deathtocapslock | COS Chapter One: "The Worst Birthday"

for-diddled.livejournal.com posting in

* I've liked reading these entries so much, I thought I'd have a go at writing my own. Enjoy! :)

* COS is probably my favourite book in the series. It will be interesting to see whether this is still true when I've finished snarking about it...

* The Dursleys spend most of the first page talking about food, just so no-one forgets that they’re fat, and therefore evil.

* Note that Dudley asking for more bacon is entirely different to Harry eating several portions of food when he’s at the Weasleys’.

* Gosh, the Dursleys really don’t like Harry talking about magic, do they? Not that I blame them, given what happened to Dudley the last time they met a wizard.

* Harry’s being treated “like a bomb that might go off at any minute”. That would seem to imply that they tiptoed around Harry, terrified lest they upset him, rather than yelling at him at the slightest provocation. Apparently the Dursleys think that bombs will deactivate if you shout at them loud enough.

* Harry’s worried that he’ll be thrown off the Quidditch team, conveniently forgetting that he’s a world-class player without even trying. Gotta keep that underdog status!

* It’s odd that Harry’s only skill is in sports, and that he’s skilful without having to work at it all. For a former teacher, JKR can come across as remarkably anti-intellectual and dismissive of hard work sometimes.

* The narrative voice briefly gets all judgemental about the Dursleys being ashamed to have a wizard in the family, whilst forgetting to mention how wizards treat their Muggle relatives (*coughGrangerscough*).

* I quite like Harry’s “I’ll be in my room, making no noise and pretending I’m not there.” It’s nice to see JKR actually showing Harry as a put-upon underdog, rather than simply telling us that he is whilst showing him on the receiving end of multiple displays of blatant favouritism.

* Harry’s only enjoyment comes from threatening Dudley. Remember folks, this is the boy whose amazing power is the ability to love.

* Remember the days when we hadn’t seen Voldemort fail to defeat three rather dim seventeen-year-old children, and could still hear someone say that he was “still terrifying, still cunning” without laughing? Man, I miss those days.

* “‘Well done,’ said Harry. ‘So you’ve finally learnt the days of the week.’” For a boy who thinks “U-No-Poo” is the height of wit, this is almost funny.

* If Dudley’s so fat, why are his trousers in danger of falling down?

* Whipped cream and sugared violets sounds quite unappetising to me. I suppose this lack of taste is meant to illustrate the Dursleys’ evilness or something.

* Harry goes upstairs to bed, and our blissful unawareness of Dobby’s existence is cruelly shattered.

Current Mood: quixotic

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

oryx_leucoryx

* Note that Dudley asking for more bacon is entirely different to Harry eating several portions of food when he’s at the Weasleys’.

Or stuffing himself silly at Hogwarts. That's because bacon is evil while treacle pie is the epitome of goodness, or something.

Actually I think the point was to show that Petunia still believed Dudley needed building up. (And that the food at Smeltings wasn't half as good as the food at Hogwarts.)

* Harry’s worried that he’ll be thrown off the Quidditch team, conveniently forgetting that he’s a world-class player without even trying. Gotta keep that underdog status!

Suppose the Dursleys were pro-magic. Do you think letting Harry fly in their back yard was compatible with Wizarding Secrecy? Or did he expect them to drive him to some large enough wilderness area where he could fly concealed? Or perhaps ask the Ministry to arrange for magical screening of the Dursley property?

* It’s odd that Harry’s only skill is in sports, and that he’s skilful without having to work at it all. For a former teacher, JKR can come across as remarkably anti-intellectual and dismissive of hard work sometimes.

In some interview she feared she'd be Sorted into Hufflepuff. No chance, JKR!

* The narrative voice briefly gets all judgemental about the Dursleys being ashamed to have a wizard in the family, whilst forgetting to mention how wizards treat their Muggle relatives (*coughGrangerscough*).

