Ron's right when he says they dont want to be freed.
But does that mean we shouldn't try to free them? What about Dobby? Just because some of the African slaves were treated better than others doesn't justify any of that enslavement, does it? Of course not. And I really think that's JK's point. What are people doing, being slave enablers? These are intelligent, humanoid creatures. Just because something is "tradition" does not make it right. How do we know what they think they want is what is best for them? They've never tasted freedom, right? Sure, Winky turned into a bit of a little drunkard. Does she speak for all house-elves? She didn't speak for Dobby. And how do we know Dobby's opinion was really all that uncommon? And how do we know Winky didn't realize she was better off not being a slave to the Crouches? When you've surveyed all house-elves and their home conditions, then and only then can you know what's going on. There's something about the situation that sickens me. House-elves are "beings," not "beasts."

theunbreakablesnapefan Snape's Soulmate Joined: Nov 19, 2005 House: Hufflepuff Points: 3907

Re: The Wizard War - Seventh Installment (in no way could it ever be a horcrux) Posted Feb 6, 2007 8:51 PM Mandey - pay no attention to the college-bound stuff. Read some Jane Austen, William Shakespeare (merchant of Venice is my personal), Eugene O'Neill (Long Day's Journey into Night),James Fenimore Cooper, Nathaniel Hawthorne and some John Steinbeck and you're good to go. I hate Charles Dickens but you probably have to cover that too. Jay recommends To Kill a Mockingbird and my son liked a Separate Peace. Noted. Nathaniel Hawthorne (couldn't stand) I liked Hawthorne! I was in regular English so I was like the only one who liked The Scarlet Letter. I hadn't liked it the first time I had read it, in 7th grade, because I hadn't even realized that it was about adultury...that book went way over my head, so when my teacher asked me about it I was mucho confused! They also made me read The Red Badge of Courage for QUEST in 7th grade too. That also went over my head, though I still remember the part in this one battle where a bullet cut straight through the jaw hinge of a soldier and the blood spurted everywhere, etc. I read one page of both Frankenstein and Moby Dick before deciding I didn't want to read them, so I had to find another and luckily came across Beauty. I don't know why it's apparently such a classic -- it's fantasy, right? Weird. My favorite book growing up was Roald Dahl's Matilda. That's a good movie too. She was reading Moby Dick and her Dad is like "You shouldn't be reading that! That's not for little girls." It looks so funny on screen. The guys who played her parents were awesome haha! Is A Seperate Peace about these friends that split and like the main character basically jumped on the tree above the lake they were both on so that the other would hurt himself? And then there's that boy who reminded me of Neville and he becomes a soldier and grows up too fast? In that case, I read it sophomore year along with Undaunted Courage (a non-fiction about Lewis and Clark, Lewis's death was a really interesting part to read, it made me cry) and Catcher in the Rye as my outside reading books that she chose for us. As far as Shakespeare, I liked Julius Caesar a lot, but Romeo and Juliet? Not so much. Was alright, though, and I used Tybalt as a name for one of my most-loved fic characters I have ever invented who was actually a girl and like one of Lucius's best friends and from time to time they had a little "thing" going. They even get engaged. Man, I loved that story, it was so experimental...like practically everything happened, and the main point was that "every action causes an equal and opposite reaction." Does anyone know what area our Australians are? No, but we need them! More recommendations from Jay - Lord of the Flies (big insights into man's inhumanity to man), Lost Horizon (that was great) and A Light in the Forest. I enjoyed Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl. Coolness. As long as we're recommending things, another book I bought because I read it for school last year and liked it is A Confederacy of Dunces by John Toole. Don't end up never having read it! He was a fabulous writer. His mom only found his manuscript in the attic when she was cleaning up after he had killed himself. *sad* He wrote elaborate inter-connected plots and had fabulous characterization. And something I really appreciated was that he doesn't sugar-coat things. If the wall in the kitchen is greasy, he'll tell you. I had been dragging my feet and even said, "After we finish our Outside Reading Portfolios, do we have to finish the book?" And my teaher was like, "Shut up, you'll want to!" And I did, after I got past the dragging middle. Haha we had a great relationship it was really funny. I miss him, this semester he's out touring as Kansas's teacher of the year.

21+7=28
2007/28=1003.5
100*.5=50
50/3=16 2/3
16*3=48
(16/2)-2=6
48-6=42.

