Geeky/Cool Jumpsuit

Geeky/Cool Jumpsuit
Originally uploaded by iamsalad.

Awww yeah! Those skydiving outfits sure are attractive!

Doesn't really matter though, the fun in the air is what makes it worthwhile, whatever you're wearing. I did my second tandem jump this time, and should I choose to, I could do a solo jump for my next trip (although it requires and 8 hour class first.)

Woohoo!

Guess what I did today? It involved a H.A.T. Check, a special outfit, and my ears are still cracking a bit hours later.

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!!!SPOILER ALERT!!! for Harry Potter

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I got the book at 12:01 and read the first chapter in my car. I got home at about 12:30 and exchanged a couple of phone calls with Shannon and Nate, my fellow readers. I determined a little ways in that, as I had no one to talk to in person, I was going to write down all the exclamations I made out loud.

p175
"Awww...I'm so sad for Draco!"said in surprise and pity
p200
"Oooh..Thank you! I love you Jo!"
p276
I started laughing at the Frodo-ism of Harry wearing the locket but not wanting to
p310
"And already the fellowship is broken!"-me
6AM
I just called Shannon and she had fallen asleep and stopped reading around page 130. She said she was sad over Hedwig's death. I reminded her she needed "CONSTANT VIGILENCE!" and she said she would get back to work
After hanging up I thought I should have said "But Shannon, Frodo's got a long way to go before Middle Earth is safe"
p379
"Stuff like that always sounds cooler than it really was" said Harry. "I've been trying to tell you that for years."
LOL...YAY!
p388, 7:36-7:50AM
Sleepy little nap
p435, 8:45AM
p444
"faster than Severus Snape confronted with shampoo."
p476
:( ...Dobby died.
p502, 11:55
Ah...retreat of the hero/prophet/Chosen One (to the mountains, cave, etc.)
p503
Dumbledore was disarmed by Malfoy, does that mean the Elderwand would belong to him, or Snape?
p576 1:13PM
Maybe I'm just tired, but Neville saying his grandmother was proud of him totally made me tear up.
p578
"NEVILLE'S THE MAN!"
p580
more crying

LOL!!...McGonagall "We teachers are rather good at magic, you know."
p602
[Clapping] "The houses are going to join together!" more tears
p604
"God help whoever tries to attack this school." Professor Xavier--XMen
p733
more crying
p734
"Awww...Kreacher!"
p736
"Mrs. Weasley...LANGUAGE!!!"



So not too many big spoilers, and not too long of a post as I've only slept a couple of hours, but here are my over-all, end results happy and sad points:

Sad:
I really wanted to get to know Lily's personality more, I also wish there had been more Snape throughout and more anything from Ginny (seriously, why not just shut her in a vanishing cabinet?) and some mention of Fawkes

I really didn't like the Epilogue. I think partly because it wasn't from Harry's perspective, so it stuck out, but also because it was a little too Hollywood ending. It was especially odd not to have it be a little more personal, rather than just name dropping. I would have liked to have seen the relationship Harry had with his Godson.

Happy:
I still LOVE Dumbledore and was really happy all the other Magical Creatures played a role. Long live the DA!

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Family Tree

Marilyn Manson= love child of...
















Severus Snape and
















Lord Voldemort

Loose ends

Other things I'm wondering about that I haven't seen much talk on or don't have any real beliefs in the theories I've seen:

-Colin and Dennis Creevy--outside of being adoring fans, will they play some role?
-Filch & the Librarian
-We found out in GOF that the Weasleys live near the Diggorys, the Lovegoods, and the Fawcetts--do wizards never visit their neighbors? Does Apparating make everyone your neighbor?
-Godric's Hollow and Godric Gryffindor--what's the connection?
-We've seen Fleur will be involved (in at least a wedding) in the last book, what kind of role will there be for Viktor Krum? (Rowling has said he will appear) Will Harry use the Wronski Feint?
-Florean Fortesque disappeared...why?
-the color emerald--cursed necklace, poison protecting horcrux, color of the Dark Mark
-How is Percy's relationship with his family going to effect the story?
-Draco Malfoy--I hope Harry saves his life in an act of pity and love --he's Snape:James and although they hated each other James saved Severus's life and Snape repented to Dumbledore when he found out Voldemort was after the Potters
-Wormtail's life-debt to Harry, and the funny correlations I keep drawing between Gollum/Frodo--a finger loss and Luke Skywalker--a lost hand/mechanical hand, plus that whole "have pity on Gollum" foreshadowing that was done when Harry confessed to Dumbledore his regret at having saved Wormtail. I like the idea that Voldemort might regret giving a hand to someone owing a life to Harry.
-Who will be the DADA teacher this year at Hogwarts?
-Did Dumbledore have a will?
-Will the centaurs or Firenze have a part in the last book
-What about other creatures-House Elves, Giants, Merpeople, etc. I mean we never saw resolution to Winky, and Dobby has been useful so far, but were they all really just backdrop?
-the mirror that Sirius gave Harry

More with the quoting clues:

-JKR: “The final chapter is hidden away, although it has now changed very slightly. One character got a reprieve, but I have to say two [main characters] die that I didn't intend to die.”

