HPPROGS update: Where we are right now.
Hey everyone. I just wanted to give you guys a quick HPPROGS update.
- Keep the comments and theories coming. We want you to know we have read all of them and plan to respond, but life has a way of getting in the way sometimes. I have been having back/shoulder/neck pain for the last few weeks and on Friday I found out that I have two broken bones in my neck. We aren’t sure from what -but they are there. Anyway, we are still waiting for the radiologist to write up the MRI results (the bureaucracy of the medical system for those of us not actually in the system is astounding) and then my doctor will figure out what the next step will be. In the meantime, I finally got some heavy duty pain killers this morning which are actually allowing me to be able to sit up- but things are painful to say the least. But my point is (and I do have one) that I haven’t been able to respond to any of the great comments and theories that you all have posted on the blog/website, facebook, myspace, etc. Greg has been waiting on me as well (he even cancelled a business conference he was supposed to go to this week) so he hasn’t had time to attend to hpprogs stuff either. But like I said before, please keep the comments, thoughts, suggestions, theories, prognostications coming. They are all entertaining (and thanks to all of you who sent Laura Mallory news links- NICE!!) and keeping me sane.
- I am not sure if we will be able to podcast this week but we will keep you all posted on that as well.
- In exciting HPPROGS news, we now have transcribers on the staff (we will have to make a staff page, we know). Jason and Irina both graciously offered to start transcribing the shows and we really appreciate it. We will keep you posted on where the transcripts will be located.
- Thanks to all of you who responded to the post about the server, design etc. of this website. We will be in touch with you about that as well.
- Finally, let’s have a bit of fun here. Scholastic posted their 4th pre-Deathly Hallows Question : Who Ends up With Whom?” I don’t even know if Scholastic is offering choices but let’s hear your thoughts. And none of these boring Harry/Ginny or Ron/Hermione answers (and I plead with you no Harry and Hermione- for the love of all things good, we know they don’t end up together)- come out all you Madame Pince/Filch and Bellatrix/Neville Shippers (what? I am stuck in bed, I need some entertainment). We know you’re out there!
Thanks for your patience.
-Penny:)
May 29th, 2007 at 9:24 pm
I am sorry to hear that you are in pain Penny! I will keep you in my prayers!
May 29th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
I’m also sorry to hear about your neck. Did they do a bone density test to see if there’s something wrong that could have caused this without you knowing about it? I hope you get some relief soon!
About the Scholastic question — First, I’m getting tired of their questions. They’re ones we’ve been asking since the big long wait before OoP came out. I hoped, when I first heard about the idea that they’d have questions every two weeks, that we’d get just a bit of a hint of what was coming in the books. Oh well.
The choices Scholastic offered were as follows: Harry and Ginny (I voted for that — more on my thoughts in a minute); Ron and Hermione (when my laptop comes back from the shop I plan to go back and vote for that one, I see it as equally likely to the first choice); Harry and Hermione; and Tonks and Lupin. My first question was, I hope it isn’t true that only one of these 4 pairings actually gets together. I would have voted for A, B and D if I could have done so. Harry and Hermione, well, anyone with half a brain knows that’s not going to happen. Though I did write a fic once where Ron thought it was happening and got all jealous till they finally set him straight. I wouldn’t put it past Jo to do something like that just to throw a bone to the H/Hr shippers.
Other ships: I honestly don’t think there will be any. She’s said Neville/Luna won’t happen. If Neville and Luna both make it through the last book, they either end up single or they find a romantic partner from amongst one of the mostly faceless group of students at Hogwarts that we haven’t met or know by name only. I’ve always wondered if McGonagall had any romance in her life, but I can’t see who she’d settle down with — again, it could be “Professor Vector”, we know nothing about him, though I once read a great series of fan fics that supposed Vector was a young woman who ended up being a love interest for Lupin. Jo doesn’t give us enough info to know age or gender, and there’s an ancient runes teacher as well as Muggle Studies that we don’t know, as well. And various inhabitants and workers from Hogsmeade that might make a match for any of the teachers. Or not.
May 29th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
Rather disturbingly by far the highest number of votes on the Scholastic website have gone to the Harry-Hermione pairing. Ah well.
