PoA Chapter Twenty

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

The image of all of these guys coming down the stairs is pretty hilarious and creepy at the same time.

As they creep awkwardly back in the tunnel I find myself thinking it’s too bad they don’t have cell phones. Then I think this probably would have been a good moment for Lupin or someone to send a Patronus to Dumbledore to tell them to have people there to meet them outside the tunnel. Too bad Patronuses don’t work that way yet.

Sirius makes no effort to prevent Snape’s head from bumping along the tunnel. Which is understandable at the moment, but I’m sure Snape’s been described doing things gently in that kind of circumstance. This is the kind of thing that seems like JKR making some subtle point but in the end I don’t think she is. It’s just funny when Sirius or the Twins is petty this way.

Some sort of explosion takes place in Harry’s stomach when Sirius asks to live together. For a moment I fear Harry’s going to do something really messy and wonder if the Shrieking Shack has a working loo, but it turns out he’s just overcome emotionally.

Oh Sirius, you’ve totally done it now. You want to actually be Harry’s family? Dumbledore’s not having that!

Oh look, the full moon. Good thing you all knocked out Snape since he would have no doubt been yapping about it for the past fifteen minutes, thus keeping Lupin from leaving the Shack with you all.

And certainly keeping Lupin from chaining himself to people with broken legs. He might as well be chaining himself to a hickory-smoked ham.

Anyway, without Snape obviously Lupin’s going to forget about the full moon and being a werewolf tonight. He’s been too busy rushing through the tunnel where he almost killed somebody as a werewolf to the house that was built to house him while he was a werewolf, reuniting with his friends at school who became Animagi to hang with him while he was a werewolf and confessing how he’s a werewolf until he was interrupted by the guy he almost killed as a werewolf who’s yelling about how they tried to kill him in the very tunnel that connects to this very house with this very werewolf who btw forgot to take his werewolf Potion tonight.

Maybe he should have written it on his hand.

Btw, apparently Lupin can walk around just fine under the full moon if it’s covered by clouds. Which would indicate that all he has to do to get around his curse is to stay indoors and away from windows for three nights a month. Or carry a parasol.

Actually, I feel like the moon coming from behind the clouds should probably be a Jabootu thing. In werewolf movies the moon always rises by emerging from behind the clouds that part like a curtain and begin the transformation.

Go Peter! Look, I’m sorry, I know he’s evil but the guy’s a survivor!

I wonder if Peter had remembered the full moon and was waiting his chance, in fact. Rats have to think about these things.

Harry trying to cast his Patronus here while Sirius cowers is pretty great. Nothing bad to say about this bit, really.

Well, except that I’m not sure why Sirius is a man here. He was last seen as a dog and he said Dementors don’t bother dogs. Did he turn into a human just as they snuck up on him Stealth Monster style? There’s a hundred of them and you can feel the coming a ways off.

Harry’s using the thought that he’s going to live with Sirius to cast his Patronus. Nice the way that Dumbledore’s excellent plans for Sirius in OotP effectively take away that greatest hope for both of them (meaning Sirius and Harry) here. Not in this book, I mean, but later.

Really, the whole way that Dumbledore inserts himself as Harry’s awesome mentor and father figure is one of the ickiest things in the series. I guess because it’s not even presented as something he’s doing on purpose, but it plays like a barely-conscious impulses that show so clearly through the character. (Choices show who we are.) Sirius is like the anti-Dumbledore, and he dies trying to be Harry’s family and escape Dumbledore’s horrible home for him.

Dumbledore puts Harry in a horrible family too. But he does tease them for ten minutes so that makes it okay.

Seriously, let’s review: Dumbledore takes James’ invisibility cloak when the family’s in hiding, which might have helped them a little. He intentionally places Harry with a family that hates him (making him a little underfed but not a pampered prince!). He gives evidence against innocent Sirius. He doesn’t curb Snape’s behavior or try to make peace between them. He insists Sirius live in the childhood home of his nightmares. And he apologizes…for being the guy who’s so squishy about Harry he gave him the house cup and didn’t tell him he was planning to have him killed because he wanted him to be happy.

