Stuck inside
Dec. 21st, 2009 09:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alt_ronIt's good the train home was on Friday, because otherwise nobody could have gone. You know how it was a blizzard beginning of last week? Well it started again Saturday morning, and it's still coming down! You can't really see anything out the windows between the frost and the clouds and the snow chucking down.
I mean to say, there's SO MUCH SNOW here! Mr Dawlish said yesterday it took him five hours to shift enough of it that he could get out the entrance doors. It's right up to the top of them on both sides. I bet today he'll have to build a tunnel to get out there.
Anywiz, I've been sat in front of the fire in the common room since breakfast, so I thought I'd look at that article again 'cause I didn't really read all of it before. And it's interesting about this Mr Black and his brother. I mean, he's really close to the Lord Protector, and obviously his brother's a traitor, and he talks about how they were always really, really different and how he always tried to do what his parents wanted, but his brother was always doing things he knew his parents wouldn't approve of, like wear muggle clothes and bring muggle things home and leave them where their parents would find them, just to upset them. (Like he says one time his brother, Sirius, left a muggle shaving machine on his father's chair in the dining room, so his father accidentally sat on it--and then he made Sirius show him how it worked by shaving off all his hair and wouldn't let him regrow it for the whole vacation!)
But, anyway, Mr Black--Regulus, the one the story's about--says his brother was always this big disappointment to their parents, and he says he always knew he'd never be anything like his brother because they disagreed on everything, but
But, y'know what? The way he talks about his brother when he tells stories about them, it's like
Well, it's two things. You can tell he really, really loved his brother. And he still does, just the way he talks about him, it's really sad. And then, the other thing is, I think he always just wanted his brother to-
it's like his brother never wanted him around and never acted like anything he did was right, and it could have maybe been different if he'd cared or said he did, because I think maybe he did care but just never said. Or maybe their parents just made them, I don't know, jealous of each other, like they'd only love one of them and not the other one. They didn't treat them the same, and that turned out really awful.
It's like this one story. Regulus Black says when he was small, like 5 maybe, and his brother was 6 or maybe 7, their mother took them shopping with her in Diagon Alley, and while she was being fitted for dress robes, the boys slipped off together. So Regulus says his brother would never shirk a dare, so he dared him to show him Knockturn Alley, because the older one, Sirius, had been saying he knew all about it. So they went. And the younger brother, Regulus, kept daring things. Some of them were really little things, but maybe not too good an idea in Knockturn Alley (like 'Tell that witch her nose looks like a rutabaga.' or 'Ask if that warlock has any Goblin fingers on his cart,' when the bloke they were asking looked like his mother probably WAS a goblin.) But some of the things were bigger, and the worst was when he dared his brother to take something off the counter of one of the shops, and they got caught by this really scary man who owned the shop and he took them into the back part of the shop and told them he was going to sell the little one to a man who wanted a pureblood boy for a slave. And he was going to chop the other one up and sell his parts to apothecaries and potions dealers. But while he was busy looking the little one over to see if he was healthy, the older brother stole the man's wand and stunned him.
And, see, the thing is, the way he tells about it, you just know that Mr Black really knows his brother saved his life then and he knows his brother is a really strong wizard--that even when he was just 7 and had to use some other bloke's wand, he could cast a stunning spell that totally stupefied that man--you just know they really did care about each other. But they didn't know it then, and, actually, I don't know if he knows it now. It's like he says one thing, but it's really something else he doesn't maybe see.
It's like, the writer says he asked Black what he'd say if he could talk to his brother now, and he says he'd say, 'You can never go home again.' But then the writer says he said the same about himself now he's come back from wherever he went for a long time. He says he came back, but it can never be the same again--it's not really home ever again, even though his mother wanted him home, it's just all different than it was or was supposed to be.
Yeah, I don't know. It just seems dead sad.
