Qualifying Statements

The art of qualifying statements is something that nearly every politician has mastered. I have used it myself, notably in my Thoughts on Harry Potter before reading Book 7. Nothing I said in that post turned out to be incorrect. I referenced things such as "the apparent [emphasis added] murder of Albus Dumbledore," and argued that Snape was "not as [emphasis added] evil as it would seem."

In the first case, my "apparent" qualifier was warranted; it is revealed in The Deathly Hallows that "murder" is a bad characterization of what happened. In the second case, it turns out that my qualifier was not needed at all, and my proposition was completely correct.

I was having a conversation with my friend the other day, and he asked me a question about where technology was going. My response was so well qualified that, if examined closely, it conveyed no information at all; at most, it may have conveyed an opinion, but nothing more. I find it interesting how anything can be said truthfully as long as it is properly qualified.

Awkward Situations

Everyone has been in an awkward situation at one point or another. No one likes them, but I think they are a part of life. (It is weird how as I just start to write about a topic, I change my thesis as I write the first sentences.) One of my most harsh criticisms of the Harry Potter movies in their deviations from the books is in their side-stepping of awkward situations. When watching the each movies for the first time, I would cringe when an awkward situation was just about to happen. Just then, the scene would change, and the situation would be avoided entirely. The movies would have been immeasurably better if they had not chickened out by cutting (or never filming) these scenes.

This brings us to my life. I absolutely hate awkward situations. When faced with an awkward situation, my default reaction is to disappear as quickly as possible with as few people noticing as possible (preferably, no one.) Obviously, this is an undesirable solution to an equally undesirable problem. Therefore, I try to learn from my mistakes. After encountering such a situation, I think back try to determine how to diffuse the awkwardness.

Two situations I experienced (is that the right word?) recently, neither of which I shall mention here, were of this awkward type. For the first situation, upon careful consideration, I was able to come up with a solution. I have since had several opportunities to test this solution in practice, and can say that it has worked flawlessly.

The second such situation that comes to mind has given me more grief. The only diffusing solutions I could come up with would require one or more additional awkward situations, which I despise so greatly. I wish I could come up with a simple solution for every problem, but I am simply not omniscient. My temporary (or rather semi-permanent) solution for this second type of situation is to carefully watch out for and identify its potential occurrence, and to steer clear (physically, if possible) of its occurrence.

P.S. Some time in the future, I may update this post with the specifics of these situations, but, at this time, they are too pertinent and sensitive for me to mention (considering that this is a publicly-accessible medium.)

Thoughts on Harry Potter before reading Book 7

I finished reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6) this afternoon. I decided that I would write my thoughts before reading the final book. I may mention events through the end of Book 6, so here is your Spoiler Warning:

Spoiler Warning!!!

The major event in Book 6 was the apparent murder of Albus Dumbledore by Severus Snape (Harry's most-hated teacher). The second chapter of the book tells of Snape making an Unbreakable Vow to Draco Malfoy's mother, promising to complete the task that Lord Voldemort has planned for Malfoy to complete, if it appears that Malfoy will be unable to complete the task.

Throughout the school year, Harry is convinced that Malfoy is up to something evil, but is not able to figure out what it is. Harry and Dumbledore go one night to attempt to obtain and destroy one of Voldemort's horcruxes. When they return, Dumbledore is severely ill due to the mission they had just been on, and to Harry's and Dumbledore's horror, the Dark Mark is over the highest tower of the Hogwarts castle. Harry and Dumbledore go at once to the tower where Malfoy manages to disarm Dumbledore. It is then revealed that Malfoy's task was to kill Dumbledore. Malfoy hesitates, and is then surrounded by several Death Eaters (Voldemort's followers). They want to do away with Dumbledore, but one of them reminds the others that it is Malfoy's job. Snape, whom Dumbledore trusts completely, arrives on the scene. He then moves to kill Dumbledore. Dumbledore is now dead.

If you read the book, it is undoubted that you will notice something I left out, but this was a short summary. Anyway, I will argue that Severus Snape is not as evil as it would seem. There was no escape from the situation in which Dumbledore died. If Snape had not killed Dumbledore, one of the other Death Eaters would have done so. By doing so himself, he further deepened his cover with the other Death Eaters, giving them no reason to doubt that he was on their side. It should be mentioned also that Snape would have died himself if he had not done so because of the Unbreakable Vow. Snape is now very deep under cover, and can provide more information to the Order of the Phoenix than anyone else.

Who will be in charge of the Order now that Dumbledore appears to be gone is something of which I am unsure. I do believe that the Order will continue, however. One more piece of evidence that Snape is not as evil as he appears is that when one of the Death Eaters started to torture Harry, he stopped him, stating that Harry was Voldemort's to finish off. Additionally, I don't believe that Dumbledore would make such a devastating mistake as to trust Severus Snape if he were not in fact trustworthy.

I find Dumbledore's demise to be disappointing and an unlikely outcome, but seems pretty firm that he is in fact, dead.