Name: Beverley
Age: seventeen
AIM Screename ( if you have one ): not beverlu
Who referred you here - username and house, if possible: I found
it while I was browsing around through Harry Potter communities and it caught my
interest.

1. Which of the Harry Potter books have you read? Which did you enjoy most?
I have read all six Harry Potter books, several times apiece. While they are all great, Order of the Phoenix is definitely the one I love the most. This one, I believe, is when the series takes a darker turn. Even though there is an underlying darkness in the previous books, and they are certainly not happy-go-lucky, it is in the fifth book that the whole overall attitude of the books shifts. As Stephen King said in a review, "the distinction between "children's literature” and plain old "literature" has ceased to exist." While people of any age can enjoy all of the books- as I saw first hand when I started reading the books as a pre-teen and my parents picked up the books as well- I don't feel that you can classify this book as one written for children. This is a book that, standing by itself, has a theme much more mature and terrifying than the other books (at least the first four), and this book would be intriguing to even the most anti- Harry Potter people. Although the character of Dolores Umbridge is horrible, she is amazingly written and even classifies as a villain- I believe she may be one of the most hated characters in the whole series. She shows us that one doesn't have to run around killing people to be considered evil, so her addition to the book makes it, in a horrible way, a quite enjoyable read.


2. How do you feel about Voldemort as a character? (Not as a person.)

Voldemort... There are a lot of ways that people interpret him. I have heard people say that the fact he doesn't feel remorse for his actions is unrealistic, and also people may view him as too evil, but I believe that the way his character is portrayed is quite fitting. In HBP, we are given the impression that he has enjoyed cruelty since childhood. He has always had a fondness for doing things that horrified those around him, and I have come to believe that he is in fact a psychopath. That makes it entirely possible for him to have been a hateful person for no other reason than he was born that way. His character is obviously worthy of hate, because of the things he has done, but unlike the character of Dolores Umbridge, his character is written in a way that makes one able to sympathize with him. I do not agree with what he does to achieve power, but he is a very powerful wizard that demands the most terrible form of respect. I find it impossible to not appreciate the cunning of the teenage Tom Riddle, and I even at times find myself feeling a bit fond of this character. It's not that I enjoy the evil person that he becomes- or always was- but the way that this character is presented makes me feel that, if I knew him, I may have been taken in by his charming qualities. I would probably, like so many others, not have been able to see through him like Dumbledore did. Voldemort is necessary for the books, obviously, because you need evil in order to have good, and you need a villain to keep the books interesting- what kind of books would the Harry Potter series be if they were just about his year at school and his hardest task to overcome being the year-end exams?


3. Which Harry Potter character can you most relate to? (In the sense of personality, intelligence, character traits, etc.)
This is a hard one, I suppose if you asked my sister she would say Hermione because she considers me a bit of a know-it-all...My mom also used to say that because she considers me quite intellectual, but I do not have Hermione's ability to always have things done ahead of time and I have horrible study habits. I feel really weird saying this, but I am going to have to relate myself to Draco Malfoy. Not because I feel like I have his attitude, but mostly because I believe he makes an immense effort to hide the person he really is, and although I don't like to admit it- I often do just that. I don't know if it's the fact that I don't feel completely comfortable with myself, but I often try to make people believe I am more confident in myself than I really am. I don't really do it in the extremely pompous manner that Malfoy is known for, but from an outsiders view I think I appear not at all self-conscious. Even when people say things that make me feel bad I act like I am not hurt... I don't like to reveal my emotions to many people, I like to appear a lot tougher than I really am.

Also, Ron Weasley, because he is (or so he feels) living in Harry's shadow. I know what it's like to be overshadowed by friends, as I often am, and I feel like a lot of my friends are much better at everything than I am. Ron also gets in stupid fights with friends often, and is too proud to admit he's wrong, and I do the same exact thing. It's not that spectacular, but everyone has their faults, and I just happen to not like admitting them at times.