I mean to say, there's SO MUCH SNOW here! Mr Dawlish said yesterday it took him five hours to shift enough of it that he could get out the entrance doors. It's right up to the top of them on both sides. I bet today he'll have to build a tunnel to get out there.
Anywiz, I've been sat in front of the fire in the common room since breakfast, so I thought I'd look at that article again 'cause I didn't really read all of it before. And it's interesting about this Mr Black and his brother. I mean, he's really close to the Lord Protector, and obviously his brother's a traitor, and he talks about how they were always really, really different and how he always tried to do what his parents wanted, but his brother was always doing things he knew his parents wouldn't approve of, like wear muggle clothes and bring muggle things home and leave them where their parents would find them, just to upset them. (Like he says one time his brother, Sirius, left a muggle shaving machine on his father's chair in the dining room, so his father accidentally sat on it--and then he made Sirius show him how it worked by shaving off all his hair and wouldn't let him regrow it for the whole vacation!)
But, anyway, Mr Black--Regulus, the one the story's about--says his brother was always this big disappointment to their parents, and he says he always knew he'd never be anything like his brother because they disagreed on everything, but
But, y'know what? The way he talks about his brother when he tells stories about them, it's like
Well, it's two things. You can tell he really, really loved his brother. And he still does, just the way he talks about him, it's really sad. And then, the other thing is, I think he always just wanted his brother to-
it's like his brother never wanted him around and never acted like anything he did was right, and it could have maybe been different if he'd cared or said he did, because I think maybe he did care but just never said. Or maybe their parents just made them, I don't know, jealous of each other, like they'd only love one of them and not the other one. They didn't treat them the same, and that turned out really awful.
It's like this one story. Regulus Black says when he was small, like 5 maybe, and his brother was 6 or maybe 7, their mother took them shopping with her in Diagon Alley, and while she was being fitted for dress robes, the boys slipped off together. So Regulus says his brother would never shirk a dare, so he dared him to show him Knockturn Alley, because the older one, Sirius, had been saying he knew all about it. So they went. And the younger brother, Regulus, kept daring things. Some of them were really little things, but maybe not too good an idea in Knockturn Alley (like 'Tell that witch her nose looks like a rutabaga.' or 'Ask if that warlock has any Goblin fingers on his cart,' when the bloke they were asking looked like his mother probably WAS a goblin.) But some of the things were bigger, and the worst was when he dared his brother to take something off the counter of one of the shops, and they got caught by this really scary man who owned the shop and he took them into the back part of the shop and told them he was going to sell the little one to a man who wanted a pureblood boy for a slave. And he was going to chop the other one up and sell his parts to apothecaries and potions dealers. But while he was busy looking the little one over to see if he was healthy, the older brother stole the man's wand and stunned him.
And, see, the thing is, the way he tells about it, you just know that Mr Black really knows his brother saved his life then and he knows his brother is a really strong wizard--that even when he was just 7 and had to use some other bloke's wand, he could cast a stunning spell that totally stupefied that man--you just know they really did care about each other. But they didn't know it then, and, actually, I don't know if he knows it now. It's like he says one thing, but it's really something else he doesn't maybe see.
It's like, the writer says he asked Black what he'd say if he could talk to his brother now, and he says he'd say, 'You can never go home again.' But then the writer says he said the same about himself now he's come back from wherever he went for a long time. He says he came back, but it can never be the same again--it's not really home ever again, even though his mother wanted him home, it's just all different than it was or was supposed to be.
Yeah, I don't know. It just seems dead sad.
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Date: 2009-12-21 10:05 pm (UTC)I mean, like that bit where Mr Black talks about assisting his father with duels and all. And meanwhile his brother was being a little toerag and making his parents all berserk with filthy muggle stuff all over the place. Anybody can see that Mr Black must have had a horrible time trying to be twice as good because his brother was so bad.
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Date: 2009-12-22 02:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-22 03:15 am (UTC)Bundy deserves it, anyway. She's always telling Parvati her nose is crooked.
