OVERANALYZING THE TEXT

Part one of a three-part survey of Memory Charmed Neville theories. This part covers the "No Suppressed Memory At All," the "Psychological Repression," the "Spontaneous Magic," and the classic "Well-Intended Memory Charm" theories. It was also, by the way, my very first "TBAY" prefixed post.

Part Two of the Memory Charm Symposium, this one examines the "Wizarding Witness Protection Program," "Wizards In Black," "Hidden Source" and "Reverse Memory Charm" theories of Neville's purported memory charm.

Third and last part of the Memory Charm Symposium. Covers the "Cover Up At the Ministry," "DEPRECIATION" and "Memory Charm Most Foul" theories of Neville's purported Memory Charm.

A challenge to the Reverse Memory Charm theory, both in terms of its canonical defensibility and in terms of its dramatic possibilities for future canon ("Bang").

The infamous Paddle Smashing post. Illustration by example of the difference between a "Bangy" character change (ie, that which comes about by means of a sudden, discrete and catalytic event) and a non-Bangy-yet-dramatic one, by way of explaining why Reverse Memory Charmed Neville, while it may have some dramatic potential, is nonetheless not a "Bangy" theory.

Analysis of the first chapter of the series, with an eye to proving that Minerva McGonagall Is Ever So Evil. A rather tongue-in-cheek post that spawned a very fun thread on HPfGU.

A "Peter Loved Lily" defense, presented in a turbo-charged "I'm going to commit the murder I was imprisoned for" TBAY style.

The notorious Voldemort!Elkins TBAY. More discussion of Peter Loved Lily, followed by a character analysis of Pettigrew - and SYCOPHANTS in general - as exemplars of Fromme's totalitarian personality.

A rather complicated TBAY post, mainly about the Wizarding World under Crouch and the extent to which it might have resembled Stalinist Soviet Russia, but also touching on the debate over whether or not the Twins are bullies, on the issues of netiquette, reader response and humour that had been raised in the course of that debate, on the various ad hominem arguments that had been circulating nastily around the list that entire summer, on an old SYCOPHANTS/Evil Overlords discussion, and--oh yes--incorporating a tiny bit from the Snape's Grudge thread as well. Apparently it was a bit *too* complicated for HPfGU, though, as very few people seemed to get the subsidiary points I was trying to make with it at all.

Some new canon for Imperio'ed!Arthur. This one is notable mainly for coining the metaphor of the approaching "hurricane" of Book Five's impending release

Some thoughts about the possibility of a Weasley vulnerability to mental domination (To what extent would it violate the series' thematic emphasis on choice? Could it have been the reason that Lucius Malfoy targetted Ginny as the victim of Riddle's Diary? Could it have been the reason that Crouch/Moody did not think that Ron would make a good Auror?) Also, speculation that Harry was actually the intended recipient of Riddle's Diary, and some commentary on Crouch Jr. and Sr's respective degrees of Imperius-resistance (as well as on their physical dissimilarities).

Part one of the nine-part Crouch monstrosity. Is Crouch portrayed by the text as Dead Sexy? Was Mrs. Crouch Tough, or Weak? Where did Barty Jr. learn his skills of interpersonal manipulation? And just why *is* Elkins so resistant to a reading of Crouch Sr. as Dead Sexy, anyway?

Part two of nine. Examines Crouch's political situation in the wake of Voldemort's fall and his motives in regard to the trial of the Longbottoms' assailants. Contains an analysis of the Penseive scene and the QwC exchange with Winky as parallel scenes. Also proposes that Crouch's relationship to his son replicates in microcosm his relationship to the wizarding world as a whole.

Part three of nine. Crouch's multiple narrative functions in the text, and the extent to which his hypocrisy enables JKR to use him to serve somewhat contradictory functions. Challenges the reading of Crouch as Tragic Hero on grounds that Crouch's degree of self-interest and hypocrisy prevents him from exhibiting the nobility of stature requisite in a classically-defined tragic hero. Also touches on the Crouch-Brutus parallel, suggesting that its use is ironic in intent.

Part four of nine. Evaluates the motives underlying Crouch's political decisions and how these relate to his narrative function. "Thematically hedgehogs" Barty Crouch Sr.

Part five of nine. Proposes that Crouch Jr's statement that his father saved him from prison only in order to honor his dying mother's last request is not objective truth, and suggests a number of reasons why young Crouch himself might have believed it.

Part six of nine. Examines Crouch's behavior in regard to his son after the QWC and takes a cold hard look at his thematic role within the text.

Part seven of nine. Crouch's mirror relationship with his son, his redemption scene, and his thematic function within the context of the series as a bildungsroman. Also, some discussion of the relevance of mirrors not only to the Crouch subplot, but also to the series as a whole and to reading practice itself. Includes a rather snarky Lacan reference.

Part eight of nine. The nature of Crouch's madness and death, and his possibilities as a future canonical ghost. Some discussion of ghosts in the Potterverse. Textual evidence that Barty Jr. did not really want to kill his father. And a bit of sympathy, for a change, for poor old Crouch Sr.

Defends the proposition that Crouch Sr. and Winky's relationship was sexual and discusses that 'ship's thematic relevance to the series as a whole. Also discusses JKR's seemingly conflicted attitude towards femininity and motherhood.

A Fourth Man Avery defense, and the possibility of a Fourth Man Nott. Younger Nott's plot potential. And a little bit on how Crouch Jr. would likely have killed his father.

House Slytherin and Reader Response. Draws a distinction between Sympathy For the Devil and the sort of 'rooting for the underdog' that leads people to identify with or like minion characters like Pettigrew, Avery and Gollum (SYCOPHANTS). Suggests that the built-in personality test of the Sorting Hat (practically an invitation to reader self-insertion!) might have contributed to the HP books' mass appeal.

Satiric look at Neville's "narrative invisibility."

Question of who has invisibility cloaks and whether James Potter's possession of one might indicate that he had been a member of the DMLE. Contains a truly egregious canon error, which was cleared up in the next post.

Evaluation of the canonical plausibility of a sequence of Longbottom Incident theories, followed by a discussion of the possibility that Crouch's invisibility cloak was left behind at the scene there, thus leading Crouch himself to feel convinced of his son's guilt. Also contains a canon correction to an error made upthread, and an attack on the MAGICDISHWASHER theory with the claim that scenarios in which people screw up royally are actually far more in keeping with the spirit of canon than those in which they are being very clever and planning everything from the very start.

The title says it all. Barty Junior's self-sabotaging incompetence.

Defends the idea that Invisibility Cloaks belong to wizarding aristocrats, not to members of the DMLE.

More on the question of possible evidence implicating Crouch Jr. in the Longbottom Incident, discussion of the reaction of the wizarding world as a whole to Crouch Sr. after Voldemort's fall, and a question about reader response to Barty Jr's performance in the Pensieve scene of GoF.