Midnight Thoughts
It's 1:30 in the morning. My alarm is set for 6:00 because I have a 7:30 class. What the heck am I doing writing in my Live Journal, you ask? Good question. I can't sleep. I'm exhausted, but I can't get my brain to shut off/quiet down long enough to fall asleep. I hate that! It generally happens to me a couple of days a month. The last couple of months I've written it off to stress or the caffeine in Midol, but I haven't even taken any Midol this month (because it's in my purse and I can't find my purse) and my stress level doesn't seem to be higher than normal.
So here I sit in my kitchen, waiting for my chamomile tea to brew. I hate chamomile tea, but I'm out of the sleepy-time blend that actually tastes decent. For that matter, I'm not a huge tea drinker, period. Ice tea is nice in the summer, as long as my mother makes it (because her tea "couldn't defend itself in a fight" to paraphrase Chandler's former boss, Doug.) I also started drinking Twinnings Afternoon tea while I was in London, partly because it felt like the "British" thing to do and partly to stay awake through my often whirl-wind schedule. I don't drink coffee (unless it's got more milk, chocolate, and other stuff to mask the taste) or pop (unless it's got a LOT of ice cream in it) so my caffiene tolerence is remarkably low for an American 23-year-old. (I think part of the reason I don't drink coffee is that my mother told me I'd pick up the habit in college, so I didn't just to prove her wrong. Maybe she's not completely wrong when she says I'm too willful for my own good.)
What was I talking about? Oh yeah, the tea that I'm not drinking. Like anyone cares about that. I am, however, amused that my milk's label says "excelent source of calcium." Congratulations, captain obvious. I should put it back in the humming refrigerator.
So I talked about my money issues yesterday. I tried to do a comment to that entry with an update, but I think the school network ate it. (It's been flaky lately.) Anyway, I called my bank this afternoon and got good news. I had more in my savings account than I thought, so I should be able to make rent for the rest of the semester, which means yea! [/Phoebe] Also, I spoke to my mother on the phone this evening (mostly about wedding related headaches that I don't want to think about right now or I really won't ever get to sleep tonight). She said that she and Daddy will cover the cost of my Income Tax since it was their accounting decision that made me owe them. Does that make me a spoiled brat? I hope not, because I think I'm going to let them do it. No news on the job front yet (although I do know I submitted the electronic application correctly) so I'm still hoping. I'm also planing to pay my parents back as soon as I possibly can. I hate owing people money.
Man, that tea is nasty. *goes in search of sugar* Still nasty, and even worse for me. I might be able to choke it down, though. Until it makes me sufficiently drowsy, I think I'm going to muse about Pumpkin Pie stuff for a while, because I was reading OOP before when I was trying to get sleepy and I noticed stuff. That means I'll make this a public entry, but put all this personal crap behind an LJ-cut. Does that work? Oh well.
I was re-reading Chapter Eighteen: Dumbledore's Army this evening and noticed several subtle Harry/Hermione clues. I don't know for sure that no one's pointed them out before, but I'm at home (without internet connection) and can't check, so I'll just purge them from my brain here.
First, on pages 376-7 (all page numbers are from the American Hardback edition) you get this pasage (emphasis mine):
[quote]Ron's smile slipped slightly as he looked out of the window, which was now opaque with hammering rain.
"Hope this clears up... What's up with you, Hermione?"
She too was gazing at the window, but not as though she really saw it. Her eyes were unfocused and there was a frown on her face.
"Just thinking..." she said, still frowning at the rain-washed window.
"About Siri...Snuffles?" said Harry.
"No... not exactly..." said Hermione slowly. "More... wondering... I suppose we're doing the righ thting... I think...aren't we?"
Harry and Ron looked at each other.
"Well, that clears that up," said Ron. "It would've been really annoying if you hadn't explained yourself properly."
Hermione looked at him as though she had only just realized he was there.
"I was just wondering," she said, her voice stronger now, "whether we're doing the right thing, starting this Defense Against the Dark Arts group."
"What!" said Harry and Ron together.
"Hermione, it was your idea in the first place!" said Ron indignantly.
"I know," said Hermione, twisting her fingers together. "But after talikng to Snuffles..."
