luna_lg @ February 14 2004, 20:13:01 UTC I know it's been a while since I've last posted, buuuuut...

I feel that I must put in my 2 cents.

As friends, I think those two would be just fine. As anything closer, however...that remains to be seen.

Favorite moment? When Snape--in front of ALL FOUR HOUSES--jinxed Black when they're supposed to do a lesson on trust. *sighs, then laughs* That was excellent! A close second, though, was when I found out what Harry's precious object was--his father's cloak!!! Meep! I just about died when Justin accidentally used it--and relieved when he didn't quite notice that it was more than a "weird blanket".

Oh, and one last thing--Happy Valentine's Day! ^_^

black_dog @ February 14 2004, 20:28:29 UTC Re: I know it's been a while since I've last posted, buuuuut...

As friends, I think those two would be just fine. As anything closer, however...that remains to be seen.

Hmmmm. You know, I think her portrait of Ernie suggests that there's some real attraction on her part. And I really thought this thread was downright flirtatious -- she really doesn't usually tease quite that way; she's usually more mocking, I think. And the business about his toes? I mean, just apply the "foot massage" test from Pulp Fiction . . . But as you say, it "remains to be seen."

Favorite moment? When Snape--in front of ALL FOUR HOUSES--jinxed Black when they're supposed to do a lesson on trust.

Yeah, that was great, too. You could really feel the explosiveness of it when Snape burst down the door and, without a word, blasted Sirius into the wall. I loved the growing tension between them all week, though, and the series of pranks.

It was interesting that Nott, a Slytherin, was part of moving Snape's stuff to the Quidditch field, along with Parvati (see last 2 questions on his survey). I wonder who else was part of it, and how Snape is going to react to that?

chasingwhispers @ February 14 2004, 20:20:48 UTC

Oh yes, I've been watching the Hermione/Ernie, and find it adorable. They would be good together. And perhaps Hermione is well aware of that and is actually purposely flirting? Fantastic. :D

Though I guess it's not strictly a pairing, I've also been really interested by the whole Seamus/Terry/Dean dynamic this week. As has Deanby the looks of things. Heh.

chasingwhispers @ February 14 2004, 20:23:11 UTC Re:

Oh, and favourite moment was probably MB under the influence of the Cheering Charm. Great stuff. :D

black_dog @ February 14 2004, 20:35:21 UTC Re:

And perhaps Hermione is well aware of that and is actually purposely flirting?

:) I just posted the same link in reply to luna_lg above. Great minds and all that! It definitely feels like flirting to me.

Oh and the Dean/Seamus/"Bout" thing -- I'm definitely intrigued by the idea of Boot becoming an object of Seamus' fashion advice. And I love the hints that Dean is getting jealous.

MB out of character was really funny (especially the bits where she and Draco got pissy despite the Charm). I liked the whole Cheering-Charm biscuit thing, too, and if there had been more of it, Ron/Pansy might have been a rival to Hermione/Ernie for me.

Anonymous @ February 14 2004, 21:13:31 UTC

It's sad Ernie and hannah broke up on Valentines Day. I bet Hannah isn't too happy with what Hermione said about her getting turned into a chair either, Ernie hasn't even said anything about that. but don't Ernie and Hannah break up and get back together a lot? Hermione may be setting herself up for disappointment if (when?) they get back together again so I'd say Hannah/Ernie stands in the way still. There does seem to be more interest on her part then his. Otherwise it's really cute. Even if they're just friends I would still think so. We do love Hermione saying 'man'!

About the Pansy/Ron, I don't think there's anything at all with them but I do think Ron is enjoying her attention. When he was with Hermione she was exasperated with him all the time and Pansy's always very flattering. So I think its good for Ron to be experiencing that kind of attention. And we haven't found out what's in Pansy's box yet, it seems if Ron has opened it he doesn't want to share its private contents with the world.

