Sorting essay, again
Aug. 27th, 2005 10:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mari4212Mamadeb, could you please look this over before I attempt to get into
the queue at Sorting_Elite? I wouldn't want to put your name to
anything before you've had a chance to tell me to fix any glaring
flaws.
1. Name: Margaret, Mari4212 online
2. Age: 19
3. Have you read all 6 Harry Potter Books? Which one was your favorite?
Are there people who apply here without reading all of the books? Yes, I have read all of the books numerous times. My favorite remains Prisoner of Azkaban, for multiple reasons. First, it is just so well written. Every time I re-read the book I pick up on more nuances. Descriptions of events, people’s faces, tone of voice, all of them add to the complexity of the storyline. Harry gradually learns more about his parents, about the situation he finds himself in, and it’s done well, with every new fact integrated into what we already learned.
Second, the book as a whole is a curious mix of innocence and knowledge. Harry, Ron and Hermione are at turning places in their lives. Up through this book, they believe a lot of what adults tell them. Harry accepts that Sirius is after him because that is what he is told. He trusts that the Minister will obey the laws, specifically the Restriction of Underage Magic, and is surprised when he isn’t punished. It is in this book that he starts thinking about the various stories and ‘truths’ that adults tell him. He hears what most people believe through his eavesdropping on Fudge’s conversation with his teachers, and then he hears Black’s version of the story, and he makes a decision over which truth to believe.
Hermione also reaches several turning points in this book. She starts the book taking every course she can, so that she doesn’t miss anything. On one level this is admirable, as she truly wants to learn all she can. But by taking everything, she has no time, and she rapidly approaches a burnout normally only achieved by college students. It is in this book that she first seems to accept that she cannot do everything. She begins to understand her own limits. Also interesting is how she accepts Lupin being a werewolf. She figures it out on her own, realizes that if she lets it out he will suffer, and keeps the secret, even from her best friends. This is a year of secrecy for Hermione, with both the time turner and Lupin’s problem. Finally, she takes a huge risk this year in placing her concern for her friend’s life over their continuing friendship. This is a girl who spent the first two months of her first year at Hogwarts alone and miserable. For her to risk her friendship with Harry demonstrates her loyalty and love of him.
Finally, this book also introduces one of my favorite adults of the series, Professor Lupin. Rereading the book recently, I was amazed at the strength and endurance he must have. He has been dealt several harsh blows in his life, and I don’t believe being a werewolf was the worst of them. Far harder to deal with must have been the loss of two friends and the betrayal of the third. It must have been the cruelest cut of all. And then, twelve years later, after he’s had a chance to move on, he is forced to relive it all. The newspaper displays Sirius’ face everywhere, everyone is discussing the story of what happened to Peter, and he is teaching someone who looks almost exactly like James. Add in Snape’s sniping and suspicions, and Harry’s mentions of what he sees from the dementors, and this could not have been an easy year for Remus. Quite frankly, if I were him I’d be having hysterics, not dealing calmly and rationally with people.
4. Who is your favorite character in the Harry Potter books?
Don’t laugh, but my favorite character is Neville Longbottom. When we first meet him, he is quiet, unsure of himself, and comes across as something of a dork. He’s every bully’s favorite victim, and a teacher’s worst nightmare. Not exactly the heroic Gryffindor ideal. But not all bravery is seen in brash, reckless behavior. Neville’s bravery is found in his stoic endurance. Retrospectively, looking back from the perspective of the fifth book, we know that he regularly goes to see his parents, who have been tortured into insanity. They don’t even seem to recognize him. That is a painful loss, and quite probably harder to deal with than Harry's more straightforward loss of his own parents. He is raised by a grandmother that he seems to be very intimidated by, and who seems to spend a large portion of her time yelling at him. While I am sure she loves him, she doesn’t seem to know how to interact with him. And yet he loves her, loves his parents, and tries to make them proud.
As it stands, he is alone among the Gryffindors. Dean and Seamus spend their time together, as do Lavender and Parvati. And of course, so do Harry, Ron, and Hermione. He seems closest to the trio, and yet he is definitely not one of them. He spends most of his time alone, and yet in the first book he is willing to make his isolation complete by alienating Harry, Ron and Hermione by standing up to them. There is no way he could actually stop them going, but still he makes the attempt. Truly, that is bravery, and one of the most heroic acts of the series.
5. Who is your least favorite character in the series? (Do not pick Umbridge. She is written specifically to be hated.)
I find that my least favorite character in the series is Ron Weasley. And I think a large portion of that is that he is such a well-rounded character. He is a typical teenage boy, more concerned with sports than homework, with his friends and relationships than his classes. He is primarily focused on the mundane, the ordinary facts of life. And he rubs me entirely the wrong way. I don’t really deal well with your average teenager, not even as one myself. Ron reminds me of too many of my former classmates. He is rude without meaning to be so, insulting without thought. The line in Prisoner of Azkaban about his calling Hermione a know-it-all once a week comes to mind, as does his casual insults of Slytherins in most of the books. He spends a lot of the time putting his foot firmly into his mouth. In other words, he acts like a normal person most of the time. He obsesses about Quidditch, both playing and watching. Never being a sports person myself, I don’t understand the appeal, or at least not to that extent. I’m also a terrible bookworm, so his casual disregard for education and reading in general just irritates me.
