Delurk. Query as to why (in early 2002), the fandom seemed to prefer to believe that Snape never held his old Slytherin classmates in any regard or affection, followed by some speculation on Frank Longbottom.
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Snape and his relationship to his old Slytherin housemates and DE colleagues. House Slytherin's apparent emphasis on loyalty.
Karkaroff's moment of hesitation before fingering Snape to the Tribunal in GoF.
Was there no one who was GENUINELY duped or tricked or Imperio'd into serving Voldemort during the last war? For heaven's sake, where are all the patsies and weaklings?
Suggestion that Arthur Weasley might have been an Imperius victim of the last war, followed by speculation about the role of non-DE "fellow travellers" during that period. Question of who those "loads of people" Karkaroff is supposed to have put in Azkaban were supposed to be, anyway. And my explanation of why it is so important to me as a reader to see more patsies and weaklings in canon
Some discussion of why I find Pettigrew a more sympathetic character than Karkaroff, followed by the proposal that the wizarding world is a warrior culture, and that the members of House Slytherin are disadvantaged by the fact that their House's values are not those privileged by their own culture
Subversive readings and what drives them. "Fault lines" in the text which lead to reader anxiety. The question of why the fandom does not tend to subversion when contemplating the relationship between Snape and his old Slytherin housemates and DE colleagues. Part two of two.
Speculation on Snape's old Slytherin housemates, including a Redeemable!Avery defense. House Slytherin's apparent emphasis on in-group loyalty, and the effects this might have had on Snape. Discomfort with the depiction of the DEs in canon. Defense of the notion that Snape genuinely favors members of his own House. Snape's relationship with Karkaroff, Lucius Malfoy, and Barty Crouch Jr. And an analysis of Snape's Sudden Movement. Also, the introduction of S.Y.C.O.P.H.A.N.T.S.
Karkaroff as a variant on a classic character stock of the Golden Age detective story.
Genre conventions regarding coercion and how these may be reflected in canon. Speculation on how precisely the Fidelius Charm works, and why Pettigrew did not merely claim to have had the Potters' location wrested from him by force. The Dark Mark as a binding ritual compact, and the extent to which anyone could be said to bear it "unwillingly." The Death Eaters' likely feelings about Voldemort's reincorporation.
Speculation about DE cells and bloody ambushes, followed by my explanation of Why Avery Is Very Important Really and proposal that he was that mysteriously unnamed Fourth Man in the Pensieve scene of Gof.
Elaboration on the Fourth Man theory, with a good deal of snarking about Avery's backstory. More speculation about DE cells and bloody ambushes (complete with jumping up and down on couches screaming "Yay!!! Bloody Ambush! Bloody Ambush! Bloody Ambush!"), a cheerful proposal of an utterly subversive "Neville owes a life-debt to Barty Crouch Jr." theory, and a lackadaisical attack on the Good Ship LOLLIPOPS with the suggestion that Snape loved Florence Wilkes.
The FEATHERBOAS post. Contains some joking around over Fourth Man Avery's backstory and bloody ambushes, and a good long wrangle over the timing of the Longbottom Incident. Also a bit on Memory Charmed (or, in this case, Reverse Memory Charmed) Neville.
Musings on Lucius Malfoy's motivations and his (and other DEs') likely feelings about Voldemort.
Discussion of fanfic, fanspec, and fanspec parody. Also contains a brief exchange about Lucius Malfoy.
More fanspec silliness, this one focussed on "Neville Owes A Life-Debt To Barty Crouch." Also repeats my insistence on a later date than 1981 for the Longbottom Incident.
Tongue-in-cheek speculation about Neville and the Longbottom Incident, with more timeline wrangling, as well as a "Memory Retrieval Potion" theory.
Why did Ron choose to play a knight in the chess game at the end of PS? Why did Dumbledore out Snape so very publicly (200 witnesses!) as a spy in the Penseive scene of GoF?
Examines the possibility that Crouch Jr. might really have been innocent of the assault on the Longbottoms, suggests that allegiance to Voldemort might have imbued the Death Eaters with special magical powers, and summarizes the Fourth Man Avery theory.
Discussion of Remorseful!Avery and Fourth Man Avery, and of what choices a truly remorseful Death Eater would have had, anyway, when Voldemort returned and the Dark Mark burned.