Ouch...she didn't even mean for them to die, but they do? I'm hoping it's periphery people like members of OOtP or Staff at Hogwarts. I'd hate for it to be a Weasley or any of the kids Harry's age (although I admit that I've considered Neville's death possible)

-JKR: "...No, I've plotted it out, and I think you'd start to see that I've run out of plot if I go past this [book]"

She says there WILL be loose ends, but that the plot will definitely be resolved. Kind of makes me sad to see it all end.

-JKR: "We will find out the significant information about Harry’s mother in two parts: books 5 and 7. Both are “very important in what Harry ends up having to do.” "

Lisa on accio-quote: It seems that more than just her eyes are important! We know so little about Lily. Why did she change her mind about James? Did Snape ever apologize? What was her relationship with Petunia like? What did she do for work after graduating? Why was Voldemort willing to let her live?

All my same questions, I've been liking the theories that Lily and Snape worked together in potions, or at least that he might have shared some of his work with her, in that his spells (even the non-verbal ones that would be difficult to pick-up/copy) were disseminated to Gryffindor students like the Marauders. Who leaked them?

Jo says a question we should be asking is “why Dumbledore did not kill or try to kill Voldemort in the scene in the ministry.” Dumbledore did not give the real reason. [link to source]

Background: In chapter 35 of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore responds to Voldemort’s third attempt at an AK curse with a wordless, forceful spell that makes Harry’s hair stand on end even though he is some distance away. Voldemort deflects it in time with a “silver shield.” Although we are not told what it was, Voldemort recognizes the spell and knows that Dumbledore is not trying to kill him. Dumbledore explains to Voldemort that “Merely taking your life would not satisfy me,” but according to Jo, that’s not the real reason.

ooh...I like it! Personally I don't think DD would kill anyone, as it would hurt his soul, but also he knows about Voldemort's strong faith in the Prophecy and has strong hunches about his having horcruxes, so 1st he'd know that he probably COULDN'T kill Voldemort, and second he would have wanted to re-inforce in Voldemort the belief that Harry would be the only one who could kill him. (If V put no stock in the prophecy it wouldn't might not come true.) I wonder if the spell he hit him with was something to weaken or change him--like a love potion or similar to the effect of the Imperius Curse as Harry describes it--kind of warm, easy and pleasant.

What did James and Lily Potter do when they were alive?

JKR: "Well, I can't go into too much detail, because you're going to find out in future books. But James inherited plenty of money, so he didn't need a well-paid profession. You'll find out more about both Harry's parents later."

It seems to me that when Harry 1st visited the bank it was said that James and Lily had done quite well during their time. So was the money inherited or earned?

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Searching for Regulus Black

mizz_moony_luver on The Leaky Cauldron has my favorite theory so far...

Looking at the two book rule (As in, how something new introduced in one book shows up as something phenomenally important in next, next one. Such Animagi in book one and three, and Polyjuice Potion in books two and four and so on.) I'd like to duly note that the new "thing" introduced in book five was Metamorphmagi. Following the two book rule, it's safe to assume that Metamorphmagi play a fundamental role in book seven. We know the possibility of Metamormmagi lie in the Black family genes and so there is a far off possibility that Regulus Black might have been a Metamorphmagi as well.

Interestingly, Jo has stated that we'd be "properly introduced" to a member of the Order that we’ve already met. Do you see where I'm going with this yet? Rowling put a lot of effort into naming characters. The name "Regulus" means "Little King" among other things, so who do we know of in the order that has a “kingly” name? KINGSLEY SHACKLEBOLT. We also know that Kingsley was in charge of the search for Sirius and took up the duel with Bella after Sirius was killed. The fact that Kingsley handed the infamous copy of the Quibbler to Arthur that sent fans like me into a tizzy about Reg still being alive could be more then a red herring, it could be a clever little clue from Jo pointing us into the direction of Kingsley!

Regulus Black = Kingsley Shacklebolt.

