(no subject)
I posted a lot of this in Magpie's Chapter analysis, but rather than spam her relentlessly any more, I've put it here.
So anything in italics is quotes, first from her then the books. I'm sure you can tell the difference! ;)
In reply to Teh Magpie :
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Hermione tells Harry that Dumbledore was furious about Mundungus leaving his post and leaving Harry to Dementors and thus ruining his otherwise foolproof genius plan.
How dare you suggest Dumbledore's plan is faulty?! Even though he was the one who selected Mundungus to guard in the first place, presumably knowing that he's an unreliable petty criminal?
(Maybe he thought Harry would meet him and grow to love him as he does alot of the people who show themselves to be 'above' petty things like the law?)
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Harry making it clear he's now taking credit for everything he's done in the past and yes, he does feel superior to his friends.
I love the part where he's all 'I DON'T WANT PEOPLE TO WORSHIP ME!' and Hermione's all 'No, no, of course not, eek, I'm sorry, Master!' Way to prove your point, there.
And of course the great contrast with the DA (looking forward to that chapter, not) when Harry's all 'Little ole me? Nah, it was you guys, you're the stars!' *blush, etc.*
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Hermione really starts to seem like a grown woman here with her tears and fretting and, "I would've been furious if it had been me."
I'd like Hermione about 600x more if she didn't constantly cave/cry whenever the boys challenge her.
I understand it, it's IC and it's very sensitive and mature blah blah of her not to snap back, but it's also kind of spineless and for someone who's supposedly the most 'feminist' role model this series has, it's a little pathetic to see her yielding to Ron and Harry's judgement so frequently.
And of course, she has to understand their feelings so perfectly, because all fifteen year old girls are known for their emotional intuition.
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Does Dumbledore spell them to forget they have a daughter?
These are the parents who presumably had no idea their daughter was in hospital repeatedly in her second year, for long stretches at a time; and who have no access to said daughter for nine months of the year.
One would think if Hermione is the example of why one should be proud of their roots, she'd actually, you know, interact with her family instead of being some kind of adopted pureblooded Weasley.
And there's the 'You're right, Harry' contrasting with 'Well, Dumbledore says X about house-elves', which baffles me. Surely if Dumbledore can be wrong about Harry's being left out, his word on other subjects can't be automatically assumed to be gospel just because it was him that said it.
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When Harry is feeling angry, inflicting pain on others makes him feel a bit better. Clearly signs of someone not at all capable of casting crucio. At least, not the bad kind of crucio.
No, silly! Wanting to inflict pain on people, whether they're your friends or enemies is normal and justified, if you'd ever suffered like poor Harry blah blah.
Except when it's the baddies who want to inflict pain on people (indeed, Voldemort punishes his loyal followers as often as his enemies)
Then it's horrific and inhumane. Or something.
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Ginny seems to now consider Bill the cool one, as his opinion on Snape settles the matter.
Of course Bill is cool! He wears boots and has a ponytail! And Harry thinks so, too!
He's a Not!Bad!Boy in the style of Sirius.
AJHalluk wrote an interesting post about Ginny's relationship with her brothers, it's in my mems...
I think it's pre OotP, though, and doesn't refer to Bill.
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Fred and George comment on Harry's capslock.
The only time I warmed to Fred and George (and warming to me, is not actively wishing for their deaths) is here and the part where they criticise Sirius.
It appears I'm extremely malleable and will like anyone who's impolite to characters I dislike.
Perhaps I'm a Gryffindor at heart? *kills self*
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According to Harry, Percy did not do well with his last promotion, because he "committed the fairly large oversight of failing to notice his boss was being controlled by Voldemort." Actually, this oversight puts Percy on par with the wisest of wizards, Albus Dumbledore, who has failed to notice the exact same thing...and spent the last year not only not noticing his old friend was a Death Eater, but that he was actually somebody else.
And of course, Dumbledore knew that Moody, whether his old friend or not; was actively endangering students and breaking laws, whereas not noticing regarding Crouch didn't directly result in the casting of Unforgiveables upon children, gross teacher-student abuse, and fourteen year olds being taught Unforgiveables. (I can't remember GoF's "plotting" very well, though.)
This is the kind of smug retro-continuity that bugs me so much about the main perspective of these books.