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Date: 2009-12-22 03:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-22 04:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-22 02:28 am (UTC)And I know there was stuff we read for duelling club about oiling a wand so the magic passes through it better and resonates more as it collects the spell and sends it out, but I'd never heard of anyone actually doing that. I mean, I guess I thought it was just sort of theory--y'know, book stuff that you don't actually ever do.
And the Rites of Fair Fortune, I mean, everybody's heard of them, but I thought it was just something in adventure stories. I didn't know they were actual, real things people do before a duel. Or maybe Mr Black thought he was like a knight from the old times, riding out to fight for his good name and the honour of wizard kind.
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Date: 2009-12-22 02:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-22 03:04 am (UTC)But it probably wouldn't hurt so maybe it's worth a try.
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Date: 2009-12-22 03:09 am (UTC)Have you tried it with yours? Maybe you've done it too much, and that's why you set stuff on fire like you do sometimes.
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Date: 2009-12-22 03:37 am (UTC)My wand doesn't need oiling anyway it works fine the way it is. Though maybe if I were planning on duelling I'd try it.
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Date: 2009-12-22 03:13 am (UTC)Or maybe he did!
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Date: 2009-12-22 03:37 am (UTC)I guess that's part of it, too, why his father was so wrecked about the other one leaving the family. I mean, they vanished his name off the family tree! If you ask me, they're dead committed to rituals, the Blacks, and really old magics. Stuff you don't hear anyone else doing anymore.
I wonder what they do when somebody dies. Didn't they just have a funeral recently? I wonder if they did any really ancient stuff for that?
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Date: 2009-12-22 04:38 am (UTC)Too bad you're not home or you could ask her.
And they vanished his name off the family tree because he's a blood traitor. And yeah, I mean, my parents do get sort of upset when they think Parvati doesn't apply herself, but really, I can't imagine her up and deciding to go be like a muggle! I don't even want to think what it'd take for my mum and dad to disown one of us! But it sounds like he was always, what's the word, um, flouting muggle things, too. Like he wanted them to disown him.
But I'm sure that when someone gets married and all, they have rituals to add names to the trees, so I'm certain there must be one to blast someone off, too.
That's more of a western thing, though. Our families do it differently. We have these little shrines, with all our ancestors represented, see. That's where we put one of our busts, of the Lord Protector--oh, you didn't get one because you weren't at Malfoy's party--the Malfoys gave everyone these nift busts of the Lord Protector. We put one up in our shrine, so we can leave offerings there along with the ones for the ancestors, and it'll bring us good fortune. Just like that Rite of Fair Fortune's supposed to do, only more general. Not specifically for a duel or anything.
Hm, I'll have to ask my dad about Indian duels. I'm sure it depends who you're duelling--like if you're duelling someone from your own caste it's different to a duel with someone lower or higher.
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Date: 2009-12-22 08:16 pm (UTC)We're all related, you know, and not just a little bit. Well, all the English wizarding families, I mean. If you go back far enough, we've all married each other five or six times at least, or else we've killed each other. Some of both in every family, I reckon. So we're either joining trees together or blasting each other's names off the trees to make separate ones.
That's one of the sad things about the Blacks--they're dying out. Maybe there are still cousins somewhere, but what if Sirius Black, wherever he is, ends up being the only one to have children. I don't know whether he has any. Do you? I don't think I've ever heard. But if he did have, and if his brother doesn't, those could be the only Blacks someday, and would that mean they wouldn't count? Because of who their father was? Would one of the really old families just die out, y'know, officially? Because their father was a traitor and moved out of the country and all? You know, there are actually a load of old families that are sort of down to their last one or two, it seems like. I mean, isn't Nott the last one in his family? And Malfoy? And Parkinson. I mean, my family's not and some others, but I guess it's good families like yours and the Sandovals moved here when they did.