I don't know if Filbert Q. Snodgrass just really likes Ginny or if he's that creepy to all the girls. (He did say he likes Hermione's legs) I hope Parvati and Nott get together too.

sistermagpie @ February 14 2004, 21:42:22 UTC

I just read the Hermione/Ernie latest and I loved it! This game never ceases to surprise me. It seemed so natural yet unexpected. There's something so funny about Hermione thinking Ernie is cute, particularly since given his paranoia you'd almost expect her to be impatient with him. Jumping to conclusions is usually not something Hermione deal with well, but she seems to find Ernie endearing. Ernie himself seems still sort of clueless, like he's figuring out that Hermione's all right and that they make a good team but hasn't begun to think of her "that way" yet. But poor Hanna, yeah, who "betrayed" him by being sorted into Gryffindor, even though Hermione's there too. Ernie would be breaking his own paranoid principles choosing Hermione over her.:-)

I don't know where to start with all I've loved this week. MB's cheer was great but at the same time disturbing. I missed the real MB even though the other one was hysterical.

I very much liked Pansy and Ron. I just always find something sweet about Pansy's interest in the Weasleys and I liked the way she seemed to give Ron more than one moment of genuinely feeling flattered and special, both with the portrait and with the poem. I could really see the two of them in the kitchen with Ron enthusiastically making pancakes while Pansy gave him positive encouragement. If the two of them were ever to be a couple, though, they'd have to get to the point where Pansy could actually show some real emotion (like get angry if she felt angry). Also, I wonder if Ron ever did get that box open. If he did and there was something special inside it it would be very gentlemanly of him not to tell anyone what it was.

Seamus, Terry and Bout were great as well, even giving ps a chance to get in some grace notes. Terry's just so...weird in his wonderful way, and there's something nice about him letting Seamus dress him up. It's especially nice that it seems to have made Dean do some thinking.

Having LYN week end in a brawl was just too perfect--ps' post about being blasted into the wall was pretty hysterical, especially since Hermione took his wand.

Also, though, I like the way as usual nobody stuck to a formula. Some people appeared to learn things, some make connections, others kept their guards up (I can't WAIT to read Lisa's survey about ps) and others got stuck, like Harry having to run after Justin all week.

Oh, and Filbert's survey was wonderful--what on earth was Ginny's object??? I love that she cherishes the time she spent terrorizing the school. Go Ginny!

Oh, and the Snape/Sirius fights were great. Despite the final glory of Sirius moving Snape's room (with at least two unlikely helpers), I think my favorite may still be Sirius' chair turning into a bathtub.

luna_lg @ February 15 2004, 00:38:11 UTC Re:

Ginny's object is the remains of Tom's diary, it seems.

sistermagpie @ February 15 2004, 01:45:11 UTC Re:

Good call--thanks!

black_dog @ February 15 2004, 08:12:56 UTC Re:

Jumping to conclusions is usually not something Hermione deal with well

I don't know -- I think there's a structural parallel, here, in the way they both try to make sense of the world through books and intellect rather than direct emotional experience. Even if in Hermione's case it's a textbook and in Ernie's it's a spy novel. So I don't see it so much as "jumping to conclusions" on Ernie's part as finding a slightly eccentric way to make crtical sense of his experience. And surely Hermione's critique the house-elves' self-perception is a direct application of the hermeneutics of suspicion? :)

I think it's brilliant of the players to suggest there's a parallel between them, between their intellectual and personal styles, despite their obvious surface differences. That's why I loved Harry's image -- the cauldrons are equally tin-hats and clever practical improvisations. They're a symbol of Ernie and Hermione in harmony! :)

I very much liked Pansy and Ron. . . I liked the way she seemed to give Ron more than one moment of genuinely feeling flattered and special . . . If the two of them were ever to be a couple, though, they'd have to get to the point where Pansy could actually show some real emotion

Yeah I loved this, too, and your analysis here helps me wrestle with Pansy. I agree that it must have been a novel experience for Ron to have a dose of the kind of unconditional praise Pansy so likes to give out. As for Pansy herself -- I've always been suspicious of her, never quite trusted her motives or the way she presents herself. But I think you put your finger on what's simultaneously tragic and affecting about her. She is insincere and fake, she is just putting on a mask, but she's maybe putting it on out of the best motives, a genuine desire for connection with people, and she just doesn't know how else to do it. I agree with you that she has to find her way to a greater emotional authenticity, but I'm more inclined to root for her after this week.

Seamus, Terry and Bout were great as well . . . It's especially nice that it seems to have made Dean do some thinking.

I just caught the late, introspective thread between Seamus and Dean. And it's wonderful, because Dean really has been so lost lately, and this week seems to have at least given him the resolve to get it together. The hair thing -- is it a rebuke by Dumbledore, that Dean's stopped being serious about what he cares about? Dean certainly seems to take it to heart. I have to think more about it. But like several others, Dean seems ready now to make some important progress.