"But he's all for it!" said Harry.
"Yes," said Hermione, staring at the window again. "Yes, that's what made me think maybe it wasn't a good idea after all..."
Peeves floated over them on his stomach, peashooter at the ready; automatically all three of them lifted their bags to cover their heads until he had passed.
"Let's get this straight," said Harry angrily, as they put their bags back on the floor, "Sirius agrees with us, so you don't think we should do it anymore?"
Hermione looked tense and rather miserable. Now staring at her own hands she said, "Do you honestly trust his judgment?"
"Yes, I do!" said Harry at once. "He's always given us great advice!"
An ink pellet whizzed past them, striking Katie Bell squarely in the ear. Hermione watched Katie leap to her feet and start throwing things at Peeves; it was a few moments before Hermione spoke again and it sounded as though she was choosing her words very carefully.
"You don't think he has become... sort of... reckless... since he's been cooped up in Grimmauld Place? You don't think he's... kind of... living through us?"
"What d'you mean, 'living through us'?" Harry retorted.
"I mean... welll, I think he'd love to be forming secret defense societies right under the nose of someone from the Ministry... I think he's really frusterated at how little he can do where he is... so I think he's keen to kind of... egg us on."
Ron looked uterly perplexed.
"Sirius is right," he said, "you do sound just like my mother."
Hermione bit her lip and did not answer. The bell rang just as Peeves swooped down upon Katie and emptied an entire ink bottle over her head.[/quote]
My point in quoting this long passage wasn't just to show another instance where Ron was confused while Harry and Hermione were following each other's trains of thought easily (even if they weren't on the same track. It wasn't even for the delicious (and true!) barb that Ron got in at the end. (Although I must admit that this would be useful when people bring up the whole Harry comparing Hermione and Ron to Molly and Arthur scene. Ron does it too, but it's definitely not a signal that he wants to be with her!)
No, what struck me most about this scene is that Hermioen seems completely oblivous to Ron's presence through most of it. Even though Ron initiated the conversation, she seemed surprised that he was contributing to it. She'd obviously been mulling this issue over in her mind and trying to figure out how to broach the topic with Harry. Somehow I get the feeling that the conversation might have been a little more civil if Ron hadn't been around to encourage Harry's angry reaction, but that's really neither here nor there. Hermione was so wrapped up in how to deal with a problem that was facing this group that she and Harry were sponsering, that she forgot Ron was even with them. His barbs make her take a more defensive tone at the beginning and then shut her up (apparently upset) after she and Harry have had a somewhat heated exchange over the matter, but her energy was solely focused on talking to Harry and trying to get him to see reason.
Also in this chapter I found a very cute moment that stood out because artemis had an interesting thread at portkey discussing frequency of character eye-contact today. I'd looked over her results (Harry/Hermione had a lot more eye contact than Ron/Hermione, even averaged over all five books) and noticed that the quality of the H/H eye contact was often a lot friendlier than that of the R/H, nevermind our quantitative advantage. One such instance (p. 390):
[Quote]"And just look at these books!" said Hermione excitedly, running a finger along the spines of the large leather-bound tomes. "A Compendium of Common Curses and their Counter-Actions... The Dark Arts Outsmarted... Slef-Defensive Spellwork... wow..." She looked around at Harry, her face glowing, and he saw that the presence of hundreds of books had finally convinced Hermione that what they were doing was right. "Harry, this is wonderful, there's everything we need here!"
And without further ado she slid Jinxes for the Jinxed from its shelf, sank onto the nearest coshion, and began to read.[/Quote]
Now as an unabashed bookworm myself, I thought that scene was adorable, but this reading it also made my shippy heart skip a beat. The imagery of Hermione's face glowing as she looked at Harry (and him noticing it!) really jumped out at me. He's glad she's become reconciled to the plan and I also thought it was telling that he knew what she was thinking just by meeting her eyes. He can (sometimes) read her pretty well, huh? Now if he could only start reading himself... That doesn't exactly happen in OOP, but there is another cute "eye contact" moment in the next chapter (p.399):
[Quote]There was a murmur of assent and everybody moved forward to collect one from the basket. Harry looked sideways at Hermione.