I like the idea of Regulus as a Metamorphmagi even if I'm not sold on the Kingsley connection. It would seriously undermine the locket theories if Regulus had stolen the locket and then spent all that time around it in OOtP and not mentioned it. It seemed obvious from the note that the person who stole it knew what it was and was going to detroy it. So these two theories don't mesh.

The little "faux death" thing Dumbledore had mentioned would have worked particularly well for Regulus, as he was a Death Eater trying to get out and it would be easy for OOtP people to "kill" him without the DE wondering why.


P.S. I'm on board with the people theorizing that Regulus took Kreacher with him to destroy Voldemort's horcrux.

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Hogwarts Protection and Secret Keepers

Jo has said that the secret dies with the secret keeper. But we also know that people who already know where a place is before the secret is made can still find a place --otherwise Sirius would not have been able to rush to the Potter's home after finding out about Pettigrew's betrayal. But if the place was indeed kept secret even after the secret keepers death how would Harry be able to return to Godric's Hollow? And with Dumbledore dead would no one new (who hadn't been told by DD) ever be able to visit the Black house?

The protections Sirius' father put upon the Black residence (making it unplottable & such) still remain after his death, so I would assume the same rules would hold for the protections Dumbledore placed upon Hogwarts. But Harry said he knew as soon as the full body bind released him that he knew Dumbledore was dead-- how many other spells, charms, hex's, etc. would have been lifted upon Dumbledore's death?

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Is Voldemort really Marilyn Manson?

So you remember the comment in the Quibbler about Sirius (that Luna Lovegood later referenced) about Sirius actually being Stubby Boardman, the lead singer in the popular wizarding group The Hobgoblins?

After seeing Voldemort in the most recent movie dressed in lovely Armani Muggle-wear I've decided he is actually just upset that his back story is that he could not make it into the Weird Sisters and that the dirty muggle Marilyn Manson stole "his look" ...that's why he's doing all this acting out.

;) hahaha.

(Although I've heard people seriously theorizing that Regulas Black is "hiding" in the same manner as Dumbledore told Malfoy he could hide Him and his mother, but is actually in disguise as the hairy bass player from the Weird Sisters)

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Where I stand on the Harry Potter theories

There are a number of theories floating around the Interweb about Harry Potter, and things that will be revealed in the next book. There are also a number of interesting questions JK Rowling has raised. Here are a few of my favorite theories and questions and my stand on them:

Lily and Snape:
The theory is that Snape loved Lily--whether she loved him back or not is also in question. Evidence supporting this theory is based largely on trying to read into clues and see who or where they point best. The key being the "Lily's eyes" comments that are scattered throughout the books. It is mentioned a number of times that Harry looks just like his father, but with Lily's eyes. It then begs the question of how those who saw his parents would see him, and it goes kind of like this:
Loved Lily+ Loved James= Loves looking at Harry as the combo of people they loved
Hated Lily+ Loved James= Love looking at Harry, but Hate looking Harry in the eyes/unsettled when they see HER eyes
Loved Lily+ Hated James= Hate seeing Harry, but unsettled when they see Lily's eyes in James's face.
Hated Lily+ Hated James= Hate seeing Harry

So obviously, one of the most interesting would be someone who Hated James, but loved Lily--seeing the eyes of the one they loved staring out of the face they hated. Personally I think the Hate/Hate is pretty interesting too, but I can see the allure of the Love/Hate all in one face argument as well.

Rowling has said that Snape "has been loved" and the question of "by whom" is still up for debate.

MA: Has Snape ever been loved by anyone?
JKR: Yes, he has, which in some ways makes him more culpable even than Voldemort, who never has.

The visions Harry saw when he broke into Snapes mind during Occlumency lessons shows he had a troubled home life and didn't have a great deal of friends at school (at least not in the way James did), so another relationship is tempting, but doesn't necessarily point at Lily.

The three things I think support this theory:
1. The chapter "Snape's Worst Memory" had Harry viewing a memory so important that Snape took it out of his mind lest Harry see it during an Occlumency session. That memory showed not only the taunting of Snape by James Potter and Sirius, but it showed Lily saving him and him calling her a "mudblood". This memory was embarrassing, and certainly could have been amongst the "worst" on a lot of people's lists, but even more so if Snape remembered calling the girl he loved a horrible name.
2. Snape did not just pull Harry out of the pensive, he entered the pensive, grabbed Harry and then left. This allowed him to see how much Harry had seen and since we didn't see the ending we don't know more about any further conversation or if there were more memories in the pensive.
3.