The Weasleys are damn lucky they’re loyal enough that Dumbledore didn’t feel threatened by them, and that they had so many children he could feel relatively secure that Harry couldn’t get too much personal attention from them no matter how much they wanted to give it.

Harry and Hermione could very well have died here. Harry’s not even supposed to know how to do a Patronus. I mention it because of what it says about the safety of the school that Molly had such faith in at the start. The place is literally crawling with soul-suckers that eat students as easily as convicts, and Dumbledore’s making faces about how frustrated this makes him really doesn’t make him any less in charge.

Of course, had Harry and Hermione been eaten I’m sure everybody would have talked about how it was their own fault, really, for being out past curfew. The Dementors are only following their instincts. Nothing unsafe about it if the students would just do what they’re supposed to do. Didn’t they listen to the instructions about not going out after dark?

Short chapter this time. The next one’s going to be interminable, though.

Things that happen twice:
First mention of a unicorn, I think. Harry apparently thinks they’re bright. They’ll show up for real in the next book.
No the use of a Patronus to call ahead and tell people you’re coming, something that will be pretty standard starting in I think GoF.
Peter escapes pretty much the way he escaped the first time.
The whole walk back from the shack echoes the Prank.
The Patronus galloping through the woods is reminiscent of Snape’s silver doe in DH.
Ron’s out, then Hermione’s out and Harry faces things alone, reminding me of PS/SS.

It’s a gun. No it isn’t! It’s Chekov! No it isn’t!
Sirius asking Harry to live with him
Status: Not fired. Albus bent the muzzle of the gun to prevent it.
If you thought Harry might get a happy ending with Sirius, stop.

Something exploded in Harry’s chest
Status: Fired!
That was his chest monster hatching in his stomach, from which it will migrate to his chest in HBP.




Atomic Grenade
Hermione has no idea what Peter did to Ron. Always handy with the atomic grenade, that Peter!

The Cricket Rule / Day-for-Night
Don’t think any of these are going to remind Lupin he’s walking around under a full moon as a werewolf, though…

Exploitation Filmmakers’ Credo
…even though Snape just reminded it of him a few minutes ago.

One Radio Rule
No, really, Lupin. Don’t use that Patronus to make sure there’s a guard waiting to take Peter on the other end of the tunnel.

Spring-Loaded Cat
Peter finally gets back at Crookshanks by spring-loading him right off the ground and knocking him out.

Jabootu Score: 6

Comments

[oryx_leucoryx]

Too bad Patronuses don’t work that way yet.

Sigh

Sirius makes no effort to prevent Snape’s head from bumping along the tunnel. Which is understandable at the moment, but I’m sure Snape’s been described doing things gently in that kind of circumstance.

As we shall see in the very next chapter.

Oh Sirius, you’ve totally done it now. You want to actually be Harry’s family? Dumbledore’s not having that!

Will happen again in OOTP - there Harry will ask to live with Sirius if he gets expelled and Sirius will say something about how awful the Dursleys must be for Harry to prefer 12GP to living with them.

And certainly keeping Lupin from chaining himself to people with broken legs. He might as well be chaining himself to a hickory-smoked ham.

What the hell were Remus and Sirius thinking?

I wonder if Peter had remembered the full moon and was waiting his chance, in fact. Rats have to think about these things.

Peter does tend to have his wits about him more than the average wizard.

Well, except that I’m not sure why Sirius is a man here. He was last seen as a dog and he said Dementors don’t bother dogs. Did he turn into a human just as they snuck up on him Stealth Monster style? There’s a hundred of them and you can feel the coming a ways off.

This is related to how he 'discovered' he could transform in his cell, and how he doesn't quite understand how he escaped from Azkaban. Looks like the presence of too many dementors makes it hard for him to remember which shape he is supposed to be in?

Harry’s using the thought that he’s going to live with Sirius to cast his Patronus. Nice the way that Dumbledore’s excellent plans for Sirius in OotP effectively take away that greatest hope for both of them (meaning Sirius and Harry) here.