"You know what these remind me of?"
"No, what's that?"
"The Death Eaters' scars. Voldemort touches one of them, and all their scars burn, and they know they've got to join him."
"Well...yes." said Hermione quietly. "That is where I got the idea... but you'll notice I decided to engrave the date on bits of metal rather than on our members' skin..."
"Yeah...I prefer your way," said Harry, grinning, as he slipped his Galleon into his pocket. "I suppose the only danger with these is that we might accidentally spend them."
"Fat chance," said Ron, who was examining his own fake Galleon with a slightly mournful air. "I haven't got any real Galleons to confuse it with."[/Quote]
Again, we see Harry and Hermione on the same wavelength and exchanging personal looks. His grin and her low tones even struck me as potentially flirtatious. (Not that I think he was intending that, of course.) We'll never know, though, since Ron decided to pipe up with his commonly-heard refrain about not having any money. Interesting that we didn't even know he was nearby until he added that. I wonder if Harry and Hermione had noticed...
Right, I've been typing here for nerely an hour and my tea is stone cold, so I think I'll try to sleep again. I have delusions of grandeur: I think this could eventually develop into a Portkey worthy (Pumpkin Pie's Army even, perhaps) essay on the Harry/Hermione clues in the foundation of Dumbledore's Army. It was her idea, after all, and it helped him get through a very tough year. It showed him that she had confidence in his leadership skills, even if the person who chose the prefects didn't. (Although we later learn why that was.) In a lot of ways, I see Hermione as the tactical general and Harry as the field general for the D.A. Ron and Ginny and the rest are soldiers who tend to follow orders well. Neville was the surprise stand-out, and Luna was the misfit who gained their trust through her persistance. Cho was the distraction who unwittingly brought in the traitor. Hm...
EdTA: I make very bad decisions. I really need a bossy roommate like Monica who can take over decision making for me on days like these. The most recent bad decision was to re-read Athena's brilliant JKR quote analysis essay before I went to bed. Now it's nearly four and I've finally written the response to it that I've been meaning to write for ages. (And I'll post it when I'm out of class and the school network lets me have access to the internet again -- probably shortly after I post this.) But I ask you, does a rational person decide to do that at 3:00 am? No, of course not! Alright, I'm officially insane, whatever. I'm going to go see if I can sleep for an hour or so.
So here I sit in my kitchen, waiting for my chamomile tea to brew. I hate chamomile tea, but I'm out of the sleepy-time blend that actually tastes decent. For that matter, I'm not a huge tea drinker, period. Ice tea is nice in the summer, as long as my mother makes it (because her tea "couldn't defend itself in a fight" to paraphrase Chandler's former boss, Doug.) I also started drinking Twinnings Afternoon tea while I was in London, partly because it felt like the "British" thing to do and partly to stay awake through my often whirl-wind schedule. I don't drink coffee (unless it's got more milk, chocolate, and other stuff to mask the taste) or pop (unless it's got a LOT of ice cream in it) so my caffiene tolerence is remarkably low for an American 23-year-old. (I think part of the reason I don't drink coffee is that my mother told me I'd pick up the habit in college, so I didn't just to prove her wrong. Maybe she's not completely wrong when she says I'm too willful for my own good.)
What was I talking about? Oh yeah, the tea that I'm not drinking. Like anyone cares about that. I am, however, amused that my milk's label says "excelent source of calcium." Congratulations, captain obvious. I should put it back in the humming refrigerator.
So I talked about my money issues yesterday. I tried to do a comment to that entry with an update, but I think the school network ate it. (It's been flaky lately.) Anyway, I called my bank this afternoon and got good news. I had more in my savings account than I thought, so I should be able to make rent for the rest of the semester, which means yea! [/Phoebe] Also, I spoke to my mother on the phone this evening (mostly about wedding related headaches that I don't want to think about right now or I really won't ever get to sleep tonight). She said that she and Daddy will cover the cost of my Income Tax since it was their accounting decision that made me owe them. Does that make me a spoiled brat? I hope not, because I think I'm going to let them do it. No news on the job front yet (although I do know I submitted the electronic application correctly) so I'm still hoping. I'm also planing to pay my parents back as soon as I possibly can. I hate owing people money.
