Hi,
1. 「君は甘い」ロンがいった。「君自身が名誉を重んじ、信用できる人間だからといって」
a) Grammatically, does 名誉を重んじ modify 人間? Is that possible?
b) When 言った is meant literally like this, as far as I can recall, these books almost invariably write it 言った and not いった. Is there any significance in it being written いった? If not, does it seem odd or inconsistent to randomly vary the way it is written?
2. ハーマイオニーが席に着くや否や、ネビル、ディーン、フレッド、ジョージ、ジニーが待ってましたとばかりにやって来た。
I fear this may be a dumb question, but is 待ってました = 待っていました? I thought that was a conversational form, both in respect of the ~ます element and also the dropping of the い. However, this is a part of the narrative, not dialogue. I am puzzled why this form would be used in the narrative. It seems anomalous.
3. クラスの注意が、いつもよりもっと自分から離れているのもまった気づかず、平成そのものだ。
The story is primarily narrated in the past tense, but from time to time a sentence in the present tense is inserted. I think I remember being told that this was to increase vividity, or something like that. In English, a switch to present tense in the middle of a past tense narrative would seem highly stylised. Am I right in thinking that it is a more normal and usual device in Japanese?
4. ハーマイオニーは羽根ペンさえ下に置いた。
Is 下 pronounced した here? Is it always prounced した in cases like this?
5. クラッブとゴイルが腕を屈伸させながら、いつでもかかってこいとばかり、マルフォイの前に進み出た。
Is 「いつでもかかってこい」 a taunt? Is it こい as in 来い? What does the かかって part mean?