COS Chapter Eight: "The Deathday Party"

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

* Everyone’s got such a hate-on for Percy that he’s described using negative imagery even when he’s doing something nice. Here he’s “bullying” Ginny into taking some potion for her cold.

* Knowing what will happen in GOF, everybody’s probably going to blame him for thinking that Ginny’s a little bit ill, rather than realising that she was just being possessed by a Horcrux-ified diary which once belonged to a dark wizard who’s been dead for eleven years. Christ, Percy, are you blind or something?

* Although in retrospect it’s obvious that Ginny’s just too awesome to suffer from such petty ailments as the common cold, so maybe he should have noticed.

* Oh no wait, she hasn’t yet become MarySue!Ginny, so she might still suffer illness like the rest of us mere mortals.

* Obviously Harry’s going to be drenched to the skin, but why’s he splattered with mud? The whole point of Quidditch is that they players fly a long way above the ground, so they wouldn’t have much opportunity to get muddy. Unless Harry fell off a lot… Wait, did I just implicitly diss Harry’s SuperQuidditch!Skillz? Ignore that.

* In the last chapter, everybody acted as if Slytherin spying on Gryffindor’s try-outs was a dirty, underhanded thing to do. Fred and George have been spying on Slytherin. Slytherin, as far as we know, never actually spied on Gryffindor (or, indeed, anyone). IOIAGDI, obviously.

* I highly doubt that the Nimbus 2001 is so good as to make all other brooms obsolete.

* Nearly-headless Nick died in 1492, but the clothes he’s wearing seem more Elizabethan in style, i.e., about a century later. Perhaps there’s a ghost clothes shop where spirits can keep up-to-date with the latest fashions, but NHN just likes Elizabethan fashions so much that he stopped going after around 1600.

* Of course, this sort of fanwank wouldn’t be necessary if JKR had actually bothered to think about her setting, and either gave Nick more period-appropriate clothing or made this his four hundredth deathday instead.

* If the purpose of the Headless Hunt is to play ball games with members’ own heads, excluding members who aren’t fully decapitated seems quite reasonable to me.

* Once again, JKR, trying to enforce rules ≠ “endless battle against students”.

* Filch has been cleaning all morning when any of the teachers (and probably quite a few of the pupils) could have done it in an instant with a quick “Scourgify!” No wonder he’s in a bad mood, really.

* Although I do wonder why Dumbledore hired him as caretaker. Perhaps he just enjoys watching him being humiliated.

* So what is this mysterious power that connects Filch and Mrs. Norris? Does the fact that Filch is a Squib rule out magic, or does being a Squib just mean that he can’t do wand magic, but can still be magically connected to his pets?

* Is it wrong that I’ve always totally rooted for Filch against Fred and George?

* By making Filch’s eagerness to hang pupils by their ankles “common knowledge”, i.e., unsubstantiated rumour, Rowling handily manages to turn us against him whilst avoiding having to provide any evidence to back this up.

* I can’t help but wonder why Dumbles keeps Peeves around. Possibly it’s so that he can handily distract Filch when Our Hero is in trouble. Or maybe blackmail’s involved. “Don’t forget, Twinkles, I’ve got your old love-letters from Gellert Grindlewald. So if you even think about getting rid of me…”

* Harry apparently has no qualms about looking through other people’s correspondence. Our hero, ladies and gentlemen!

* One of these days I’m going to write a fic where Harry suffers karmic revenge for being such a jerk. So his schooldays will be made a misery by people reading his private letters, hexing rude words across his face, beating him at Quidditch by buying superior brooms which make every match a foregone conclusion…

* Nice to see that wizards have picked up on the irritating Muggle habit of deliberately misspelling words in their brand names.

* Any guesses on how exactly a warlock differs from a regular wizard?

* Harry put the envelope down two feet away from where it was. D’oh!

* Filch is obviously ashamed of being a Squib, suggesting that they suffer from prejudice from fellow wizards, unlike Muggleborns. “Mudblood” is still a worse insult than “Sneakin’ Squib,” though.

* NHN is prepared to destroy a priceless antique in order to get Harry out of detention. Good to see he’s got his priorities straight.

* NHN seems like a bit of a joke, to be honest. About the only time we see him interacting with Gryffindor students is when they needle him at the feast; the rest of the time, they just seem to ignore him.