Man, that tea is nasty. *goes in search of sugar* Still nasty, and even worse for me. I might be able to choke it down, though. Until it makes me sufficiently drowsy, I think I'm going to muse about Pumpkin Pie stuff for a while, because I was reading OOP before when I was trying to get sleepy and I noticed stuff. That means I'll make this a public entry, but put all this personal crap behind an LJ-cut. Does that work? Oh well.
I was re-reading Chapter Eighteen: Dumbledore's Army this evening and noticed several subtle Harry/Hermione clues. I don't know for sure that no one's pointed them out before, but I'm at home (without internet connection) and can't check, so I'll just purge them from my brain here.
First, on pages 376-7 (all page numbers are from the American Hardback edition) you get this pasage (emphasis mine):
[quote]Ron's smile slipped slightly as he looked out of the window, which was now opaque with hammering rain.
"Hope this clears up... What's up with you, Hermione?"
She too was gazing at the window, but not as though she really saw it. Her eyes were unfocused and there was a frown on her face.
"Just thinking..." she said, still frowning at the rain-washed window.
"About Siri...Snuffles?" said Harry.
"No... not exactly..." said Hermione slowly. "More... wondering... I suppose we're doing the righ thting... I think...aren't we?"
Harry and Ron looked at each other.
"Well, that clears that up," said Ron. "It would've been really annoying if you hadn't explained yourself properly."
Hermione looked at him as though she had only just realized he was there.
"I was just wondering," she said, her voice stronger now, "whether we're doing the right thing, starting this Defense Against the Dark Arts group."
"What!" said Harry and Ron together.
"Hermione, it was your idea in the first place!" said Ron indignantly.
"I know," said Hermione, twisting her fingers together. "But after talikng to Snuffles..."
"But he's all for it!" said Harry.
"Yes," said Hermione, staring at the window again. "Yes, that's what made me think maybe it wasn't a good idea after all..."
Peeves floated over them on his stomach, peashooter at the ready; automatically all three of them lifted their bags to cover their heads until he had passed.
"Let's get this straight," said Harry angrily, as they put their bags back on the floor, "Sirius agrees with us, so you don't think we should do it anymore?"
Hermione looked tense and rather miserable. Now staring at her own hands she said, "Do you honestly trust his judgment?"
"Yes, I do!" said Harry at once. "He's always given us great advice!"
An ink pellet whizzed past them, striking Katie Bell squarely in the ear. Hermione watched Katie leap to her feet and start throwing things at Peeves; it was a few moments before Hermione spoke again and it sounded as though she was choosing her words very carefully.
"You don't think he has become... sort of... reckless... since he's been cooped up in Grimmauld Place? You don't think he's... kind of... living through us?"
"What d'you mean, 'living through us'?" Harry retorted.
"I mean... welll, I think he'd love to be forming secret defense societies right under the nose of someone from the Ministry... I think he's really frusterated at how little he can do where he is... so I think he's keen to kind of... egg us on."
Ron looked uterly perplexed.
"Sirius is right," he said, "you do sound just like my mother."
Hermione bit her lip and did not answer. The bell rang just as Peeves swooped down upon Katie and emptied an entire ink bottle over her head.[/quote]
My point in quoting this long passage wasn't just to show another instance where Ron was confused while Harry and Hermione were following each other's trains of thought easily (even if they weren't on the same track. It wasn't even for the delicious (and true!) barb that Ron got in at the end. (Although I must admit that this would be useful when people bring up the whole Harry comparing Hermione and Ron to Molly and Arthur scene. Ron does it too, but it's definitely not a signal that he wants to be with her!)
No, what struck me most about this scene is that Hermioen seems completely oblivous to Ron's presence through most of it. Even though Ron initiated the conversation, she seemed surprised that he was contributing to it. She'd obviously been mulling this issue over in her mind and trying to figure out how to broach the topic with Harry. Somehow I get the feeling that the conversation might have been a little more civil if Ron hadn't been around to encourage Harry's angry reaction, but that's really neither here nor there. Hermione was so wrapped up in how to deal with a problem that was facing this group that she and Harry were sponsering, that she forgot Ron was even with them. His barbs make her take a more defensive tone at the beginning and then shut her up (apparently upset) after she and Harry have had a somewhat heated exchange over the matter, but her energy was solely focused on talking to Harry and trying to get him to see reason.