And you're right, too, when you say that the storyline hasn't been overly sentimental, in that the exercise really was lost on some people. Justin, certainly. M.B., maybe, I'm sorry to say. I don't think it did much for Harry, which was too bad, but (stepping back) maybe the intent was to highlight the other characters anyway. But a bunch of people who needed it got some perspective and made some new connections. Colin/Luna!

And finally, another late entry -- the Draco/Snape hug! Presumably, this was the thing Draco wanted to talk to Snape about. It's so perfect, and so unexpected, that I'm speechless!

sistermagpie @ February 15 2004, 17:04:59 UTC Re:

I don't know -- I think there's a structural parallel, here, in the way they both try to make sense of the world through books and intellect rather than direct emotional experience.

Oh I agree there's a parallel, but being able to see it and appreciate it this way is something special.:-) That Hermione is gently teasing of Ernie's suspicions seems so different for her and so sweet because he's being illogical at times. It seems like she doesn't have to always be right with Ernie. I wonder if Ron sort of prepared her to be able to see the good intentions behind bluster sometimes too. Her "It's all part of my plan," also sounded a little Harry-like in dealing with Draco. I think Hermione's been learning a lot that isn't in books lately.:-)

I agree with you that she has to find her way to a greater emotional authenticity, but I'm more inclined to root for her after this week.

Hurray! You're absolutely right that it's just impossible to tell what Pansy's real motives are at any time, but I think she does seem to have some genuine emotions in there. She, MB and Potterstinks all have huge defenses when it comes to emotions and they also all have difficult relationships with parents who want them to be something other than what they are. I guess I feel it would just be more interesting if Pansy was struggling with a real desire for connection, even if she wasn't aware of it, and the player's so good I'd love to see Pansy dealing with that. MB seems a very honest judge of character, and I sometimes get the feeling she sees a lot of similarities between Pansy and Draco. She's not afraid to be angry at either of them when they deserve it.

The hair thing -- is it a rebuke by Dumbledore, that Dean's stopped being serious about what he cares about? Dean certainly seems to take it to heart. I have to think more about it. But like several others, Dean seems ready now to make some important progress.

Yes, he does! He's stopped looking to other people as the cause and solution to his problems. Both Terry and Seamus were basically just guilty of not being who Dean needed them to be, and why should they have been that? I tend to think the objects must have been taken through some spell that would be honest and not Dumbledore choosing them. Seems like having Dumbledore choose would be too frighteningly manipulative and give him unfair knowledge about people.

And you're right, too, when you say that the storyline hasn't been overly sentimental, in that the exercise really was lost on some people. Justin, certainly. M.B., maybe, I'm sorry to say.

Yes, and it's good it was lost on some people because that's only realistic. I can't completely blame MB for her problems since the cheering charm was a bad thing for Susan to do--humiliating your partner=not good for trust. But I wouldn't be surprised if Susan tried to make amends after this and that led to something good. I'm interested to know just what Justin's problem was--was it really that he thought Harry was after him about his "blanket" or just that good old-fashioned homophobia? Guess we'll have to see how V-day went for them. Colin/Luna was great--I love how she suddenly could only connect with MB, Snape and ps! And Colin is still this maelstrom of a character. I loved his insistance in the beginning that "It's not Soblessa." I wondered if his therapist had to make that clear to him over the summer.:-(

The one thing it did do for Harry was reveal Draco's feelings about the golf clubs and that seems to have had a lasting effect on that relationship. Draco openly asks to go with Harry hunting for Neville's wand, they have that conversation about Draco not protesting the week in Harry's presence.

black_dog @ February 15 2004, 19:27:09 UTC Re:

but being able to see it and appreciate it this way is something special.:-)

LOL, you're not sold, are you? I don't know, for some reason Ernie is not quite as deeply sunk in paranoia as Justin, he's more open to good experiences -- in fact part of his charm is the way he loses it when people praise him convincingly -- he's definitely achieved a permanent breakthrough with "Minnie" since she recognized his Quidditch-commentary skills. So his paranoia and awkwardness aren't the last word on him. Hermione, for her part, is not simply bookish, I agree, but it's undeniable that she makes socially awkward posts, tries too hard, sucks up a bit too conspicuously, displays her vanity a bit too nakedly, from time to time. So I'm not willing to simply put her in the power position in this relationship, or suggest that she's wiser than Ernie. I suspect she definitely recognizes his eagerness for praise in herself, and I wouldn't be shocked if being around him helped her see her own hobbyhorses more clearly. I think they both have a lot to learn about themselves from being together and comparing notes!