* I bet the Slytherins treat their ghost better. They probably hold a big party in their common room every time it’s the Bloody Baron’s deathday, with music, dancing, and various wizarding party games. The highlight of the night is a play (written by and starring Draco Malfoy, of course) about the Baron’s death. It’s absolutely excellent. :)

* Off on a bit of a tangent here, but isn’t the Baron supposed to have been contemporaneous with the Hogwarts Founders? Which would mean that he lived sometime during the Anglo-Saxon period, which would mean that he couldn’t be a baron, as the rank was introduced by the Normans, who didn’t control England until 1066…

* F&G are feeding a firework to a salamander, continuing the long tradition of cruelty to animals in the series.

* “‘A promise is a promise,’ Hermione reminded Harry bossily.” Because only bossy kill-joys care about such things as keeping your promises. Most normal people are fine with the idea of just breaking them whenever you feel like it.

* Apparently when their bodies died, the ghosts’ musical taste died too.

* Rather careless (some might say rude) of Nick to invite three living people along and then not bother to provide them with any food.

* Rotting food might have a stronger flavour than normal food. Unfortunately, it’s also a not very nice flavour.

* So, the good guys can’t stand Myrtle and make fun of her behind her back; the evil Slytherin Draco Malfoy, OTOH, is able to get past her unpleasant exterior and make friends with her. I’ll just chalk that up as #147 on the “Instances when the bad guys actually seem better than the good guys” board.

* Rather rude of Sir Patrick to interrupt Nick’s speech like that. Makes you wonder why exactly Nick invited him.

* Or why he’s so keen to join the Hunt, for that matter.

* “Time to kill… I smell blood… I SMELL BLOOD”? Do basilisks always speak in such a melodramatic way, or is it just putting it on to amuse Harry? Or did it just pick up the Slytherin theatrical habit from Salazar or Tom?

* Given that all the students are coming up from the same place, why exactly are they coming in from different ends of the corridor?

* I know that people often think of Draco as a bit of a drama queen, but pushing to the front of the crowds and shouting “You’ll be next, Mudbloods!” seems ridiculously over-the-top (not to mention rather stupid), even for him. I literally cannot imagine what his motivation for doing this is meant to be.

* Actually, I think Olivander shows us a spell in GOF to make wine fly out of their wands. Maybe Draco’s just discovered this, and currently drunk off his arse.

* Or maybe Rowling just hooked his testicles up to car batteries and turned up the voltage until he agreed to be one of the book’s red herrings.

* Come to think of it, a lot of the plot/characterisation in the series would make a good deal more sense if we assume that that’s what happened. “Look, Sirius, I don’t care if you’re smart enough to figure a way of staying sane despite being surrounded for twelve years by an army of depression-inducing monsters, before masterminding an escape from an impregnable island fortress and evading the biggest man-hunt in recent wizarding history for almost a year, I need you to be really reckless and immature in this book so that you can get killed at the end and make Harry feel miserable. Quick, Dobby, get the car batteries!”

* Hey, maybe that could be a new acronym, for any time when someone does something inexplicable or otherwise out of character: QGCB (for “Quick, get the car batteries!”).

 

Comments

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

* “‘A promise is a promise,’ Hermione reminded Harry bossily.”

Randomly, I hate the word 'bossy'. It seems developed solely to put down females who are assertive and not meekly melting into the background as they ought in the presence of their male superiors. I mean, jeez, when is a guy ever described as bossy? Never! He's strong and confident and a million other positive adjectives, not bossy!

the good guys can’t stand Myrtle and make fun of her behind her back; the evil Slytherin Draco Malfoy, OTOH, is able to get past her unpleasant exterior and make friends with her. I’ll just chalk that up as #147 on the “Instances when the bad guys actually seem better than the good guys” board.

Aww, that's nice! Lovely observation there, I'd never thought about that.

I rather hate the way Harry coldly uses Myrtle- yes, she's annoying, but she's sad and lonely, and she basically helps save his life by giving him info in GoF, but he just crosses his fingers when he promises to visit her. Some gratitude. That little shit. >:[

pushing to the front of the crowds and shouting “You’ll be next, Mudbloods!” seems ridiculously over-the-top (not to mention rather stupid), even for him. I literally cannot imagine what his motivation for doing this is meant to be.

Another thing that aggravates me about JKR. She can't make a character realistically racist, she has to force him to act erratically and dumb him down to pull it off. *eyeroll*

I think Olivander shows us a spell in GOF to make wine fly out of their wands. Maybe Draco’s just discovered this, and currently drunk off his arse

Lol. Though they're allowed to drink butterbeer, that doesn't have alcoholic properties?

