[VanatheEverYoung]

JKR has said in interviews that they're homeschooled. I would guess that means either by their parents or tutors.

http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/faq_view.cfm?id=101

[Silvae]

Yeah, I've always wondered - you've got a thousand or so British children disappearing every year, to go to this unknown school, that has presumably never been inspected (unless they planted wizarding agents in the government, hehe), and except the Prime Minister, nobody knows about wizards. But no-one really seems to notice.
Plus, how do wizards pay their taxes? They'd have to invent companies for themselves to explain their revenue... And d'you reckon Gringotts has a currency exchange desk? Or do they have specil wizarding supermarkets?
There, that was my ramble for today,
Silvae

[KhazarKhum]

In HBP Fred & George mention a girl in the village, but what village?

And you're right--they must have some sort of accounting system to pay the tax man.

I could see a group of families schooling the kids together. I would assume that there's a school on Hogsmeade.

I gathered that the Weasleys had something of a small farm, with a vegetable garden and such. But they can't all live like that--they must have some way of getting food, unless they do all their shopping at Diagon Alley.

[VanatheEverYoung]

I think the whole point of places like Diagon Alley is to show that wizards blend in with the muggle world and modify memories when they don't. It's entirely possible that there is a grocery store in Diagon Alley or that some wizard owns his own store. Mr. Weasley, who works with Muggles every day, can barely count the pound notes. I don't think Mad-Eye Moody is going into Kroger's. I've always thought that there was a wizard equivalent for everything in the Muggle world. We've read about robe shops, book stores, veterinarians, banks, and candy shops. Why can't there be wizarding grocery stores and restaurants?

[mistressofbucklebury]

[KhazarKhum]

It would make sense if there's some sort of tax liaison office, where they pay the taxes. The Office then hands over gold to HM, who adds it to the treasury.

[nienor]

As for the grocery stores, they might perhaps get many of the things they need by owl-order.

And they can conjure lots of things out of thin air, literally, can't they?

[AngmarianRose]

ya, i've always wondered about that............

i mean, they can transfigure stuff at school so why can't they just make whatever food they want appear. i think since Diagon alley has everything else they must have a grocery store or little meat or bread shops like they have in some parts of Europe. As for taxes, i have no idea really, but i agree with the above statements. there must be something that they pay that is in line with muggle taxes and such.

btw, was i one of the only ones who saw Dumbledore's death coming for a while?All those little hints in book five where Harry starts noticing how old Dumbledore looks all of a sudden? it wasn't a total shock to me that he died, but i had friends who were like "What? how could Dumbledore die?"

[KhazarKhum]

No, like I said earlier, he was pretty much doomed. The ancient meme of the mentor dying so the pupil can achieve final glory was used beautifully by Rowlings.

[shadowslayer]

why in the world would harry be a horcruxe that would just be insane besides if he was why would Voldermort want him dead please think reasonably folks

[KhazarKhum]

Harry can't. But his wand could be--remember how the old man siad it was the twin of Voldemort's??

[KhazarKhum]

DUHHHHHHH!

How did we miss this?

Harry isn't the Horcrux--it's the scar that is. That's why it hurts when Voldemort is up to things.

[VanatheEverYoung]

How exactly is the scar a Horcrux? In order to be created, there has to be a murder. The scar was made by the failed killing curse. So, unless JKR has misled us, which she promised to never do, and Voldemort made the scar before attempting to kill Harry, it can't be a Horcrux. As we've already established, if any part of Harry was a Horcrux, Voldemort wouldn't have tried to kill Harry.

[JaneDoe]

Performing a bit of thread resurrection here to discuss some ideas I had about HBP after reading it.

First off, I'm a die-hard Snape fan. I like and admire the man. It helps that Alan Rickman plays him in the films, too. There are some pretty . . . interesting fanfic opportunities there. But I digress.

I'm going to admit that I have only seen the films for the first 3 movies, and I now own the 4th through 6th books. At the risk of getting ahead of myself, I'm just going to get into what I think is going on.

First things first. Aside from Harry Potter himself, Snape is probably the most important character in the series. Snape's nature and choices, his role in the series, and his relationship with Harry Potter will prove crucial to how Harry meets the challenge of facing Voldemort.

Let me say first my belief that Snape killing Dumbledore was the noblest deed in the series. I think that the Unbreakable Vow was tangental to Snape's reasons for killing Dumbledore. I think there is something far more powerful at work here than weasling out of a very binding contract. I'm guessing that Snape and Dumbledore were closer than anyone either themselves (and perhaps Professor McGonagall) know.