It seems that by OOTP Sirius was told that Harry was not allowed to make any place but 4PD his home. Note his reaction to Harry asking to move in with him if he gets expelled.

He intentionally places Harry with a family that hates him

And though he had Mrs Figg reporting to him he does nothing to intervene - Oh, and Mrs Figg is a squib so she can't intervene magically either. (Yet we see how even the slightest intervention improves Harry's conditions when he is moved to a bedroom.)

He doesn’t curb Snape’s behavior or try to make peace between them.

On the contrary - the spin Dumbledore puts on Severus' motivation in PS is just the one likely to make things worse. Why not tell Harry Severus was protecting him as part of his job as a teacher? Or as an assignment from Dumbledore? No, it has to be so he could hate James' memory in peace. Argh!

Harry and Hermione could very well have died here.

Dumbledore isn't too worried because he already saw the time-traveling Harry&Hermione outside Hagrid's hut. He also may have seen time-traveling Harry's Patronus from the castle (though not yet).

First mention of a unicorn, I think.

In PS the kids were helping Hagrid track a unicorn-killer.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

What the hell were Remus and Sirius thinking?

This is possibly the most hilarious. Too bad nobody's bad werewolf prejudice didn't kick in and say "nobody should be chained to him."

It seems that by OOTP Sirius was told that Harry was not allowed to make any place but 4PD his home. Note his reaction to Harry asking to move in with him if he gets expelled.

The blood protection spell is pretty much the only thing that keeps Dumbledore from being the villain of the piece. Though unfortunately it never seems all that hard working until the first chapters of DH. Harry leaves the house all the time and spends time with the Weasleys.

But still, it would have been nice to set up something so it was clear that Harry's real home was with Sirius even if he wasn't there all the time. And he could go there once Voldemort was dead.

And though he had Mrs Figg reporting to him he does nothing to intervene - Oh, and Mrs Figg is a squib so she can't intervene magically either. (Yet we see how even the slightest intervention improves Harry's conditions when he is moved to a bedroom.)

And Mrs. Figg intentionally makes sure Harry doesn't even like visiting her house.

Dumbledore isn't too worried because he already saw the time-traveling Harry&Hermione outside Hagrid's hut. He also may have seen time-traveling Harry's Patronus from the castle (though not yet).

Didn't even think of that! But my point was more that obviously these Dementors really were a menace this whole time. If it had been any other kid than Harry with the special lessons in Patronus and Hermione with the Time Turner, they'd have been screwed!

In PS the kids were helping Hagrid track a unicorn-killer.

D'oh! You're right!

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

Dumbledore isn't too worried because he already saw the time-traveling Harry&Hermione outside Hagrid's hut.

He did? Are you sure?

It would make perfect sense, of course, but that's something I didn't pick up on my one read of the book back in, uhm, 2001 I think.

[oryx_leucoryx]

OK, I'm not sure he saw them but he knew Buckbeak had escaped and not many people could have done that (or cared to do it). I think he put 2 and 2 together and realized Hermione and her time turner were involved.

[the-bitter-word.livejournal.com]

Then I think this probably would have been a good moment for Lupin or someone to send a Patronus to Dumbledore to tell them to have people there to meet them outside the tunnel.

They're still in secret-keeping mode at this moment. Everyone's in secret-keeping mode most of the time, unless it's near the end of the book and exposition happens, or death, or both.

Some sort of explosion takes place in Harry’s stomach when Sirius asks to live together.

Harry sure has funny ways of reacting to emotions of love: stomach explosions, chest monsters. I mean... eww.

He might as well be chaining himself to a hickory-smoked ham.

Best description of Ron ever. But seriously, why didn't Lupin stay in the Shack to transform? Was it really necessary for him to leave? They could have even left unconscious Snape there to keep him company, finishing off Black's supposedly harmless prank. I'm sure nobody but Snape would have had a problem with that.

Btw, apparently Lupin can walk around just fine under the full moon if it’s covered by clouds.

Yeah, dumb. Meanwhile, Greyback can choose to remain a werewolf most of the time. Like, what?