Another problem that I have with the character is that he tends to be prejudiced. From the first time we see him, on the train to Hogwarts, he mentions that he doesn’t like Slytherins. An entire group of people, just casually slammed in a conversation with another boy. And his basic perception of them doesn’t change throughout the books. In Order of the Phoenix, whenever the idea of inter-house unity comes up, he responds with a variant on “Work with Slytherins? Never.” Admittedly, we aren’t given many canonical examples of a good Slytherin, but it still irks me to hear the constant digs he gets in against them.
Many of the other characters in the book that we are supposed to dislike are basically two-dimensional characters. You can hate them, but I tend to just ignore them instead. I can’t take Lockhart, for example seriously enough to hate him. Ron is three-dimensional, he feels like a real person. And as such, he matters to me enough to annoy me. I don’t hate him, but I do dislike his character, especially from Goblet of Fire onwards.
6. Describe how you feel about Voldemort.
Irritating little sociopath, isn’t he? And to quote from another fandom, someone really needs to teach that guy how to die!
Sorry, let me attempt a serious answer to that question. He is unquestionably evil. His lack of concern for anyone else and his casual cruelty are almost worse than his deliberate attacks, because they demonstrate his true personality. He is amoral, completely unconcerned about anything outside of himself and his agenda. He is terrifying. His scenes in Chamber of Secrets reveals that even from a young age he was willing to both kill and assign the blame to other people, without evidently thinking twice about it. Instead he seems proud of his actions. Proud that he has killed an innocent, and forced another innocent to take the punishment. At that point, he not only frightens me, he sickens me. I cannot pity him. Reading through Half Blood Prince, I was struck by the same themes. This is a boy who is cruel and cares nothing for others at the age of eleven.
7. Describe exactly what you would see in the Mirror of Erised.
I think I would see myself sitting on a couch in a comfortably furnished living room, on Christmas Eve with an attractive yet geeky husband sitting next to me, reading The Littlest Angel to our children. On the wall behind me would be a quilt my dad had made for us, and the love we would all have for each other would be palpable. And, since this is an idealized view, the kids would not be squirming around or fighting, the couch would not be lumpy, clawed on, or an ugly color, and the cats would not have destroyed any of the Christmas tree ornaments this year. This entire scene would be taking place about ten or so years from now, after I’ve finished college and gotten settled.
Overly sentimental? Probably.
8. What do you wish to accomplish in life?
I want to earn my degree in Physical Therapy. I want to spend my career helping children recover from their hurts. I want to visit at least two foreign countries before I die. I want to meet someone who I love, and who loves me for who I am. I want to make people feel better, about themselves and about life. I don’t want to be rich and famous, but being comfortably well off would be appreciated. I want to have true, long lasting friendships that can stand the test of time. I want any children I may have to be happy and healthy, and to know that they are loved. I want to be remembered by my friends and family as someone who was worth knowing, worth loving. I want to be considered more beautiful on the inside than I ever will be on the outside.
9. What makes a person respectable?
Respectability is earned. It is earned by being true to yourself, and helping others be true to who they are. It is earned by being honest with yourself and others. It is earned by accepting your mistakes and learning from them, and allowing others the same courtesy. Being respectable means that you are willing to see someone who is totally different from you, and accept that they have value. It means that you are willing to do the things that are not fun, are not popular, are not easy, because they need to be done. It means that you fulfill your commitments, and honor your responsibilities. It means you act justly, and that you temper that justice with understanding and with mercy. It means that you treat those who are your inferiors in rank and power as you would your equals.
10. Which one of your personal qualities do you value the most?
Sheesh, and I thought the Mirror of Erised was a hard question. I think that the quality I value in myself the most is my ability to understand people. I try to listen to what people tell me, not only by their words, but also by their tone of voice, their body language, and their actions. I’m the one my friends call when something’s upset them, or when they don’t know what to do or where to go from the place they’re at. I’ve had someone I’ve only met once before call me up about boyfriend troubles, and other people who will start crying on me midway through a conversation, and I’ll sit there and hug them until they can calm down enough to work things through rationally. I’m also the one who can be counted on to explain exactly where I think a character is coming from on a tv show or book, and will back it up with evidence from the episode/chapter.
11. What do you think are your top 5 characteristics?
I’m intelligent. Okay, this answer turns up on every single application, but it is true. I’m definitely book smart, as evidenced by my SAT scores and my grades, but that’s not exactly the best measure of intelligence. I can understand most of the things I run across in my education, and although there are things that I can’t always understand, like higher mathematics, I can at least follow the logic behind them. I like to think about issues, weigh the facts and decide for myself. And I can learn from my own stupid mistakes and those of others around me, which I think is a trait that more people need to have.
I’m nice. It might be a cringe-worthy compliment, but it is one that is almost universally applied to me by people I interact with. Unless you’re my sister or one of my best friends, and then they normally phrase it as being too nice for my own good. I’m the sweet one, the one that can manage to be polite to the biggest jerks around. Unless I’m so tired I can’t think straight, I’ll listen to you and phrase things gently. When I have to criticize something, like a fellow student’s paper, then I always find at least one good thing to say about it. I’m the one who wipes away everyone’s tears, who fixes all the booboos. You really can’t force me to do something, because my normal response to being forced into something is to get upset. If you ask me to do something, I will bend over backwards to help you do it. This sometimes results in me getting walked on by people, so I’m trying to pair the niceness with a bit more of a backbone these days.
