Chapter 24: Awakenings
Chapter 24: Awakenings
1. "--or did you think 'Ginny' was short for 'Gingivitis?'"
I was surprised that a lot of people thought this was genuinely funny. I was trying to insert what I thought would be perceived as somewhat lame humor--because it always strikes me as unrealistic for every person in something I'm reading to be equally witty and constantly spouting humorous one-liners. Fortunately, JKR doesn't do that. In canon, Ron's the one who's best at that sort of thing, although Harry's definitely inspired by his relatives to produce some rather cynically humourous lines. Hermione--not so much. This just struck me as something only she would find funny, due to her parents, but apparently some others thought it was too. Go figure. I'm probably not nearly as good at intentionally being funny--I tend to fall into it by accident (perhaps not unlike Hermione).
2. "For those of you in Gryffindor, the headmaster wishes you to know that you should report to the Great Hall for Charms class next period. Evidently, the substitute professor has decided to grace us with his presence early."
Of COURSE Snape doesn't care for him. Well, for that matter, a lot of other characters don't either...
3. Of course, Snape hadn't liked or trusted Sirius or Lupin, but after what Harry had seen in the Pensieve, he wasn't too surprised. (Snape seemed to be moving past that now.)
Massive miscalculation there on my part--JKR wasn't writing a Snape who was EVER going to "move past" these things. If he had it would have completely changed huge parts of her story.
4. But when he entered the Great Hall and saw who the teacher was, Harry was shocked. Dumbledore! No, wait, he thought; that's not Dumbledore...
Actually, Harry, it IS. (Well, it's a person with the name Dumbledore.)
5. "All charges were dropped, although it did keep the Daily Prophet gossip mill spinning for some time. And I still maintain that 'inappropriate' is in the eye of the beholder..."
I love that JKR included this in the books in the first place. "Inappropriate" charms on a goat! Good grief, what were we supposed to think? Yet another way her writing appeals to all ages--I'm sure that just sailed over kids' heads but had their parents busting a gut trying not to laugh at something they may not have been prepared to explain to their kids. Well, the parents with a sense of humor who didn't become enraged by this inclusion. (IMO, if you become enraged by things like this being in a book children are reading in droves you need to have your funny bone examined.)
6. I do specialize in Charms, of course. Or rather, a cross between Charms and Herbology and Animal Husbandry.
Charms and Animal Husbandry are an obvious combination that gives you Inappropriate Charms on a Goat. I wonder how many people noticed the Herbology part at first, though? I didn't want to put it in large red letters that would translate into CLUE CLUE CLUE CLUE CLUE.
7. Harry could function completely normally under the Inverso charm; even while having the sensation of hanging upside-down in the air, he could accurately point his wand at a target (after about thirty tries).
I did want to indicate that Harry's not a Gary Stu who does everything perfectly on the first try. This just seems like something that you need try over and over to get the hang of it. Thirty seemed about right, since it would be rather disorienting.
8. Dumbledore always seemed to be hiding--something. Harry would ask him questions, and he'd give answers, but they never seemed to be quite complete. Or he'd ask a question to which Dumbledore simply didn't want to give an answer, and Harry had to be content with that (although he usually wasn't).
While I made a massive miscalculation about where Snape was going in canon, and even though I didn't kill Dumbledore, this part, at least, is about right.
9. He saw Ginny look over her shoulder at him. He frowned; her expression was hard to read. He realized she had not joined in the hugging or back-slapping. She had kept her distance from him. She did believe he was innocent, didn't she? Could she have traveled out of the Great Hall in the pack with the other Gryffindors just to avoid calling attention to herself? Harry swallowed, watching her go, wishing her opinion did not mean so much to him. But that was something he could not help.
No, he really can't help it. :D
10. "He's sixteen years old, but this is only the fourth birthday he's ever had. Because it's the Leap Day! You know, it only rolls around once every four years."
