HP Gone Mad

Today, I replaced Hufflepuff with a question mark. Literally, I am afraid. Having been in charge of putting together a Harry Potter sorting game, I found out that my employer, while a very lovely, kind fellow, is rather poor at math... I was given three of each letter representing each of the four Hogwarts Houses to paste into separate boxes, as well as three question marks, the point of the process being to toss a ball - where it lands is the house of the tosser. If the ball happens to land on a question mark, that lucky soul can then choose the house of their choice.
There was one small problem with this; the stand containing the boxes for people's sorting pleasure was 4x3... in other words, it contained only 12 boxes.
This means that if all three letters for each house were to be included, there would be no room for a question mark. No question mark, and the matter of ending up in the house of choice turns into a 100% game of skill VS chance. (The chance is there because little do people know, but the ball being used has a habit of bouncing into the box below it... but only about 60% of the time :) )
At least one question mark was thus imperative... the question thus became, which house should have one less chance of gaining fresh recruits? Well... the answer to this question should be fairly simple... Gryffindor should have had one of its letters removed, as that is the most likely house for people to pick, given a choice. Not everyone would want to pick gryffindor, mind you, but many would. It is portrayed in the books as being the best of all the houses; bravery is obviously a trait which the author admires. It appears as a highly vaunted characteristic in the books, and, initially at least, gryffindor appears to have turned out all of the worlds best wizards; after all, it is Harry's house, and must therefore be the best, especially because of the way in which the other houses are mentioned.
My readers already know I have picked Hufflepuff as the removed letter, though. Why is this? People from hufflepuff are no less people, and even if a certain amount of contempt is placed upon them, it is not for a good reason. The founder responsible for that particular house believed in equal opportunity; it was not about teaching the bravest, or the most intelligent, or those of pure blood or, for that matter, pure ambition. Hufflepuff values the type of characteristics which make people decent human beings; loyalty, among them; friendship, another. Likely also kindness, and generosity. If you happened to be a mean-spirited creature of unpleasant nature, chances are you would still be welcome in Hufflepuff even if another house would not take you, because that echos the beliefs of its founder.
Oddly enough, I am surprised no one else has noticed an odd twist in Hufflepuff characteristics.... they are loyal, forgiving, and noble people by nature.... but it requires a certain amount of bravery to stay true to a person through thick or thin. My dear readers could argue this point; loyalty and acceptance should have nothing to do with bravery or courage, no? However, it takes bravery to be fearless in the face of the unknown, and that is something required for acceptance, occasionally. Arguably, a person could face fear of the unknown, and still be accepting... this requires courage. So why are hufflepuffs not in gryffindor...?
This answers the question as to why Hermione is not in Ravenclaw. Houses are chosen by the sorting hat for a person, not by there attributes... but by their values. Gryffindors see bravery as a worthwhile attribute, even if they themselves might seem to lack it. They look up to those who are brave, and, in turn, find courage. Then again, perhaps they do not... Peter Pettigrew being a fine example of a Gryffindor turned nasty because he required the protection of someone more powerful than himself, rather than relying on his own bravery.
And thus, hufflepuffs are hufflepuffs because they value friendship and perhaps nobility (And I am referring to honor here, not blood-lines), ravenclaws are ravenclaws because they value intelligence and probably enjoy learning - this, you may note, does not automatically make all ravenclaws geniuses (Or even smart, for that matter...). They are just those that enjoy thinking more than bravery or honor. Ravenclaw tends to be the second-most favorite house, as not only does Harry have good relations with the Ravenclaws, and they are put in a good light in general, but it is the sort of house which attracts more bookish folk, which make up a large portion of the HP fanbase - go figure, what with it being a series of books, and all. So, again, Ravenclaw could have taken the fall as the replaced house... but as this would be the same - if weaker - reason for reason for replacing Gryffindor with a question mark, Ravenclaw was left with its full complement of letters for the sorting game.
We are left, of course, with Slytherin. Now then; who would want to be in Slytherin? They are the lowest of low, and the source of all the world's most evil Witches and Wizards, after all! Who would willingly want to be in Slytherin?
...
...
...
Actually, Slytherin isn't a bad house. It seems truly awful because that is Harry's opinion of it, and we see this world through Harry's eyes.... but honestly? So what if Voldemort was a Slytherin? (And... er... Slytherin's heir... *cough*) that doesn't make the house bad! Salazar split hogwarts due to a pureblood mania that, at the time, was semi-reasonable. (I am NOT arguing that it still is... Slytherin did not want to teach those with any muggle parentage because, at the time, this was extraordinarily dangerous. Muggles were very afraid of wizards and witches, and likely to react very badly at even the slightest notion that magic is in the air. Fully grown witches and wizards were immune to witch burnings, in the Potterverse... but muggles and wizard children? The muggles who knowingly married the witches, or the children who have no adult wizards to protect them? Or, worse, a muggleborn child comes to the school, and tells their muggle village about it, causing Hogwarts to be invaded by pitchfork-waving mobs...?
This is what Slytherin feared. A situation of the like could probably have been fixed with a couple of good obliviate charms for memory modification, but still... while I am not even certain as to whether a muggle could even find Hogwarts, for its time, this would have been a relevant fear. So, Slytherin wanted to teach purebloods, or those with cunning, or ambition. Or, more relevantly, those who prised cunning and ambition, or Percy Weasley would have been a Slytherin for certain, with his desire to move up in ranks at the ministry of magic.
Later on, the pureblood fixation became something else; its became a misguided desire to preserve the purity of magic by restricting its education to those who were 100% magical in there background... which, as has been stated multiple times by various sources within and without the books, is absolutely ridiculous. If the original Slytherin himself believed in pureblood mania to this degree, there would be no half-bloods in his house; Snape and even Slytherin's heir are a testament against this.
Why didn't I scrap Slytherin for a question mark? Multiple reasons. I am personally of the belief that far more people belong in Slytherin than place themselves there. The house seems to carry an undesirable stigma within the books which people with ambition or cunning do not wish to be associated with. It is a sort of self preservation (Which is certainly something Slytherins are good at...) to avoid being seen as a Slytherin. Imagine a job interview questionnaire which asks which Hogwarts house you belong to; a Slytherin would probably not pick slytherin offhand, unless they had a worryingly honest streak they didn't seem to notice, or a certain self confidence that it is the correct move to make. This does not make them evil. Simply cunning.
Others who tend to associate themselves with Slytherin include Snape fan girls, who (truthfully...) scare me. Snape is my favorite character, because of his ambiguity, but I have no desire for a personal detention with him. That is slightly creepy. The snape fan girls who are fond of Alan Rickman are slightly more understandable, but, for the record, I do not fall amongst their ranks.
So, in the end, Hufflepuff received the question mark, and the reason as to why is this; A true hufflepuff, upon receiving that question mark, would pick the house that they belonged in anyways, so it would be as if the ball had landed on Hufflepuff all along. And if not... after reading this, I would hope that some of you would find it in there hearts to see Hufflepuff, and all of the houses, for what they really are, and not what they are rumoured to be, and give Hufflepuff a fair chance.

