Blacks, Blues and Reds - A Code-talking Aggregation Attempt

[wintercreek]

Not that I have the foggiest what it means, but here's an attempt at collecting all the instances to date of Pansy, Ron and Sally-Anne's code-talking posts.

To kick it off, Pansy tells us that "There's a black leopard sleeping in a tamarind tree tonight." [6 Nov] Discussion in comments of whether the leopard can appear blue in certain lights; agreement that the leopard is definitely not red.

Next, in Harry's Quidditch post, Ron and Pansy discuss Ron's hypothetical kittens. [8 Nov] Kittens are projected to be all or mostly gingers, with the possibilities of one black one and/or an oddball with blue eyes.

Pansy reports "There's a dead black raven on my windowsill." [11 Nov] Ron asks if it's after the blueberry Bertie Botts again.

Unclear if this is an instance, but in her post on warming charms Sally-Anne says "Also I found a feather, but it was a black very ordinary feather from a crow, I think. I picked it up to take it with me but then I dropped it out a window to watch it fall." [14 Nov] Discussion between Pansy and Sally-Anne in comments deals with the color red, but in relation to Sally-Anne's warming-charm-induced "sunburn."

Sally-Anne writes "I found a black chess piece in the corridor today. Pansy, is it yours? Or Ron, maybe?" [17 Nov] Ron asks if it might be blue; Pansy says she doesn't know anyone with blue chess pieces and guesses it might belong to a Ravenclaw.

Other instances of code-talking? Guesses at what might be going on? I'm a little worried from Pansy's comment in the most recent post that the new charm on Pansy's quill might interfere with her ability to write in their code - unless she's trying to allude to something with her Ravenclaw remark.

ETA:
Ron asks Pansy if she needs "strong black tea or something?" [19 Nov] Pansy doesn't reply in color code and seems to brush him off.

Pansy tells Sally-Anne to remind her to tell a joke that Ron will like - "He'll laugh so hard his ears will turn bright red." [22 Nov] Sally-Anne responds with " I once saw someone laughed so hard he almost turned blue."

Comments

[qwerty88.livejournal.com]

Pansy used the word "red" without 'black' coming up first..

http://alt-sally-anne.livejournal.com/7482.html?thread=68410#t68410

"remind me to tell you a very funny joke about a Scotsman named MacHeath. It's excruciatngly funny. Remind me to tell Ron too. He'll laugh so hard his ears will turn bright red. So no matter what don't let me forget."

MacHeath was previously referenced as something Marie told Pansy about. So red is a potential important piece of information they can't talk about, but black is to meet?

[brimtoast.livejournal.com]

Yes, since Sally Anne has used blue to respond to the code, it makes sense that maybe red and black have distinct meanings and blue is the response either way. Could red and black be different priorities of message? Like, red is very important or an emergency, and black is less important? Maybe they were using black before to practice the code, but it was only to convey that they had minor messages (like, here is a chocolate frog I got you). That's maybe why, in the first instance of code use, Pansy says that it's definitely not red.

Now would be the first time that red is actually invoked.

[lapin-agile.livejournal.com]

I like the idea of distinct meanings. You guys propose two different possibilities:

1. black = "We need to meet."
2. red = "I have important info."

VS.

1a. black = "important"
2a. red = "emergency"

I think either is possible. I'm not convinced that "blue" is just a neutral "I saw your message, thx!" because they have sometimes responded by asking whether something "black" is really "blue" instead (like the chess piece). This at least leaves open the possibility that "blue" has its own significance as an alternative to "black" rather than merely serving as a confirmation that the message has reached its recipient.

I had been thinking blue was something like "are you okay?" but, if that were so, Sally Anne would surely have replied to Pansy in this most recent MacHeath exchange with that query. But maybe that's not necessary in this case since the post itself asked that question explicitly: "Pansy if you're reading this say hello and tell me how you're doing."

[wintercreek]

The fact that Pansy's referencing MacHeath and red also lends some weight to the idea that red=emergency. We've already seen Pansy say "Lucius is MacHeath. who is macheath?" in her sleepjournaling. (In alt_fen discussion, the lyrics are provided here.)

In Lucius's most recent entry, he says: Also consulted Caldecott yesterday regarding the papers she had him file back in September. All in order; as I recalled from the terms, there should be no impediment to assuming direct responsibility given her condition. He has drawn up a letter of confirmation just in case it's needed.

Narcissa and I have spoken extensively this week and struck upon a course of action that will, I hope, resolve these outbursts definitively. Consequently, plans for the week-end are coming together with adequate results.

So he's making sure he can assume Pansy's guardianship (no problem there) and preparing a course of action to "resolve" Pansy's outbursts (potential problem). Has Lucius done something in the name of disciplining Pansy that's caused her to signal Sally-Anne with the "red" code? With her direct reference to MacHeath, it sounds like she's applying the lyrics of the song and finding out what it means that she dreamed "Lucius is MacHeath."

Oh, the shark, has pretty teeth, dear
and he shows them pearly white
Just a jackknife has MacHeath, babe
and he keeps it, out of sight
When that shark bites with his teeth, dear
scarlet billows start to spread
Just a gloved hand, has MacHeath, babe
and he never shows a single drop of red