Or even Lily's extracurricular activities. (I doubt the Evans family appreciated the rats.)

* Harry’s only enjoyment comes from threatening Dudley. Remember folks, this is the boy whose amazing power is the ability to love.

So much that he didn't recognize a cup of tea as a friendly gesture.

* Harry goes upstairs to bed, and our blissful unawareness of Dobby’s existence is cruelly shattered.

See, if that deal had gone off Harry would have spent his later summers at Majorca - away from the Quidditch World Cup, Umbridge's dementors, the wild dementors, Slughorn, etc. Maybe Dumbledore sent Dobby to sabotage all this. He wanted Harry where he could get at him if needed.

From:

for-diddled.livejournal.com

"In some interview she feared she'd be Sorted into Hufflepuff. No chance, JKR!"

Is "feared" the term she actually used? Because if so, that would be pretty strong evidence for the "JKR doesn't think of Hufflepuff as a proper House" school of thought...

But yeah, it really irritates me that Rowling thinks of Gryffindor as the best House (didn't she once say "I hope I'd be found worthy for Gryffindor" in an interview?), to the degree that all of the major good guys have to be in Gryffindor, even when it would make more sense for them to be in other Houses. Dumbledore, for example, should probably be in Slytherin: not only does he like his cunning plans, but having the chief good guy as a Slytherin would be a good way of showing that they're not all bad. Making him similar to Voldemort like that could also have highlighted the fact that people's abilities can be used for good and evil, and that there's nothing wrong in cunning and ambition if used for a good end. Shame she just opted for a simplistic "Red ties good, green ties bad" morality instead.

From:

oryx_leucoryx

OK here is what I have from Accio Quotes:

From July 8th, 2000:

Is that a danger with the Internet as well - you've got this community that ...
JKR: Twice I've been on the Internet. Friends of mine were telling me what was on there and I'd never gone looking. The first time I went in there I thought I'm never coming back because it's too scary because some of the stuff that's out there is very weird.

The second time I went in there I was looking for something specific, someone had set up an unofficial fan site where you could be sorted - they had the sorting hat and you could be sorted into a house, so I was Hufflepuff. I wasn't that pleased - obviously I'm supposed to be Gryffindor, if anyone's Gryffindor I'm supposed to be Gryffindor.

And from July 16th 2005:

Stephanie Chapman for Woolworths - If you were placed in a House, which would it be and why?

JK Rowling: Well, I would want to be in Gryffindor and the reason I would want to be in Gryffindor is because I do prize courage in all its various ramifications. I value it more highly than any other virtue and by that I mean not just physical courage and flashy courage, but moral courage.

And I wanted to make that point in a very first book with Neville, because Neville doesn't have that that showy macho type of courage that Harry shows playing quidditch. But at the end, what Neville does at the end of Philosopher's Stone to stand up to his friends and risk their dislike and approval is hugely courageous so I would want to be in Gryffindor. That is not to say I would be there. I think there is a good bit of Hufflepuff in me.

As for Dumbles, Lynn made a convincing argument that his natural inclination is that of a Ravenclaw. His detached approach, his way of rationalizing away emotions (eg when Harry explodes in his office at the end of OOTP), though he does use Slytherin methods. As for Gryffindor traits - he is reckless with others but not with himself - until the ring gets him and he has no choice anyway. A Ravenclaw would recognize analytically that a situation called for Slytherin or Gryffindor (or Hufflepuff, for that matter) methods and do his best to implement them or find the person who can.

From:

for-diddled.livejournal.com

Those quotes make it sound as if Rowling designed Gryffindor specifically to value the same qualities that she does, which would sort of explain all the pro-Gryffindor bias in the books. Which is a shame, because I think Hufflepuff is quite a good House. They may not be as "glamorous" or showy as the others, but hard work and fairness are important qualities, and it's nice to see them just getting the job done without the need for praise.

