Rules: There may be spoilers for all seven books and 8 movies Each match will last for exactly 24 hours. Any votes after that point will not count. Discussion is encouraged but not required. Make sure all of your votes are obvious. I should know who you are voting for, basically don't bury your vote in the middle of a paragraph. No alt-voting. Ties will be replayed the next day with the rest of the matches. No vote-saves or rallying for specific characters. Telling people to vote is encouraged but don't tell them how to vote! Don't complain about the seeds, they were the result of a save-my. Because matches can overlap, results will be in this topic. http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/61327435
Ah, Winky... Winky is a fascinating case study into how the mind of a House Elf works. She loves- nay lives to serve her family, considers being freed both a punishment and a disgrace, and becomes a depressive alcoholic when released from service. By all means, she's an interesting character, but in good consciousness I cannot vote her over Luna even if I do find the latter is consistently overrated. For one, Winky doesn't really accomplish anything other than providing a stark contrast to Dobby who's empowered by his new-found freedom, whereas Luna actually provides (albeit scattered) insight into certain facets of the wizarding world and actually fights alongside the main heroes multiple times. I do wish Winky was seeded a bit higher to avoid the massacre she's about to face but eh.
(8)Aragog (9)Arabella Doreen Figg
Looky here... it's two characters I'm not particularly fond of. This basically comes down to who's company I would prefer I suppose. We've got one of Hagrid's first dangerous pets (and btw Hagrid is such an oaf it just amazes me how someone can screw up so many things and endanger so many lives yet still be well-liked and/or considered a role model but wow I'm digressing here) versus the Squib Harry lived down the street from for fourteen years. Arabella saves Harry's ass by covering for him at the Ministry, and Aragog endangers Harry's ass by allowing his descendants free reign to snack on him. I'll admit I did actually laugh at that part in the book. I mean, can you imagine? Well I promised my former caretaker that I would never harm him or any of his friends. My hungry children however.... Ha! But yeah, that doesn't particularly make me like him, so I'll go with Arabella here.
(5)Viktor Krum (12)Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank
That not-very-smart-and-not-very-handsome-yet-very-talented-Quidditch-playing guy that Hermione had a brief fling with versus that uneventful teacher that filled in when Hagrid was temporarily sacked I believe? Well I don't like Krum at all, but at least I can actually list details about him. Obvious choice is obvious.
(4)Lily Potter (née Evans) (13)Irma Prince
There's really not much to Lily's character beyond love, sacrifice, and green eyes. She's actually fairly one-dimensional. But uh... her opponent here is that no-nonsense hook-nosed librarian so... not much of a choice here. I guess I'd rather have flat soda than spoiled milk.
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I've come to the realization that I need a sig.
Natwaf_akidna posted... Who has Hagrid as a role model?
Harry looks up to Hagrid for one. And Dumbledore places a lot of faith in the man for some reason. I dunno I've just never liked the "gentle giant" or "lovable oaf" archetypes all that much so seeing them combined in one character is just too much to handle. I actually like most of Hagger's pets more than Hagger himself. And what's with those freakin' rock cakes!?
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I've come to the realization that I need a sig.
Natwaf_akidna posted... That's not putting him as a role model.
Well he routinely engages in dangerous activities that put more people at risk than puts them out of harm's way just like Hagrid. I'd say emulating him is a form of taking him as a role model.
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I've come to the realization that I need a sig.
I've dressed up as Luna for Halloween. Really, don't expect me to be unbiased here. As for winky being exemplary for her species...yes she is, but the "normal" house elf is very boring.
(8)Aragog (9)Arabella Doreen Figg
"we might as well be hanged for a dragon as an egg" "you worthless pile of bat droppings" "well, it's no good crying over spilt potion" "but the cat's among the pixies now" Mrs Figg. Can pass for a Muggle. And yet when the veil of secrecy goes down she's quite possibly the most jargon heavy character in the whole damn series. I'm not even sure what some of these sayings actually mean, which is kind-of awesome. In the battle of two fairly obscure characters, I'll take randomly awesome, rather than pragmatically hungry.
(5)Viktor Krum (12)Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank
I'm really not sure who to vote here. Krum is a bit of a dull disappointment in every scene besides his world cup quidditch appearance. Grubby Plank is...unremarkable in and of herself--basically just a high-quality teacher. But Harry becomes completely irrational about the whole situation, snapping at anyone who praises her lessons. It's an exercise in irrational loyalty. Then again, Ron gets irrational around Krum too, but somehow that's less interesting to me--people getting completely irrational around romantic competition is like...well Harry does that around Dean and Cedric, Hermione does that around Lavender and Fleur, Ron does that around Krum, Cho does that around Hermione, Krum does that around Harry. Kids in HP being immature about their love life just doesn't feel that special. But the immaturity of supporting an honestly bad teacher when presented with an obviously superior alternative, purely due to loyalty feels...a little more unique? I don't know: I'm not sure there's a "right" choice for this match.
(4)Lily Potter (née Evans) (13)Irma Prince
"I'm sorry." "I'm not interested." "I'm sorry!" "Save your breath" [...] "I only came out because Mary told me you were threatening to sleep here." "I was. I would have done. I never meant to call you Mudblood, it just –" "Slipped out?" There was no pity in Lily's voice. "It's too late. I've made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you. You and your precious little Death Eater friends – you see, you don't even deny it! You don't even deny that's what you're all aiming to be! You can't wait to join You-Know-Who, can you?"
You know, for a character with almost no lines, Lily is a really freaking intense character in the little screen time she does get. Damn near every scene she's in is a top quality scene where her behavior is not necessarily what you'd expected from all the stories built up about her.
Also: her opponent is so obscure that we didn't even get her name right (it's Pince, not Prince--noteworthy that Eileen Prince is so much more memorable than Irma Pince despite Eileen not getting any lines...).
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Cats land on their feet. Toast lands peanut butter side down. A cat with toast strapped to its back will hover above the ground in a state of quantum indecision