I’m bookish. When I was in second grade I got glasses, and my first words were “Wow, I can see a whole word now!” About a week later I discovered reading for pleasure, and I have never surfaced. I always have a book on hand, and I’ll go through several novel length books per week. In a lot of ways, I define myself around books. At the local library, everyone else in my family is referred to in terms of me, as in “oh you’re Margaret’s brother”.
I’m musical. I have to have music on around me. When I’m upset, or tired, or feeling anything at all, I put on music. My major creative outlets are poetry and dance. Both of which are basically putting a new form to music. With poetry, it is music without notes, and with dance it is music taken a solid form. I love to sing, and it’s just lucky for those around me that my voice is at least tolerably good. If I couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket I’d still probably sing, although I doubt that my friends and family would enjoy it.
I’m weird. Yes, I am very weird and proud of it. I’ll quote random people, books, and movies, especially anything by Terry Pratchett or Monty Python. I’ll skip with a friend through the middle of the mall, while giggling like a madwoman. I loved Luna’s commentary during the Quidditch match; those would be the same kind of things I would say at a sports match. I try not to take myself too seriously; life’s more fun when you can laugh at your own silliness.
12. If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be?
1. Name: Margaret, Mari4212 online
2. Age: 19
3. Have you read all 6 Harry Potter Books? Which one was your favorite?
Are there people who apply here without reading all of the books? Yes, I have read all of the books numerous times. My favorite remains Prisoner of Azkaban, for multiple reasons. First, it is just so well written. Every time I re-read the book I pick up on more nuances. Descriptions of events, people’s faces, tone of voice, all of them add to the complexity of the storyline. Harry gradually learns more about his parents, about the situation he finds himself in, and it’s done well, with every new fact integrated into what we already learned.
Second, the book as a whole is a curious mix of innocence and knowledge. Harry, Ron and Hermione are at turning places in their lives. Up through this book, they believe a lot of what adults tell them. Harry accepts that Sirius is after him because that is what he is told. He trusts that the Minister will obey the laws, specifically the Restriction of Underage Magic, and is surprised when he isn’t punished. It is in this book that he starts thinking about the various stories and ‘truths’ that adults tell him. He hears what most people believe through his eavesdropping on Fudge’s conversation with his teachers, and then he hears Black’s version of the story, and he makes a decision over which truth to believe.
Hermione also reaches several turning points in this book. She starts the book taking every course she can, so that she doesn’t miss anything. On one level this is admirable, as she truly wants to learn all she can. But by taking everything, she has no time, and she rapidly approaches a burnout normally only achieved by college students. It is in this book that she first seems to accept that she cannot do everything. She begins to understand her own limits. Also interesting is how she accepts Lupin being a werewolf. She figures it out on her own, realizes that if she lets it out he will suffer, and keeps the secret, even from her best friends. This is a year of secrecy for Hermione, with both the time turner and Lupin’s problem. Finally, she takes a huge risk this year in placing her concern for her friend’s life over their continuing friendship. This is a girl who spent the first two months of her first year at Hogwarts alone and miserable. For her to risk her friendship with Harry demonstrates her loyalty and love of him.
Finally, this book also introduces one of my favorite adults of the series, Professor Lupin. Rereading the book recently, I was amazed at the strength and endurance he must have. He has been dealt several harsh blows in his life, and I don’t believe being a werewolf was the worst of them. Far harder to deal with must have been the loss of two friends and the betrayal of the third. It must have been the cruelest cut of all. And then, twelve years later, after he’s had a chance to move on, he is forced to relive it all. The newspaper displays Sirius’ face everywhere, everyone is discussing the story of what happened to Peter, and he is teaching someone who looks almost exactly like James. Add in Snape’s sniping and suspicions, and Harry’s mentions of what he sees from the dementors, and this could not have been an easy year for Remus. Quite frankly, if I were him I’d be having hysterics, not dealing calmly and rationally with people.
4. Who is your favorite character in the Harry Potter books?
Don’t laugh, but my favorite character is Neville Longbottom. When we first meet him, he is quiet, unsure of himself, and comes across as something of a dork. He’s every bully’s favorite victim, and a teacher’s worst nightmare. Not exactly the heroic Gryffindor ideal. But not all bravery is seen in brash, reckless behavior. Neville’s bravery is found in his stoic endurance. Retrospectively, looking back from the perspective of the fifth book, we know that he regularly goes to see his parents, who have been tortured into insanity. They don’t even seem to recognize him. That is a painful loss, and quite probably harder to deal with than Harry's more straightforward loss of his own parents. He is raised by a grandmother that he seems to be very intimidated by, and who seems to spend a large portion of her time yelling at him. While I am sure she loves him, she doesn’t seem to know how to interact with him. And yet he loves her, loves his parents, and tries to make them proud.
As it stands, he is alone among the Gryffindors. Dean and Seamus spend their time together, as do Lavender and Parvati. And of course, so do Harry, Ron, and Hermione. He seems closest to the trio, and yet he is definitely not one of them. He spends most of his time alone, and yet in the first book he is willing to make his isolation complete by alienating Harry, Ron and Hermione by standing up to them. There is no way he could actually stop them going, but still he makes the attempt. Truly, that is bravery, and one of the most heroic acts of the series.