"As for Dumbles, Lynn made a convincing argument that his natural inclination is that of a Ravenclaw."

I think Dumbledore would make a very good Ravenclaw, too. Really, though, I think most people could fit in more than one House. Dumbledore, for example, is very cunning and very intellectual; Neville Longbottom is brave (Gryffindor) and fair and hard-working (Hufflepuff); Percy Weasley is brave, hard-working, intelligent and ambitious; and so on.

From:

lynn-waterfall.livejournal.com

Yes! More people for Ravenclaw!Dumbledore! (grin)

I can see him as a Slytherin, but he seems much more Ravenclaw-like to me. Towards the Slytherin end of the continuum, but still.

From:

jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com

His faults are all blatant Ravenclaw faults. Indeed there is precious little of the Gryffindor about him. One wonders about the "they" who keep saying he was one.

From:

oryx_leucoryx

The only 'they' are whoever Hermione got it from. Chinese whispers may have been involved. Perhaps there was a confusion because Aberforth Dumbledore was indeed a Gryffindor (at least he matches the House traits better). I doubt 11 year old Hermione knew Albus had a brother.

From:

jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com

That would certainly work. None of us knew that Albus had a brother until Albus made a point of mocking him in public. And no one seems to make much of a point in associating the two of them, even though Abe lives right there in Hogsmeade.

From:

oryx_leucoryx

The other alternative is that the Hat wanted to place him in Ravenclaw and he asked to be placed somewhere else - his father's House, his mother's House or the House Doge just got Sorted into a few seconds previously. If he asked to be placed in Gryffindor he never really acquired the culture himself but he learned what other Gryffindors appreciated.

The only canon supporting Gryffindor!Albus is: rumors Hermione heard, a griffin doorknob (on the Doylist level it might be one of Rowling's little jokes, on the Watsonian level the doorknob may have been the same since the founding of the school) and his ability to use the sword of Gryffindor to destroy the Horcrux (if indeed only a Gryffindor under terms of need and valor can actually use it - a Slytherin can certainly carry it around).

From:

sharaz-jek.livejournal.com

How would that enchantment even work? Seeing as how Snape can carry it, would he be incapable of moving it in a stabby or slashy way? COuld he even defend himself with it?

Or is it reinforcement of "sometimes we sort too soon"? But then that ignores the "under need and valour" clause...

From:

aikaterini.livejournal.com

So, Draco is prejudiced and unfair for telling Harry that he doesn't want to be in Hufflepuff during their first meeting, yet his own author dislikes the idea of being in Hufflepuff herself.

You're right; I thought the whole point of the "house unity" idea in OoTP would be for all the houses to come together, realize that each of them has strengths and weaknesses that everyone can use, and band together to defeat Voldemort. Yet, by the end of the day, Gryffindor is the house with all of the heroes and the major players. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff have only minor characters and extras, while Slytherin is snatched away from the action and dismissed as a House of bigots and traitors. Voldemort is as awful and biased for proclaiming that Slytherin should be the only House, yet by the way that Gryffindor's been treated in this series, you would think that *it* was the only House, with Slytherin House serving no purpose other than to pose as its antagonist and opposite.

From:

for-diddled.livejournal.com

I don't actually think it's at all surprising that the Slytherins didn't do much to help fight Voldemort. Most members of other Houses seem to think that "Slytherin" is synonymous with "wannabe Dark Lord" and treat them accordingly, so I can easily imagine the Slyths saying "Screw this, the WW isn't worth defending! And if the only way we can gain recognition and respect is by forcing people to accept us, so be it!" Perhaps somebody ought to introduce the concept of a self-fulfilling prophecy to the WW.

"Voldemort is as awful and biased for proclaiming that Slytherin should be the only House,"

I never really got that bit of V's logic, TBH. After all, if Slytherin is the only House which everyone belonged to, then it would lose all its distinguishing characteristics, making "Slytherin's the only House" essentially the same as "There are no more Houses" (a bit like that line in The Incredibles, "And when everybody's super, no-one will be"). Mind you, given what we've seen of inter-House relations, that might not be such a bad idea.