I think we see eye to eye on Pansy. On Dumbledore and Dean's hair -- well, I put nothing past Dumbledore, but in this case it could go either way, in that Dean's hair sort of appeared in its current incarnation when he stopped caring about anything else. I guess even a spell that works mechanically is going to "rebuke" people who have stopped caring about important stuff.

Draco openly asks to go with Harry hunting for Neville's wand

Oh I loved this too, because it's so unusual for Draco to be so forward about his enthusiasm. Not to undercut anything new about their relationship, but I thought it was mainly about his fascination with Harry speaking Parselmouth, which we've seen before.

If anything, I was wondering what happened to PS this week -- he started out almost giddily happy, jumping in on other threads and pointing people to their partners -- but he seemed more and more melancholy and hostile as the week went on, despite spending some time with Harry. I was disappointed to see him invoke his Father after the hexing incident in Potions. Even Lisa says he seemed unhappy at the dinner, although she attributes this to his having to carry the heavy golf clubs around. Do you suppose something about the week disappointed or depressed him?

sistermagpie @ February 15 2004, 20:35:49 UTC Re:

LOL, you're not sold, are you?

Nono--I totally am! I don't know why I keep giving the opposite impression. I think the fact that Hermione seems to "get" that Ernie isn't as illogical as he seems speaks to an understanding between them Hermione might not have with others. As you say, Hermione isn't at all socially skilled all the time and I think she's really liking the way she and Ernie seem to be able to connect in their own way instead of her trying to figure out how she's supposed to act. So she's free enough with him to joke even about his paranoia. That's what reminded me of Harry with ps.

I guess even a spell that works mechanically is going to "rebuke" people who have stopped caring about important stuff.

Totally--that's probably why a spell is even harsher. It's not somebody judging you, it's the real truth. Dean, as he said, would have said his art supplies in the past. He'd lost touch with even that more important aspect of himself. Instead of trying to create beauty he was just vain. It's a great commentary, too, on the difference between being a poseur and the real thing. It's so teenagery to try on a new look as if that makes you a new person, and in Dean's case it was just a sign that he was trying a new look.

Not to undercut anything new about their relationship, but I thought it was mainly about his fascination with Harry speaking Parselmouth, which we've seen before.

Oh yeah, I thought that was it too. What's cool about it too is that the last time Harry did it Draco was freaked out, wasn't he? He seems like he wants to give it another shot which can only bode well for the relationship.

Do you suppose something about the week disappointed or depressed him?

Wow. I've no idea. I didn't put too much importance on the Father issue. I thought it was just a blustery way to say, "Hey, who threw me into a wall?!" He seems to have been pretty hapless there, disarmed by Hermione and hit from all sides. And he could just have literally been unhappy at being without his caddy for Valentine's Day--carrying the clubs seems to have been Harry's job in the past.:-) I got the feeling he was happy with Harry throughout the week but unhappy at the good deeds he was forced to do, but I'm not sure. That's why it seems interesting that Harry seems to hint that ps was happier than he was with LYN week, while ps suggested that Harry was the one enjoying it.

sistermagpie @ February 15 2004, 17:05:15 UTC Re:

And finally, another late entry -- the Draco/Snape hug! Presumably, this was the thing Draco wanted to talk to Snape about. It's so perfect, and so unexpected, that I'm speechless!

It's like the icing on the LYN cake!! That Draco hugged Snape, that Snape allowed himself to be hugged. That they both hated it--ha! Thanks to Dumbledore for giving us a witness happy to tell us about it.