Go Peter! Look, I’m sorry, I know he’s evil but the guy’s a survivor!

Then he goes to Voldemort. I know he fears that the Marauders will track him down, but it seems there must have been better ways for him to handle the situation. If he can go to Romania or wherever, why not Tierro del Fuego or British Columbia?

Well, except that I’m not sure why Sirius is a man here. He was last seen as a dog and he said Dementors don’t bother dogs.

Another good observation! I guess he's too distraught/wounded (movie contamination, probably).

Really, the whole way that Dumbledore inserts himself as Harry’s awesome mentor and father figure is one of the ickiest things in the series.

What kills Dumbledore for me is that, in a series that is supposed to be about courage and sticking with loved ones, Dumbledore is a coward who uses others as human shields, and is close to no-one, except the one he can't resist, or so he says. Perhaps we are supposed to see him admit his faults at King's Cross in DH, but... he was even creepier in that scene, as far as I am concerned, tears glistening, angling for compliments and approval.

Lots of great insights here!

[the-bitter-word.livejournal.com]

Tierra del Fuego, sorry.

[oryx_leucoryx]

Btw, apparently Lupin can walk around just fine under the full moon if it’s covered by clouds.

Yeah, dumb. Meanwhile, Greyback can choose to remain a werewolf most of the time. Like, what?

There are many different ways to handle werewolves in a story, but whatever an author chooses, stick to one clear set of rules, please!

[the-bitter-word.livejournal.com]

There's a werewolf cub discussion happening on HPfGU -- do they exist, did Hagrid keep them under his bed, or did VM lie? This ties into the never-ending discussion re: territesting's post on Snapedom about Lupin fathering children and his fears that his kids would inherit his condition.

Like Dark Magic, House-elf power, Secret-Keeping, and other things I'm forgetting, I guess werewolves inhabit a big tent where any variant can be called up depending on the needs of the plot.

[lynn-waterfall.livejournal.com]

Something occurred to me recently, regarding the Marauders' monthly excursions: the first time they set Remus loose, do you think they asked him before he transformed what he thought of the idea? Or was it a "surprise"?

Once Remus was in his wolf form, of course, he automatically wanted to get free.

It could change the dynamic, a bit, if that's what happened. I can certainly believe that James and Sirius would do that, and it would kind of put Remus in an awkward position. Even more awkward than those guys just knowing he's a werewolf, that is.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

They're still in secret-keeping mode at this moment. Everyone's in secret-keeping mode most of the time, unless it's near the end of the book and exposition happens, or death, or both.

Wow. That is totally what it is!

Best description of Ron ever.

LOL! I hope Madderbrad will like it.:-) Maybe "Hickory" can become Ron's new nickname.

But seriously, why didn't Lupin stay in the Shack to transform? Was it really necessary for him to leave?

As far as I can tell...no reason whatsoever. You could, I guess, say it was a good idea to have some other adult with them because the appearance of knocked out Snape and Sirius Black might cause people to panic, but if that other adult is a wolf at the time...not so much.

Then he goes to Voldemort. I know he fears that the Marauders will track him down, but it seems there must have been better ways for him to handle the situation. If he can go to Romania or wherever, why not Tierro del Fuego or British Columbia?

That really is ridiculous given Peter's character. He could live anywhere in the Muggle world and probably never have to worry again. Why resurrect the guy he never stopped fearing? It's like he suddenly decided he had to appear to be a loyal DE. But then again, it does seem to be JKR's position that cowardice makes you a DE, period, so it probably made sense to her.

What kills Dumbledore for me is that, in a series that is supposed to be about courage and sticking with loved ones, Dumbledore is a coward who uses others as human shields, and is close to no-one, except the one he can't resist, or so he says.

So much about Dumbledore undermines what the books are ostensibly about!

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

Best description of Ron ever.

LOL! I hope Madderbrad will like it.:-)

I loved it. :-)

Of course book #3 is a great book for H/Hr fans ... it's all golden from this point through to the end, solid Harry and Hermione working as a great team once they manage to lose Hickory.