(BTW, are there any canonical examples of romances/friendships between Slytherins and members of other Houses? We see Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws being friends and dating, but as far as I recall the Slyths just stick with their own House.)

From:

oryx_leucoryx

Besides Severus/Lily? There's the Slytherin-Hufflepuff alliance in GOF, both against Harry for their own reasons. Anyway, the only other inter-House friendship we know of is between Luna and the 5 Gryffs. While the DA has members of 3 Houses the close friendships are always among members of the same House except for the above-mentioned examples.

From:

lynn-waterfall.livejournal.com

I never really got that bit of V's logic, TBH. After all, if Slytherin is the only House which everyone belonged to, then it would lose all its distinguishing characteristics, making "Slytherin's the only House" essentially the same as "There are no more Houses" (a bit like that line in The Incredibles, "And when everybody's super, no-one will be").

Exactly. I think that that line only makes sense from the Doylist perspective -- or at least, it makes a whole lot more sense that way.

Assume that JKR considers "Slytherin" synonymous with "evil." Voldemort declares his intention to make everyone a Slytherin, therefore he's declaring his intention to make everyone evil. Which is a classic Dark Lord thing to do, even if it could theoretically be more strategically adventageous to rule over people with moral qualms, since those qualms (if extreme enough) might prevent them from revolting, since a revolt would probably involve killing people.

Does any other reading of that line make sense? I thought it might be a vague reference to genocide -- i.e., everyone will be pureblood -- but sorting half bloods as Slytherins doesn't make them pureblood. "Conversion" isn't quite genocide, even though (to make a religious analogy) forced conversion is certainly bad enough. But that reading doesn't make real *sense*.

Kinda revealing of JKR's view of the Houses. As if we needed more evidence of that.

From:

for-diddled.livejournal.com

"Does any other reading of that line make sense? I thought it might be a vague reference to genocide -- i.e., everyone will be pureblood"

Possibly, but then blood status doesn't seem to be that important in Slytherin any more. We know that half-bloods get sorted there (e.g., Snape and Riddle -- and Riddle, don't forget, had been raised a Muggle, and would probably have been thought almost as bad as a Mudblood by the real blood fanatics), we don't see any racist bullying (unless you count Draco calling Hermione a "Mudblood", but as we discussed on a previous thread it's more likely that his problem is with her personally rather than her parentage), and the Sorting Hat implies in its songs that being a Pureblood isn't necessary anymore. Plus, Slytherin's argument that Muggleborns were potential fifth columnists would be less persuasive in a world where anybody claiming to be a wizard would be laughed at rather than burnt at the stake.

I suppose he *could* be saying that Hogwarts would try and teach "Slytherin values", or something, but even that doesn't make much sense, either from a Watsonian perspective (dictators generally want loyal and docile subjects, not cunning and ambitious ones) or a Doylist one (cunning and ambition aren't inherently wrong, so criticising him for this is rather odd). It's probably just one more thing JKR threw in because she thought it helped to ramp up the tension, without thinking about what she was actually saying.

(deleted comment)

From:

aikaterini.livejournal.com

Which is really strange, considering the amount of build-up that we had leading to DH. We all saw that Umbridge didn't need to be a Death Eater to be a terrible, vicious monster and that Peter didn't need to be a Slytherin to be a traitor. We saw the turmoil that Draco endured over serving Voldemort, we were told that Barty Crouch Sr. employed many of the same methods that the Death Eaters did while ostensibly being on the Light side, we were shown that the Ministry was corrupt, we were shown that Snape could actually be working for Dumbledore all along, and so on and so forth. So, one could think that there was an intentional moral ambiguity in the wizarding world, that perhaps we were invited to feel sympathy for some of the bad guys.