4. Who is your favorite Harry Potter character? Least favorite?
My favorite character would definitely have to be Sirius, although I am not exactly sure why. After I saw what Sirius was like as a kid, I had second thoughts, but how you are growing up is not always an accurate reflection of whom you come to be. I think the thing I like most about him is he is always there to support Harry, no matter what, even if he is a bit too keen on doing/encouraging activities that could potentially lead to trouble. He came into Harry's life at a time when he needed him the most, and although he does end up getting killed, I think having the love of a parent-like figure, even for a short time, helped Harry immensely. As they say, it is better to have loved and lost then to never have loved at all.
Sirius gave Harry a connection to his parents that he had never before had. He gave him a child-parent relationship that he had not yet experienced (except for, in a strange way, with Dumbledore). Sirius gave him hope and the will to try harder, and a character that is so influential in a (mostly) a positive way is worthy of being liked, in my opinion

My least favorite character... The first character that comes to mind is Dolores Umbridge, but I am going to choose to leave her out because her character was written to be hated. There is not much of a chance of anyone liking her, as she doesn't really have any good qualities. But Bellatrix Lestrange stands out. She devoted her life to being Voldemorts “best” supporter, and she doesn’t care how many people she has to kill and how many families she has to tear apart to achieve what she believes is glory. She is not one of the Death Eaters who joined Voldemort out of fear(although those are immensely disrespectable also) … She joined to achieve some sort of strange respect, and is just as twisted (but not as cunning or interesting) as her master.


5. What thing, event, or person has had the most impact in your life? (Please don't use yourself because you can't think of someone/something else. Think hard!)
For this one I am going to have to choose an event. Two years ago, three boys from my school (two were sophomores, my age then, and one was a freshmen) were killed in a car accident. One of them I had been friends with in elementary school, though we didn’t talk much through middle school and had just started talking again hardly a month before the accident, and another I had met in class in middle school. The one I met in middle school I didn’t get along with straight-off but I came to find he was an actually quite an amazing person, and also highly amusing. The other boy was in my class but I didn’t know him too well. I live in a really small community, so I found out quite soon after the accident what had happened. At that point I had never lost even a family member, and the deaths of three people I knew came as quite a shock. Before this, I will admit it- I often judged people that I didn’t know well, as I’m sure most people have done. It may have been a result of being judged a lot myself. After this happened, though, it opened my eyes to the reality of life and death. I have always feared the deaths of people I care about, although I do not recall ever having feared much my own death. Once I had actually experienced the loss of people I had known and liked, I realized that at any moment, any of
the people I know could be killed. So I stopped judging, started looking more for the good in people, and started accepting each day for what it is, a blessing. I know I am lucky to have the people in my life that I do, and I have actually started cherishing the time I get to spend with them because any moment could be their last.

6. What makes a friendship valuable to you?
I used to be set on my friends having to be honest with me, all the time. That is still important to me, but not the most important thing. One of my best friends is not a very honest person, and has been known to stretch the truth, but I know I can always turn to her when things are getting rough. She is there for me no matter what the situation, and I know I can confide in her without being judged. That is the kind of friendship that is actually useful to me. I need friends who are open minded and accepting, and who know how to think for themselves. I have a great love of adventure, trying new things, meeting new people, etc., so when I have friends who share these loves they tend to be the people I enjoy spending my time with the most. Also, while it is natural for people to grow and change, friends who still keep those qualities that made me become close with them in the first place are the most amazing.