5. Who is your least favorite character in the series? (Do not pick Umbridge. She is written specifically to be hated.)
I find that my least favorite character in the series is Ron Weasley. And I think a large portion of that is that he is such a well-rounded character. He is a typical teenage boy, more concerned with sports than homework, with his friends and relationships than his classes. He is primarily focused on the mundane, the ordinary facts of life. And he rubs me entirely the wrong way. I don’t really deal well with your average teenager, not even as one myself. Ron reminds me of too many of my former classmates. He is rude without meaning to be so, insulting without thought. The line in Prisoner of Azkaban about his calling Hermione a know-it-all once a week comes to mind, as does his casual insults of Slytherins in most of the books. He spends a lot of the time putting his foot firmly into his mouth. In other words, he acts like a normal person most of the time. He obsesses about Quidditch, both playing and watching. Never being a sports person myself, I don’t understand the appeal, or at least not to that extent. I’m also a terrible bookworm, so his casual disregard for education and reading in general just irritates me.
Another problem that I have with the character is that he tends to be prejudiced. From the first time we see him, on the train to Hogwarts, he mentions that he doesn’t like Slytherins. An entire group of people, just casually slammed in a conversation with another boy. And his basic perception of them doesn’t change throughout the books. In Order of the Phoenix, whenever the idea of inter-house unity comes up, he responds with a variant on “Work with Slytherins? Never.” Admittedly, we aren’t given many canonical examples of a good Slytherin, but it still irks me to hear the constant digs he gets in against them.
Many of the other characters in the book that we are supposed to dislike are basically two-dimensional characters. You can hate them, but I tend to just ignore them instead. I can’t take Lockhart, for example seriously enough to hate him. Ron is three-dimensional, he feels like a real person. And as such, he matters to me enough to annoy me. I don’t hate him, but I do dislike his character, especially from Goblet of Fire onwards.
6. Describe how you feel about Voldemort.
Irritating little sociopath, isn’t he? And to quote from another fandom, someone really needs to teach that guy how to die!
Sorry, let me attempt a serious answer to that question. He is unquestionably evil. His lack of concern for anyone else and his casual cruelty are almost worse than his deliberate attacks, because they demonstrate his true personality. He is amoral, completely unconcerned about anything outside of himself and his agenda. He is terrifying. His scenes in Chamber of Secrets reveals that even from a young age he was willing to both kill and assign the blame to other people, without evidently thinking twice about it. Instead he seems proud of his actions. Proud that he has killed an innocent, and forced another innocent to take the punishment. At that point, he not only frightens me, he sickens me. I cannot pity him. Reading through Half Blood Prince, I was struck by the same themes. This is a boy who is cruel and cares nothing for others at the age of eleven.
7. Describe exactly what you would see in the Mirror of Erised.
I think I would see myself sitting on a couch in a comfortably furnished living room, on Christmas Eve with an attractive yet geeky husband sitting next to me, reading The Littlest Angel to our children. On the wall behind me would be a quilt my dad had made for us, and the love we would all have for each other would be palpable. And, since this is an idealized view, the kids would not be squirming around or fighting, the couch would not be lumpy, clawed on, or an ugly color, and the cats would not have destroyed any of the Christmas tree ornaments this year. This entire scene would be taking place about ten or so years from now, after I’ve finished college and gotten settled.
Overly sentimental? Probably.
8. What do you wish to accomplish in life?
I want to earn my degree in Physical Therapy. I want to spend my career helping children recover from their hurts. I want to visit at least two foreign countries before I die. I want to meet someone who I love, and who loves me for who I am. I want to make people feel better, about themselves and about life. I don’t want to be rich and famous, but being comfortably well off would be appreciated. I want to have true, long lasting friendships that can stand the test of time. I want any children I may have to be happy and healthy, and to know that they are loved. I want to be remembered by my friends and family as someone who was worth knowing, worth loving. I want to be considered more beautiful on the inside than I ever will be on the outside.
9. What makes a person respectable?
Respectability is earned. It is earned by being true to yourself, and helping others be true to who they are. It is earned by being honest with yourself and others. It is earned by accepting your mistakes and learning from them, and allowing others the same courtesy. Being respectable means that you are willing to see someone who is totally different from you, and accept that they have value. It means that you are willing to do the things that are not fun, are not popular, are not easy, because they need to be done. It means that you fulfill your commitments, and honor your responsibilities. It means you act justly, and that you temper that justice with understanding and with mercy. It means that you treat those who are your inferiors in rank and power as you would your equals.
10. Which one of your personal qualities do you value the most?
Sheesh, and I thought the Mirror of Erised was a hard question. I think that the quality I value in myself the most is my ability to understand people. I try to listen to what people tell me, not only by their words, but also by their tone of voice, their body language, and their actions. I’m the one my friends call when something’s upset them, or when they don’t know what to do or where to go from the place they’re at. I’ve had someone I’ve only met once before call me up about boyfriend troubles, and other people who will start crying on me midway through a conversation, and I’ll sit there and hug them until they can calm down enough to work things through rationally. I’m also the one who can be counted on to explain exactly where I think a character is coming from on a tv show or book, and will back it up with evidence from the episode/chapter.
11. What do you think are your top 5 characteristics?
I’m intelligent. Okay, this answer turns up on every single application, but it is true. I’m definitely book smart, as evidenced by my SAT scores and my grades, but that’s not exactly the best measure of intelligence. I can understand most of the things I run across in my education, and although there are things that I can’t always understand, like higher mathematics, I can at least follow the logic behind them. I like to think about issues, weigh the facts and decide for myself. And I can learn from my own stupid mistakes and those of others around me, which I think is a trait that more people need to have.