Also, I loved Lisa's last two entries. I wasn't surprised she got to know Draco a bit better during the week because he gives himself away when he starts talking. Interesting that she realized both their objects had to do with friendship when both of the friendships in question could possibly be romantic in nature. Is Lisa covering for both of them? Are they both in equal denial? Is Lisa simply correct in saying these are friendships and not romances? Or correct for her but not for ps? Anyway, I loved her reaction to the hug--in her survey she says she's realized that ps really does care about people and isn't always vitriolic. She also knows how he sometimes makes people stoop to his level. So she's started to see that if ps really does care about people and has so much trouble showing it, and so maybe realizes mocking like this just exacerbates the problem and is maybe just unkind. She could be gloating over her part in this hysterical occurance, but her heart really isn't in that. It's not that she's suddenly become a big ps fan, but she's not into teasing, especially over something that does, underneath, seem to be important to ps.

Part of that is probably just Lisa's intelligent nature, but maybe it's also connected to their respective objects. Lisa always tries to be so logical over her feelings about Morgan, but her relationship with him seems to make him as insecure as ps' with Harry might make him. Like when Daphne seemed to think the only thing interesting about Lisa was Morgan, and she worried that his friends didn't like her as a person. I think she sees more in common with ps than she might be aware of consciously, or maybe just more than she's saying.

Also, what's up with Lavender saying she didn't realize anything of hers was missing when her parents' wedding photo was! Is that just a copy of how she's reacted to the divorce, pretending the marriage is still there? Or has she blocked her parents out completely?

black_dog @ February 15 2004, 19:02:34 UTC Re:

Interesting that she realized both their objects had to do with friendship when both of the friendships in question could possibly be romantic in nature. Is Lisa covering for both of them? Are they both in equal denial? Is Lisa simply correct in saying these are friendships and not romances? Or correct for her but not for ps?

I actually took this to be simple tact on Lisa's part; she knows Draco is not simply uncomfortable about acknowledging his feelings for Harry, but is at some objective personal risk over them. After all, she did apologize at the beginning of LYN week about being insensitive to this.

I don't have a real fix on Lisa/Morgan -- I sense that it's maybe a relationship that's conventionally easy for both of them to describe as boyfriend/girlfriend (just the opposite of Draco and Harry's angst and secrecy) but that may have some of the same issues as JH/PS -- Lisa seems to feel taken for granted, seems to feel that her own emotional risk may not be equalled or acknowledged. As you say, she may see these parallels, too, and they help her understand PS. Though I don't think she could comment publicly on the parallels, for the same reasons of tact on PS' behalf.

It's interesting that despite this partial sympathy for PS, she really doesn't seem very optimistic about him. She says that she thinks he learned "probably nothing" for the week, and although she is fair about calling him less "callous" than he appears, her survey doesn't hedge on her sense of how difficult and perverse a person he is -- it's not like she discovered a heart of gold underneath, and I suspect she still dislikes him.

I think Lisa's own moral self-improvement project -- not letting her insecurities make her defensive and reactive, or in her own words -- not letting "the poor behavior of others reflect in my own" -- is so much the opposite of how PS behaves, of how he acts out every frustration -- that she probably can't quite respect him.

Still, the qualities that make her Head Girl -- which probably include scrupulous fairness and a pragmatic attitude to other people's shortcomings -- make her an interesting observer of PS, and make her at least give him credit for his less obvious virtues. I wonder what it means to Draco that a peer could have his number, see through his bluster, and still not quite be sold on him?

sistermagpie @ February 15 2004, 20:23:51 UTC Re:

That's a fascinating question that makes me think about NA in general. One of the greatest things about the game, imo, is how its format turns on the idea of people's public and private personas. We only see people's lj personas and are left to figure out just how much of that is real, and what the way characters choose to present themselves says about them.

Lisa's a really interesting character on that score. She's is so analytical and wants to be fair. I think she tries to be as honest as possible. But even that kind of personality has its blind spots or problems they hide. They're just harder to spot because the person is so reasonable and self-aware. (Can you tell I'm beginning to seriously identify with Lisa?)

For instance It's interesting that despite this partial sympathy for PS, she really doesn't seem very optimistic about him. She says that she thinks he learned "probably nothing" for the week, and although she is fair about calling him less "callous" than he appears, her survey doesn't hedge on her sense of how difficult and perverse a person he is -- it's not like she discovered a heart of gold underneath, and I suspect she still dislikes him. ,

all of which I agree with. But what's ironic about it is that I think ps is a character that's proved he does have the ability to learn. As you say, it's hard for Lisa to respect him given her own personality, which strives for moral self-improvement, but that's also what makes her take on him interesting, because he represents things she herself is at pains to avoid. She does not want to allow him to make her more like him. That, and the fact that they were paired and had similar objects, makes me tempted to try to turn some of Lisa's more insightful words about ps back on herself.

