Harry Potter Blogfest, Steve Fuller's The Sickness and a Mini Misha Meme

ryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Slytherin? Which house would you be sorted into and who would be your mates if you were at Hogwarts?

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, / Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald, / Or young with scabby knees
Our heads could do with filling, / With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air, / Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing, / Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest, / And learn until our brains all rot."

My off the cuff answer was going to be Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood; one Gryffindor, one Ravenclaw, a nice mix of brave, brainy, mysterious and exciting.

But then I started thinking... I don't have to choose students from Harry's generation, do I?

I kind of wonder what it might be like to talk for a while with Snape, maybe visit Hogsmeade with him a couple of times. And I've always had a crush on Lupin. I wonder if he ever got close to anyone besides his two best friends (not counting Pettigrew)? Until Tonks, that is.

Then again, it might be rather interesting to go further back and be friends with McGonagall.

Oh the possibilities! Tonks, Fred, George...

Sorry, got a bit distracted there, rereading bits of the books and also one long interview after another with J.K. Rowling.

So then, if I've got to pick only two... I have to do it. I'll choose Severus Snape and Remus Lupin.

Sorry, Neville and Luna! I just think I could be a sort of Lily stand-in; only instead of James, I'd be interested in Remus. I'm not sure how that might play out, because since I'm not Lily, I might live longer than her, and it would be rather strange to continue to be friends - or at least someone he talks to every once in a while - with Snape in the later years. Would it make things harder for him, having a somewhat close friend when he's so busy 'occlumensing' everyone out of his mind and life? Would I have to train to be a brilliant Occlumens myself, so that Voldemort never got wind of our friendship?

And what of Lupin? Was there anyone before Tonks and the Order of the Phoenix that knew of his condition? How close did he manage to get to others? All those years when he was nearly down and out, taking odd jobs wherever he could, it would be nice to think he had a few friends he could rely on.

That was great fun to think through; thanks for a wonderful Harry Potter blogfest, Michael! (Follow the linky to see everyone else's choice of mates!)

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Steve Fuller's novel The Sickness was released last year, but what with one thing and another, I've only just gotten around to finishing it. A suspenseful psychological thriller, it's written in a time jump style that works quite well; the reader is pulled along and guided at every step of the way, though the plot might leap forward a few months or step back over a year. The main character - well, one of them at any rate (I won't give everything away!) - is a man caught in the deathly spiral of an addiction, and the story spins on his hope for redemption yet eventual, and inevitable, unravelling.

Or does it? A host of other characters come into play, each with their own histories and motivations, and one of the most important isn't introduced until near the end; Detective Bruce Kraft, who will feature in Fuller's next novel, The Ripple, coming out next Monday. If you like a dark thriller/mystery, this one's for you.

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