What is canon? Options

[evlpez]

As for Gary Oldman, he is 55, He might be a little old for the part but what his incredible acting skills don't cover up make-up certainly will

I was pretty disappointed when I heard Oldman was playing Sirius. I love his work, but he just didn't fit my mind's image of him. I was looking forward to more of a Joseph Fiennes kinda thing.

Now that we're stuck with Oldman, I must remind myself that he truly is a chameleon and a genius, and I've never disliked anything he's ever done.

Re: timeline - In the PP scene 5, one of my submissions had Bill as a 5th year prefect in 1981. I had used the Lexicon to come up with that estimation... but I can't find my notes right now and am too scatterbrained this morning to recount how I explained it then to people when they asked... but Ginny might have memories of Bill being head boy, even if she was only 2 years old at the time. I like to think that things like this are more possible in the Potterverse. After all, who knows what neurology magical folk have that is different from us muggles? They live longer, certainly... it is possible that their brains are wired differently and though I have very few memories of being 2 years old, Ginny might.
At least that's my theory (and my excuse for allowing Bill and Charlie to be in that scene, not that it mattered).

[McGonagall's Cat]

I gotta disagree Vlad... I LOVE the casting Chris Columbus' movies have had. Rickman oozes a sensuous intensity. He's PERFECT acting-wise... However, he's in his early 60's, so age-wise he's about twice what he should be... but when the first 2 movies were being made we hadn't seen him being in school with James & crew, so didn't know he was over-age.

[Vlad]

I gotta disagree Vlad... I LOVE the casting Chris Columbus' movies have had. Rickman oozes a sensuous intensity. He's PERFECT acting-wise... However, he's in his early 60's, so age-wise he's about twice what he should be... but when the first 2 movies were being made we hadn't seen him being in school with James & crew, so didn't know he was over-age.

Oh, I love the first two movies CASTING-wise - it's the rest of them that I hated. I think Columbus was sooooo wrong and I hatd both movies. Casting was the only genius. Maggie SMith is wonderful, I loved Harris (I know not everyone did), and Rickman walks on water as far as I'm concerned.

However, the movies were made *after* we knew about Snape being the same age as the maruaders so you can't let the movie makers off the hook for casting Rickman because they didn't know he was supposed to be younger. He was the right guy for the part and they cast him regardless of his age. I feel the same way about Oldman. He's the right guy for the part and that he's 55 in real life doesn't matter to me. He'll be Sirius in the movie no problem.

[moonbeam3243]

Well, I was just going to refer you to the Lexicon, too, but Vlad beat me to it. I have always assumed that either James or Lily had some sort of inheritance thing going on, but the more I think about it, the more I believe there is something much more important in the little detail of the fortune. When Sirius talks about James in OotP, I did not get the impression that James was from a rich family. Well off, sure, but not rich. And for James to inherit, someone would have to die...

Keeping in mind that it was a short time period and that James and Lily were both active anti-Voldey people (defeating him three times, etc.) I think that later on in the books there will be something much more definite told about the fortune. If it's inherited, I think JK will tell us from whom and why, but what is more likely is that James and Lily did something before they died, possibly receiving a reward for working against Voldey, possibly posthumously for Harry's benefit.

I'd like to know more about it, but until JK tells me, I've got quite a few ideas on the subject up in my mind.


Side note: Gary Oldman is 55?! Wow, he does NOT look it...

[moonbeam3243]

Hmmm... I posted the last one without realizing that there were three more responses :-) Anyway, about casting... the thing is, if you don't know the actor's age, I really don't think it makes a difference. Take me for example: completely clueless on the actor's real ages. But to me, Snape and Sirius look the right age, so I don't have a problem with it. If I knew that Oldman was 55 and had that playing in the back of my head the whole time, I would have a problem, but I don't and I'm going to quickly forget it... short memory and all that The point is, for me at least, the actor's real age doesn't matter as long as he or she looks the part.

[agrippa]

On the timeline issue, here's the direct link to the lexicon's timeline:
http://www.hp-lexicon.org/timeline_overall.html#Main. It's not yet updated to include everything in OoP.

Arthur and Molly's Hogwarts days are noticiably absent. On Arthur's own page, however, the lexicon says that they were definately at Hogwarts before the 1970s and possibly as early as the 1930s - which would mean they might have known Tom Riddle, Jr. (1938-1945).

The lexicon conjectures that Bill started Hogwarts around 1976, which means he was born around 1965. Lucius Malfoy was born around 1954. Draco, we assume, was born in 1980, which means that Lucius was 26 when Draco born. So I don't know that it's certain that Arthur and Molly were at Hogwarts at the same time as Lucius.

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, by comparison, was born around 1840. (This, from a JKR interview that said he was "about 150" years old at the time of Harry's arriaval at Hogwarts.