Also in this chapter I found a very cute moment that stood out because artemis had an interesting thread at portkey discussing frequency of character eye-contact today. I'd looked over her results (Harry/Hermione had a lot more eye contact than Ron/Hermione, even averaged over all five books) and noticed that the quality of the H/H eye contact was often a lot friendlier than that of the R/H, nevermind our quantitative advantage. One such instance (p. 390):
[Quote]"And just look at these books!" said Hermione excitedly, running a finger along the spines of the large leather-bound tomes. "A Compendium of Common Curses and their Counter-Actions... The Dark Arts Outsmarted... Slef-Defensive Spellwork... wow..." She looked around at Harry, her face glowing, and he saw that the presence of hundreds of books had finally convinced Hermione that what they were doing was right. "Harry, this is wonderful, there's everything we need here!"
And without further ado she slid Jinxes for the Jinxed from its shelf, sank onto the nearest coshion, and began to read.[/Quote]
Now as an unabashed bookworm myself, I thought that scene was adorable, but this reading it also made my shippy heart skip a beat. The imagery of Hermione's face glowing as she looked at Harry (and him noticing it!) really jumped out at me. He's glad she's become reconciled to the plan and I also thought it was telling that he knew what she was thinking just by meeting her eyes. He can (sometimes) read her pretty well, huh? Now if he could only start reading himself... That doesn't exactly happen in OOP, but there is another cute "eye contact" moment in the next chapter (p.399):
[Quote]There was a murmur of assent and everybody moved forward to collect one from the basket. Harry looked sideways at Hermione.
"You know what these remind me of?"
"No, what's that?"
"The Death Eaters' scars. Voldemort touches one of them, and all their scars burn, and they know they've got to join him."
"Well...yes." said Hermione quietly. "That is where I got the idea... but you'll notice I decided to engrave the date on bits of metal rather than on our members' skin..."
"Yeah...I prefer your way," said Harry, grinning, as he slipped his Galleon into his pocket. "I suppose the only danger with these is that we might accidentally spend them."
"Fat chance," said Ron, who was examining his own fake Galleon with a slightly mournful air. "I haven't got any real Galleons to confuse it with."[/Quote]
Again, we see Harry and Hermione on the same wavelength and exchanging personal looks. His grin and her low tones even struck me as potentially flirtatious. (Not that I think he was intending that, of course.) We'll never know, though, since Ron decided to pipe up with his commonly-heard refrain about not having any money. Interesting that we didn't even know he was nearby until he added that. I wonder if Harry and Hermione had noticed...
Right, I've been typing here for nerely an hour and my tea is stone cold, so I think I'll try to sleep again. I have delusions of grandeur: I think this could eventually develop into a Portkey worthy (Pumpkin Pie's Army even, perhaps) essay on the Harry/Hermione clues in the foundation of Dumbledore's Army. It was her idea, after all, and it helped him get through a very tough year. It showed him that she had confidence in his leadership skills, even if the person who chose the prefects didn't. (Although we later learn why that was.) In a lot of ways, I see Hermione as the tactical general and Harry as the field general for the D.A. Ron and Ginny and the rest are soldiers who tend to follow orders well. Neville was the surprise stand-out, and Luna was the misfit who gained their trust through her persistance. Cho was the distraction who unwittingly brought in the traitor. Hm...
EdTA: I make very bad decisions. I really need a bossy roommate like Monica who can take over decision making for me on days like these. The most recent bad decision was to re-read Athena's brilliant JKR quote analysis essay before I went to bed. Now it's nearly four and I've finally written the response to it that I've been meaning to write for ages. (And I'll post it when I'm out of class and the school network lets me have access to the internet again -- probably shortly after I post this.) But I ask you, does a rational person decide to do that at 3:00 am? No, of course not! Alright, I'm officially insane, whatever. I'm going to go see if I can sleep for an hour or so.