I’m nice. It might be a cringe-worthy compliment, but it is one that is almost universally applied to me by people I interact with. Unless you’re my sister or one of my best friends, and then they normally phrase it as being too nice for my own good. I’m the sweet one, the one that can manage to be polite to the biggest jerks around. Unless I’m so tired I can’t think straight, I’ll listen to you and phrase things gently. When I have to criticize something, like a fellow student’s paper, then I always find at least one good thing to say about it. I’m the one who wipes away everyone’s tears, who fixes all the booboos. You really can’t force me to do something, because my normal response to being forced into something is to get upset. If you ask me to do something, I will bend over backwards to help you do it. This sometimes results in me getting walked on by people, so I’m trying to pair the niceness with a bit more of a backbone these days.
I’m bookish. When I was in second grade I got glasses, and my first words were “Wow, I can see a whole word now!” About a week later I discovered reading for pleasure, and I have never surfaced. I always have a book on hand, and I’ll go through several novel length books per week. In a lot of ways, I define myself around books. At the local library, everyone else in my family is referred to in terms of me, as in “oh you’re Margaret’s brother”.
I’m musical. I have to have music on around me. When I’m upset, or tired, or feeling anything at all, I put on music. My major creative outlets are poetry and dance. Both of which are basically putting a new form to music. With poetry, it is music without notes, and with dance it is music taken a solid form. I love to sing, and it’s just lucky for those around me that my voice is at least tolerably good. If I couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket I’d still probably sing, although I doubt that my friends and family would enjoy it.
I’m weird. Yes, I am very weird and proud of it. I’ll quote random people, books, and movies, especially anything by Terry Pratchett or Monty Python. I’ll skip with a friend through the middle of the mall, while giggling like a madwoman. I loved Luna’s commentary during the Quidditch match; those would be the same kind of things I would say at a sports match. I try not to take myself too seriously; life’s more fun when you can laugh at your own silliness.
12. If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be?
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Mamadeb, could you please look this over before I attempt to get into
the queue at Sorting_Elite? I wouldn't want to put your name to
anything before you've had a chance to tell me to fix any glaring
flaws.
<lj-cut text="Sorting app v.2.0">
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">1. Name:</span> Margaret, Mari4212 online
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">2. Age:</span> 19
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">3. Have you read all 6 Harry Potter Books? Which one was your favorite?
</span><br>
<br>
Are there people who apply here without reading all of the books? Yes,
I have read all of the books numerous times. My favorite remains
Prisoner of Azkaban, for multiple reasons. First, it is just so well
written. Every time I re-read the book I pick up on more nuances.
Descriptions of events, people’s faces, tone of voice, all of them add
to the complexity of the storyline. Harry gradually learns more about
his parents, about the situation he finds himself in, and it’s done
well, with every new fact integrated into what we already learned.
<br>
<br>
Second, the book as a whole is a curious mix of innocence and
knowledge. Harry, Ron and Hermione are at turning places in their
lives. Up through this book, they believe a lot of what adults tell
them. Harry accepts that Sirius is after him because that is what he is
told. He trusts that the Minister will obey the laws, specifically the
Restriction of Underage Magic, and is surprised when he isn’t punished.
It is in this book that he starts thinking about the various stories
and ‘truths’ that adults tell him. He hears what most people believe
through his eavesdropping on Fudge’s conversation with his teachers,
and then he hears Black’s version of the story, and he makes a decision
over which truth to believe. <br>
<br>
Hermione also reaches several turning points in this book. She starts
the book taking every course she can, so that she doesn’t miss
anything. On one level this is admirable, as she truly wants to learn
all she can. But by taking everything, she has no time, and she rapidly
approaches a burnout normally only achieved by college students. It is
in this book that she first seems to accept that she cannot do
everything. She begins to understand her own limits. Also interesting
is how she accepts Lupin being a werewolf. She figures it out on her
own, realizes that if she lets it out he will suffer, and keeps the
secret, even from her best friends. This is a year of secrecy for
Hermione, with both the time turner and Lupin’s problem. Finally, she
takes a huge risk this year in placing her concern for her friend’s
life over their continuing friendship. This is a girl who spent the
first two months of her first year at Hogwarts alone and miserable. For
her to risk her friendship with Harry demonstrates her loyalty and love
of him. <br>
<br>
Finally, this book also introduces one of my favorite adults of the
series, Professor Lupin. Rereading the book recently, I was amazed at
the strength and endurance he must have. He has been dealt several
harsh blows in his life, and I don’t believe being a werewolf was the
worst of them. Far harder to deal with must have been the loss of two
friends and the betrayal of the third. It must have been the cruelest
cut of all. And then, twelve years later, after he’s had a chance to
move on, he is forced to relive it all. The newspaper displays Sirius’
face everywhere, everyone is discussing the story of what happened to
Peter, and he is teaching someone who looks almost exactly like James.