It actually reminds me of the part in which Harry's recalling how cowardly Malfoy was in the forest (Are you surprised at how many parallels I can find between bits-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-my-favourites and bits-that-include-them? ;) and I was like WTF? But Harry wasn't 'brave' either, surely his memory is faulty?
If in this case, not noticing that someone in a professional relationship to you is being controlled by Voldemort, that doesn't reflect wildly well on the Trio either, considering they championed Quirrell and Moody.
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Percy came home pleased to be promoted (boo hiss)
Why, that's a sign of ambition! Crush it! Everyone should be happy at having a low-paying job that deprives their dependents and fulfills their exact interests, and things like obeying the law when one is employed in law enforcement? Pshaw! Not for Arthur, the example Percy should follow.
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Arthur said it was only to spy on Arthur.
Very in keeping with the 'goodies' way of thinking: It's All About Me! No-one could possibly have any use for Percy because they don't, and any use others find must Sekritly be connected to Arthur.
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I'm surprised at how mean it seems to be assumed to be that Percy would yell at his father for his impoverished upbringing, since it seems to me that would be normal in a family like this.
It seems kind of similiar to the Crouch thing, with everyone in that case being horrified that being family to a judge doesn't immediately earn someone an acquittal, regardless of innocence or lack thereof.
Everybody knows the reason why the Weasleys are poor, but woe betide anyone who mentions it aloud, because Being Family means pretending the people you love are perfect.
(Unless your family is Percy.
Or Draco's. Or Marietta's. Or Sirius'.)
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Harry remembers he's always liked Percy least (Harry's moral compass never fails him), but is offended that Percy doesn't consider his word to be proof of Voldemort's return.
Yeah, I liked that. "Even though I dislike Percy and consider him a joke like everyone else, he should of course believe me. It's Me. TBWL!"
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(Harry's) not likely to forget Rita Skeeter's stories about him , which I love because he later reveals he forgot Ginny was possessed by Voldemort and almost killed some people. Hee.
But that didn't directly affect him, apart from the end!
I wonder about Harry's selective memory, again, actually.
Perhaps his recollection of CoS is Ron and Hermione saying 'Fuck you, Hero, do it alone, ha ha!' and him, running in slow-motion a la Baywatch, with a pumping soundtrack dubbed over?
And Ginny's face blurred as Female Victim, while lights reflect off his bulging muscles as he bravely battles, while Tom snivels helplessly against him?
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Hermione assures Harry he won't be expelled if "they abide by their own laws." I pause to try to think of anyone in this world who abides by their own laws and realize nobody does, including the person speaking.
Um... *thinks* Oh, crap. The Giant Squid?
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Ginny proves she's super cool again by unblushingly telling her mother Crookshanks left toys all over the floor when it was really her--she lies to her mother! OMG so kule!!11 Even if it's the type of lie usually more associated with a six-year-old! I think instead of lying about it she should have just picked the damn things up instead of leaving them there for Mummy to clean.
And her wailing 'Mum, I want to hear!' as if she's two. Why is Ginny always younger than her age?
Even in GoF, she falls asleep (discussing the sport that sekritly fascinates her, of course); like a toddler.
Ginny strikes me as JKR's style of feminist, in that it's alright for other women such as Mum to pick up after her, but woe betide she have to do anything, because personal responsibility isn't Girl Power. Or something.
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Harry continues to be furious with Dumbledore and I hope this isn't supposed to be a sign that Voldemort is working within him, because I'm tired of always being the bad guy.
Here I was torn. My loathing for Harry over my loathing for Dumbledore.
What annoys me more, Dumbledore's lack of regard for any other person but himself, his awe-inspiring stupidity and God complex or Harry's huge, gravity-defying ego that demands every single person on the planet make him their motivation for all their actions?
I don't know who wins, but the losers are the audience.
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Sirius and his mother definitely seem like family. I really hate the interpretation where Sirius is this abused outcast in his own house growing up instead of probably taking after her.
I think I feel sorriest for Mr. Black and Regulus, who I imagined ducked under the table at mealtimes, waiting for a cease-fire.
My own Chapter Four points
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Harry...screwed up his eyes at the noise.
Eh?
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'They haven't even reported that you broke the International Statute of Secrecy. We thought they would, it would tie in so well with this image of you as some stupid show-off.'