Audio for the visually impaired

What can I say? I take a mini vacation, and things change. My blog appears to remain mostly unaltered, though I must say, that should hopefully change... Those bars really do need updating.

So now then; what is a blog? What should be done with one?
Is it the mere minutes of fame people seek, striving to post something entertaining for the viewing of others, to obtain hits? Fame is intoxicating. I know of one person who has a web comic (do not ask me which one... my fingers shall remain silent on the subject) and is very proud that he has readers aside from people he actually knows. One of these readers actually bought a wall clock with his characters on it. I do not know why. He doesn't either. The point is, though, that he has fans.
I do not particularly want attention, or any fans, for that matter. Perhaps this is why my blog patently sucks? After all, my favorite animal IS the mole, which spends most of its life underground, unnoticed by others.
Ah well.
Perhaps I will get in the habit of posting interesting stories of a fanciful nature. Or linking to video clips to share them with the world. Or posting ratings on different webcomics that have been read and subsequently reviewed.
These are all things that have been done far more competently by others, though. There is nothing I have to uniquely contribute to the subjects.
So, perhaps I should shut this blog down permanently; it does not seem to have much of a purpose, after all. Aside from listing my random ramblings.
People keep inviting me on to facebook. I don't know why; I am not even being invited by people I actually like, which makes me suspicious as to their intentions.
It does not help that I REALLY do not want to be on facebook as I told a rather drunk Englishman will poor table manners and the practicality of an Andy Warhol painting that I did not have a facebook account.
Don't ask.
On a different vein, it appears that my only known friend who owns a blog has abandoned it to the masses; this removes most of the incentive I ever had for maintaining this beast. What is the point of entertaining strangers?
That having been said, this will either be my final post, or one of many to come. If I do post again, I can promise that it will be of a different, and perhaps even interesting nature.

Can't say I've got much to say; Perhaps I will edit this posting later. For now, I just wanted to post these little guys:
May they contain moles and/or turtles applenty!

Eulogy

Two nights ago, prompted by the need for entertainment, I popped into the DVD player the Crocodile Hunter movie. This morning, I was informed that Steve Irwin had passed away. As most other people seem to be aware of this as well, I will spare my sparse readers the details. Suffice to say that, while Steve was (as far as I know) taken off the air at some point in time during 2004, likely due to an incident that was blown out of proportion because of a DIFFERENT celebrity's activities, the time spent watching various episodes of his show have been recalled with fond memories. Aright, so the crocodile hunter was pretty darn funny. How many celebrities can a person name who have actually been attacked by a wombat, without any provocation, after having called them "harmless"? Or stated "I'll be fine in the lair of komodo dragons, so long as they don't smell any blood on me," just before nicking himself on brambles. In the next shot, Steve is perched in a tree, surrounded by the giant lizards. I'm pretty sure you can hear the camera man laughing at him in the background.
It is interesting to note, however, that even after having been attacked by just about every creature cappable of blinking (and a few who aren't), Steve trudged on. Generally in a chipper, on screen manner, which his wife tried to emulate with varied success. I'm not sure, but if any one of my readers were to fall off the back of a truck pursuing camels, would they get back up again to chase after the vehicle? How many of you can dodge a snake? Wrestle a crocodile larger than yourselves...?
Suffice to say, that if the boy didn't have a fair bit of talent, brawn - and my fair readers may not believe me, but some brains as well - the crocodile hunter never would have lasted to 44.
He will be missed, even though he has already been missing from the world of broadcasting. (On my television, at any rate) Sure... there are other hosted nature shows, like "Killer Instinct", for example... yet somehow, I am unable to like someone who always walks around barefoot. Someone could perhaps take going without shoes as a show of compatency... but in truth, thick leather boots make a convincing snake-bite deterent. Plus, why on earth would ANYONE give a speech about a species of octopus so poisonous, it can kill on contact with skin while walking barefoot around the rocks where said octopus dwells!?!? For heaven sake!
*Sigh* My bit has been said. Though I probably spelt 'eulogy' wrong, after this message has been posted, I will never again be able to relate a crocodile hunter tale without a trace of sadness...

