(no subject)

[heidi]

So, recent discussions about readings of the HP series have brought to my attention the fact that a lot of people here may not have read the two 2001 schoolbooks that JKR wrote for Comic Relief UK. In a few days, I'll explain more of the why behind this post, but I don't want to skew the results, so I won't at this point. If you've read the six HP books, or regularly read HP fanfic, I'd appreciate it if you took this poll:

[Poll #717127]

Comments

[titti]

Oops, you can ignore Charlie, that was me forgetting to log out and in again. Sorry.

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Ha! Personally, I think the books were edited versions of what the kids actually read - I mean, FB is implied as being much, much longer in the series itself - so I'd love to get a canon character's take on it. ;)

[cleverthylacine]

I laughed a little when you said not to be upset by folks who hadn't read the schoolbooks, because I hadn't either. I suppose I should. I've never written anything where Quidditch was a plot point and I've always grabbed my magickal creatures direct from mythology. If there's interesting historical material in them, though, I'd be glad to read them.

[ex-ajhalluk585.livejournal.com]

The nasty politics about why merfolk and centaurs are beasts, and Scamander's commentary on that is quite important.

Put it this way: I suspect they'd get up your nose, but they do clarify some quite interesting aspects of her thinking.

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

I couldn't offer an opinion about the books because I've never actually seen them in any bookstore or in any library.

I know that I'm never going to read QttA because...well...it's about Quidditch. Quidditch bores me, and I doubt I'm ever going to use it in a story. I don't see any point in buying or reading a book whose subject I'm not interested in.

[thistlerose.livejournal.com]

They're both fun, but since you don't like Quidditch, I'd only recommend the magical creatures book. I got my copy from Amazon. That's how I found out about Crups, Erumpents, and all the other livestock. The commentary from Harry and Ron is cute, too.

[edenfalling]

I consider the schoolbooks to be a sort of supplementary canon. That is, they're not canon on the same level as the novels themselves, but they're more canonical than interviews with JKR, which are more canonical than the movies.

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

See, I don't consider the interviews to be canon at all. I consider them to be commentary on canon, which is not at all the same thing.

As for the movies...I think of bookverse and movieverse as being parallel universes. Having only seen the first two movies (and having no desire to see the last two), I try to ignore the movies and operate strictly in bookverse. Because I actually HAVE the books.

[edenfalling]

Well, yes, most of the interviews are commentary and opinion, which I feel free to ignore. But now and then she'll drop a 'fact,' so to speak -- like people's full names -- and those I do pay attention to. (Um. And by 'interviews' I seem to mean 'interviews and website entries.' I should try to be more precise.)

As for the movies, I saw the first three, didn't see the fourth, and have no particular urge to hunt it down. When they give concrete form to something that wasn't mentioned in the books, and which doesn't actively contradict the books -- like Lucius Malfoy's appearance, beyond pale, blond, cruel, and disdainful -- then I consider it fair game for incorporation into book canon. Beyond that, they're ignorable.

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

To expand on what I said in the comments, I think they're a fun read and useful for background canon details in fics -- but at the same time, I think many people in the fandom take them too seriously. It's humor writing, and JKR doesn't seem to have been too careful with the details when she was working on them, so I don't believe constructing elaborate conspiracy theories based on throwaway bits of information in the schoolbooks is likely to lead anywhere useful.

[ani-bester.livejournal.com]

I treat it like I do her interviews. Anything that adds to the canon I keep, but anything that contradicts book canon I throw out. The book canon rules all . . even JKR's interviews 'cause she should not need to explain her own canon for me to get it and well .. there's always math. =P

I agree they are humor writing and not meant o be bible, but it is interesitng backgorund none the less, on some of the creatures. I wish she's do anone creature one. I want to know about hp-verse goblins and all these goblins wars binns drones on about.

I would *love* History of Magic *.*

[jlh.livejournal.com]

Someone above said something about elaborate conspiracy theories and while I wouldn't go that far, I do think there is important knowledge in them. I definitely think all that background about being a creature or not and the unicorns is crucial for understanding why some of the beings would want to put their lot in with Voldemort. Given Remus and Hagrid's missions, and the symbolic destruction of that statue in the MoM, I bet the magical creatures book is key.

The thing about QTTA is that it's so much more than Quidditch, about which I couldn't care less for the most part. But that glimpse into wizarding history—I mean, look at Tess' fic!