Of course, in canon Neville's birthday is the day before Harry's and Ron's would actually be the day after February 29 (March 1). Oh well. I was working off the canon in the first four books at the time and I hadn't even heard the interview in which she gave September 19 as Hermione's birthday.
11. Harry saw that Neville and Ginny were dancing loosely as he and Hermione were. That was something of a relief, as it seemed to indicate they were still just friends. On the other hand, Harry thought, Hermione and I are not really just friends any more...
And yet there's a certain girl who's not Hermione who he can't help noticing every time she's around...
12. Parvati, on the other hand, was very pretty, attracted to Ron, and not exactly Ron's friend; a rejection or failed relationship with her wouldn't be the same as with Hermione.
Which was, I believe, exactly the reason that Ron went for Lavender in canon.
13. A large parchment went up in the entrance hall announcing a traditional Scottish ceilidh on the day of the Hogsmeade trip, to be held in the town hall where they'd gone to the opera. Admission would be ten Sickles. The well-known wizarding bagpipe group Screaming Haggis was on tour, and they were stopping in Hogsmeade after playing Glasgow and Edinburgh but before going up to the Orkneys.
I enjoyed creating Screaming Haggis and was absolutely tickled when a reader on the Yahoo group created a tour T-shirt for the group, complete with all of the towns on the tour (including Hogsmeade, of course).
14. A fourth-year Slytherin girl he didn't know asked him to the ceilidh. He turned her down. She had a thick Scottish burr and he could barely understand what she said. He did think, though, that it took guts for a Slytherin to ask him out.
This is the first mention of Mariah Kirkner, though not by name.
15. "I don't care how many girls throw themselves at you. I think I know you pretty well by now, Harry, and you haven't given me any reason to worry." She paused. "Well, except for one thing..."
"What?"
"Well--you do seem rather--odd about Malfoy and Ginny."
Nothing gets past Hermione, eh?
16. "...Fudge is still ignoring the root problem. There is yet to be anything in the Daily Prophet about the Dark Lord returning, or about these Muggle attacks. Let alone the Westminster tube station."
While I have a little bit of Ministry-denial going on, it's nowhere near the level of OotP, let alone the Harry-demonizing that went on in that.
17. There was also a silver-colored brooch with a lion's head in the middle, wearing a crown; it was flanked by a unicorn and a stag.
The Clan MacGregor crest simply seemed beyond perfect for Harry!
18. Hermione nodded, then started speaking rapidly. "You know, it's quite fascinating how most Scottish wizards didn't start wearing robes until the wearing of the tartan was outlawed after Culloden, in 1754. Before that, you couldn't really tell a Scottish Muggle from a wizard, unless you actually saw him Apparate or do some other kind of magic. And did you know that Robert the Bruce was actually a wizard? Well, of course, that explains Bannockburn. I mean, if he hadn't been a wizard...I've been reading this book from the library, 'Great Scottish Wizards', and it's just amazing how many of the really famous Scots were magical..."
Alicia and Katie rolled their eyes and rose to leave. Harry smiled. Hermione really knew how to clear a room when she wanted to (and sometimes, when she didn't want to). Of course, the really foolproof tactic was for her to start reciting 'Hogwarts: A History' verbatim, but any obscure book would do.
I love an opportunity to write Pedantic!Hermione. :D
19. Ron looked like he was pondering a question for the ages. "I think--that the sleeping will awake and feel refreshed. A curse will be lifted." Yeah, thought Harry; those of us sleeping in here will awake refreshed and the curse of being in Divination class will be lifted as soon as the bloody bell rings.
I also love the opportunity to do as JKR and make Ron an "accidental" seer when he's actually bullshitting his way through a lesson. Ha!
20. "And Harry--" Harry turned to him again. Aberforth winked one blue eye. "I'll see you soon." Then he closed the door to the infirmary.
Dun dun DUUUUN!
21. Harry put his head in his hands, trying not think of Ron and Parvati up in their dorm, and also trying not to think of Hermione thinking of it.