Speculation on how the Dark Mark might work, the ramifications of the mystic bond between Voldemort and his DEs, Voldemort's motivations in GoF, and why he might have named the names he named in the Graveyard scene.
Neville as a literary double to Harry, and its ramifications for the series' thematic emphases on memory, history, legacy and power. Also touches on Voldemort's, Snape's, and Crouch Jr's roles within this schematic and on the leit-motifs of burial, exhumation and parricide in GoF.
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.
Points out that canon actually suggests that the Longbottoms were not attacked in their own home at all.
Argues that allegiance to Voldemort imbued the Death Eaters with special Dark powers. Also contains a defense of the idea that at the time of his trial, Crouch Jr. had been out of school for less than a year; an evaluation of Peter Pettigrew's magical abilities; and an argument that the DEs were deliberately aiming to miss at the end of the graveyard scene in GoF.
Challenge to the Spying Game ("MAGICDISHWASHER") theory's claim that all but one or two of the Death Eaters were loyal to Voldemort and in on the conspiracy to bring about his reincorporation.
Sexual entendre in the HP books, with particular emphasis on depictions of Riddle/Voldemort and on the sexualized language of the graveyard scene in GoF.
Discussion of how Pettigrew found Voldemort so very quickly, and how Barty Jr. could maintain his standing as a Death Eater whose "loyalty never wavered" after his hysteria at his sentencing.
Discussion of the name by which Peter Pettigrew was known to the other Death Eaters (did he always go by "Wormtail" within the DE organization?) Also, some discussion of the thematic relevance of Pettigrew's name-change within the narration itself between PoA and GoF.
More defense of the "allegiance to Dark forces imbues wizards with special powers" theory, with the additional suggestion that Voldemort's return to semi-corporeal form and to British shores at the beginning of GoF might have been responsible for empowering and emboldening the Death Eaters. Also, a rejection of the notion that Peter Pettigrew's magical ability is particularly adrenaline-powered.
Analysis of the Graveyard Scene of GoF. Argues that the scene is written to inspire a sense of revulsion in the reader by deliberately twisting or perverting institutions (religion, sexuality, the family, treatment of the dead) that we hold sacred.
Discussion of contributing factors to the strength of an Imperius Curse, with particular emphasis on why Crouch Jr.'s will to resist should have grown stronger at the beginning of GoF. Also, some teasing support of the ludicrous "Cruciatus Makes You Stronger" theory.
Logistical objections to the theory that Voldemort planned to use the Triwizard Portkey to launch an attack on the convened spectators of the Third Task.
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.
More about Voldemort's original plan for the Triwizard Portkey. Includes a short defense of Fudge's skills as a bipartisan political leader.
Why did Crouch teach Harry the Imperius Curse (yet again!); and did he tell Voldemort about Harry's rare talent at resisting it? Also, a bit of happy shared Crouch sympathizing with a fellow admirer of young Barty's ("He had so much fun!").
Discussion of the precise nature of Crouch's, errr...reforms to the WW's judicial system - specifically of the use of the Unforgivable Curses on suspects - and speculation that Wilkes may have died in custody at the hands of Frank Longbottom, followed by a list of reasons that Snape might be so very hostile towards Neville.
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 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 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.
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.
Pettigrew's silver hand: what it is made of (Wizarding Silvery Soul Stuff (tm)), and the possibility that it might in the end prove a very serious threat to Voldemort himself
Discussion of whether people noticed SHIPping "evidence" in the early volumes on first read, or only through hindsight. Evidence for Draco having a "nasty twisted little crush" on Hermione. Suggests that the Malfoy family has been established as both Ron's and Hermione's nemesis, and that this may indicate that Hermione will have some role to play in Draco's future development in canon.
On Crouch's inability to remember Percy's name, viewed thematically, in terms of authorial technique, and in terms of the plot. Reiterates my pet theory that Voldemort's return to corporeal form was the cause of Barty Jr.'s growing ability to resist the Imperius.
Examines GoF's focus on the reciprocal nature of fealty, loyalty and patronage - a reciprocal nature ignored or dismissed by the novel's villains, Voldemort and the Crouches - and suggests that the rift between Ron and Harry might serve as a kind of early warning sign to Harry, a reminder of his duties and obligations to those who have shown loyalty to him.
Motives people may have had for joining the Death Eaters, and the question of whether JKR will ever address the issue of legitimate (and sane) idealists among their ranks.