David Moulds for the News of the World - How does Aunt Petunia know about dementors and all the other magical facts she knows?
JK Rowling: Another very good question. She overheard a conversation, that is all I am going to say. She overheard conversation. The answer is in the beginning of Phoenix, she said she overheard Lily being told about them basically.
Is that true?
JK Rowling: Yes. The reason I am hesitant is because there is more to it than that. As I think you suspect. Correctly, but I don't want to say what else there is because it relates to book 7.

The book say's she overheard "Lily talking to THAT BOY" or that strange/weird/filthy/odd, something...boy. So I've kind of thought from how it was said in the interview that maybe Lily was talking to someone OTHER than James...perhaps Snape???

Rowling has also said

ES: Was James the only one who had romantic feelings for Lily?
JKR: No. [Pause.] She was like Ginny, she was a popular girl.

Again, seeming to hint that there might be other former flames out there.

Okay, on to other interesting theories/subjects

Peter Humphreys for BBC Newsround. - Who did Fawkes previously belong to and will he play a vital role in the next book?
JK Rowling: I am not going to answer about the role in the next books, which probably gives you a big clue, and he has never been owned by anyone but Dumbledore... Fawkes is Dumbledore's possession, not a Hogwarts possession.

I love Fawkes! I think the relationship between Harry and Fawkes has been interesting and I believe the pheonix chooses their owner much more than the owner chooses them. My guess is that it will choose to help Harry at least once more and I'm really interested to see if she explains more about the cool way it seems to be able to "apparate" even inside Hogwarts (OTP--Dumbledore's escape: "there was a flash of fire and the pair of them had gone")

JK Rowling: I keep killing all my favourite members of the Order of the Phoenix, but there is one member of the Order of the Phoenix that you have not yet met properly and you will -- well, you know that they are a member, but you haven't really met them properly yet and you will meet them in seven, so I am looking forward to that.

My bet is on Dumbledore's brother, Aberforth, who also has a number of "Aberforth Spotting" Threads devoted to him. The leading theory is that he is the bartender at the Hog's Head Inn, which "smelled strongly of something that might have been goats" HBP pg335. (Aberforth, Dumbledore had mentioned once, had been publicly ridiculed for performing illegal charms on goats). The bartender is described in HBP as "a grumpy-looking old man with a great deal of long gray hair and beard. He was tall and thin and looked vaguely familiar to Harry." We've been told by Rowling that we will learn more about Dumbledore's past in Book 7 and I'm on the Learning-through-Aberforth boat.

ES: Dumbledore is unrivaled in his knowledge of magic –
JKR: Mmhm.
ES: Where did he learn it all?
JKR: I see him primarily as someone who would be self-taught. However, he in his time had access to superb teachers at Hogwarts, so he was educated in the same way that everyone else is educated. Dumbledore's family would be a profitable line of inquiry, more profitable than sweet wrappers.
MA: His family?
JKR: Family, yes.
MA: Should we talk about that a little more?
JKR: No. But you can! [Laughter.]

MA: It's interesting about Dumbledore being lonely.
JKR: I see him as isolated, and a few people have said to me rightly I think, that he is detached. My sister said to me in a moment of frustration, it was when Hagrid was shut up in his house after Rita Skeeter had published that he was a half-breed, and my sister said to me, “Why didn't Dumbledore go down earlier, why didn't Dumbledore go down earlier?” I said he really had to let Hagrid stew for a while and see if he was going to come out of this on his own because if he had come out on his own he really would have been better. "Well he's too detached, he's too cold, it's like you,” she said!" [Laughter] By which she meant that where she would immediately rush in and I would maybe stand back a little bit and say, “Let's wait and see if he can work this out.” I wouldn't leave him a week. I'd leave him maybe an afternoon. But she would chase him into the hut.

But I love you Dumbledore! I love his grandfatherly patience. He reminds me of my own patient grandfather in ways. Plus his idea of "a few words" are absolutely precious! I can't wait to learn more about him!

ES: What would Dumbledore see? [in the Mirror of Erised]
JKR: I can't answer that.
ES: What would Dumbledore's boggart be ?
JKR: I can't answer that either, but for theories you should read six again . There you go.

Oh...twist my arm, all right I'll read book 6 one more time for you Jo!

There are a lot of theories about the Veil in the Ministry

JKR: The veil's been there as long as the Ministry of Magic has been there, and the Ministry of Magic has been there, not as long as Hogwarts, but a long time. We’re talking hundreds of years. It's not particularly important to know exactly when, but centuries, definitely.
MA: Was it used as an execution chamber or just studying?
JKR: No, it's just studying. The Department of Mysteries is all about studying. They study the mind, the universe, death…
MA: Are we going back to that room, that locked room?
JKR: No comment.