Ps acts like he doesn't care about people by being a jerk, Lisa presents all her relationships with people intellectually. She very calmly states when things hurt her feelings, but doesn't like to act out those feelings. She seems so able to see things from others pov it may keep her from getting what she wants. Lisa didn't even know how much her object meant to her until it was pointed out. I don't think ps was surprised at all.

Morgan seems to be such an important presence in her life, yet we rarely here about him making her happy. She describes them as being "really funny together," but I don't know if he's a good friend beyond that. I get the impression of Lisa doing things for him while he seems more a vague presence. Usually he's being insensitive in some way. Even her icon has a picture of her with Morgan's...cat. Yet a scrap of paper he gave her once is her most prized possession.

I guess also I feel like ps tends to be an interesting device on NA as well as a character. He does get to the heart of people almost by accident. So I don't quite trust anyone's ability to just "have his number." That's almost too easy and too hard at the same time. It makes me wonder what Morgan's reaction to Lisa's object was. The golf clubs seemed to have really effected Harry. ps seemed ultimately unashamed of them. Lisa, otoh, feels surprised and silly at her own revelation, and seems to be left puzzling over it alone with little or no reaction from Morgan. Lisa only heard what his possession was through someone else, and it was his Quidditch captain badge--a symbol not connected to others (as Harry's cloak is).

I think that sets up an interest contrast. ps, as awful as he is, seems to be the one with the better friendship here, and part of the reason for it is, imo, his refusal to be ignored, his acting out on his feelings. Lisa, meanwhile, does all the right things, tries to be realistic and fair, puts things in perspective and winds up sometimes feeling like she could disappear and no one would care. So when Lisa says both their objects had to do with friendship I feel like ps' friendship is the better of the two, despite ps being in it. He cares about Harry and Harry does seem to care about him as well. I can't say the same about Morgan. I think Lisa deserves better and maybe knows it but doesn't at the same time. (Faced with the idea that she deserved to be worshipped she left the table.)

black_dog @ February 15 2004, 23:12:50 UTC Re:

OK, I went and reread Lisa's journal, though only some of her community posts, to sort of refresh my perception of her. And the first thing I notice is that she does not, after all, describe Morgan as her boyfriend, but just as her "best friend." I had just taken it for granted that there was something romantic there, because of how often she mentions him, and because of the importance of the note, but there's no suggestion of that -- she hangs out with him and they make each other laugh, but mostly hanging out with him means hanging out with his quidditch friends, rather than one-on-one time.

The Parchment Scrap is something he gave her when she walked away from a Ravenclaw victory party to go to the library; he ran after her and gave it to her, so maybe it's one of the few times he's gone out of his way to pay attention to her when there was competition from quidditch. By contrast, last summer when Morgan and his friends came to her house, she jumped in the pool to "drown herself and see if he'd react," but they just complained she was splashing them.

So I think I'm coming to have a greater appreciation of Lisa as a solitary, as someone who really doesn't demand or expect much from other people, although she occasionally resents their inattention. Does this have roots in her home life, with mixed wizard-Muggle parents and a non-wizard sister who resents her? So that just being herself has been a tremendous source of family tension, and she's learned to keep her head down? I seem to remember her father taking her sister's side quite unreasonably, perhaps out of guilt, in some dispute they had last year. She went to the Halloween Ball with Martin and Stewart Ackerly as a dysfunctional family, so perhaps there are some issues here.

In general she seems reluctant to give in to enthusiasms or intense feelings and doesn't connect with a lot of people. Again, the connection with Morgan seems unsatisfying, and she also makes these deliberately off-putting gestures sometimes -- posting in her journal wondering rather indifferently why Parvati wants to be friends with her, which hurts Parvati's feelings; and writing to her sister about a research assignment on how Squibs feel, when she knows Jayna's sensitive about being a Muggle in a mixed family. She mentions again and again how cold quidditch leaves her, as if she's marveling at her own detachment.

This is not all downside: during the Hogwarts attack, Lisa stays relatively unemotional, though she remains human enough to indulge in ALL CAPS when the Ravenclaws are found, and praises them for keeping their heads.

