44 +0000

Hpboy- Really? Awesome! I’m going to go start my search!

By: hpboy13

hpboy13 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:59:43 +0000

Mickey, you can get Hermione in a bathroom that has a troll in it, and Ron on ebay for 99 cents. ;)

By: Mickey

Mickey — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:19:28 +0000

Well said, everybody. Some very interesting comments this chapter. I’ve never thought to much about Sirius’s character, and I’m erally impressed with all the information here.
And Meri, I agree. Ron throwing that letter into the fire is one of my favorite scenes. His loyalty amazes me sometimes. Where can I get friends like Ron and Hermione?

By: John Kearns

John Kearns — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:20:36 +0000

Martin, I completely agree with what you’re saying about folks comparing Harry to his parents – it’s really not fair to him. But I don’t know if I agree that we don’t have enough information to compare them ourselves. Rowling is a master at saying a whole lot in just a few words, and we actually get some pretty deep glimpses into James and Lily through Sirius and Snape, not to mention quotes like this one of Dumbledore’s: “[Harry is like his father] in looks, perhaps, but his deepest nature is much more like his mother’s.”

By: Lizzie

Lizzie — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:13:48 +0000

Percy is another of those characters that, like Fudge, isn’t inherently evil, but IS very ambitious to the point of viciousness. He’s willing to step on his family to move up the career ladder, same as how fudge is willing to do anything to remain in power. When the lies Fudge has built around himself tumble down, we see just how much he’s returned to his former, blustering state, with a new crumpled quality to him. When Percy sees sense, he becomes much more likable and even somewhat self-deprecating.

Percy and Fudge are, I think, on the whole, good people. But, they both let power go to their head too much, and end up building personas for themselves. I think the Percy we see at the end of DH is much more the real Percy than the pompous git from the earlier books. The Fudge of OotP is probably an image too. He;s so desperate for people to take him seriously, he goes too far in trying to make himself appear as a tough, respectable leader.

Perhaps Fudge had a childhood somewhat like Percy. Being a smart boy, with older brothers to live up to, and a father with little ambition.

Percy is a pretty interesting character to study, actually. People overlook him a little too much.