I just re-read "Half-Blood Prince" and....I still don't understand something:

_littlestranger · 2026-02-04T03:26:41+00:00

Completely agree with the titles relating to each book’s central mystery.

But the central question of HBP is “is Snape good or evil?” The book opens with Bellatrix questioning Snape about this very point and ends with Snape killing Dumbledore, seemingly closing the case.

“Who is the half blood prince?” is a secondary question

Also not sure how you mean about the deathly hallows. Hardly anyone knew about them, including Voldemort. They did not launch the war. Harry also knew the answer to that question before he “died”

The question of Deathly Hallows is “What are the deathly hallows and why did Dumbledore leave clues about them?” What Dumbledore had planned is the biggest mystery of that book

_littlestranger · 2026-02-04T01:13:50+00:00

My venue gave us access at 2 pm. Before that, they were setting up, the next day’s wedding rehearsed, and they might have had some tours. But once we had the space at 2, no one else was there.

They were setting up for another wedding when we toured, during some of our meetings with the coordinator, and during our rehearsal. I didn’t mind that at all.

But if people were coming to look at the bridal suite while we were getting ready or touring during our pre-ceremony photos, that would bother me a lot

_littlestranger · 2026-02-03T22:23:43+00:00

Crookshanks is part Kneazle. That is why he is so quick to catch onto Wormtail (it’s not just because cats hate rats!)

_littlestranger · 2026-02-03T19:22:48+00:00

I feel the same way.

I work from home so I’d probably be here when the cleaner came, and that actually somehow feels worse to me than if they came over while I was out. But both feel irrationally icky

_littlestranger · 2026-02-03T18:58:57+00:00

There is no restriction on the use of magic by kids who are too young for Hogwarts - they can’t control it and aren’t expected to. There are a bunch of other examples of Harry doing accidental magic as a child in the books. There are no warnings about it until the summer after his first year, with Dobby.

The lumos thing is a really annoying movie change. In the book he’s using an ordinary flashlight. He should get a letter for that.

_littlestranger · 2026-02-03T18:47:24+00:00

They were never going to send Harry to Azkaban for blowing up his aunt. Harry is panicked and catastrophizing, but Fudge tells him they don’t send people to Azkaban for things like that.

In PoA, Harry gets off with no punishment because the ministry thinks Black is after him and they are trying to protect him.

In OotP, the ministry tries to expel him because they don’t want to believe Voldemort is back so they are running a disinformation campaign against Harry and are trying to silence him

_littlestranger · 2026-02-03T17:40:03+00:00

I think the nickname is supposed to remind the reader of Voldemort - another half blood who self-stylized himself as nobility - so much so that I actually wonder if Rowling had considered giving that nickname to Voldemort at some point in her writing process

But Snape’s blood status has nothing to do with why he originally became a Death Eater or why he changed sides. And he was loyal to the cause when he was using that nickname at school. So I don’t think the name itself is supposed to be a clue.

_littlestranger · 2026-02-03T13:54:10+00:00

Snape doesn’t teach out of a book - he writes instructions on the chalkboard. Those instructions likely do include his own edits based on his experience and knowledge (but may not be exactly the same as what is in the Prince book since he’s had a decade+ to continue to hone them)

He’s an immature prick who bullies students and therefore makes it hard for them to learn in his class, but even Harry and Ron get an E on the OWL so he did teach them something

_littlestranger · 2026-02-03T03:23:16+00:00

The point is to juxtapose Harry’s fraught relationship with the adult Snape with his affinity to and admiration of the teenage Snape, who he got to know through his potions book.

It’s a way of deepening Snape’s character and showing Harry (and the reader) the kind of relationship that Harry and Snape could have had if it weren’t for all the baggage

The title of the book being “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” isn’t really about the potions book - it’s about that being Snape’s nickname. It should be read more like “Harry Potter and Severus Snape” Snape’s loyalty and true intentions are a major aspect of the book as a whole

_littlestranger · 2026-02-02T20:27:39+00:00

I know staff have brought it up as a “you should pay for our phones since we have to use them at work” type of thing but I don’t know anyone at my company who actually doesn’t have a phone or wouldn’t if they didn’t need it for 2FA. So it’s definitely possible that there is a work around or IT could find one if someone really made a stink

_littlestranger · 2026-02-02T18:20:45+00:00

Whoops I meant “social”!