It's odd, because all this is not my general impression of Lisa in memory -- I think of her as self-contained, with a silly and whimsical streak to offset her melancholy (calling Harry Har-Po on the model of J-Lo, for instance.)

But she seems uncomfortable with her whimsicality -- at Christmas she spends hours making a skirt out of ties, and then decides it looks "silly," which of course would have been the point.

So would it be fair to say that the whole realm of spontaneity, of unanalyzed behavior, of impulsiveness and intense feeling, is something Lisa is very uncomfortable with? Almost pathologically so? Which makes it even more interesting that Dumbledore paired her with Draco.

I couldn't find the posts where Lisa "stalks" Draco, though people keep referring to them. I found a single offhand comment about trying "other houses" when Draco was obsessively dating. For what it's worth, she seems to ship Martin/Scorpio and is about the only person to tolerate Colin's theories on that subject.

So maybe her control and rationality are more ambiguous things that they seem. And maybe PS terrifies her by acting out all these things she's afraid of doing and being -- of insisting on leaving her own mark, and making her own demands, on other people. And I agree with you that it must be kind of painful to reflect on this horrible, volatile little person's real friendship with Harry, when all Lisa herself has is this sort of sham thing with Morgan.

Hmmmm. Not quite 180 degrees from my last post, but working on it!

sistermagpie @ February 16 2004, 01:05:13 UTC Re:

The Parchment Scrap is something he gave her when she walked away from a Ravenclaw victory party to go to the library; he ran after her and gave it to her,

And Mandy said it was sweet of him to do so, like it was a romantic gesture. I didn't realize you thought Morgan was her boyfriend. To me their relationship reads as a boy and girl hanging out where the girl is at least aware that they are a boy and girl and the boy hasn't noticed. Were he not obsessed with Quidditch I think Morgan would probably tell her what girls he thought were hot. I think her object pointed to just how important Morgan is to her, and in what way--or at least to how she'd like him to make her feel. It may not be all about Morgan but more about her thoughts on romance in general (as opposed to ps where I think it's always been very much about Potter).

The main thing I noticed about Lisa going to the ball with Martin in Stewart was that Martin had no other date, yet didn't go with Lisa. And if Lisa doesn't like Quidditch then why *does* she hang out with Morgan and his friends so much? She notices when he's not treating her well, yet hangs around with him anyway.

And her Valentine's Day post uses her Morgan's cat icon.

Her family has always been an interesting story, with her sister and all. On one hand her sister seems constantly unreasonable, but that Squib question was pretty harsh. I didn't get if she was trying to be hurtful or just assumed her sister dealt with things the way she did, by analyzing her reactions to them.

Even her post about her object is introspective--which isn't a bad thing. It sort of sets up her whole dilemma. She does care about people, and her object (and the runners up) speak to this, yet faced with that knowledge all she can do is look to herself for understanding. Going to Morgan doesn't seem to be an option, whereas ps' object has always been something that brought him and Harry together.

This is not all downside: during the Hogwarts attack, Lisa stays relatively unemotional, though she remains human enough to indulge in ALL CAPS when the Ravenclaws are found, and praises them for keeping their heads.

Oh yeah, I think Lisa's very human. I think she just naturally deals with everything through her head--very different from gut-reactor ps. But sometimes when you deal with things unemotionally people assume you have no emotions. At least that's my experience--in fact I was recently bringing that up in a conversation about the appeal of hurt/comfort fics.

But she seems uncomfortable with her whimsicality -- at Christmas she spends hours making a skirt out of ties, and then decides it looks "silly," which of course would have been the point.

Yes--there's that second-guessing of herself, an insecurity about how she would be received. Like...she had this idea to be funny then managed to convince herself it was just stupid, perhaps just a way of demanding of attention. That kind of humor relies more on people thinking she's cute or funny as a person, instead of her wit.

And I agree with you that it must be kind of painful to reflect on this horrible, volatile little person's real friendship with Harry, when all Lisa herself has is this sort of sham thing with Morgan.

Yeah, though I wonder if she really focuses on it that way. I can imagine her just seeing logically why Harry and Draco click and recognizing this isn't the way she connects with people. I don't think she'd ever put it into terms of it being unfair...maybe it's a bit like her thing with Quidditch, marvelling at her detachment while ps has this driving need to connect with people somehow comes through or something, and Lisa may find that interesting because it's different from her?

