Are there any instances in the story where Slytherins show open emotionality? They seem to spend most of their time mocking and laughing, not crying.

Snape’s nickname would not have been known to the students, and Draco’s crying took place in private. I don’t see how Slytherins would have been seen as “weepy.”

Just my two cents.

I am not a big fan of the Slytherin part. That needs work. I do not subscribe to the Slytherin house being tagged as the “Hitlers’ of the wizarding world as people try to depict them. But, because of the founder, certain prominant house memeber, and the overall Slytherin traits, that is where a unproportionant number of evil witches and wizards come out from.

Again, great job on the Hufflepuff description. I really do not believe that they are in fact the “dumb” house and that there was always something more J.R. Rowling was trying to get out of it. What makes me upset is that she never fully developed the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff house as I would have liked. I actually think she did a woefull job in that department. While there were not main characters, besides Cedrick and it lasted for one book and at limited times, from those two other houses she could have found some way to develop them better and let us see more into their personalities. Quite frankly, I know tons of Gryfinddors and tons on Slytherins (my house I might add) but when it comes with Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaw I really have to use my immagination.

Through out the entire series, one of the major recurring themes is that of the need to name and face our fears. One way this theme is personified is in the boggart which can only be slain by facing it directly, accepting it for what it is, and then using laughter to rob it of its controlling powers.

In the days and moments leading up to the Sorting Hat ceremony, the young students have all verbally or mentally expressed the common fears of school children anywhere heading into the unknown terrors of a new school, to wit:

Nitwit: I will not be quick enough to grasp the work. I don’t have enough preparation. I will be publicly humiliated as a fool.

Blubber: I will not have the courage to carry on. I will break down in tears in front of everyone. I will be publicly revealed as a coward.

Oddment: I do not belong here. I will never fit in. I will never be chosen for anything. I will be publicly exposed as unworthy of being here.

Tweak: I will hate it here! I will never be happy here. I will always be scared. I may never be seriously harmed, but I will be publicly tweaked in some way every day.

And then the imposing figure at the head table shouted the children’s deepest fears right into their anxious little faces…NITWIT! BLUBBER! ODDMENT! TWEAK!

For one frozen second all the children must have thought “He knows! The charade is over! I’ve been exposed!” Four great boggarts hovered in the air ready to strike!

Then the great imposing figure said “Thank you.” and sat down.

The room erupted in laughter and the boggart’s went up in smoke. A few hundred hungry children relaxed and began to enjoy themselves, and a wise old professor smiled into his freshly filled plate because he had just demonstrated one of most important principles they would ever learn at Hogwart’s. And the children didn’t even realize that the term had started.

1. Nitwit = Ravenclaw. The Ravenclaws may be extremely intelligent, but they are also impractical, idealistic and (sometimes) eccentric. Wouldn’t you say most of the other kids see Luna as a nitwit?

2. Blubber = Slytherin. I don’t think this word means overweight; it means bursting into tears. The Slytherins, based on Snape’s nickname and Draco’s flood of tears in the bathroom, are the weepy house, and the other houses scorn them for their open emotionality – especially those stiff-lipped, warrior Gryffindors.

3. Oddment= Hufflepuff. What other house could be scorned as the ‘leftovers;’ the bits and pieces no one else could think to use?

4. Tweak = Gryffindor. At first, it’s hard to see why, but the only casual cheaters we’ve seen have been in Gryffindor. (Bagman, who was almost certainly a Gryffindor; Peter Pettigrew; and, alas, Ron and Harry.) Gryffindors are also, more often than not, the sort of bullies who ‘tweak’ other kids.

So I think Dumbledore deliberately chose words that reflected the *negative* stereotype of each house. In this speech, he was urging the students to look beyond those stereotypes; he was also pointing out that every House had negative aspects, but every House was far more than the worst impression it might make.

Just my two cents!

Leonardo=Fire/Courage
Donatello=Air/Intellect
Michaelangelo=Earth/Appetite
Raphael=Water/Fluidity

Indeed, it seems the plot is that the turtles have separated and must rejoin to win the day. In fact, a couple of the clips are explicit about “fighting as one” and that the team without Raphael is incomplete. Thought you’d appreciate another point of confirmation.