[oryx_leucoryx]

Why does Peter even bother with Remus' wand and hexing Ron and Crookshanks? Why not just transform and run? Anyway, since Peter grabbed Remus' wand and Harry then disarmed Peter does that reverse Remus' disarming of Harry? Because Peter became the master of all of Remus' wands (ie the trio's) and then Harry became the master of all those wands? So is he now the master of Hermione and Ron's wands? Is that why he is the better dueler of the three? Does Remus need a new wand now? Or dose the fact that Remus dropped the wand when he transformed mean he was not defeated by Peter, so nothing I said here meant anything? Yes, I know I am being difficult.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Good pont. But yup, looks like he's in charge of Remus's wand now so...does that mean he's also got the wands its disarmed? Actually I do think it doesn't count if he dropped it. That's why Bartie never got Harry's wand. Basically nobody ever gets Harry's wand.

[oryx_leucoryx]

I thought Barty lifted Harry's wand out of his pocket? Harry thought he had dropped it, but he didn't know how long the wand was missing. But I suppose it only counts if you take the wand out of a person's hand (whether physically of magically)?

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

The image of all of these guys coming down the stairs is pretty hilarious and creepy at the same time.

It's seriously hard to imagine how the hell that tunnel is supposed to work. Harry and Hermione had to bend over to fit through it, but Snape is floating a few inches off the ground. Vertically. (Of course, we learn in DH that Snape is short, so go figure....)

And it's wide enough for Lupin, Peter, and Ron to move through at the same time? I wonder if Steve Kloves was tearing his hair out trying to figure out how to write those sequences for the film. They ended up changing most of it. For example, Snape was left in the Shack (conveniently knock into a comfortable bed.

Too bad Patronuses don’t work that way yet.

Hey! Yeah.... why I oughta.... Okay, if I were JKR, I'd be going "D'oh!" right about now.

This is the kind of thing that seems like JKR making some subtle point but in the end I don’t think she is. It’s just funny when Sirius or the Twins is petty this way.

Yes. I think it's just her thinking Sirius is funny. The worst thing Snape does is gag the unconscious Sirius. Which (irl) is not a good thing to do with an unconscious person (Airway! Breathing! Circulation!), but it's kind of understandable when you're dealing with someone who can change themselves into a dog at will--or do other magical things.

Bumping unconscious person's head into the top of the tunnel? Not smart. I think you described it best: Petty.

Oh Sirius, you’ve totally done it now. You want to actually be Harry’s family? Dumbledore’s not having that!

And to think that all this time I was blaming JKR for that one...

Anyway, without Snape obviously Lupin’s going to forget about the full moon and being a werewolf tonight. He’s been too busy rushing through the tunnel where he almost killed somebody as a werewolf to the house that was built to house him while he was a werewolf, reuniting with his friends at school who became Animagi to hang with him while he was a werewolf and confessing how he’s a werewolf until he was interrupted by the guy he almost killed as a werewolf who’s yelling about how they tried to kill him in the very tunnel that connects to this very house with this very werewolf who btw forgot to take his werewolf Potion tonight.

I just had to pull this quote out to praise you for constructing this paragraph so well. It's a perfect example of a palindromic paragraph and only the second one I've ever encountered. Brava!

Go Peter! Look, I’m sorry, I know he’s evil but the guy’s a survivor!

**Cheers for Peter!***

Rats have to think about these things.

Thinking is for cowards.

The Weasleys are damn lucky they’re loyal enough that Dumbledore didn’t feel threatened by them, and that they had so many children he could feel relatively secure that Harry couldn’t get too much personal attention from them no matter how much they wanted to give it.

Perhaps Dumbledore felt that the Weasleys' poverty would provide enough of a barrier between themselves and Harry to keep the bonding process from becoming too strong.

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

I loved that paragraph too but isn't a palindrome something that reads the same way backwards as forwards? And that paragraph doesn't do that? Sorry to be a stupe.

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

I looked all over today for the book where I read about palindromic sentences/paragraphs. It's called Figures of Speech and it's by Arthur Quinn. It's my favorite book about writing and all it is is a listing of every type of figure of speech, with examples of each.