Penny - I’m sorry to hear of your pain. No wonder you were struggling, with two broken bones in your neck! I too will keep you in my prayers.
May 29th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
Hi Penny!
Luna-Dudley….???? Can’t think of any other strange ones now but I will keep trying!
I just started listening to your show and I absolutely love it!
I am very sorry to hear about your neck…I hope you get better soon!
I thought the Scholastic questions have sort of lame too! I thought their choices of couples seem a bit strange given that we know Ron/Hermione, Lupin/Tonks, and Harry/Ginny already happened or is happening…whether there will be any change in those, we don’t know. Harry/Hermione is not happening for sure! So, I don’t really see the point of this question! Wonder if I am missing something…
As for strange pairings, hmmmm, lets see…Hermione-Dudley…???
On a completely different note, Harry being a horcrux seems to be a popular theory. If that is so, then why would Voldemort try to kill him so many times after Godric’s Hollow??? I am sorry if you guys have discussed this before and I am just rambling on. But I am a new listener so I am still trying to catch up with the older podcast episodes!!!
Thanks a lot!
May 30th, 2007 at 5:58 am
Penny,
Sorry about the pain in your neck — I thought it was just Greg. . . sorry, just kidding.
Hope all works out fine.
May 30th, 2007 at 6:18 am
Come on, Penny…you can tell us…did Greg do this to you? ;p
Only kidding, Greg. You sound like a real prince taking such good care of Penny. I understand what it’s like to take care of a sick spouse…altho you’re happy to do it, it’s no fun. My sympathies and prayers are with you both.
As for character pairings - this may be obvious, but my vote is for Neville and Luna. For a more interesting pairing Snape and Bellatrix or wait… even better, Snape and Lucius Malfoy. Now THERE’S a plot twist that no one would see coming! LOL!
Feel better, Penny!
May 30th, 2007 at 9:59 am
Well I’m gald to hear it wasn’t to serious Penny. I mean what do you need a neck for anyways. Lotsa people have had great success with out one. Look at Winston Churchill, Ann Bolin, the narrartor from Rocky Horror? See it’s not so bad. Seriously take care of yourself! Get well but don’t rush it. Kudo’s to Greg as nothing makes you appreciate a wife better than when you try and fill her shoes. Thinking of you guys. Aaron
May 30th, 2007 at 10:07 am
I’m sorry to hear about your neck, Penny. I still need to hear last week’s episode, and when I saw the post via my Bloglines subscription, I had to comment.
I am truly amazed by the support of the community and want you to know we are praying and sending good vibes your way.
May 30th, 2007 at 11:37 am
Ok I having been giving your request for some fun a lot of thought. So in an attempt to entertain you I shall make a serious effort to guess the romantic pairing of the HP characters. (taking a long swig of strong coffee) Ok here it is.
1. Harry and Ginny (cuz that has been all but given to us)
2. Ron and Hermine (same as above)
3. Tonks and Lupin ( because they deserve a little happiness)
4. Hagrid and Madam Maxine ( cuz it makes you choke)
5. Neville and Luna (cuz that is way cool)
6.Umbridge and Filch ( why not)
7. Trawleny and the centaur ( just weird enough to work)
8. Rita Skeeter and Luna’s father. ( to reestablish faith in the mass media)
9.Professor Monigal and Abiforth ( old flames)
10. George, Fred and Cho 9Just cuz Fred and George do everything together.)
Now I have been looking at the questions on scholastic and I don’t have a lot of confidence in the asnwers. I do like the questions but not the choices for answers. I would really like to see you guys retouch the Will Harry Live or Die episode. Maybe add who do you think will and won’t make it. Just think that would be a hot potatoe of a subject. Maybe the pain killers can expand your conciousness Penny. LOL not that you don’t do just fine anyways.
May 30th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Okay, I have a thought about the Neville/Luna ship. Now I joined this ship over two years ago, but this was AFTER Jo said it wasn’t going to happen. (this was before HBP). However, I still see people talking about them ending up together in the canon. So I was thinking that maybe Jo had been referring to HBP specifially. I went to her site today to check it out, and I found that the rumor she was debunking did in fact mention HBP specifically. However, it still seems like her answer meant that they would never get together. I was wondering what you (or anyone else reading this) thought about her wording. The statement is in the “rumours” section of her website.