Throughout the series it is made clear that Dumbledore trusts Snape implicitly. He says as much and refuses to let Harry express doubt or suspicion about Snape's loyalty. One could argue that this may be Dumbledore extending trust too easily again, but there is little evidence to support that. I am not sure why Dumbledore trusts Snape, but I would rule out Snape being under an Unbreakable Vow with Dumbledore. Something about this strikes me as far too manipulative for Dumbledore to ask of someone. To a certain extent, it is like the Imperius Curse because it takes away a person's ability to make their own choices. "Do what I want or die" does not strike me as Dumbledore-ish. Sounds very much more like Voldemort, though.

Although Dumbledore trusts Snape implicitly, I hardly think that his trust was given rashly or without considerable thought. Remember: Voldemort was a student at Hogwarts while Dumbledore was a staff member too. The parallels are astonishing. Tom Marvolo Riddle was extremely intelligent, distant from his peers (at least in the orphanage), and prior to coming to Hogwarts, likely neglected even as an infant. Severus Snape was also extremely intelligent, distant from his peers throughout his tutelage at Hogwarts, and neglected and/or abused throughout his childhood. Both of them were sorted into House Slytherin. Both had exceptional ability in the Dark Arts prior to coming to Hogwarts. I would say that Dumbledore was definitely afraid of history repeating itself. He probably watched Snape very carefully. I am still unsure why he did nothing about the bullying Snape received at the hands of James Potter and Sirius Black. This may be a key to Snape's motives behind becoming a Death Eater and his returning to the light, but I'm not sure. Be that as it may, Snape becomes a Death Eater, repents, and turns spy for Order of the Phoenix. (Side note: Incidentally, the parallels between Severus Snape and Saul of Tarsus (later to become Paul) are quite striking.) Given Snape's past and the parallels with Tom Riddle, why would Dumbledore come to trust Snape so completely?

Personally, I'm inclined to think that it was something Severus Snape did (or volunteered to do) that earned Dumbledore's trust. I don't think it's simple like saving somebody from harm or anything like that. I think Snape offered Dumbledore something that could have cost him a lot, especially if his intentions were false. It had to be something that Snape had nothing to gain from. His only hope had to be that Dumbledore would trust him. It had to be an act of pure contrition. Otherwise there could always be grounds for suspicion. I wonder what that could have been.

With that out of the way, I can get to my next point. I think that Harry, in order to beat Voldemort, must form a genuine student-teacher bond with Snape. This is far from saying he must come to like Snape, but he has to choose to learn what Snape has to teach. Not because he needs it for his O.W.L. or N.E.W.T. but because he sincerely values Snape's knowledge and experience and seeks to learn from it. It's like those old kung fu movies where the hero goes to find the great master to teach the secrets of this or that technique. The hero endures weeks, months, even years of physical and psychological abuse to master whatever it is they're trying to learn. Snape's style of teaching has interesting parallels with other films. These individuals are rarely nice people, but they are invaluable for teaching the hero about himself and giving him the tools he needs to evolve. Although Snape is a lot more subtle about it, the general attitude is still the same. Consider.

[FallingIntoStrangers]

Wow. That was everything I have thought in my head ever since I first read the part when Snape kills Dumbledore. Mostly naive readers who don't have a lot of insight of the ability to read between the lines don't get any of that. They have this knnejerk reaction "SNAPE IS EVIL!" ... "SNAPE IS BAD!"


But the sad truth is that he really isn't.

He's just damaged goods. He's done something bad and horribly regrets it. He knows that there is no redemption for him. so for him to kill Dumbledore (on dumbledores orders no less), isn't going to hurt him spiritually anymore than he is already damaged.

Does that make sense?

Anyhoo, Snape yells out at Harry in the chase through the woods "I am not a COward" or "Don't call me a COWARD!"... Because if anything, he isn't a coward. He risks death everyday to protect the good guys, when really, there isn't anything in it for him.

He may not like Harry personally, but he would die for him. He wants to see Voldemort destroyed. And he will do anything to help that cause, even if it means killing someone to keep his loyalites unknown to the bad guys.

Besides, it's like Obi- Wan. he's not REALLY gone anyways. He can probably help Harry more now that he's dead, you know?

I do hope that he Harry finds him (either by accident or on purpose) and he will want to kill him, but he will soon come to understand that Snape really isn't the enemy, and will learn from him all that he needs to know to take out Voldemort for good.

I know I am looking forward to Book 7 to see the resolution of all this tension involving Snape. And of course to see if Hermione and Ron ever snog their desperate little hearts out!