Matt Appleby's Notebook

Jul 22, 2017 at 12:59pm

As part of the "Invalid Item"

contest, I had to take a Sorting Quiz. The results are below:

http://www.playbuzz.com/emilyz14/the-hogwarts-sorting-quiz-pottermore-version?ut...

(For anyone who hasn't clicked the link, I got Hufflepuff. Which was unexpected, 'cause I've always thought of myself as a Ravenclaw, but I still can't say it's entirely wrong.)

Comment

Matt Appleby

Jul 21, 2017 at 3:37pm

As part of the "Invalid Item"

contest, I have to write a little on my favourite character from JK Rowling's series. So here are my thoughts on...

...Luna Lovegood.

I admit, it's an obvious choice. But what can I say? She's cool.

There's two main reasons why I like her. Firstly, she's just so sunny. I don't think it's a coincidence that she's introduced during Order of the Phoenix, when the series goes from having ominous overtones to being just plain ominous. Harry Potter himself, isolated and adrift, surrounded by enemies he can't handle, is finally beginning to crack under the strain. Into all this grimdark comes Luna, a walking burst of optimism and whimsy, which at this point is exactly what the series needs.

And she manages it whilst dealing with her own troubles, which is even more impressive. Harry might be dealing with an insane warlord back from the dead, but at least he has a squad to back him up. Luna is on her own, and she has to spend a whole year just trying to find her shoes.

The second reason is even simpler: her outsider status. Even in the wizarding world, where you have to deal with s*** like Blast-Ended Skrewts, there are still things considered too implausible to believe. Which I've always thought of as gross hypocrisy, but is still very funny, and kinda inspiring in its own way. There always need to be people out on the fringe, pursuing mad ideas. How else can society hope to change?

So here's to Luna Lovegood, one of the great eccentrics of modern literature. God bless your crazy soul.

Comment

Matt Appleby

Jul 16, 2017 at 3:20pm

As part of the "Invalid Item"

contest, I have to write a little on my favourite creature from JK Rowling's series. So here are my thoughts on...

...Dragons.

Yes, I know. Everyone's obsessed with dragons. It's like saying your favourite ice cream flavour is chocolate chip.

But you know what? Chocolate chip is awesome. And so are dragons.

I mean, we're talking about a monster the size of a house, than has wings and can breathe fire. You can't top breathing fire. Unless you had a dragon that could breathe lightning. That'd be something. Either way, you still can't go wrong with fire breath.

In the folk tales of old, a knight looking to prove his strength would find a dragon to slay. That's no accident. A bear or troll might serve the lesser knights, but for those at the Round Table, nothing less than a dragon would do. Such is their power, “dragon” and “mythic monster” are practically synonymous.

It's been said that dragons came from ancient cultures misinterpreting dinosaur fossils. It's not hard to see why. They both draw their power from the same source: our utter smallness before the power of nature. Humans can kill just about any animal they wish, with the right tools and enough planning. But if a T-Rex is after you, or there's a pack of Velociraptors...well, we've all seen Jurassic Park. There isn't much you can do about either of those. A dragon is that same ancient, primal terror, only even more formidable.

Personally, I like my dragons to be intelligent, in the vein of Tolkein's Smaug the Magnificent. A towering egomaniac who actually has the power to back it up is truly an enemy to be feared. But Rowling's Welsh Blues and Hungarian Horntails, mere animals though they may be, are still dragons, and are still a wonderous terror to behold.

Dragons. Everyone loves 'em. And that's because everyone should.

• 1 comment

Comment

HWinB.C.

Jul 16, 2017 at 6:03pm

I don't remember the name of the book I read on the history of archeology/anthropology, but it just so happen to mention finding bones here in north America in the 1700 or early 1800s, been a few years since I read it. The man that had discovered the "dragon" bones wrote a paper on his discovery and the Vatican disapproved it and said he could not discuss dragons. So, he came up with a new name, dinosaur. Dino (large or terrible) saur (reptile). Apparently, a Latin name borrowed from the Greeks, lol.
I'm thinking that since they talked about living dragons around the world, it may be us who have made a mythology out of dinosaur from a reality of dragons.
Just my thought.