So, according to Quinn (and apparently no one on the internet), in addition to palindromes that read the same forwards and backs, if you reverse every letter (e.g. Madam, I'm Adam), you can have palindromic sentences in which read the same if you reverse word order. Don't ask me for an example of that, I can't remember them.

Then there's a palindromic sentence/paragraph in which phrases or concepts can read the same backwards and forwards. He had only example of that, from some classical source. I have to paraphrase it since I can't find the book, but it went something like this:

Then the people of Humdygumdy brought forth the grapes and made the wine which they carried into the temple and drank and prayed and drank in the temple of the wine which came from the grapes of the people of Humdygumdy.

Okay, it was a lot better than that, but I hope you get the idea.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

LOL! Oh, the ever growing and shrinking tunnel. It's like those pesky wizard clothes that are always becoming muggle clothes when you're not looking.

I just had to pull this quote out to praise you for constructing this paragraph so well. It's a perfect example of a palindromic paragraph and only the second one I've ever encountered. Brava!

I didn't even know I was constructing that but I am always ready to accept praise!

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

Too bad Patronuses don’t work that way yet.

Hee. :-)

When did Dumbledore send something silver out of his wand at some stage to alert someone? Wasn't that the first time we saw a messenger Patronus? Was it GoF?

Anyway, we all know Rowling would have conveniently written her characters as dunderheads, not thinking of using a Patronus, rather than cripple the big climax she had coming up. The plot always came first, no matter how stupid or contrived!

Anyway, without Snape obviously Lupin’s going to forget about the full moon and being a werewolf tonight. He’s been too busy rushing through the tunnel where he almost killed somebody as a werewolf to the house that was built to house him while he was a werewolf, reuniting with his friends at school who became Animagi to hang with him while he was a werewolf and confessing how he’s a werewolf until he was interrupted by the guy he almost killed as a werewolf who’s yelling about how they tried to kill him in the very tunnel that connects to this very house with this very werewolf who btw forgot to take his werewolf Potion tonight.

HA HA HA HA HA!!!! :-)

Oh, top marks for this, thank you for the laugh. :-)

Btw, apparently Lupin can walk around just fine under the full moon if it’s covered by clouds. Which would indicate that all he has to do to get around his curse is to stay indoors and away from windows for three nights a month. Or carry a parasol.

Yes, even I noticed that (although it might have been when watching the movie). This would be a solid error of stupidity on Rowling's part, yes?

And he apologizes…for being the guy who’s so squishy about Harry he gave him the house cup and didn’t tell him he was planning to have him killed because he wanted him to be happy.

Is there room somewhere there to indict Dumbeldore for giving the prefecture to Ron because he felt that Harry would have too much on his plate or something? What was the reason Dumbledore manipulated the system and gave the badge to someone less deserving, again?

That was his chest monster hatching in his stomach, from which it will migrate to his chest in HBP.

I'm busy here trying to correlate this with my theory that the chest monster - which was the part of Harry that found Ginny attractive - was the separate soul fragment of Riddle's that was residing in Harry the whole time, thus letting Harry off the hook and free to marry Hermione :-). But I can't do it.

Did I miscount or are there only five Jabootu items, not six?

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I think Dumbledore's silvery thing is the first time we see somebody using it to talk to someone in GoF. Though it's odd that the kids' Patronuses always leap out in animal form but super powerful Dumbledore's producing whisps, isn't it?

This would be a solid error of stupidity on Rowling's part, yes?

I suspect also contamination from all those werewolf movies that always use that same image.

Is there room somewhere there to indict Dumbeldore for giving the prefecture to Ron because he felt that Harry would have too much on his plate or something? What was the reason Dumbledore manipulated the system and gave the badge to someone less deserving, again?

I'd say he could be almost doing it twice there because the only reason he seems to want to give it to Harry is because he always wants to give things to Harry. Maybe he gave it to Ron because he thought that would help Harry out or be the next best thing. He makes both Harry's best friends Prefects? He pretty much guaranteed he would never have any trouble with them. Unlike he might have had with any other boy in his year, including Neville who kind of proved his potential as a Prefect back when he stood up to the Trio in PS/SS.