^Don't ask, just bow to my superios math skillz -- I took 7, 21, and 2007 and made them into 42!

theunbreakablesnapefan Snape's Soulmate Joined: Nov 19, 2005 House: Hufflepuff Points: 3821

Re: The Wizard War - Seventh Installment (in no way could it ever be a horcrux) Posted Jan 31, 2007 8:25 PM Mandey, by cutting do you mean slitting wrists? Eeegh, I hope your sister didn't have anything to do with that emo stuff. I can see why people would cut for attention and for the pity of others...and I really don't understand why anyone would think that is cool. I hope she's alright and you and your family work it out with the coucilor...:( Obviously you don't know a lot about it. People were cutting to ease pain way back in the book of Job in the bible! It isn't "emo," and most of the time it isn't just to "be cool." Most of the time it's to try and make oneself feel something again or to let some inner turmoil out, or to gain control over a part of one's life -- this third is also a huge reason for eating disorders. But, Zoe, in order not to make people upset, I think you should know your facts before you go off on issues that are really sensitive like cutting and SI (self-injury). Still, it's pretty unlike Snape to leave 1 his office unlocked 2 harry there and 3 with his worst memories. And he did this rather than take any more time in getting Montague out of the toilet -- *cough cough* heroic! Court! They're appreciating eachother's art. That's a start! And Mandey, thanks for the opinion. I didn't think the liliac would turn out a little blotchy, but I just don't like lime green period. Hey, I have always complimented his still avatars and sigs if I have liked them, go look. It's his animations I can't stand. Mandey, I am being really honset here I REALLY like your poems. Thanks! In some perverted way, it all makes sense. I think... And not to be nit-picky, but Mandey: Grendel was one of the antagonits, the title of the epic poem is Beowulf. The poem is untitled in the manuscript, but has been known as Beowulf since the early 19th century, and published as such. (See, Prof. Hollins? I remember!) Sweetie, a man named John Gardner came out with a book named Grendel -- believe me, we had to read the whole thing. Here is the Wikipedia article. I know it hurts to watch someone you love suffer, but I see your freedom to cry as an incredibly healthy mechanism. You have so much to teach your sister, Mandey -- your strength, your clarity of thought and sense of self, your courage in allowing your emotions to surface so they can be dealt with and understood, and just as important, shared with the people around you. So cry away, baby -- in doing so, you set a great example to your sis. I’m very proud of you. Aww! You almost made me tear up again. You are hella sweet! ~^__^~ Freedom to cry is one of the nicer results of having once been very, very depressed. When you can no longer help crying randomly in public, you really can't have many qualms about doing it in public when you can theoretically stop yourself. EDIT: I don't think Lupin was to anybody but Snape. But doesn't that mean Snape was suspicious because he was suspicious, not because of the job? It's not Snape's fault Dumbledore chose, besides Lupin possibly, wackoes for DADA people. In fact, that's a good thing! They can only be there a year, after all. Which is why I'm not so sure the curse on the job didn't play a hand in leaking the man's poor secret out. How much of it was the curse and how much of it was Snape? Can we ever know for sure it was entirely his idea? How much of any of the things that happened to the people in the position were coincidence? Spells are odd. I'm pretty wary of the curse on the DADA job, yes.

one cut for Mom whom I hate, one cut for my girlfriend whom I lost, and one for...
Zoe, I think you'd better just stop talking about it. Like now, preferably.

Just out of curiosity, what are some other things that would classify under self-injury?
Burning oneself with a cigarette, breaking bones, etc.

Haha why?
*looks around for the angry Joris before speaking* Because in my opinion they're ugly and badly made.

Well, knowing that Snape was aware of the curse
Where are you getting that?

Look at this, Babs, we had to make valentines for the soldiers in Iraq today. Uno, dos.

EDIT: Yeah, Zo, I'd like to see your "emo kid" break his own bones. Not a particularly likely scenario for someone just trying to be cool, is it?

Cutting or other SI is a natural reaction to a number of scenarios and has been around since the beginning of time. People who have quit it live with the scars for the rest of their entire lifetime, but they ought not to feel ashamed for what they have done. Once something is the past, it deserves to stay that way to the people looking in, no matter the visibility of the impact.

It's an addiction as much as alcoholism or nicotene/crack addictions are addictions, and just as unhealthy if not more in some cases. Every day after they start trying to quit could cause another relapse into the dangers of the past. For every one person who cuts for attention, there are hundreds more who do it because they are hurting inside, Zoe, so much that their natural human instincts kick in and their bodies become maimed by their own hand. It's not pretty, Zoe, and if you don't have anything supportive to say for the struggle of beautiful and hurting people, you shouldn't say anything about them at all.

And I thought you watched Degrassi (or perhaps that was just May...). Remember when Ellie was cutting? Were you just somehow zoning out through the entire thing?

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Sometimes Zoe still really pisses me off! Ah, and her little "boyfriend" (Joris) is boycotting my sigs and avatars. By creating the controversy of him saying he wouldn't use mind but he'd be willing to create some himself, he got me kicked off of making "Harry is Not a Horcrux" things, and now it's up to Andrea.