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, I think things that are stated outright in FB and QttA are definitely canon -- e.g., that a person can become a werewolf only when bitten by one. What I would consider not-canon are more complicated theories extrapolated from statements in the textbooks plus additional information from elsewhere. I've seen people posit, for example, that since FB states that the Ministry classifies werewolves in the Beasts Division, and since GoF states that no non-human creature is allowed to carry a wand, then it is an Absolute Canon Fact that Lupin has been breaking the law ever since he started Hogwarts and would be thrown into Azkaban if the Ministry caught him at it. No, I'd say the obvious conclusion is that JKR made these statements in separate books, for separate reasons, and probably didn't think about the possible implications if you put them together.

[shaggydogstail.livejournal.com]

I've seen people posit, for example, that since FB states that the Ministry classifies werewolves in the Beasts Division, and since GoF states that no non-human creature is allowed to carry a wand, then it is an Absolute Canon Fact that Lupin has been breaking the law ever since he started Hogwarts

Huh? FB says that there is a Werewolf Support Services office in the Being Division and a Werewolf Registry and Capture Unit in the Beasts Division, so I'd conclude that they are variously considered beasts and beings (humans, in this case of course). In fact, the confused legal position of werewolves was sort of the point as far as I can tell. It fits in with the way some wizards treat werewolves as ordinary humans with an affliction, yet others refer to them as 'half-breeds.'

Here from Daily Snitch

[bizarity.livejournal.com]

See, personally I would take that statement to mean that Werewolves are not allowed to carry a wand while in their transformed state (since FB actually says that eg the classification only applies in transformed state and that otherwise a werewolf is as any other human). This makes some sense, although I'm not sure a transformed werewolf could use a wand even if it had one.

[ani-bester.livejournal.com]

I enver read QA. I assumed it would be liek all sports books and boring seeing as how I was already bored with Quidditch in the books. Is there interesting Wizarding hisotry hidden in there beyond the hisotry of Quidditch? if so, I may pick it up next time I see it at half priced ^^

or heck any store seeing as it goes to charity if I don't buy it cheap.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

I actually find them most useful as fanfic resources. I've used Fantastic Beasts a lot more than Quidditch, but it's nice because it gives me some variety in the critters, especially as it gets tiring to always read about the same creatures in every fanfic, y'know? And that's really what I use them for more than anything. They're fun little books, but I probably wouldn't touch them much if I didn't write fanfic.

[kimmyblair.livejournal.com]

I considere them cannon, because Lexicon Steve does. I feel whatever Steve says goes...

[shaggydogstail.livejournal.com]

Here via the Snitch.

Sorry, I messed up and clicked submit when I hadn't actually finished my answer to the last question, which is why it looks ridiculous. What I meant to say was that Fantastic Beasts was especially useful to be for information on writing fan-fiction, because I've used the animals a couple of times, and some of the extra information about dragons and things.

[chthonya]

Sorry about the truncated reply to the last question - hit the wrong key on the keyboard.

Basically I feel that the schoolbooks are great for filling in some of the background detail that we were all clamoring for, and I'd feel lost in the fandom if I hadn't read them. I refer to them often when writing fic, and there was a wonderful 'in' feeling about recognising the Thestrals at the start of OotP.

My copy of FB is much more well thumbed than QttA - I don't find the latter particularly interesting or amusing, though of course I refer to it now and then.

I do no think they are as important as the main books to enjoying the series - they enrich the world but don't flesh out characters or move the plot along.

[story645.livejournal.com]

I bought both of 'em about the time that they came out, and got around to reading them at some point. I skimmed them a ton when I got them, though I think I finally read QTTA post OoTP, still haven;t read beasts through. QTTA is fun to read cause it's like a funky history book. FBTA is more straightforward.

Still here via the DS

[bizarity.livejournal.com]

I consider them as canon because I don't believe that JKR would include things in them which aren't true - she's not sloppy like that. So, for example, for me FB proved that Hogwarts is in Scotland because in the Acromantula entry it says (corrected by Ron and Harry) "Rumours that a colonly of Acromantula have been established in Scotland is confirmed by Harry Potter and Ron Weasley".

I think basing conspirisy theories on them is a little over the top but things that it does state explicitly should be taken as canon, in my view.