Let's get this sorting started....
Name: Mel
Age: 33
Location: Perth, Western Ausralia
Hobbies/Interests:
I'm a huge reader. I spend most of my time either on the couch or in bed with a book, or in front of the computer, reading or writing fan fic. A new passion is RPG - it's like writing but only one side of coversation. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan - the end of the series has done nothing to dampen the fervour of my affection for the series. I'm right into music. I play the piano and the guitar and I sing in a couple of choirs. I fit all of this around raising my one year old daughter, who is the most important thing in my world at the moment.
1. If you were to attend Hogwarts, what would be your favorite classes and why?
I think I'd love Potions. Chemistry was always one of my favourite classes in school and I always did well at it, even being chosen to represent my school in state wide competitions on several occasions.
2. Without bashing any particular house, where do you feel like you least belong? Why?
I think probably Slytherin. I'm not very ambitious and don't use any means nessesary to achieve my goals. I suppose I can be cunning if required, but usually I'm not. I've been told by friends that I would get eaten alive if I was in Slytherin house and I don't doubt that it's the truth. I just don't have the sort of resourcefulness that Slytherin seems to value so much in their students.
3. Who are your favorite major and minor characters in the series? Why?
I don't know if she's considered a major character, but I love Bellatrix Black. Such a bit bag of crazy emotion - with so many dimensions. I love her feirce loyalty to Voldemort, but also her softer gentler side that you see when she is with her sister.
My favourite minor character is Lily Evans-Potter. I just think she's fantastic. I love the plucky, confident school girl we meet in Order of the Phoenix. I also think she's the real unsung hero of the books - I mean it's her sacrifice that allows Harry to be as successful as he is against Voldemort. Not to mention love of her that spurred on Snape.
4. Which character do you most identify with and why?
Without a doubt, it is Tonks. From the moment she was first introduced in Order of the Phoenix, with her casual vibe and clumsiness, I felt like she was someone that I could be really good friends with. She’s funny and vibrant, her choice of hair colour made her stand out in a world where the wizards around her are tyring desperately to blend in but here is this wonderful woman standing out as much as she can. When she was changing her nose to amuse the girls at Grimmauld Place, I could tell that she’d be a really good friend, putting other people’s happiness above her own. We never really find out if it hurts to change her appearance the way she does, but she wears an expression, like she was in pain, so it might sting a little. She’s also an auror and as McGonagall says “they only take the best” so you know that she’d be totally kick-ass in a fight. As a wife and mother to a young baby, I can relate to her on that level as well - I know that I too would do anything to protect the man I loved in any situation. I was completely devastated when she died - although I kind of saw it as a full-circle thing for Harry - now being the godfather to the orphaned child of the casualties of war.
I relate to her most out of everyone in the series, I suppose because I’m a bit like her. I love entertaining my friends, especially with my impressions of famous singers, something which I’m pretty good at. I’m notoriously clumsy - I sprained my thumb putting on the parking brake in my car once. I know what it’s like to love someone so completely, like she loves Lupin and the utter joy at having that person return your feelings and the completion you feel when that person is your partner in life, forever - and then to welcome into the world the perfect blend of you both in the form of a baby.
5. What makes a person respectable in your eyes?
I always give people respect first. A better question for me is what can someone do to lose that respect? I don’t wait for people to earn respect, but if I catch people being dishonest, especially towards me or someone I care very deeply for, I usually lose that respect, but I’m also very forgiving, so most people get more than one chance to redeem themselves, but I’m usually very cautious with people once they’ve done something I consider unrespectable.
6. If you were an animagus, what would you transfigure into and why?
I’d choose a cat because I’ve always felt an affinity towards the animal in general. I admire their grace and elegance, plus they are flexible and fit, meaning that I’d be able to do things I couldn’t do in my human form. Cats are well known in both the Wizarding and in the Muggle world as well, so you could blend it quite easily if you needed too.
7. You are looking at the Mirror of Erised. What do you see?
I’d most likely see all my descendents. Obviously, my family is very important to me, so I’d love to see all my grandchildren and their families, especially those that I won’t ever have the chance of meeting myself. I’d like to know that once I’ve left this world, the little family I’ve started with my daughter will grow and multiply and be happy. I’d probably see myself very well off as well, as like everyone these days; money is getting tighter and tighter, so I’d like to not have to worry about spending too much every month.
8. You are faced with a boggart, what form does it take?
Like Molly Weasley, I would see the bodies of the people I cared about lying dead before me. It is a fear I face every time I say good-bye to someone - that it’ll be the last time I see them alive. At the moment, it would more than likely be my grandfather, as he is not doing too well, which is very sad as he is the only grandfather I’ve ever known, my dad’s father passing away when my dad was just one. I don’t know what it would turn into with the counter-spell, but something that is guaranteed to make me laugh over everything else is my sister, so hopefully it would be her, just being herself, so that I could laugh away my fear.
9. Give a quote from the books and explain why you picked it.
"There's no need to call me sir Professor." _ I just like the cocky arrogance of Harry here. It's like he's had enough of all the crap Snape has heaped on him and is just taking a stand against it. I love it!
10. Speaking of quotes, what do you think of this one? "There is no good and evil in this world, only power and those too weak to seek it." -Quirrellmort.
I don't agree. I think it takes a lot more strength to not seek power. Power is dangerous and I think the only people that can really handle it are those that don't actively seek it but rather have it thrust upon them.
11.If you could have a dinner party and invite any 3 other people, dead, alive, or fictional, who would they be and why?
*sigh* This is a really difficult question as there are so many people I'd love to have the opportunity of meeting, but in the end, I'd have to say, my sister, my husband and my best friend, because with them, I know I'd have a good time. I would feel loved, supported and respected. There isn't anyone else in the world that knows me as well as those three and yet we never run out of things to talk about. We reminience, we share opinions and we just generally have a good time.
12. Which is thicker, friendship or blood?
Neither. Friendship is just a different kind of family in the end. Your blood is the family that you born into and are just as important in making up who you are as the family you surround yourself with. I must admit, I've been very lucky. My family, my extended family, are much like the Weasley's. There are a lot of us and we are very close. My cousins are like siblings to me. My friends however are the family that I've made for myself. Each of them is just as supportive of me as my blood, in fact sometimes more so. My best friend is the sister of my soul - and I can tell her anything and not feel judged.
13. Would you ever use an Unforgivable Curse for any reason?
No, but it's easy to say that now. In the face of someone hurting someone I love, I might change my mind. However, as that hasn't happened, I can say that I don't think I would. Ghandi said it best - "An eye for an eye and the world goes blind".
14. Would you put your name in the Goblet of Fire for the Tri-Wizard Tournament? Why or why not?
No, probably not. It’s just too dangerous. I’m not a very physical person, much preferring to watch my favourite sport from the sidelines than actually participate in it. I’m also not one for personal glory so that wouldn’t appeal to me in any way. Of course, the prize money would be wonderful, but for the risk involved, I just don’t know that it would be worth it. I wouldn’t begrudge anyone that did enter, but I wouldn’t - nah, just not for me.
15.True or False: Rules are meant to be broken. Explain.
I think rules are there as guideline to keep things fair for everyone. The might be a bit flexible, but if you blatantly break a rule, you should be prepared to face the consquences of that decision.
16. Anything else you'd like us to take into consideration?
Dugbog
17. We often use AIM as a way to get together and chat about HP and the community. If you have an AIM screenname, please let us know here:
h3llka4t75
18. How did you hear about us? If it was through a specific person's recommendation or through a post he/she made, please give the username of that person.
Um, I saw it advertised on comm_hp but I decided to sign up when I noticed maaiker was a member.