Maybe Riddle implanted Harry with the chest monster egg back in PS when he was unconscious.;-)

Did I miscount or are there only five Jabootu items, not six?

Cricket rule and Day for Night are technically two different tropes.:-)

[sharaz-jek.livejournal.com]

Wait a minute - what happened to the Hogwarts elves?

Lupin: "Random elf! I summon you!"
Random elf: "Yes, master?"
Lupin: "Teleport us to Dumbledore's office/tell Dumbledore to come here at once if elf apparition can't get humans through the wards."

How did she not notice this? She must have worked out by now that Filch couldn't do maintenance on the whole castle without magical help, surely?

[sharaz-jek.livejournal.com]

Also, Harry's able to send Kreacher to Hogwarts without Dumbledore having to officially hire him (not even Dumbledore would be so stupid as to provisionally hire Kreacher when he could have belonged to Bellatrix), so the elven ability to teleport through Hogwarts' wards must be innate rather than a bonus of working there. Anyone with a House-elf could either enter via Side-along Apparition or send in an agent whenever they wanted. Did JKR not realise this at any point? Are there any anti-Apparition wards that can stop elves, and if not, why is the Wizarding World still standing when everyone with an elf can send a spy, thief, or assassin anywhere they want?

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Hadn't thought of them myself either! House Elves definitely go on the list of things that are technically so powerful they should have solved everybody's problems but for some reason they didn't.

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

Sirius makes no effort to prevent Snape’s head from bumping along the tunnel. Which is understandable at the moment, but I’m sure Snape’s been described doing things gently in that kind of circumstance.

When I was a kid, I totally bought Harry's POV on things. Sirius was his family and he did a 180 from hating him and wanting to kill him slowly and painfully to nearly worshiping the guy. So I overlooked the fact that he was a thoughtless, child-abusing, reckless asshat. But in retrospect, that scene makes me want to break his legs for deliberately injuring Snape- already unconscious from head trauma- and acting like it's a huge joke.

I know I should cut him some slack, because he's been locked up in Azkaban for years, and if I got the sense that it was due to that and not because he was a murderous bully as a teen, I would probably let it go, but no, it seems that's the same dangerously irresponsible Sirius as always.

nyway, without Snape obviously Lupin’s going to forget about the full moon and being a werewolf tonight. He’s been too busy rushing through the tunnel where he almost killed somebody as a werewolf to the house that was built to house him while he was a werewolf, reuniting with his friends at school who became Animagi to hang with him while he was a werewolf and confessing how he’s a werewolf until he was interrupted by the guy he almost killed as a werewolf who’s yelling about how they tried to kill him in the very tunnel that connects to this very house with this very werewolf who btw forgot to take his werewolf Potion tonight.

LMAO. I ♥ you! That entire paragraph was just made of epic win. *saves snippet to quote later*

And he apologizes…for being the guy who’s so squishy about Harry he gave him the house cup and didn’t tell him he was planning to have him killed because he wanted him to be happy

It still baffles me that so many people keep going on about how Snape is the villain of the piece when it is clearly DUMBLEDORE. I know war makes people do things they'd prefer not to, but this man grooms Harry to be the sacrificial lamb- it's so creepy in retrospect, the way he gives Harry presents and special privileges and rarely ever scolds or disciplines him and purposefully abandons him to a neglectful, abusive family in order to make the boy feel warm and fuzzy about the wizarding world and better able to commit suicide when the time came. Gross, much? And he's the moral authority of the series, wtf?!

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Dumbledore really is such a weird character...and it's not so much that he himself is that weird. He's not an evil mastermind, he's really more just a guy who has managed to get himself recognized as this wise, totally good man (maybe it's the beard?) when he's in reality not that wise and not that good. So it makes him seem more villainous because all these people are giving him all this power and listening to things he says as if they're so good and he's so good. Even the revelation that he had five minutes of espousing DE-type values it never actually leads them to treat him like just another flawed guy.