Add in Snape’s sniping and suspicions, and Harry’s mentions of what he
sees from the dementors, and this could not have been an easy year for
Remus. Quite frankly, if I were him I’d be having hysterics, not
dealing calmly and rationally with people.<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">4. Who is your favorite character in the Harry Potter books?</span>
<br>
<br>
Don’t laugh, but my favorite character is Neville Longbottom. When we
first meet him, he is quiet, unsure of himself, and comes across as
something of a dork. He’s every bully’s favorite victim, and a
teacher’s worst nightmare. Not exactly the heroic Gryffindor ideal. But
not all bravery is seen in brash, reckless behavior. Neville’s bravery
is found in his stoic endurance. Retrospectively, looking back from the
perspective of the fifth book, we know that he regularly goes to see
his parents, who have been tortured into insanity. They don’t even seem
to recognize him. That is a painful loss, and quite probably harder to
deal with than Harry's more straightforward loss of his own parents. He
is raised by a grandmother that he seems to be very intimidated by, and
who seems to spend a large portion of her time yelling at him. While I
am sure she loves him, she doesn’t seem to know how to interact with
him. And yet he loves her, loves his parents, and tries to make them
proud. <br>
<br>
As it stands, he is alone among the Gryffindors. Dean and Seamus spend
their time together, as do Lavender and Parvati. And of course, so do
Harry, Ron, and Hermione. He seems closest to the trio, and yet he is
definitely not one of them. He spends most of his time alone, and yet
in the first book he is willing to make his isolation complete by
alienating Harry, Ron and Hermione by standing up to them. There is no
way he could actually stop them going, but still he makes the attempt.
Truly, that is bravery, and one of the most heroic acts of the series.
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">5. Who is your least favorite character in the series? (Do not pick Umbridge. She is written specifically to be hated.)</span>
<br>
<br>
I find that my least favorite character in the series is Ron Weasley.
And I think a large portion of that is that he is such a well-rounded
character. He is a typical teenage boy, more concerned with sports than
homework, with his friends and relationships than his classes. He is
primarily focused on the mundane, the ordinary facts of life. And he
rubs me entirely the wrong way. I don’t really deal well with your
average teenager, not even as one myself. Ron reminds me of too many of
my former classmates. He is rude without meaning to be so, insulting
without thought. The line in Prisoner of Azkaban about his calling
Hermione a know-it-all once a week comes to mind, as does his casual
insults of Slytherins in most of the books. He spends a lot of the time
putting his foot firmly into his mouth. In other words, he acts like a
normal person most of the time. He obsesses about Quidditch, both
playing and watching. Never being a sports person myself, I don’t
understand the appeal, or at least not to that extent. I’m also a
terrible bookworm, so his casual disregard for education and reading in
general just irritates me.
<br>
<br>
Another problem that I have with the character is that he tends to be
prejudiced. From the first time we see him, on the train to Hogwarts,
he mentions that he doesn’t like Slytherins. An entire group of people,
just casually slammed in a conversation with another boy. And his basic
perception of them doesn’t change throughout the books. In Order of the
Phoenix, whenever the idea of inter-house unity comes up, he responds
with a variant on “Work with Slytherins? Never.” Admittedly, we aren’t
given many canonical examples of a good Slytherin, but it still irks me
to hear the constant digs he gets in against them. <br>
<br>
Many of the other characters in the book that we are supposed to
dislike are basically two-dimensional characters. You can hate them,
but I tend to just ignore them instead. I can’t take Lockhart, for
example seriously enough to hate him. Ron is three-dimensional, he
feels like a real person. And as such, he matters to me enough to annoy
me. I don’t hate him, but I do dislike his character, especially from
Goblet of Fire onwards.
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">6. Describe how you feel about Voldemort.
</span><br>
<br>
Irritating little sociopath, isn’t he? And to quote from another fandom, someone really needs to teach that guy how to die!
<br>
<br>
Sorry, let me attempt a serious answer to that question. He is
unquestionably evil. His lack of concern for anyone else and his casual
cruelty are almost worse than his deliberate attacks, because they
demonstrate his true personality. He is amoral, completely unconcerned
about anything outside of himself and his agenda. He is terrifying. His
scenes in Chamber of Secrets reveals that even from a young age he was
willing to both kill and assign the blame to other people, without
evidently thinking twice about it. Instead he seems proud of his
actions. Proud that he has killed an innocent, and forced another
innocent to take the punishment. At that point, he not only frightens
me, he sickens me. I cannot pity him. Reading through Half Blood
Prince, I was struck by the same themes. This is a boy who is cruel and
cares nothing for others at the age of eleven. <br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">7. Describe exactly what you would see in the Mirror of Erised.
</span><br>
<br>
I think I would see myself sitting on a couch in a comfortably
furnished living room, on Christmas Eve with an attractive yet geeky
husband sitting next to me, reading <span style="font-style: italic;">The Littlest Angel</span>
to our children. On the wall behind me would be a quilt my dad
had made for us, and the love we would all have for each other would be
palpable. And, since this is an idealized view, the kids would not be
squirming around or fighting, the couch would not be lumpy, clawed on,
or an ugly color, and the cats would not have destroyed any of the
Christmas tree ornaments this year. This entire scene would be taking
place about ten or so years from now, after I’ve finished college and
gotten settled.
<br>
<br>
Overly sentimental? Probably.
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">8. What do you wish to accomplish in life?</span>
<br>
<br>
I want to earn my degree in Physical Therapy. I want to spend my career
helping children recover from their hurts. I want to visit at least two
foreign countries before I die. I want to meet someone who I love, and
who loves me for who I am. I want to make people feel better, about
themselves and about life. I don’t want to be rich and famous, but
being comfortably well off would be appreciated. I want to have true,
long lasting friendships that can stand the test of time. I want any
children I may have to be happy and healthy, and to know that they are
loved. I want to be remembered by my friends and family as someone who
was worth knowing, worth loving. I want to be considered more beautiful
on the inside than I ever will be on the outside. <br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">9. What makes a person respectable?