Heh, that's a fairly backhanded reassurance! ;)
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'We know, Harry,' said Ginny earnestly.
Ginny always knows, of course. She knew that Harry 'didn't want all that (fame)' in CoS, despite having known him for approximately two weeks.
Recurring problem with the HP books I seem to be having - every 'good' character is consisted a trusted source on any topic, whether or not they know anything about it.
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'Fudge is behind it, I'll bet anything.'
Fudge was the one believing the stories, not demanding them, if I remember GoF accurately.
And of course, the Minister has nothing more important on his mind than slating Harry. It's not as if running the Wizarding World is as important as affecting Harry, whom said world seems to revolve around.
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'Oh, no, she's kept her promise - not that she's got any choice,' Hermione added with satisfaction.
Cute. I remember pre-OotP hoping for some kind of resolution to the Skeeter storyline, an idea Red Hen developed.
http://www.redhen-publications.com/Skeeter.html
Mind you, I hoped the same thing about the train hexings, so...
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'Percy said the only evidence was your word and ... I dunno ... he didn't think it was good enough.'
'Percy takes the Daily Prophet seriously...'
Of course, every person who doesn't support Harry and the Order is gullible and has to be actively picking sides. Just like all the Death Eaters are drooling evil racists.
Nobody could possibly have actual intellectual reasons for not fangirling Dumbledore/Harry.
Well, Zacharias does, until of course Harry!Stu reduces him to 'a stupid look' with his sharp "wit".
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'He said...that Dumbledore was heading for big trouble and Dad was going to go down with him,'
Apt prediction, considering the snake bite.
I'm sure Percy will experience his own fair share of suffering before he 'sees the light', however. Joy.
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'He's always thought Dad's a bit of a weirdo because of his Muggle obsession.'
It's repeatedly established (GoF, CoS) that the reason Arthur doesn't succeed professionally is his soft spot for Muggles, as opposed to any flaws he may possess, with only the Malfoys and Percy so far offering a dissenting opinion.
Which is why they are Teh Kewliest ;)
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'I think we're well shot of him,' said George, with an uncharacteristically ugly look on his face.
The words 'evil' and 'lethal' are also used as adjectives for the twins and their pranks.
As well as the repetition of 'ugly':
Fred, with a very ugly look on his face, 'I would've pounded the little scumbag to a pulp if you three hadn't been holding me back.'
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'Remember old Fleur Delacour?' said George. 'She's got a job at Gringotts to eemprove 'er Eeenglish -'
'And Bill's been giving her a lot of private lessons,' sniggered Fred.
Bit of casual mocking there of Fleur's nationality/accent.
As with Arthur's patronising attitude towards Muggles, if you skew the situation slightly and pretend that Fleur is say, African and have George speaking in ebonics, it's not quite as amusing.
Most of the Hogwarts students have fairly innocent, childish attitudes to romance, as is common with privately educated children, or so I hear.
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'And some of them are standing guard over something,' said Ron.'
'Couldn't have been me, could it?' said Harry sarcastically.
Couldn't be anything else, could it?
Harry's self-centred attitude is sadly, fairly justified by everyone around him.
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''So we don't know the details - but we've got a general idea,' she added hastily, seeing the look on Harry's face.
'What is this place, anyway?' he shot at Ron and Hermione.
'Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix,' said Ron at once.
Gosh, Hermione and Ron are well-trained aren't they?
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'No,' Harry lied defiantly.
For someone so horrified at having his word doubted and at his (admittedly terrible) punishment for lying, Harry does seem to do it quite a bit, and not just in OotP. Ironic.
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'He was so angry,' said Hermione, in an almost awestruck voice. 'Dumbledore. We saw him. When he found out Mundungus had left before his shift had ended. He was scary.'
Another reference to Dumbledore being frightening.
His emotions seem only to be aroused (ew) by Harry, who is the reason behind both his 'scary' anger and his crocodile tears later.
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'I've looked it all up, they can't expel you, they just can't, there's provision in the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery for the use of magic in life-threatening situations -'
The issue I have with Hermione's knowledge, is again, a recurring one that occurs pre-OotP, and that is that she decides what she wants to 'prove' before researching, giving her a blind perspective.
Like with the house elves in GoF and Buckbeak in PoA, Hermione already knows what she wants from the law, and ignores any evidence that may contrast with said desires.