Until next post,
Opaxia

Point of View

Perspectives are a great thing; they are what make each and every one of us different. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they result from each and every one of us BEING different - which would explain why mobs of sheep tend to think alike. Or at least act like they do.
The point of that little introductory paragraph is as follows: an event occurs. It is not a particularly pleasent event, at least from the point of view of whoever said event happened to. When telling the tale through the written word, however, others find said event humourous, and not in a menacing way; the victim of said event manages to forget how unpleasent it actually was, and just tells it as a funny story... with all of the nastier details blissfully omitted.
Now, a different viewer of said event could find it just as amusing... they would just find it amusing for the details that the other story teller happened to leave out, instead of the series of coincedences which led to an interesting adventure. This adventure would have been, coincidentally, partly the fault of this other viewer. So are the nasty bits, which said victim STILL does not find in the least bit amusing.
If this other viewer were to decide to tell said tale to a receptive audience which happens to include the victims younger sister... Hmm. Perhaps it just goes to show that this person, by the readers above, is not a sheep (Though they are, as they belong to a larger group of people; but, for the purpose of this particular entry, let us say that they do not.) because they do not agree with the victim's point of view. The reader (that would be YOU, by the way) would be a sheep, then, if they took the point of view of either of these two participents in said adventure, but in order to have a unique view point on the situation, then the reader (Again, that's you!) would have to have been there. Which is altogether impossible.
That having been said, I suppose that's it for the day. No, to all those who ask, I am not answering what said event is, or who it happened to. If you know, you'll know.

Mauraders

Alright then. The following proves just how easy it is to rig online quizes:


Which Harry Potter Marauder Are You?
But, then again, it's not like any of them are actually serious. People just do them for fun, instead of going to bed when they should. What I have to add to that, is that such quizes (especially when there only happen to be four seperate options...) are not in the least bit accurate. Getting Sirius black on said quiz wouldn't be too bad, if I actually liked the fellow, but I'm afraid I have an incredible disliking of him. (It may or may not have something to do with having been told by someone that he dies in the fifth book, so I never got emotionally attached to him when I read past book one - long story in and of itself right there - as it is, I may have just provided the same service to many would-be readers who just haven't got around to it yet. I still know plenty of people who are positive that Black is going to come back in the seventh book, even AFTER book six was released... I continue to just shake my head sadly. Get over it, people, he wasn't even that great to start with. Honest. But then again, I've had an author kill off Karl, and games kill of Aeris (Which I am deterined is actually 'Alice', but didn't get translated as such thanks to odd linguistic quirks...) and countless of other deaths in liturature to boot, I should be well and truly callous to anything a book these days throws at me. Though come to think of it...
I DID get upset when Jeronimo was impaled by a dozen bayonets, and Yevgeny was shot multiple times by musketeers... Which was something I read this morning.
Huh.
Well, there goes that theory. Ah well.
Until next time I get attrociously bored, here are the other results for that quiz. (There are only four total, so no reason I can't put them ALL up...... The host's site's inactive, and mine doesn't get enough traffic to boost the bandwidth usage substantially.):

Cho-co-bo!

Huh. No turtles... but a worm. Maybe it will catch a bird? Personally, I find myself oddly creeped out by the smiling dice... but what else is really new? The cameleon with the hairy back and the purple bird are actually kind of cute, in a monstrous sort of way... Still no moles, though. One of these days. *sigh* Until that day arrives, I will have to remain content with the odd lizard, and eventually work on getting new bar graphics; I am rather proud of myself, as MOST of the graphics that constitute this blog (good or bad...) were made by yours truely. And it's not even half as eye-smarting as it used to be. So there. *blows rasberry* One bar line, and a few more posts to get the giant 'time mage' picture to stop stretching the sides of my blog, and it will look perfect. I hope, anyways... Here's a purple chocobo, primarily for my own amusement. No, it doesn't link to anything... and yes, it used to walk in a bobbing sort of fashion, but uploading images into blogger automatically makes them into .png files, which, unlike good 'ol .gif, tend to not be animated. Yar. Well, enjoy regardless...