Chapter 29: The Phoenix Lament

[abigail89]

Numb. Disbelief. Grief. Anger. Lament

Comments

[madderbrad]

Neville's in the hospital wing, but Madam Pomfrey thinks he'll make a full recovery ... Harry, if we hadn't had your Felix potion, I think we'd all have been killed, but everything seemed to just miss us -

This is what happens when you don't share your Felix Felecis around with all your mates, Harry! As cadesama pointed out, poor Neville! Excellent. I wish JKR had never thought up the stuff, horrible when liquid deus ex machina potions just pop into the story this far into a series. On the other hand, maybe she can drink some when penning book #7 ... sorry, sorry

[caalan]

As far as the werewolf wounds, I could posture that it is because magic or the curse was used outside its normal parameters; as we've seen in Potions and other spells, it can go horribly askew. Just a guess, I've given up on the little details within the series myself.

In reply to this by madderbrad:
The whole Tonks/Lupin thing though ... ugh. I didn't want to believe that a strong Auror could be so completely demoralised/demolished by simple unrequited lurve. The impact of that discovery just added to the 'Days of our Lives' stigma of the dialogue. Didn't like it much at all.

Yes, well, that's what a lot of us have been saying about the romances in general, not just H/G, but we seem to lose our credibility just because we ship H/Hr. It isn't about our preference at all, it's about the quality of writing in that particular subplot. It's....sub-par.

[cadesama]

Yes, well, that's what a lot of us have been saying about the romances in general, not just H/G, but we seem to lose our credibility just because we ship H/Hr. It isn't about our preference at all, it's about the quality of writing in that particular subplot. It's....sub-par.It kinda sucks that everything in the HP fandom seems to rotate on the axis of shipping, but I gotta tell you, I'm neither a R/Hr shipper nor a H/Hr shipper and I agree with you. I think the romance needed to flow from the characterization, and most of them seemed tacked on in the book. It was just something JKR was doing to add to the "realism," but not because we'd witnessed the development of the relationships in dialogue and scenes between the characters. I think the R/T thing would have been alright if we hadn't already gotten an H/G relationship that was almost scandalously short on development, the incredibly shallow R/Lav sub-plot, and the shrill, unpleasant R/Hr "tension." I don't expect Harry to keep track of the personal lives of the adults, but the

[pilly2009]

I think the romance needed to flow from the characterization, and most of them seemed tacked on in the book.SO much word. It needs to be pointed out that both H/G and R/T were handled similarly --> and really in this aspect, H/G was merely a stretched-out version of R/T. R/Hr escapes criticism on this particular point, but the similarity between R/T and H/G is that they were handled the way JKR handles her plot points. You know, dropping little hints and clues througout the text before the climax hits: ie, mentioning Sirius in PS, and having him appear in PoA; mentioning the Lovegoods in GoF before introducing Luna in OotP; even mentioning Ginny's abstract behaviour throughout CoS before revealing her to be the Heir of Slytherin's channel

[house_elf_44]

I’m convinced Dumbledore’s death was fake, so don’t think I’m heartless for focusing on other things. Guess I’ll get hit by that in book 7 if I’m wrong

Alchemy - "guesswork and speculation"

[house_elf_44]

I see lots of alchemy symbolism in this chapter, some things more sure than others

[muggle_prof]

Well, we see in this chapter that HP characters act much like some HP fans -- present company excluded, of course:-) -- they misquote canon to reflect their views, and they jump to conclusions

[house_elf_44]

I agree - I was squirming for Remus. I wonder if there's a purpose to this uncomfortable scene. Maybe later Harry will feel comfortable talking to him about girl stuff, or confide in him about his task in full or in part.

[woman_ironing]

Isn't it a case of traumatic events making people see and say things they wouldn't in normal circumstances? Dumbledore has died, Bill is horribly injured. Tonks has a revelation seeing Fleur and Bill. Most of the adults in the room know about Tonks and Lupin, and they're all friends. It's not unrequited love - the feelings are mutual but Lupin is too ashamed and frightened of his nature to let Tonks take the risk. Would it have been better if nothing had been said? Tonks could have talked about it with Lupin calmly and reasonably and in private later, but the moment and the intensity would have been lost.

[muggle_prof]

Tonks could have talked about it with Lupin calmly and reasonably and in private later, but the moment and the intensity would have been lost.

Ah, yes, if you are talking about it from Tonks' POV, the intensity would have been lost. But as a lifelong member of Introverts Anon., I identify with Lupin (he could be our mascot). And the last thing he wants to be is the center of attention, and even less so if people are discussing such an incredibly personal, intimate and senstive matter as this, especially as the people expressing opinions aren't werewolves and really can't totally understand his POV.

[trash_addict]

I cried. Less about Dumbledore than about the emotions on the last pages. I love the trio so much.

The break-up was pure fanfic. Literally, change the characters and wrote almost exactly the same scene in a fanfic. It wasn't a good one, either.

Fleur - I love her.

Tonks and Lupin - that was pretty random (apart from the fact i'd been spoilered for it), but still kind of cute.