---“Harry’s woken the next morning by Tom and a cup of tea. Harry really does get to live the life of a Victorian gentleman, doesn’t he? What innkeeper in the Muggle world wakes customers with a cup of tea?”
Actually, I’ve stayed at the odd small establishment that has done just that – and I’ve NEVER become the saviour of my world, simply by standing still whilst a powerful megalomaniac learnt about the ancient magic of love the hard way ....
---“Harry says he’s not scared of Sirius since he couldn’t be any worse than Voldemort. Actually Harry, almost anyone would be worse than Voldemort as Voldemort’s an idiot.”
Ah – the good old days of PoA, when the threat of the return of Voldemort was far more frightening than the reality turned out to be, especially in DH. JKR should have taken the advice Walter Bagehot offered the British Royal Family. ”We must not let daylight in upon the magic” in other words, maintain that air of mystery and the unknown. Sadly, rather than keep him hidden in the shadows and only wheeling him out for brief confrontations, she thoroughly exposed him. Even worse, via Harry’s Voldiecam we frequently saw exactly what he was thinking – and it wasn’t good. The lack of mystery meant no fear or apprehension – especially as he turned out to be a right useless w*nker.
---“Neither Harry nor Hermione are apologetic about Ron’s very rude dismissal of his sister. Maybe if you all had treated the first Ginny nicer we wouldn’t have been subjected to the improved version!”
I think she sounded a little brattish, understandable in the only girl *and* the youngest, but maybe a prelude to the horrors to come. Also, if Ginny had been drained slowly and painfully of life by Tom Riddle in CoS, *before* she could be saved, that would also have ensured we didn’t get that hideous jock/cheerleader combined of HBP...
---“Ginny was shaking like mad because she, too, has met Voldemort. SOULMATES!”
If JKR had played on this more, it’d have been totally convincing. After Christmas in OotP, I don’t remember it mattering again. Instead, Luna was convincingly given the understanding outsider role that would surely be catnip to someone like Harry.
---“Seriously, Harry, that’s not a good reason to respect someone. That just means they’re good at manipulating people.”
This could have been dealt with so well. The series follows a character from childhood to young adulthood. A child *would* see a manipulative old git as someone strong and trustworthy, even as adult outsiders (us!) knew that the reason he always knew what was going on, was because he was the one manipulating events around him. It would have been interesting to see a gradual understanding on Harry’s part due to HIM changing – Dumbledore never does. Harry the man would surely see everything differently than Harry the child and child readers would gradually realise the same thing along with him. Sadly Harry’s doubt was abrupt and limited to the Tent. He didn’t even resolve his feelings, he just seemed to forget them. Albus Severus my arse.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-02-26 11:18 pm (UTC)Actually, I’ve stayed at the odd small establishment that has done just that – and I’ve NEVER become the saviour of my world, simply by standing still whilst a powerful megalomaniac learnt about the ancient magic of love the hard way ....
---“Harry says he’s not scared of Sirius since he couldn’t be any worse than Voldemort. Actually Harry, almost anyone would be worse than Voldemort as Voldemort’s an idiot.”
Ah – the good old days of PoA, when the threat of the return of Voldemort was far more frightening than the reality turned out to be, especially in DH. JKR should have taken the advice Walter Bagehot offered the British Royal Family. ”We must not let daylight in upon the magic” in other words, maintain that air of mystery and the unknown. Sadly, rather than keep him hidden in the shadows and only wheeling him out for brief confrontations, she thoroughly exposed him. Even worse, via Harry’s Voldiecam we frequently saw exactly what he was thinking – and it wasn’t good. The lack of mystery meant no fear or apprehension – especially as he turned out to be a right useless w*nker.
---“Neither Harry nor Hermione are apologetic about Ron’s very rude dismissal of his sister. Maybe if you all had treated the first Ginny nicer we wouldn’t have been subjected to the improved version!”
I think she sounded a little brattish, understandable in the only girl *and* the youngest, but maybe a prelude to the horrors to come. Also, if Ginny had been drained slowly and painfully of life by Tom Riddle in CoS, *before* she could be saved, that would also have ensured we didn’t get that hideous jock/cheerleader combined of HBP...
---“Ginny was shaking like mad because she, too, has met Voldemort. SOULMATES!”
If JKR had played on this more, it’d have been totally convincing. After Christmas in OotP, I don’t remember it mattering again. Instead, Luna was convincingly given the understanding outsider role that would surely be catnip to someone like Harry.
---“Seriously, Harry, that’s not a good reason to respect someone. That just means they’re good at manipulating people.”
This could have been dealt with so well. The series follows a character from childhood to young adulthood. A child *would* see a manipulative old git as someone strong and trustworthy, even as adult outsiders (us!) knew that the reason he always knew what was going on, was because he was the one manipulating events around him. It would have been interesting to see a gradual understanding on Harry’s part due to HIM changing – Dumbledore never does. Harry the man would surely see everything differently than Harry the child and child readers would gradually realise the same thing along with him. Sadly Harry’s doubt was abrupt and limited to the Tent. He didn’t even resolve his feelings, he just seemed to forget them. Albus Severus my arse.