Too sikhs.

[mike_smith]

As you may have noticed, it's October 23, and I'm still doing these things. My plan was to have already received my copy of "Dagon Bal Z: Budokai Tenkaichi" by now, and to have finished reviewing this book well in advance of that date. Well, while it's just as well that my shipment is late, because I haven't been able to finish as scheduled, I'm

Comments

[seductivedark]

Don't forget, Harry had to re-enervate Dumbledore *twice* before he woke up.

Very funny. I thought you'd like the Inferi (cute name for Zombies, which is a singing group while Inferi still haven't found their sound).

[mike_smith]

Yeah, I didn't mention Harry's attempts to revive Dumbledore because I wasn't sure if they were what woke him up or if Dumbledore just managed to regain consciousness on his own. Since his attempts to fill the goblet with water had failed, I figured it had to be the latter. Just one of the many details I can never figure out if I should mention because they might matter more than I think they do.

Which is the nice thing about having a section here for comments, so people can point out what I missed, I guess.

[seductivedark]

By the time you, or anyone, reads six HP books, everything is a clue. Harry skinned his knee? OMG, a JKR omen!!! (fangurl swoon)

It may or may not be relevant. If it is, that means that Booger Red can raise people from (near-) death...

Maybe. Or it means he actually did listen in at least one class. Maybe that's the significance?

[xwingace]

Except that I don't think he learned 'enervate' in class. I believe he learned that from seeing/hearing Amos Diggory do it at the Quidditch World Cup (in book 4).

But I could have missed something.

XWA

[edido]

Is the irony here deliberate on Rowling's part, some sort of commentary on the misplaced priorities of the government?(Not sure if you are interested in this kind of thing, but you did ask the question) It is a bit, yes. I think. Much of it has to be inferred because the perspective in the books is tied to a child. From what I've gathered over the books, the Ministry was formed back in the 17th century solely to maintain The Statute of Secrecy from the muggles. That was its basic function, but it then becomes a bureaucracy, takes more powers unto itself over time, etc. It also doesn't seem to be where the real power in the WW is located

[aberranteyes]

The Ministry can't determine who is performing magic, only that it has occurred and where. Sounds like Pureblood legislation. Gives their kids an advantage.

...Jeez, I hadn't thought of that. Sounds like the kind've thing that'd slide through the Wizengamot (wizarding parliament, Mike, intro'd in book 5) while they were fighting something blatant like, say, a bill to legalise hunting Muggles for sport.

[edido]

Yeah. From a law enforcement perspective, I don't think they are really able to detect Unforgivables either (a lot of people mention this in connection with undetected incidences like Harry's Crucio and Lucius' Imperius at the Ministry in OotP; Crouch Jr.'s many uses of Unforgivables at Hogwarts in GoF, etc). From how DD explains it in HBP, I would assume that it is near to impossible to figure out who is doing what spells in magical areas because everything is run on spells and charms.

The spell detection is in place in Muggle areas to guard The Statute of Secrecy and The Underage Restriction functions as a branch of it.

Horcruxes?

[anonymous]

All well and good, except Dumbledore does know what Horcruxes are for, and how they're used. Did he really need Slughorn's memory to put the pieces together?

I think that Dumbledore needed Slughorn's memory to figure out how many Horcruxes there were. Horcruxes are arcane, but multiple Horcruxes are literally unheard of, I gather.

I'm glad you enjoyed this chapter, because I enjoy your reviews even more when you do. *hopes you enjoy the rest of the book*

--Annika

Harry's Growing Stupidity

[anonymous]

I'm hoping that we learn that Voldemort's been messing with Harry's head (at the subconscious level) ever since he gained his new body at the end of book four. Before then, Harry wasn't the smartest kid at Hogwarts, but he wasn't nearly as bad as he is during HBP. There were times, while reading HBP, when I honestly wondered how Harry remembered to put his own clothes on right. Harry also seems to have grown weaker than he was, especially when you compare what he was capable of back near the end of book *three*.

To paraphrase our brave reviewer, books five and six remind me of what I can find on fanfiction.net. There are some good points, but you have to struggle through a lot of filler (and some ... other ... things) to find them.

The Apprentice

Re: Harry's Growing Stupidity

[merenwen_81]

Lord Thingy was trying to mess with Harry's head in book five and Harry could feel it. His scar would hurt all the time and he kept having feelings that werent his own and creepy dreams where people were getting tortured.

Re: Harry's Growing Stupidity

[anonymous]

Yes, but I'm talking about something more subtle than that. Something that would (on a pretty constant basis) cause Harry to act first and think much later (if ever).

I'm just trying to think of some reason (other than the author's desire, of course) why Harry's IQ (and common sense) seem to be *shrinking* since the end of book four.

The Apprentice