Well, Aragorn and Arwen from LOTR were distantly related as well (briefly, Aragorn is of the line of Elros, who was the Elf-turned-mortal brother of Elrond, who’s the father of Arwen by Celebrian, another Elf).
And, of course, there’s Luke and Leia… 
Well, Sirius mentions in OotP that all the pure-blood families are related, so this shouldn’t be a huge surprise.
I’m pretty sure the Potter’s aren’t a pureblood family, though. All we know is that James and his parents were wizards - if they were, I’d imagine someone would have pointed it out to Harry even though Lily’s muggle-born.
Hmm. Potters?
I’d also like to gloat that before J.K’s Black family tree started going around, i’d made my own on the information we had from the books - and while I missed out some people ( I was working under the rules of “use the least number of unknown siblings possible” ) I was right in every person I put down. So…yay! pride
More thoughts, mostly to **Guy ** Arnold. I don’t consider myself a “shipper” (indeed, I had never heard of the term until joining the SDMB), and while the Snape/Lily thing may well be made out of whole cloth, I think the idea has some merit.
Not as a teen crush on Snape’s part, but more of a Romantic notion on his part. Perhaps (and this is all speculation), Lily is the embodiement of Snape’s ideal wizard. She is attractive, intelligent, an excellent wizard, caring etc. BUT-he is torn by this–she is, afterall, not a pureblood (although I don’t remember Snape being all that impressed by purebloods), And(much worse) she connects with James, Snape’s most hated rival. Not rival for girls etc, but James is a lightening rod for all of Snape’s own insecurities and resentments.
I went to school with kids like Snape–you did too. The unreasoning dislike and envy, the bitter remarks, the muttered comments, the dirty looks. Unfortunately for Harry–Snape’s hatred of his father is NOT unfounded–I lost alot of respect for James when the Pensieve showed just what an ass he was. Jame’s behavior (and Sirius’) did much to feed the rage and enmity–and now Harry pays the price.
Other thoughts: I can see Hermione dying–in fact, it would solve an archetypal dilemma for Rowling. Hermione’s natural partner (in terms of archetypes) is Harry, not Ron. Unless Ginny gets massively beefed up in the last book, she is no Arwin to Hermione’s Eowyn (not comparing the two stories, just using well known fictional characters to illustrate my point). I can see Ron AND Ginny dying and Harry and Hermione “hooking up”, but not all in one book. Rowling is a better writer than that.
I don’t mean to say that JKR must continue along archetypal lines at all–but it how we (or I anyway) tend to think of most stories, especially ones that we don’t know the end to.
I would like to see Ron become again the intelligent ally and supporter of Harry that he was in books 1 and 2. In the movies, he is a comic foil to HP, and it’s gotten old. He is more than that–without his chess skills, all would have been lost, for one example. Harry needs his loyalty and friendship–but Ron is more than just a sidekick, IMO.
I refuse to see Ollivander as evil or a Death Eater. Rather, I see him as an observer and commentator on much of the wizarding world. Sort of like someone recognizing the skill of a hacker–you may not like what the hacker did, but you can admit to the ability it took to do it. Voldemort is much worse than any hacker, but the sentiment holds.
Gah. that’s supposed to be Guy AND Arnold.
Sorry
Are you sure? I was certain that the Potters(other than Harry, of course) were purebloods. Perhaps the “HP fanon” section of my brain has leaked into the “HP canon” section.
The Potters are purebloods. Lupin says so in HBP (it’s in the “A Very Frosty Christmas” chapter.)
If Snape were a pureblood, I could maybe, maybe see him having some sort of twisted and sublimated feelings for Lily, but I think the revelation in HBP that he’s actually a self-loathing half-blood knocks that theory flat. Why would he be attracted to a girl who represents the side of his heritage that he’s making an aggressive effort to distance himself from? Also, it means that there’s no way he would use the phrase “filthy little mudblood” reflexively, without thinking, as he might do if he were from a background where it got bandied about casually. No, there’s real loathing and anger in the Pensieve scene – and even if he hadn’t hated Lily then, it’s a safe bet that he would after she married James. (We’ve seen him take a nasty swipe at Tonks, who, as far as we know, has no past history with Snape other than being one of his students – probably a rather good one since she has to have made an O on the Potions O.W.L. to become an Auror – and has never done anything to him except fall in love with a man he hates slightly less than he hated James. I suspect that his attitude toward Lily, or any of the Marauders’ other girlfriends, would have been no different way back when.)
I’m 100% certain that J.K.‘s said somewhere that James’ parents were wizards. So it’s possible. I just think that if James was a pureblood someone would have told Harry, or at the least J.K. would have said something. If there has been something like that, I stand corrected.
I don’t think so (I think this is what you’re referring to);
James is a pureblood, yes. On second thoughts, this means his grandparents must also have been wizards. But beyond that, we can’t say. Being a pureblood doesn’t mean you’re in one of the pureblood wizarding families that go back centuries, like the Blacks or Weasleys.