</span><br>
<br>
Respectability is earned. It is earned by being true to yourself, and
helping others be true to who they are. It is earned by being honest
with yourself and others. It is earned by accepting your mistakes and
learning from them, and allowing others the same courtesy. Being
respectable means that you are willing to see someone who is totally
different from you, and accept that they have value. It means that you
are willing to do the things that are not fun, are not popular, are not
easy, because they need to be done. It means that you fulfill your
commitments, and honor your responsibilities. It means you act justly,
and that you temper that justice with understanding and with
mercy. It means that you treat those who are your inferiors in
rank and power as you would your equals.<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">10. Which one of your personal qualities do you value the most?
</span><br>
<br>
Sheesh, and I thought the Mirror of Erised was a hard question. I think
that the quality I value in myself the most is my ability to understand
people. I try to listen to what people tell me, not only by their
words, but also by their tone of voice, their body language, and their
actions. I’m the one my friends call when something’s upset them, or
when they don’t know what to do or where to go from the place they’re
at. I’ve had someone I’ve only met once before call me up about
boyfriend troubles, and other people who will start crying on me midway
through a conversation, and I’ll sit there and hug them until they can
calm down enough to work things through rationally. I’m also the one
who can be counted on to explain exactly where I think a character is
coming from on a tv show or book, and will back it up with evidence
from the episode/chapter. <br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">11. What do you think are your top 5 characteristics?</span>
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">I’m intelligent.</span> Okay, this
answer turns up on every single application, but it is true. I’m
definitely book smart, as evidenced by my SAT scores and my grades, but
that’s not exactly the best measure of intelligence. I can understand
most of the things I run across in my education, and although there are
things that I can’t always understand, like higher mathematics, I can
at least follow the logic behind them. I like to think about issues,
weigh the facts and decide for myself. And I can learn from my own
stupid mistakes and those of others around me, which I think is a trait
that more people need to have.
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">I’m nice. </span>It might be a
cringe-worthy compliment, but it is one that is almost universally
applied to me by people I interact with. Unless you’re my sister or one
of my best friends, and then they normally phrase it as being too nice
for my own good. I’m the sweet one, the one that can manage to be
polite to the biggest jerks around. Unless I’m so tired I can’t think
straight, I’ll listen to you and phrase things gently. When I have to
criticize something, like a fellow student’s paper, then I always find
at least one good thing to say about it. I’m the one who wipes away
everyone’s tears, who fixes all the booboos. You really can’t force me
to do something, because my normal response to being forced into
something is to get upset. If you ask me to do something, I will bend
over backwards to help you do it. This sometimes results in me getting
walked on by people, so I’m trying to pair the niceness with a bit more
of a backbone these days.
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">I’m bookish.</span> When I was in
second grade I got glasses, and my first words were “Wow, I can see a
whole word now!” About a week later I discovered reading for pleasure,
and I have never surfaced. I always have a book on hand, and I’ll go
through several novel length books per week. In a lot of ways, I define
myself around books. At the local library, everyone else in my family
is referred to in terms of me, as in “oh you’re Margaret’s brother”. <br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">I’m musical.</span> I have to have
music on around me. When I’m upset, or tired, or feeling anything at
all, I put on music. My major creative outlets are poetry and dance. Both of which are basically putting a new form to music. With poetry, it is music without notes, and with dance it is music taken a solid form.
I love to sing, and it’s just lucky for those around me that my voice
is at least tolerably good. If I couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket I’d
still probably sing, although I doubt that my friends and family would
enjoy it.
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">I’m weird.</span> Yes, I am very weird
and proud of it. I’ll quote random people, books, and movies,
especially anything by Terry Pratchett or Monty Python. I’ll skip with
a friend through the middle of the mall, while giggling like a
madwoman. I loved Luna’s commentary during the Quidditch match; those
would be the same kind of things I would say at a sports match. I try
not to take myself too seriously; life’s more fun when you can laugh at
your own silliness. <br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">12. If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be?</span><br>
<br i="I" have="have" a="a" disorder="disorder" called="called" neuro-mediated="neuro-mediated" hypotension,="hypotension," which="which" causes="causes" me="me" to="to" have="have" dizzy="dizzy" spells="spells" on="on" an="an" irregular="irregular" basis.="basis." when="When" it="it" first="first" surfaced,="surfaced," i="I" ended="ended" up="up" having="having" to="to" finish="finish" off="off" my="my" sophomore="Sophomore" year="year" of="of" high="high" school="school" at="at" home,="home," because="because" i="I" couldn’t="couldn’t" recover="recover" from="from" one="one" dizzy="dizzy" spell="spell" and="and" the="the" fatigue="fatigue" that="that" would="would" come="come" with="with" it="it" before="before" another="another" one="one" would="would" hit.="hit." it="it" has="has" definitely="definitely" improved="improved" over="over" the="the" past="past" four="four" years,="years," and="and" i’ve="I’ve" learned="learned" a="a" lot="lot" about="about" dealing="dealing" with="with" it,="it," but="but" i="I" don’t="don’t" like="like" knowing="knowing" that="that" at="at" any="any" moment="moment" i="I" could="could" feel="feel" like="like" i="I" am="am" about="about" to="to" pass="pass" out.="out." so="So" if="if" i="I" could="could" change="change" anything="anything" about="about" myself,="myself," that="that" would="would" be="be" it.="it." <br="<br">
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">13. What traits and characteristics do you think define the true qualities of each of the four houses?</span>
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Slytherin: </span>Slytherin is the
house of determined people. They set goals, figure out how to achieve
them, and do so. If that means playing dirty, so be it. The ends
justify the means, and heaven help you if you get in their way. Don’t
like what they do? Tough, they’ll do it anyway. That doesn’t mean
they’re the most direct of houses, they also tend to manipulate others
into doing the hard work. Hey, why do the work yourself when you can
trick a Gryffindor into doing the it and getting into trouble if it all
goes wrong?