[McGonagall's Cat]

This has zip to do with Project Ferret, but thought it might be of interest to some of us anyway....

It was the Kim Komando cool site on Saturday:

If you've always wanted to write the great American
novel (or at least
any novel), today is your day. Why?

November 1 is the beginning of National Novel Writing
Month. This
Web site encourages everyone to write a 175-page novel
by midnight
November 30.

You definitely have to be dedicated. Last year, over
14,000 aspiring
writers participated. About 2,100 novels were born.

It doesn't matter if you prefer to write longhand or
type, get
started today!

TO VISIT THIS SITE, GO HERE:
http://www.nanowrimo.org/index.php

[ronsmyman]

Wow, that's really neat! I wish I had that kind of free time.

[McGonagall's Cat]

Thanks for the Lexicon suggestion, butI had already been perusing Lexicon trying to figure all this out... and actually, I may send the post there to see what they do with it. The one thing I ran across there that seemed germain was a comment about Lupin starting Hogwarts in 1970, but that fits with all the mechanations I was going through anyway. After I posted, I did figure out a goof in my theory. Charlie was gone from Hogwarts when Ron started, so he's got to be 8 yrs older than Ron & Harry. Still it doesn't impact the numbers much.
And Ginny started in Ron's 2nd year, but could be almost 2 yrs younger. I'm not too worried about the exact age difference in them because it doesn't do much to calculate the ages of Molly or the Marauders and such, which is where I was trying to get to.

Keep peeling this onion please.



Re: Oldman... "My" Sirius looks more like Keanu Reeves or Hans Matheson... Like Vlad's in Queer Eye for the Evil Guy he's gorgeous. I kind of think of him as a dark haired aristocratic type, and he's GOTTA have long hair so it can fall across his face like Veronica Lake's.


Also, for those of you who are Nick-At-Nite deprived, http://www.pazsaz.com/mork.html

[Vlad]

Re: Oldman... "My" Sirius looks more like Keanu Reeves or Hans Matheson... Like Vlad's in Queer Eye for the Evil Guy he's gorgeous. I kind of think of him as a dark haired aristocratic type, and he's GOTTA have long hair so it can fall across his face like Veronica Lake's.

Ms.Cat, your Sirius can come visit me any ol' time he likes....

I know Sirius pre-Azkaban is supposed to be dead sexy. I can think of any number of fine young things that would fit that bill just dandy. Sirius in PoA is about 33 years old (still young in *my* book) but has spent 12 years in Azkaban - that's gotta wear some of the sexy off of anyone. If anything, I think Oldman is still too sexy to be Sirius. The few stills of him that have escaped the PoA set sure look fine to me....

[McGonagall's Cat]

Thanks Agrippa! That timeline (which I hadn't stumbled a cross on their site before) says when the Marauders and so on were born... does entirely skip Arthur, and Molly Weasley... Says Bill satrts Hogwarts aprox. 1976, Charlie's born in 67, starts Hogwarts in '78. 'Wish they'd have explained how they got Bill and Charlie's info as they seem much older than I would have thought them to be... like 11 & 13 years older than George & Fred.... Why the big gap? Hmmm... more food for thought.

THANKS!!!

[zymurgy]

*reads last few posts* Errr.. *Stare* THE HORROR! Math is attacking! *runs, stumbling away* Oh, right. as to: "What is Cannon" if... someone who has read the books twenty times can't find anything to complain about- than it's cannon!

[bakbam]

One thing you seem to have forgotten is that in GoF when Bill and Molly come to visit with Harry before the last tourney. Bill states tht he had not been at Hogwarts for 10 years. Meaning that Ron was 4 when Bill left Hogwarts so Bill was born around 67...........Thats where the Lexcon gets the date.

If I am not mistaken one of teh books says that Charlie is 4 years younger than Bill, but I may have things confused

[McGonagall's Cat]

Thanks Bakbam.

Hey! Everybody! Need to go back to Snitchseeker and read Zym's "Sort The Marauders"! It is VERY good! [Or maybe she could share it here?]

[McGonagall's Cat]

<Does it count as a double post if it's 3 months later?>

I was at another HP site (is that a news falsh?) and one of the questions being tossed about there is:

Where did sirius get a wand in the 5th book. I mean, he obviously didn't have one when he escaped from azkaban, and a wand isn't really something someone else can drop by the store and pick up for you.

I'm trying to find where I read it, but I think I remember that part of putting anyone into Azkaban is breaking their wand. It may be from when Hagrid was sent there... (At the Shreiking Shack Sirius used Snape's). And that is really a side issue and doesn't answer where his wand came from anyhow...

You are all brilliant. Got any solid places I can quote to answer this?