Today's haiku

Green whirlybirds
Falling downwards in the air
Today I can't breathe.

So, Hogwarts.

What do they do if the non-wizarding parents don't want their child to go to Hogwarts? Is the kid still subject to Ministry laws regarding the use of magic? What if the parents have a good reason (unlike the Dursleys) to prevent their kid from learning magic? Maybe a religious reason, or something...?

And Hagrid! We know there's Kwikspell catalogs used by squibs. Why can't he now study to pass a few OWLs, even some NEWTs and become a qualified wizard? Be allowed to do magic, y'know? Are there age restrictions on those tests or something?

And why exactly doesn't the wizarding world have primary schools? Do they have universities? Is there any option for those who want their children to go to school and have a bit more of a well-rounded education than Hogwarts offers, without having to leave the country...?

Edit: And how many students are in Hogwarts, anyway? We know JKR says about 1,000, which is possible if Gryffindor is the smallest house, but there's a lot of other evidence against this. Carriages hold 3 - 5 students, and it only takes around hundred of them to take all the students into the castle (which sets the school's population at no more than about 600). During the DADA OWL that Harry saw, there's only about 100 seats (which makes the population about 700). Does JKR, in fact, possess basic math skills? Should we converge upon her house with tutors and calculators, and, failing that, decent editors for both her books and her site?

It's that time of season again!

Yes, when I ask, once more, if anybody has some Dudley fic for me. I know some of youse guys write. Don't you care about me? WHINE! WHINE! Seriously, I'm begging you here. Break free from the mold. Experiment. Write Dudley fic. Please?

This is leading me into two very different thoughts, which, for fun, I'll stick in the same post:

1. I know I do this, but how many others? I often use the phrase "would you?" instead of "please" when speaking, as in "Pass me the potatoes, would you?" Am I alone in this? I can't recall if I've heard other people doing that... (This is prompted by my final please in the first part of this entry)

2. It's very weird how many second-person fics I've seen. You don't ever see this in published works, as far as I know, and I certainly remember being taught that there's only three Points of View in fiction (first person, third person limited, third person omniscient), so why are certain fan fic writers (many of whom are really quite good) being so... experimental? innovative? different? in their writing? It's odd, is all.

GAH!

So, I've been trudging through the neopets plot. I don't want to quit now, I'd feel silly. Sillier than I already do, anyway. But, gah! Does anybody happen to have a map of the pyramid, with large enough to read markers of where each category is? I need the following:

( Read more... )

If you can even just tell me which floors each are on, I'd be thrilled beyond belief. Gratias ago.

Oooh!

masterflare421 has made me two very nifty icons: One and two.

Which to take, which to take... mind, the first'd be better if the line breaks made it clearer it was a haiku, and all icons (almost) are cooler animated, but I don't really care. I'm just trying to decide which one to take! Gah! Help? Thanks.

Icons? Oooh, shiny.
Look at the Serenity
Leaf upon the wind