May 30th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
Okay, so I just looked at the Scholastic poll and it is lamer than lame. The only choices are Harry/Ginny, Hermione/Ron, Harry/Hermione, and Tonks/Remus. And it only lets you pick one. AND aparently the only people who are voting are 14 year old, delusional (Emerson’s word, not mine), squeeing fangirls because H/Hr is winning with like 47%. I don’t know how ANYONE could possibly believe that that will actually happen. Especially since Jo told us it’s Ron and Hermione two freaking years ago. Dear God fangirls, please just let it go! Your ship sank, deal with it.
May 30th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
Penny,
Broken neck . . . shouldn’t you be in the hospital!!! Worries and hopes that you will recover quickly! Greg needs to take it easy on you there I think. (See Greg, you give your girl a hard time on the show and then all the blame for this stuff falls smack on you!)
About the couplings: Ron and Hermione finally get it together, have the inevitable row, then Ron has a rebound revenge thing with Rosmertta from the Hog’s Head, Hermione finds out and gets it on with Zach Smith just to piss of both Ron and Harry who has taken Ron’s side in the typical fraternal way and because Rosmertta hooks harry up with one of the wierd sistas for a butter-beer and firewhiskey inebriated VIP room romp in which they are all caught snorting Powdered Dragon Claw . . .
Seriously though, JK has actually kept the relationship thing at a distance - there’s some subtext going on, but I think only to underscore the fact that they are all going through puberty and that they do some normal teenage things . . . Still wishing Harry kept it together with Cho - they seemed a well-crafted match with plenty of common interests and Cho would have been a good base to reel in Harry’s gotta-be-a-hero-complex a bit. Ah well . . . twas not written to be . . .
Megan - I loved your last comment there . . .
Take it easy and get better!
May 30th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
A better question that Scholastic’s: How many intelligent Potter fans are in serious quandry over who will ‘end up’ with whom?
Answer: Hopefully none. Any doubt’s been settled with HBP (thank goodness. Did anyone else used to read the Love thread at Chamber of Secrets forums? Insanity…)
May 31st, 2007 at 8:19 am
Did someone say insanity? An intelligent Potter fan in a serious quandry? Maybe I’ll go hide now. Good to see you Michal.
May 31st, 2007 at 10:35 am
Penny -
So sorry to hear about your neck! Hope you get feeling better soon, and that your bones mend quickly!
E
May 31st, 2007 at 5:52 pm
Okay I’m in: Umbridge/Firenze because Umbridge’s repulsion is just covering up her secret desires . . . shall I go on. . .? Okay, her animagus is a donkey and she is ashamed, but this relationship brings meaning to her life. . . .she see herself in a new light and Firenze is able to tell her things about herself no-one has ever dared. . .
May 31st, 2007 at 6:21 pm
Penny, I’m so sorry to hear about the pain you been in with your neck. I will keep you in my prayers.
Oh, the relationships are for the most part the one simple thing you can figure out in the book, so it’s hard for me to come up with any other different scenarios than the standard (Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione, etc.)
Trying to think of something different, my mind goes to the convoluted. In trying to protect Harry, Ron and Hermione, Ginny uses her clever red headed wiles to distract and flirt with Draco, not letting anything happen, but just enough to get information (Please don’t take this seriously. Like I said, my mind went to the convoluted).
May 31st, 2007 at 6:27 pm
I realized while reading I forgot to send you the Laura Mallory links, so I was glad to know other people had.
I take my Christian faith very seriously, but she and I both think about and practice our faith very differently.
I’ve meant to write in the past that I though it was neat your episode on house elves was just after Passover. And in the comments, I wouldn’t have been surprised if y’all had referred to Hermione as the “House elves Moses” or something like that. It was also neat for me, because the Friday night I had listened to that episode I attended my first Shabbat service that night; I had never been and had always wanted to go.
May 31st, 2007 at 9:28 pm
Sorry about the back and neck and medical bureaucracy.
Anyways, I was just on the Scholastic site and the idiots (besides us on HP Progs) who go and vote there have the odds of Harry/Hermione hooking up at 49%. Do they even read the books or just skim them? Scholastic’s questions are serious ones, but the answers never make sense.
As for me personally, I am a Luna/Neville shipper.