(no subject)

I was thinking about fandom today in an idle moment, as I am wont to do, and in particular about OotP and the kerazee that is all the students therein. I had a mental image of an icon of Cho kissing Harry, with the caption "Cho Chang: COPING BADLY".

And it occurred to me that really there are some terrible coping strategies in these books. So I thought I'd make a list of ways NOT to cope with life in the magical world.

1. Lie to Harry.
2. SPEAK ALL IN CAPITAL LETTERS.
3. Start crying and kiss the boy who saw your boyfriend die.
4. Abuse the domestic staff.
5. Abuse the students.
6. Abuse Neville Longbottom.
7. Keep a magical diary.
8. Buy your way onto the Quidditch team.
9. Get drunk in the company of a hippogriff.
10. Berate Arthur.
11. Blame Snape.
12. Lie to Dumbledore about your homicidal maniac ex-lover. (Commentary post-hack: Lie to YOURSELF about your homicidal maniac ex-lover, in Dumbledore's case.)
13. Dress up as a Dementor.
14. Release a giant serpent from its underground lair.
15. Convert yourself into an inhuman monster in a quest for unattainable immortality.

(no subject)

In my mailbox this morning:

Wonderful to hear from you! In the middle of a huge push right now!! Will send you long overdue email in a week or two!!! Congratulations!!!!!

My mentor is a character from a Discworld novel. *sighs and pats him affectionately, ignoring exclamation marks*