Yet by the end of the series, a lot of it didn't go anywhere. Draco never had a definitive moment where he decisively switched over to Harry's side and deliberately cooperated with Harry and his friends, thus making amends for his past behavior. If anybody asks about his hesitation to name Harry or his unwillingness to commit murder, some fans will say that it's just because he's a coward. Harry and Peter never had the moment where Harry finally saw that his good deed in PoA paid off, because Peter was strangled by his silver hand before he could save Harry or do anything else that was possibly redemptive. Tom Riddle's background was similar to Harry's, but in the end, such similarities didn't matter. Not for the good reason, which would be that Harry had chosen to do the right thing while Tom had made bad decisions, therefore any of Harry's fears about becoming Tom would become unfounded. No, because Tom was apparently doomed to be a sociopath from birth, so it really didn't matter if he grew up in an orphanage, a palace, or in the suburbs.

The most frustrating thing about it is that none of the 'bad' characters that JKR half-heartedly gave depth to ever do the right thing for selfless reasons. Draco? He's only worried about his family and about saving his own skin. Regulus? The Dark Lord hurt his house-elf. Severus? Voldemort was going to kill (and eventually did kill) Lily. Peter? He was a coward. None of them ever rebel against Voldemort because they realize that what he and the Death Eaters are doing is wrong, that the whole pureblood-supremacist, anti-Muggle mindset is *wrong* (or, if they do, we don't get to hear about it).

None of them really receive any noble and/or sufficient reason for why they do what they do, and maybe that's because JKR didn't want us to feel that much sympathy for them. I'm reminded of the scene in HBP where Harry indignantly asks why Merope couldn't stay alive for her son and Dumbledore just raises his eyebrows and asks if he feels sympathy for Voldemort. As if that's a *bad* thing. Even if Voldemort really was a sociopath who was incapable of empathy since birth, shouldn't that merit some sort of sadness from Harry? Sadness that the man never had a choice in being bad, never had a chance to feel love? That, essentially, being evil is not his fault, since he never had a choice to be anything else?

Like I said before, it's just really frustrating.

From:

oryx_leucoryx

Severus? Voldemort was going to kill (and eventually did kill) Lily.

Yes, but he went on to protect every student he could, from anything he could save them from. Not just Harry. And he stuck to his commitments even after he learned that his work to protect Harry was futile (because Twinkly wanted him just as dead as Voldemort did) and even after Twinkly wasn't around (OK he was in portrait form, but he had no power as such). So I don't see that canon!Severus acts out of reasons that aren't selfless, whatever the reason for his initial turning.

As for Draco - I'm sure it is completely accidental, but as Rowling had it, he kept from the Carrows information they wanted about the running of the DA. Giving that information wouldn't have harmed his family - on the contrary, he may have been able to improve their standing with Tommy. OTOH if it were to be discovered that he had the information and did not reveal it he and his family were in deep trouble. So as much as he feared for his family he was willing to risk himself and his parents to protect the DA. Sorry Rowling, that's what your canon leads to.

At the same time the White Hats are never held accountable for war crimes and other serious immoral acts.

From:

aikaterini.livejournal.com

Yes, I agree with you, but my point was that I don't think that JKR and some fans see it that way. For those who don't like Severus, they can just point to the scene where he denies acting for Harry's sake, maintaining that he's just doing all of this for Lily. For those who don't like Draco, I'm sure that they will see his protection of the DA as just a fan interpretation, as an accident. They can say, "Oh, well, he went running to the Death Eaters to tell them that he was on their side; he didn't firmly deny that it was Harry in Malfoy Manor, etc., so he's not a good person, just a coward."

/At the same time the White Hats are never held accountable for war crimes and other serious immoral acts./

Well, that's another problem that I have right there.

From:

oryx_leucoryx

Severus: Well, for that they have to ignore all the times he is seen in canon acting for the protection of unknown random people.