7. If you had a hero (real or literary) who would it be? (Please keep in mind that we're asking IF you had one, and again please don't use yourself because you can't think of someone else. Be creative!)
My best friend, who moved to Alaska a few years ago, is my hero. She was the daughter of a friend of my moms, and for a while her mom and her moved in with me. After they moved out, she had a lot of problems with her mom (because she is an alcoholic) and she moved in with me again. We spent most of our time together. Whatever we did while we were hanging out, no matter how boring it seemed, we always turned it into something exciting and fun. After a while, though, her dad made her come stay with him. She was running wild, drinking a lot, doing drugs, failing all her classes- and her grandma in Alaska got concerned. So she made a tough choice. She decided to leave her friends and parents behind, as well as the life she was living, to move in with her Grandma. Once she got up to Alaska, there was an immediate change. She stopped the drinking, drugs, and all the bad behaviors she had been doing, and started doing well in school. She even got on the honor roll for the first time in her life. I miss her a lot, but it's worth only seeing her once a year to know that she is doing a good job and becoming a more responsible person. I admire the fact that she turned her life around, and I wish more people would be able to make the transformations she did.


8. What are your personal aspirations for your future?
After I graduate in June, I want to take a year or less off and then go to a liberal arts university (most likely Portland State University or Western Oregon). I want to study several different things- psychology, cultural anthropology, German, and journalism- and then make a career out of one of them. I'm not really sure which one yet, I suppose I will figure it out one day. Being a professor or psychology or anthropology would be cool, though. Or a journalist. I would like to make good money, so I can enjoy some of the luxuries of life (especially travel- I would love to go to Europe), and if I improve my German maybe even move to Germany one day. I don't plan on having any kids, or getting married, at the moment, but finding someone spectacular to spend the rest of my life with doesn't sound too bad.


9. What are your most prominent personality traits, good or bad? Which one do you feel best defines who you are as a person?
good:I am reliable (when I think something is important), also honest,but that can also be a bad trait as people have gone as far as to call me "brutally honest." I am always willing to try new things, as I have already mentioned, and I am extremely open-minded. Also, I consider myself intelligent. Sometimes I feel conceited saying that, or embarrassed to even suggest it, but I enjoy learning and I soak up knowledge quickly. Independent is one word you can use to describe me- I know how to get things done by myself and I am not afraid to be alone. I actually enjoy being alone a large amount of the time, not because I don't enjoy socializing but because I like being able to think things over without interruption. I am also a good listener- a lot of people come to me with their problems and say they feel comfortable talking about them with me. I hear I am quite funny, and I am very unique,or so I hear. I have my own way of dressing, my own way of talking, my own way of
living.

bad:As I said above, I am brutally honest.I don't go around trying to be rude or anything, but if somebody asks me their opinion I'm going to give it to them. I can be a bit of a procrastinator, okay maybe a lot of one. I don't do it on purpose, but I always put things off until the last minute. I know I mentioned I was reliable, and I am when I want to be, but if it's an essay that I need to have done or I need to start getting in shape for a sport, I tend to not start as early as I should. Also, even though I'm a good listener I can be a bit insensitive if I think someone has no reason to be complaining about something. I am outspoken to the point of where it annoys some people, I guess. I always say what's on my mind even if I know it will get me in trouble. I guess that can also be a good trait, too, though. All traits can go either way, depending on how they are interpreted.

I think my good traits shine through, though, and the only people that really focus on the bad traits are people who don't like me. But sometimes the bad ones are dominant, particularly when I am in a bad mood, and I wish I had a bit more control over them.


10. What house combination do you feel you're most like? Least like? (This is not pushing. It shows whether or not you are self-aware and may not have an influence on the voting process.)
I feel that I have a lot of Ravenclaw qualities, with my love of knowledge, but I also like to be in charge and can be quite bossy, even mean, which would lean towards Slytherin. As far as other houses go, my love of adventure shows some Gryffindor traits, and the fact that I like to have friends who are loyal to me is a bit Hufflepuff-esque. I guess I can see myself as a Slytherclaw or even a Ravendor but I am not totally sure. I dread this question. I cannot see myself as a Slytherpuff, though. I don't think that my Hufflepuff qualities are dominant enough- but who knows? Life is a bit of a mystery at times.


11. Why should we not squib you?
I spent a bit of time on my application, I feel like I answered the questions the way I was supposed to. Also, this community appeals to me- I find it very interesting and I would be an active member if accepted.