But she is. Oh, Hermione SO is...
1. "--or did you think 'Ginny' was short for 'Gingivitis?'"
I was surprised that a lot of people thought this was genuinely funny. I was trying to insert what I thought would be perceived as somewhat lame humor--because it always strikes me as unrealistic for every person in something I'm reading to be equally witty and constantly spouting humorous one-liners. Fortunately, JKR doesn't do that. In canon, Ron's the one who's best at that sort of thing, although Harry's definitely inspired by his relatives to produce some rather cynically humourous lines. Hermione--not so much. This just struck me as something only she would find funny, due to her parents, but apparently some others thought it was too. Go figure. I'm probably not nearly as good at intentionally being funny--I tend to fall into it by accident (perhaps not unlike Hermione).
2. "For those of you in Gryffindor, the headmaster wishes you to know that you should report to the Great Hall for Charms class next period. Evidently, the substitute professor has decided to grace us with his presence early."
Of COURSE Snape doesn't care for him. Well, for that matter, a lot of other characters don't either...
3. Of course, Snape hadn't liked or trusted Sirius or Lupin, but after what Harry had seen in the Pensieve, he wasn't too surprised. (Snape seemed to be moving past that now.)
Massive miscalculation there on my part--JKR wasn't writing a Snape who was EVER going to "move past" these things. If he had it would have completely changed huge parts of her story.
4. But when he entered the Great Hall and saw who the teacher was, Harry was shocked. Dumbledore! No, wait, he thought; that's not Dumbledore...
Actually, Harry, it IS. (Well, it's a person with the name Dumbledore.)
5. "All charges were dropped, although it did keep the Daily Prophet gossip mill spinning for some time. And I still maintain that 'inappropriate' is in the eye of the beholder..."
I love that JKR included this in the books in the first place. "Inappropriate" charms on a goat! Good grief, what were we supposed to think? Yet another way her writing appeals to all ages--I'm sure that just sailed over kids' heads but had their parents busting a gut trying not to laugh at something they may not have been prepared to explain to their kids. Well, the parents with a sense of humor who didn't become enraged by this inclusion. (IMO, if you become enraged by things like this being in a book children are reading in droves you need to have your funny bone examined.)
6. I do specialize in Charms, of course. Or rather, a cross between Charms and Herbology and Animal Husbandry.
Charms and Animal Husbandry are an obvious combination that gives you Inappropriate Charms on a Goat. I wonder how many people noticed the Herbology part at first, though? I didn't want to put it in large red letters that would translate into CLUE CLUE CLUE CLUE CLUE.
7. Harry could function completely normally under the Inverso charm; even while having the sensation of hanging upside-down in the air, he could accurately point his wand at a target (after about thirty tries).
I did want to indicate that Harry's not a Gary Stu who does everything perfectly on the first try. This just seems like something that you need try over and over to get the hang of it. Thirty seemed about right, since it would be rather disorienting.
8. Dumbledore always seemed to be hiding--something. Harry would ask him questions, and he'd give answers, but they never seemed to be quite complete. Or he'd ask a question to which Dumbledore simply didn't want to give an answer, and Harry had to be content with that (although he usually wasn't).
While I made a massive miscalculation about where Snape was going in canon, and even though I didn't kill Dumbledore, this part, at least, is about right.
9. He saw Ginny look over her shoulder at him. He frowned; her expression was hard to read. He realized she had not joined in the hugging or back-slapping. She had kept her distance from him. She did believe he was innocent, didn't she? Could she have traveled out of the Great Hall in the pack with the other Gryffindors just to avoid calling attention to herself? Harry swallowed, watching her go, wishing her opinion did not mean so much to him. But that was something he could not help.
No, he really can't help it. :D
10. "He's sixteen years old, but this is only the fourth birthday he's ever had. Because it's the Leap Day! You know, it only rolls around once every four years."