So no coincidence that Luna, Neville, and Harry were all the ones who had "seen death" and could see thestrals and were also the one's attracted to the veil and able to hear the whispers just beyond. Obviously the veil has something to do with the divide between the living and the dead, but I'm not expecting anyone to come striding out of it or anything. But perhaps it would be a way to make sure no part of Voldemort could return???

[about the rest of Harry's mission as it was set forth in book 6]
JKR: It's not all of it. Obviously it's not all of it, but still, that is the way to kill Voldemort. That's not to say it won't be extremely an torturous and winding journey, but that's what he's got to do. Harry now knows — well he believe he knows – what he’s facing. Dumbledore's guesses are never very far wide of the mark. I don't want to give too much away here, but Dumbledore says, ‘There are four out there, you've got to get rid of four, and then you go for Voldemort.’ So that's where he is, and that's what he's got to do.
ES: It's a tall order.
JKR: It's a huge order. But Dumbledore has given him some pretty valuable clues and Harry, also, in the course of previous six books has amassed more knowledge than he realizes. That's all I am going to say.

So the last four horcruxes:
1. The locket--I'm guessing it is the one discovered and briefly mentioned in the cleaning of the Black household and that Kreacher helped Regulus A Black (RAB) to retrieve it from the cave. I'm guessing either Kreacher or Mundungus has removed it from where it was though.
2. The cup of Helga Hufflepuff--I'm not sure on this one, but I'm also interested in the fact that the trophy room has been mentioned over and over again and how Tom Riddle liked to "collect trophies" from people when he was young.
3. Nagini--seems a bit too easy, as all the other items found so far had some kind of curse that made them difficult to destroy, and the snake is mortal, so how would it improve Voldemort's immortality. Perhaps this is one of Dumbledore's "Big Mistakes"?
4. Something of Ravenclaw & Gryffindor. I think Voldemort was trying to do something of Godric Griffyndor's by killing Harry in "Godric's Hollow" but that Harry's "being a true Gryffindor" (maybe even by blood???) will allow him to have more control over the object than Voldemort would anticipate.

So if indeed Dumbledore was wrong about Nagini the snake, it would seem more likely that that object was something Ravenclaw related and might be an object related to the intelligence and sharp witted-ness of the Ravenclaw's.

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I'm putting my Pirate obsession on hold...and obsessing on Harry Potter instead

So I might as well post my theories before the book comes out so I can either gloat or laugh at them later.

JK Rowling has said that the one question she has never been asked but always thought she should be asked is WHY Dumbledore had James Potter's Invisibility Cloak. She has said the answer is very important, even Crucial to the story.

edited to add: JKR has also said James inherited the cloak from his father--it was a family heirloom (he also inherited a decent amount of money)


Okay, so in my mind there are a few firmly established facts:
1. Dumbledore had the cloak at the time of the Potter's death, and was not at Godric's Hollow
2. James had given Dumbledore the cloak.
3. Dumbledore did not need the cloak--as he could make himself invisible without one (as told to Harry in the Mirror of Erised scene).

And I personally do not believe, as others do, that James would give away the cloak on the off-chance he might die and Harry might survive. They were going into hiding, and they probably thought they would be successful at hiding, and if they weren't they were ALL dead...no one had ever survived Voldemort's killing curse before.

So the question is still WHY James gave Dumbledore the cloak.

My personal theory is that Dumbledore knew the Prophecy, and because Snape upon finding out Voldemort was going after the Potters had repented and told him exactly what Voldemort knew. Because Dumbledore told them of the prophecy the Potter's went into hiding. Now if the Potter's were in hiding they would have good use for an invisibility cloak, so it must have been something related to their protection or a VERY, VERY good cause (one that would mean giving less than every possible advantage to Harry) that led James to give away his Cloak.

My wild guess is that Dumbledore wanted to borrow the Cloak so that Snape could return to Voldemort without Voldemort knowing he had visited Dumbledore and warned him of the Potter's peril. If Snape had not returned Voldemort would have known something was amiss and would have thought Snape a traitor and might have questioned the verity of the original prophecy. aside-->of course had he not fulfilled the prophecy and "marked his equal" there would be no-one to stop him. Could Dumbledore, knowing the FULL prophecy, in some ways WANTED him to mark his equal? What kind of guilt would he have felt over that?
Snape then would have returned the cloak to Dumbledore after Voldemort's disappearance. (this would also explain how Snape seemed to know that Harry had an invisibility cloak throughout the first couple of books (although he never accused him) and it would fulfil the requisite angst Harry always has over anything Snape-related if Snape had used the cloak himself when it could have been protecting James & Lily)

...But this is just my wild guess.

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