OotP Chapter 20 - Hagrid's Tale

[jenbeauty]

"With a great leap of his heart, Harry saw little golden squares of light ahead and smoke coiling up from Hagrid's chimney."

At long last Hagrid has returned to Hogwarts and our trio are anxious to meet with the Ground's Keeper to find out where he has been.  When Hagrid answers his door Hermione screamed alerting all present to Hagrid's exact

Comments

[cadesama]

Is anyone else totally obsessed with trying to figure out how tall Harry is? Here JKR implies, by citing only Ron's height, that Harry and Hermione are the same height. I believe she also implied that in the Shrieking Shack scene in PoA. Which, yeah, is kinda sad for Harry, since he's supposedly gotten a growth spurt since then -- although I've never had the impression that Hermione is actually Emma Watson tiny. Anyway, I'd love some greater comparison. Seamus is none too tall; is he taller than Harry? What about Neville

[snitch1488]

Maybe they speak English because they were originally from the UK like Hagrid's Mum.

I feel bad that the giants are dying out, but it's partly the wizards' fault and partly the giants' fault. They probably could spread out a little bit, and not live all bunched up like they do, but don't.

[cadesama]

Well, a few of them speak English. But Hagrid is seemingly implying that Giants speak Giantish, rather than that they speak Russian or Polish. I dunno, I find the teaching-Grawp-English subplot a little silly in light of this -- as that's supposed to be representative of taming him. What giants are, creatures or people, is all very muddled to me.

I think it's largely the giants' fault, because they have no survival instinct. That's very Darwinian of me, I know.

[renata_hpjc]

The reference to Harry's height that I remember is in the Pensieve scene later in the book (Snape's Worst Memory). Harry's pleasantly surprised to learn he's the same height as James was at his age. Of course, we have no idea how tall James was, really.

[darkeyedwolf]

I always thought it took Hermione so long because she made sure to bundle up -- hat, gloves, all that other practical clothing, as opposed to the boys who raced to grab the cloak and then hurry up and go. :D

[house_elf_44]

Dumbledore gave Hagrid, and the trio, a lesson in how to beseech a leader. I can't see this being used on House Elves later, but maybe Goblins. And Hagrid gave the trio somewhat of a lesson in evasive answers

[cadesama]

What made him let go of his anger? I don't think it was as much from beating the snot out of Draco (I love that term, cheering charm) but more likely from the exchange between McGonagall and Umbridge, and seeing the bigger picture.

I don't think he's let go of his anger a bit. And I don't think "big picture" arguments sway Harry in the least. Really, I think that's a character point we've seen since PS/SS, when he breaks the huge, unimaginable threat of Voldemort down into two simple things 1) Voldemort will destroy Hogwarts (his home) and 2) Voldemort will kill him. Harry's very good at reducing the epic into the personal, largely because the epic always is personal for him. However, as to why he can listen so calmly, I would say the DA has gone a long way toward stabilizing him. As well, Harry isn't one to whine or plead his case. While Hagrid is definitely less of a true authority to Harry than McGonagall or Dumbledore, I think he'd still be hesitant about breaking out with a rant.

She genuinely doesn't want to see Hagrid

[jenbeauty]

I think this chapter was meant to show us just how much the trio care about Hagrid. Hagrid has become an important part of their lives, especially Harry. It lets us get an even more up close and personal look at this half wizard/half giant. Personally, I believe Jo is setting us up for the heartbreak of this 1/2 giant's death. Hagrid is so lovable and really caring about the students.

I also believe that this chapter is foreshadowing in how the giants may play a part in the final battle. Jo devoted quite a bit of time in clueing us in on the behavior of these creatures and how they effect the WW.

I too found it a bit boring and possibly out of place. However, my above statements are the conclusions I came to after reading this chapter again.

[jabbamacmilly]

I agree with this, Harry was very worried that Hagrid wasn't around and it seem to put him on edge the entire time. Remember Hagrid was his first friend/person who introduced him to the world of magic. That carries a lot of weight with Harry, and has bled over to Hermione and Ron as well. It would mean a lot if Harry lost Hagrid. And it will be interesting to see what roll Hagrid and possibly Olympe will play in the future.

[muggle_prof]

Not much to say, because I don't much care for this chapter either, tho it's probably littered with clues as jenbeauty suggests...

Madam Maxime hits the giants with a conjunctivitus curse -- once again, pointing to eyes as being vulnerable.
And this is yet another chapter splattered with blood. I lost track over the weekend, but it's something like 5 out of the last 6.
I don't usually go looking for Christian symbolism, but when Hagrid talks about visiting the wounded giants and how some of them heard DD's message and some of them will remember it, it brought to mind the line in the Gospels about feeding the poor and caring for the sick, visiting the prisoners. Is it just me? probably

[muggle_prof]

I don't usually go looking for Christian symbolism, but when Hagrid talks about visiting the wounded giants and how some of them heard DD's message and some of them will remember it, it brought to mind the line in the Gospels about feeding the poor and caring for the sick, visiting the prisoners. Is it just me? probably

It is interesting you mention this but the whole series thus far has quite a bit of Christian subtext. From the blood sacrifice that saves Harry from death, the 3 days then wakes up after he defeats Vapormort, gryffin symbol of Christ in literary tradition, Phoenix symbol of resurrection/rebirth, ect. There is more but those are just off the top of my head. I am not surprise though, JKR has stated she beleives in God and if people asked her more percise questions about her Christian beliefs they would guess the ending of Harry Potter.

[muggle_prof]

you're right, of course, and I'm well aware of the Christian subtext. "Christian symbolism" was a poor choice of words; I meant this was the first time the wording of the book made me think directly of a biblical quote -- Hagrid, the missionary to the giants preaching the gospel of Albus Dumbledore, visiting the wounded giants made me think of the "when I was hungry, you fed me" etc passage

Just today on hogwarts_grads someone was dealing with family members who believe Harry Potter is evil, yada yada, and my reaction is always "if only these people would bother to read it before criticizing it...")