Of course, in canon Neville's birthday is the day before Harry's and Ron's would actually be the day after February 29 (March 1). Oh well. I was working off the canon in the first four books at the time and I hadn't even heard the interview in which she gave September 19 as Hermione's birthday.
11. Harry saw that Neville and Ginny were dancing loosely as he and Hermione were. That was something of a relief, as it seemed to indicate they were still just friends. On the other hand, Harry thought, Hermione and I are not really just friends any more...
And yet there's a certain girl who's not Hermione who he can't help noticing every time she's around...
12. Parvati, on the other hand, was very pretty, attracted to Ron, and not exactly Ron's friend; a rejection or failed relationship with her wouldn't be the same as with Hermione.
Which was, I believe, exactly the reason that Ron went for Lavender in canon.
13. A large parchment went up in the entrance hall announcing a traditional Scottish ceilidh on the day of the Hogsmeade trip, to be held in the town hall where they'd gone to the opera. Admission would be ten Sickles. The well-known wizarding bagpipe group Screaming Haggis was on tour, and they were stopping in Hogsmeade after playing Glasgow and Edinburgh but before going up to the Orkneys.
I enjoyed creating Screaming Haggis and was absolutely tickled when a reader on the Yahoo group created a tour T-shirt for the group, complete with all of the towns on the tour (including Hogsmeade, of course).
14. A fourth-year Slytherin girl he didn't know asked him to the ceilidh. He turned her down. She had a thick Scottish burr and he could barely understand what she said. He did think, though, that it took guts for a Slytherin to ask him out.
This is the first mention of Mariah Kirkner, though not by name.
15. "I don't care how many girls throw themselves at you. I think I know you pretty well by now, Harry, and you haven't given me any reason to worry." She paused. "Well, except for one thing..."
"What?"
"Well--you do seem rather--odd about Malfoy and Ginny."
Nothing gets past Hermione, eh?
16. "...Fudge is still ignoring the root problem. There is yet to be anything in the Daily Prophet about the Dark Lord returning, or about these Muggle attacks. Let alone the Westminster tube station."
While I have a little bit of Ministry-denial going on, it's nowhere near the level of OotP, let alone the Harry-demonizing that went on in that.
17. There was also a silver-colored brooch with a lion's head in the middle, wearing a crown; it was flanked by a unicorn and a stag.
The Clan MacGregor crest simply seemed beyond perfect for Harry!
18. Hermione nodded, then started speaking rapidly. "You know, it's quite fascinating how most Scottish wizards didn't start wearing robes until the wearing of the tartan was outlawed after Culloden, in 1754. Before that, you couldn't really tell a Scottish Muggle from a wizard, unless you actually saw him Apparate or do some other kind of magic. And did you know that Robert the Bruce was actually a wizard? Well, of course, that explains Bannockburn. I mean, if he hadn't been a wizard...I've been reading this book from the library, 'Great Scottish Wizards', and it's just amazing how many of the really famous Scots were magical..."
Alicia and Katie rolled their eyes and rose to leave. Harry smiled. Hermione really knew how to clear a room when she wanted to (and sometimes, when she didn't want to). Of course, the really foolproof tactic was for her to start reciting 'Hogwarts: A History' verbatim, but any obscure book would do.
I love an opportunity to write Pedantic!Hermione. :D
19. Ron looked like he was pondering a question for the ages. "I think--that the sleeping will awake and feel refreshed. A curse will be lifted." Yeah, thought Harry; those of us sleeping in here will awake refreshed and the curse of being in Divination class will be lifted as soon as the bloody bell rings.
I also love the opportunity to do as JKR and make Ron an "accidental" seer when he's actually bullshitting his way through a lesson. Ha!
20. "And Harry--" Harry turned to him again. Aberforth winked one blue eye. "I'll see you soon." Then he closed the door to the infirmary.
Dun dun DUUUUN!
21. Harry put his head in his hands, trying not think of Ron and Parvati up in their dorm, and also trying not to think of Hermione thinking of it.
But she is. Oh, Hermione SO is...