Dumbledore isn’t dead. IMHO. Note that just before he was “killed” he was telling Malfoy that Malfoy could be protected from Voldemort by faking Malfoy’s death.
Even if they were first cousins (which they’re not), they could legally get married in the UK, and in many states in the US.
Yes he is. I’m not saying that Rowling couldn’t stoop so low as to pull a stunt like that, but there isn’t a wall thick enough in that castle she’s living in, or a moat deep enough, to keep out the hordes that would be camped in the fields howling for her blood, were she to try it.
Then what is the motivation for his deep seated hatred of Harry? I’m all for realism in fiction and all, but to have such a degree of dislike begs for either a grave wrong done or a deep enmity unresolved. Having Snape hate Harry and treat him badly makes no sense on the basis of Jame’s teasing in the past.
Sure, I could understand Snape’s reluctance to extend himself to Harry,(based on the past problems that he and James had), but the determined dislike? The looking for wrongdoing, the seeking out of ways to prejudice others against Harry? Snape, for all his faults, is not a psychopath. IMO, no-one would pursue such a course (especially adult vs child) unless there is a very strong motive. Pranks, nasty as they were, are not enough.
If there is no motive given, Snape turns cartoonish–the Snidely Whiplash of Hogwarts (at least where Harry is concerned)–I have too much respect for the story line and characters to believe that. OR her treatment of Snape shows the limitations of Rowling as a writer.
Snape is a tragic figure, but it will take more than the youthful transgressions so far described for me to believe that there isn’t some archetypal motive involved. And, of course, IF Rowling does so–and James is the cause–that’s another blow to Harry. Somehow, I can’t see her demonizing James in that way, so what is left for Snape? Love and fear are two of the strongest motivators for humans-I imagine so for wizards as well. James is dead. Sirius is now dead-and had no dealings with Snape since school (that we know of). Snape had security (if not the job he wanted all those years) and a place in his society. I cannot believe that his loathing is caused by memories of James et al. There is something deeper at work here–either Snape has some type of unrequited love/idealism gone sour going on or he has reason to fear Harry that has never been hinted at.
Hmm…what else can I mind f*ck today? Heh.
Thoughts?
I suppose it’s possible that the Potters have more recent Muggle ancestry than the Blacks or the Weasleys, but if you consider the Black family tree that Rowling drew to be canon, at least one Potter has married into the Black family without either party getting burned off the tapestry, which suggests that they are in fact one of the old pureblood families. (FWIW, I don’t think Dorea and Charlus are James’ parents – I’m guessing distant cousins or something.)
If James’ marriage to Lily is in fact Snape’s motivation for hating Harry, what is his motivation for hating Sirius and Lupin?
Personally, I don’t have any difficulty believing that Snape would carry a twenty-year grudge on account of playground bullying – that’s what Snape does. He’s a petty, spiteful man who overreacts wildly to real or imagined insults to his dignity.
I actually thought that the phoenix bursting from the white tomb in the end was a dead (pardon the pun) giveaway. I honestly think Dumbledore will be back in at least some capacity, even if just in a portrait.
I am of the opinion, too, that Dumbledore isn’t dead. My theory lies in the references to the avada cadaver curse. Every other time we’ve seen the Avada Kedavra (sp?) performed, the victim simply falls over dead. Cedric did, for example. No fireworks, no flash. Just dead.
When Snape curses Dumbledore with the same spell, Dumbledore violently flies up and away from the tower. We know Snape’s a master at non-verbal spells.
Dumbledore flying up and away from the tower is a repeat of Snape flinging Lockhart against the wall during the dueling scene with the Expelliarmus charm.
Actually, we do see a flash of green. That’s very characteristic of the Avada Kedavra curse.
And wasn’t there one when Snape killed Dumbledore?
Also, I think he says the actual words aloud–is it possible to say an incantation aloud and spell another one in your head?
Could Dumbledore come back in another form, perhaps? Not as Dumbledore as such, but perhaps in some spiritual way?
Or is that too New Agey for the series? I see SD very much as the wise elder, the sage who is so comfortable in his power that he finds it unneccessary to use it very often. But IF AD is not dead, then the fight really becomes between AD and Voldemort. Unless HP is some kind of wedge, for AD to use against V. I took AD’s satisfaction that Harry had given V blood and that V had touched Harry as AD’s thinking that this is the beginning of redemption for V. With Lily’s love present in Harry’s blood (so to speak), can V remain unchanged? Or is that too simplistic?
I waiver between Rowling being simplistic and her being very deep–not quite sure which at this point.
I dunno–I realize that Harry looks very much like James and all, but is that enough for Snape to essentially passively/aggressively persecute him for 6 years? To me, that says that Snape is incapable of growth or perspective–which means he is not someone to go against Voldemort as he did (or did he?). I do think that if Snape turns out to be part of the Death Eaters all along, my fondness for the books will turn to dismay and then indifference. Fiction is all about change and growth-forcing Snape into such narrow character constructs is cheap, IMO. I think that having to work with Sirius and Lupin again (and trust them and see them trusted by others etc) would be enough to renew Snape’s enmity. But his treatment of Harry is in another league.