mmoa_writes

I do of course intend to write proper essays on each of these topics, but for now, I shall merely rabble, and get it out of my system.



This is - as the subject title suggests - mainly because of my love for Dumbledore, Snape and any version, even platonic, of Snapledore, that I actually think the two became... as close to friends as either is capable of being.

The first thing that struck me about their relationship as it developed was purely anecdotal, but lilith_morgana summed it up completely. It was like Scenes from a Marriage.

People clearly didn't appreciate this side to their dealings with one another as much as we did. It seemed merely to highlight that Dumbledore was a cold-hearted manipulative bastard. This was mainly from Snape fans and Dumbledore foes, however, so that was perhaps unsurprising. A little close-minded, perhaps, but golly, if there's one thing DH has revealed amongst certain fan factions, it's how easily we will swallow the pill and simplify what is clearly complex.

Yes, Dumbledore is manipulative. But no more so of Snape than of anyone else, to be honest (which is why I like him, but then, Havelock Vetinari/Anafiel Delauney-esque characters have always been a pet fave of mine). When you compare the way he treats Snape to les otres, he's a damn sight more honest with him than with, say, Potter or Black of even McGonagall (the little we see of his interactions with her).

In short, what I think we saw was not so much an uber-manipulative Dumbledore, but the interaction of two very different characters. Snape is all about the rage and spluttering and ranting, whilst Dumbledore is all about self-control and is just by nature a generally calm individual.

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Now, I will actually, really write a proper essay on the following topic, so this will be very sketchy. About Wizards and religion.

It is difficult to imagine wizardkind having anything like the same relationship with their deities as we in RL do. After all, wizards display many of the same powers attributed to various deities, including foreknowledge, the ability to heal themselves having suffered grievous damage and even to prolong their lives indefintely (Philosopher's stone, which yes, has been destroyed, but was, remember, created by a wizard - clearly the magic to do so is still there).

In fact, I would expect something more akin to Terry Pratchett's Witches or Chrestomanci in Diana Wynne Jones - you know the gods exist (so belief is irrelevant), you have dealings with them as you would someone who is your superior by one level or so but not as supreme founts of knowledge (thus, no worshipping). In general, you would be on equal terms with them. Certainly, it does not take a massive leap to see that the Dumbledore's of this theistically inclined wizarding world would even be more powerful than the lesser deities.

So the closest thing wizards would ever 'worship', it seems, would be Fate. According to most mythologies, even the gods are held in sway by their Fate. Fate is the ultimate, the most untouchable of all the Powers. This, it seems, would be the only Force wizards would respond to with real awe and fear. We have already seen that Prophecies are very real things in the wizarding world, though their power - as ever, relies on human interpretation (not so different from our RL mythologies).

I'd be expecting, in short, oracles and seers as the equivalent of temples and priests. As Fate would not be a deity in the true sense of the word, there would be very little in the way of rites for the worshippers, (maybe for a few sects here and there who have decided to personalise this Power as humans so often tend to do). There would be wizards who dedicate their whole lives, much like the centaurs, to the interpretation of prophecies and others to protecting or destroying them, and others to watching over those who are suspected to be the subject of a prophecy and so on and so forth.

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Speaking of Fate...

It seems that the wizarding world is one bound by a continuous cyle of Dark Lords and White Hats. As Fate is to do with the aspects of one's life that one cannot control (in myth, we see that one's is typically Fate is a result of a choice your ancestor made, for example, and hence unalterable) and one's past is definitely out of bounds, it seems likely that there will be another Dark Lord and another Harry Potter.

[A/N: This brings about a question concerning the Prophecy. Did Harry/Neville's parents hear it before they were expecting their sons? Was there even a prophecy concerning the rise of the Dark Lord himself?]

Wizards aren't generally encouraged to treat History with any respect, as far as we can see from their education, so perhaps this is not so surprising.

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Possibly my shortest rabble ever:

Life debts... how much is in the mind, and how much of matter? That is the question.



It's funny, all this time on my hands and I have inked in practically none of the comics I've already sketched out. The good news is, our computer now has an internet connection, so I can use the scanner to put up a couple of drawings I owe.

Bleargh, I need a job.