Draco: If he had been more insistent about not recognizing Harry wouldn't it have looked like he was protesting too much? And how could he possibly maintain the pretense after Hermione was identified? What good would it have done? (And what good could have come from not claiming to be a DE in the castle?)

As for the rest of Rowling's characters, with few exceptions (Neville!) Lord Vetinari is apparently right: "You think there are the good people and the bad people. You're wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people. But some of them are on different sides."

From:

for-diddled.livejournal.com

"The most frustrating thing about it is that none of the 'bad' characters that JKR half-heartedly gave depth to ever do the right thing for selfless reasons."

Come to think of it, neither do the good guys. Harry, for example, fights Voldemort because "he killed my mum and dad", rather than any moral qualms about what Voldemort would do if he succeeded in taking over. So I think it's less a case of trying to reduce audience sympathy for the bad guys than of swallowing the assumption of many film/TV show writers that people will only sympathise with the characters if everyone's motivations are reduced to a soap opera-esque personal vendetta. Doesn't make the end result any less disappointing, though.

From:

aikaterini.livejournal.com

Yes, where was that famous "power of love" that Harry needed to defeat Voldemort? Yes, he was willing to sacrifice himself to save the people he cared about, but that wasn't what ultimately destroyed Voldemort in the end. Harry's sacrifice only briefly hampered Voldemort by destroying another Horcrux. What killed Voldemort was a technicality about wand ownership.

Where did love come into the equation when they were discussing the Elder Wand? The only love I can remember that they mentioned was Snape's love for Lily. It wasn't a sign of love or forgiveness when Harry told Voldemort to feel some remorse. If anything, that came way out of left field. It wasn't like Luke Skywalker telling Darth Vader, "There is still good inside you, Father, come with me, I feel the conflict within you, let's leave this all behind, etc." When Harry said it, it was more along the lines of, "Be a man! You'd better come to the Light Side, because I've seen what will happen if you don't, ha!"

From:

oryx_leucoryx

According to Hermione, remorse can repair a torn soul. But this requires that the parts of the soul be available. Ever since Harry destroyed the diary Voldemort lost any chance to heal his soul, even if he were capable of remorse. Another way in which the realization of a soul as a material thing in the Potterverse leads to moral failure.

From:

sharaz-jek.livejournal.com

But this requires that the parts of the soul be available.

Does it? When I read that I was imagining the soul as a piece of torn silvery candy floss that could grow back where it had been torn (sometimes my midn goes to weird places) and with the wound gone, there would be no place for the Horcruxified soul fragment to fit, thus there would be no connection to the Horcrux. Admittedly, this sort of soul connection isn't really given any precedent in the magic system, but we don't even know what a soul is - how does it connect to the mind? Does it bring the mind with it to the afterlife? If not, do people have two minds - one in their brain and another in their soul? Is Voldemort fully aware of his unending torment or is it just a part of his mind, unable to actually comprehend the agony? What happens if a Secret Keeper splits their soul? Can you hide a secret in a Horcruxified soul fragment? What would happen to that secret if you destroy the Horcrux? What would happen to a hidden secret if the Secret Keeper is kissed by a Dementor? If a Dementor ate Voldemort's soul, would the Horcruxes bring him back or would he be trapped and digested?

From:

oryx_leucoryx

What happens if a Secret Keeper splits their soul? Can you hide a secret in a Horcruxified soul fragment?

This has been the basis of a theory for why Voldemort never used himself as the Secret Keeper of his Horcruxes. He just can't, the Secret doesn't have what to be held in.

I like your other questions too.

From:

for-diddled.livejournal.com

Voldemort's portrayal is really inconsistent in the books. On the one hand, we're meant to think of him as a psychopath, literally incapable of feeling empathy; on the other, it sometimes comes across as if JKR (or at least the protagonists) think he's deliberately chosen to stop feeling, and can choose to undo that decision again. Oh dear, characterisation...