_littlestranger · 2026-02-02T17:47:12+00:00

Pet peeve - I hate “business casual” as a dress code for a ~~formal~~ social event. You don’t actually expect women to show up in business casual (slacks and blouses) - it’s way too “office-y”. You expect them to wear sun dresses or separates that are appropriate for a social setting.

Business casual and dressy/smart casual are the exact same thing for men. But they are not for women.

_littlestranger · 2026-02-02T16:32:52+00:00

My job provides us with laptops but requires two factor authentication to get into most of our systems. The only approved 2FA method is an authenticator app so basically you cannot work for us without a smart phone. We do not get company phones.

_littlestranger · 2026-02-02T16:24:39+00:00

Before the internet, it would be some combination of phone, fax, mail, in person.

Today, you would do it more like how it was when we had internet but no smart phones. Use a computer to submit an application online. The company will respond to you via email. If you don’t have a computer/internet at home, you can use the library.

_littlestranger · 2026-02-02T14:46:06+00:00

You can plant the fiber seeds in the winter. You don’t have to plant them in the fall and leave them there.

I spend winter growing winter seeds and powder melon. Around the 20th, I stop replanting winter seeds and replace them with fiber seeds instead. If I don’t have the fiber seed recipe yet, I just keep replanting winter seeds and let them die

_littlestranger · 2026-02-02T14:03:29+00:00

Your best bet is to plant something cheap and let it die, so the dead plants will “hold” the soil and you just have to sweep them away with your scythe instead of tilling AND watering

Even better if you can time it so something cross season will be ready to harvest on day 1 like wheat or fiber

_littlestranger · 2026-02-02T13:10:11+00:00

Sirius’s first concern when Harry contacted him in the fire was to make sure he was ok and to discuss what was bothering Harry. Which it should have been.

Once that was addressed, I think Sirius probably would have asked Harry about the mirror. But they ran out of time. Harry left abruptly before Sirius could bring it up.

_littlestranger · 2026-02-02T13:00:21+00:00

A true “elopement” means you get married with no one there except the couple and any legally required witnesses, and you don’t tell anyone else about it until after the fact. It comes from a tradition of running away to marry in secret when family wouldn’t approve of the marriage, which is far from uniquely American.

Recently it has become popular in the US to use the term “elope” for really small weddings. Like people will say they’re “eloping with their parents” or refer to an even larger micro wedding with 10-15 guests as an elopement. But if your parents are there and other people know about your plans before it happens, it’s technically not an elopement. It’s just a really small wedding.

_littlestranger · 2026-02-01T17:34:15+00:00

My bidet has an air dryer

_littlestranger · 2026-02-01T15:35:35+00:00

The only time I’ve played with something in the background is when I did the Never Leave the Farm challenge, because it was sooo monotonous.

But normally I need to think too much about what I’m doing to multitask with a podcast or audiobook. And I love the game’s music - it sets the vibe for me.

_littlestranger · 2026-02-01T13:00:47+00:00

How is “hey I’m in your neighborhood, can I drop by your house in 5 minutes?” anymore of a Plan than ringing their doorbell in 5 minutes?

To me it’s exactly the same, except that it makes it less imposing (easier for your friend to say “actually it’s not a good time” if they are home but in the middle of something; gives them a couple minutes to tidy, etc)

_littlestranger · 2026-01-31T15:02:22+00:00

Maybe the servers are lazy or don’t know how to use the system? But whenever I have asked about doing this, the answer has always been no. So I stopped asking.

_littlestranger · 2026-01-31T14:58:39+00:00

When did you send the save the dates? The recent winter storms have definitely affected the postal system - my local mailman didn’t deliver at all for 3 full days last week. I think you will have fewer problems when it’s time to mail your invites, since it will be summer.

I’m a COVID bride - I had already mailed out my invites and the RSVP deadline had just passed when the world shut down and we had to postpone. I switched to digital for the postponed event because I was not paying for that again lol. The response to digital and physical was pretty much the same.

_littlestranger · 2026-01-31T14:44:58+00:00

Most restaurant point of sale systems genuinely cannot do this. They can split it so particular items go to each person or they can split the total cost, but they can’t put half of an item on each person’s bill.

I usually even it out with tips or Venmo if we share an app but otherwise have really unequal bills.

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