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Gryffindor:</span> Gryffindor’s have
an entirely different playbook. They want praise for their
achievements. Therefore, they have to play fair to get the limelight.
They’re unquestionably brave, and reckless. They charge in where angels
fear to tread, to shine a light in the dark places, even when people in
those places are quite happy to be in the dark. Look at Hermione,
campaigning for freedom and equality of a group that would prefer her
not to do so. It takes a certain amount of bravery to stand up when no
one else gives a darn. It also takes a stubbornness found in no other
house.
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Hufflepuff:</span> Look for the person
around you who is fair even when it is against their best interests.
Look for another who does all the scut work around the office, because
it needs to be done. Look at the one who sits down and works everything
out when everyone else has given up in despair. Look at the group of
friends who will accept you as you are, and then stand by you no matter
what. All of these people are Hufflepuffs. Without them, the world
starts to fall apart.
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Ravenclaw:</span> Intelligence,
curiosity, Ravenclaws personify these traits. The person who always has
the weird information at the tip of their fingers, who doesn’t
understand how anyone could not want to know everything they can, this
is what being a Ravenclaw is all about. Who wouldn’t have fun in the
library, they ask? This also seems to be the house with the most
eccentric personalities. Ravenclaw seems to encourage freedom of
thought, which includes people whose thought processes run
perpendicular to the mainstream. I can see this house being the one
where the sleeping cat theory of the universe would be discussed in the
common room.
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">14. Describe the house qualities that
you feel accurately reflect you. Please try to include traits from each
of the four houses.
</span><br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Slytherin:</span> I know how to get
people to do what I need them to do. When I’m leading a group project
at school, I tend to know how to get people to do their fair share. I’m
also pretty good at getting my friends and I out of trouble. Looking
little and cute is a definite advantage in this. <br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Gryffindor: </span>I’m passionate and
idealistic. I’m not exceptionally brave, but I will face up to my
fears. For years I was afraid of large dogs, and this summer I dog-sat
for my neighbor’s dog, who weighs more than I do. In a crisis, I can
cope until the pressure is off, and only later will I have my reaction.<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Ravenclaw:</span> I’m an unabashed
intellectual. I react to most things by trying to understand the
situation, by thinking things through. I also have an excellent mind
for useless information. I have been referred to as a human
encyclopedia throughout my school career for my knowledge of weird and
interesting things. Sometimes that can be an insult, but most of the
time it’s meant as a compliment and I take it as such.
<br>
<br style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">
Hufflepuff:</span> I’m rabidly loyal to my friends and family. My sister was
born with severe physical and mental disabilities, and as a result of
that, I’ve had to learn to be compassionate to others, and to accept
people as who and what they are. When your whole life is spent with
someone who is outside the norm for society, you learn to think about
the world and other people differently. I love my sister, and I can’t
imagine life without her. Therefore, tolerance is a big thing for me,
and one of the best ways to get me angry enough to do or say anything
to you is for you to display callousness or disregard for another human
being. As I have already stated elsewhere in this application, I am
known for being kind, which is also a trait associated with
Hufflepuffs. <br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">15. Given the choice, which house would you NOT want to be in?
<br>
<br>
</span>I’d have to say Slytherin. I just don’t think I’d have the qualities to
do very well in that house. I see the least of me in it. <br>
<br>
If you do sort
me there, I won’t object, but I would like to hear what prompted that
decision.
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">16. Why shouldn't we squib you?</span>
<br>
<br>
Because I bake excellent cookies and give backrubs? I’ve tried to be
honest, to not push any one house over another, and to stay within
canon when discussing my opinions on characters and books. I’ve put a
lot of thought into this application, and I’ve had it read through by
other people to ensure that it is both coherent and an accurate
reflection of my personality. If you do squib me, well, that is your
choice, and maybe you think I won’t fit into this community, but I
would appreciate knowing the reasons.
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>I<span style="font-weight: bold;">17. How much time can you and do you intend to actually contribute to
this community?
<br>
<br>
</span>It will of course depend on my homework load, and exam times might get
a little hairy, but I can probably guarantee at least four or five
hours a week. <br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">18. Who is your sponsor?
</span><br>
<br>
<lj site="livejournal.com" user="mamadeb" /"="/""> was gracious enough to consent to be my sponsor.
</lj-cut>
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-08-28 10:24 am (UTC)Wow. Damn, Margaret! You are so incredibly eloquent. I love how you manage to simply explain and reason all your beliefs.
And to quote from another fandom, someone really needs to teach that guy how to die!
Hee! Voldemort really is the Apophis of Harry Potter world, isn't he.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-28 11:57 am (UTC)Count on you to catch the reference.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-04 02:48 am (UTC)*flutters* I try.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-28 02:35 pm (UTC)If you have things you left unsaid, say them.
However, it's lovely, well-written and formatted and it's clear you're a Huffleclaw, and, speaking as one, those are *cool*. I'm happy to have my name on it.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-28 05:47 pm (UTC)