She put the hug on the list to "see what Malfoy would say," (another Lisa experiment?) and he sought out the teacher who "deserved" a hug. I figured hugging Snape was what Draco referred to in his post on the eleventh, meaning that he'd planned to do it as early as that without too much fuss for him. So Draco appears to have actually had a good Neighbor Week that way, connecting a bit with Snape and Harry, having people clean his room and buy him sheets, plus his regular friends.

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sistermagpie @ February 17 2004, 15:04:08 UTC Re: Replying to myself

Ooh, thanks for the link! I had completely forgotten that. I guess it could be an ex-boyfriend who became a friend, though he doesn't seem like a good friend...though again we often only write about people in our diaries when they annoy us.:-)

Anonymous @ February 15 2004, 00:06:40 UTC

i don't think nott (or parvati) actually helped sirius move snape's things outside.

it's not mentioned anywhere but on nott's survey...and i'm pretty sure that was just nott being facetious and, well, a slytherin..trying to get in a dig at sirius for being an irresponsible teacher.

besides, i think both sirius and snape are at least smart enough not to directly involve students in their pranks on each other (except maybe snape starting the trust lesson battle).

lindra @ February 15 2004, 02:22:02 UTC Re:

But that prompts the question - if Black had to do it himself, when did he have the time to do it?

a_player @ February 15 2004, 02:44:55 UTC Re:

Sirius Black is a man of talents many and varied. >:D

darththalia @ February 15 2004, 05:35:53 UTC

I'm just glad to see Seamus and Dean talking again. They should be friends.

Hermione and Ernie did work really well together, though. And the Snape/Black war was a hoot. I'm still hoping for some Snackin, but if we can't have that, I'll settle for the snarking.

kairos103 @ February 15 2004, 05:56:12 UTC

Right, so I must agree that the Ernie and Hermione bits have been my favorite part of the week. I think I memoried at least three separate threads from them and I'm not much of a memory-er. I think Hermione has a bit of a thing for Ernie. (Not that I blame her!)

Scanning these comments I don't think anyone has commented about the brilliant pairing of Luna and Collin. The whole concept of the rose-colored glasses and how having them and missing them altered their moods was amazing. In the midst of all the t00bery of the week I felt like their threads gave the events an interesting somber twist.

comava @ February 15 2004, 14:05:03 UTC Re:

Yes, Colin and Luna definetely made me think. I especially liked the parts at the beginning, where he's so upset about his picture of Soblessa missing.

nabiki @ February 15 2004, 10:55:46 UTC

I'll agree as well, Hermione and Ernie would be very interesting, if not midly cute. I've been waiting for Ron and Hermione to get things started up again though :(

I am also glad to see Seamus and Dean getting to be friends and perhaps all things between the triangle of them are ironing out slightly.

I wouldn't mind seeing a colin / luna pairing, maybe its just what he needs!

comava @ February 15 2004, 14:08:19 UTC

I liked Herm/Ernie too, as well as M.B. wackiness and Colin/Luna. It's too bad that the whole exercise was wasted on quite a few people (Draco, Crabbe, M.B., Goyle, Justin...) and I really wish we'd find out more about the prized possesions, like Pansy's and Ginny's.

That said, how did the Ron/Herm end again? The last I heard was almost a year ago at the Blupin wedding, when she told him she loved him under influence of the potion. Was that ever cleared up?

Anonymous @ February 15 2004, 17:00:15 UTC Ron/Herm....

I don't know if there was ever any damage control done after the Veritaserum disaster, but the Ron/Herm breakup is here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/missgranger/10367.html).... it's Hermione's only LJ memory. Even though Ron said he was attracted (http://www.livejournal.com/community/nocturne_alley/144469.html?thread=1204309#t1204309) to her (under Veritaserum) they couldn't seem to have a conversation without yelling or picking on each other. For a while Herm seemed to be trying to get Ron to think differently of her by taking more of an interest in Quidditch but that didn't go anywhere.

retired_ego @ February 15 2004, 22:01:12 UTC

i have been interested in the prospect of hermione/ernie since reading about ernie's study habits in ootp. at the very least, the two of them could have a great study relationship, as they have proved this week that they work well together. i think hermione would get into same situation as ron, though. ernie and ron both get very defensive, suspicious, and angry (ernie notsomuch as ron, but it does happen).