And hey, is that contravening Gamp's Laws or what? Oh, no, it's just food that supposedly can't be produced by wands- although why food, arbitrarily, and not water or wine, IDK. (Molly has no trouble making 'creamy sauce pour out the wand' in GoF...)

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

Lol, yes, I remember those books and their gingerbeer! *iz nostalgic*

And I always thought butterbeer was non-alcoholic myself, because 13 year-olds were drinking it.

Then I thought it was alcoholic 'coz a friend of mine went to the WW of HP and I seemed to recall she couldn't get a drink 'coz she was underage- only I just looked up that post and it turns out it was for ale, lol, not the butterbeer, which apparently 'tastes like a mix between Starbucks vanilla frapp and liquid marzipan, but carbonated'. *iz thirsty*

So yeah, my bad, it's not actually alcoholic, stupid brain!

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

I think Winky gets drunk off Butterbeer in GOF, and Dobby explains that "It is strong for House-elves." So it sounds as if Butterbeer is mildly alcoholic, but not enough to make humans drunk. Possibly House-elves have lower alcohol tolerance than humans, or something.

[mmmarcusz.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's a very low level, like 2%, so you'd need loads of it to get drunk.

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

Might her body mass have something to do with it as well? I seem to recall something about smaller people getting drunker faster (as well as females in particular, y/n?).

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

/I mean, jeez, when is a guy ever described as bossy? Never! He's strong and confident and a million other positive adjectives, not bossy!/

I think that Percy is often described as being bossy. If not in the books, then by the fandom.

/I rather hate the way Harry coldly uses Myrtle- yes, she's annoying, but she's sad and lonely, and she basically helps save his life by giving him info in GoF, but he just crosses his fingers when he promises to visit her. Some gratitude./

Well, in Harry's defense, Myrtle *is* a little creepy in GoF when she makes remarks about seeing him in the bath, as well as Cedric. But it is interesting how differently Draco and Harry treat her.

/Another thing that aggravates me about JKR. She can't make a character realistically racist, she has to force him to act erratically and dumb him down to pull it off. *eyeroll*/

Like when Draco makes a stupid remark about touching Hermione's hands in GoF, makes some feeble taunt about Harry's Muggle-born mother in OotP, and when he makes the even more immature remark about Hermione's "smell" in HBP. If Draco has to be racist, could he at least be more subtle about it, indicating some degree of cunning and intelligence on his part? I'd think that it would hurt Hermione more if he used that approach, because then he wouldn't sound like a racist parrot who was just repeating the same insult over and over again. Unless he realizes that Hermione doesn't care and he's just spouting off like that to annoy Harry and Ron.

[mmmarcusz.livejournal.com]

Well, in Harry's defense, Myrtle *is* a little creepy in GoF when she makes remarks about seeing him in the bath, as well as Cedric. But it is interesting how differently Draco and Harry treat her.

A little creepy, but not very. I mean, she's stuck for eternity as an insecure 13-year-old, I think that The Living Embodiment of Love, Truth, and Mercy should be able to feel some compassion.

If Draco has to be racist, could he at least be more subtle about it, indicating some degree of cunning and intelligence on his part?

Mostly because he's acting as designated villian. Cf. Snape - he's intelligent outside of class, but in class he's Da Meen Teecher, who displays blatant bias, insults his pupils and really performs quite poorly.

[oryx_leucoryx]

but in class he's Da Meen Teecher, who displays blatant bias, insults his pupils and really performs quite poorly.

Well, I don't think his behavior is biased. I think Harry and his friends behave worse and perform worse than Slytherins in Severus' class. Also, other teachers insult students too, he isn't unique in that. There are only few (2?) incidents I think he crosses the line in his classroom behavior, and he is a teacher we see in class more than most.

[karentheunicorn.livejournal.com]

but in class he's Da Meen Teecher, who displays blatant bias, insults his pupils and really performs quite poorly.

Are we talking about Snape's classroom here? As I remember it Umbridge called his class advanced.

And I don't know was it ever shown that all his pupils were preforming badly? I don't know if there is any evidence that Snape was making sure all the students he didn't like did poorly in his class. I don't think he was purposefully failing everyone except for Slytherins was he?

But weren't there a few instances where he repremanded the whole class for turning in bad essays and grades.

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

You're right, actually, Percy is described as speaking in bossy, disapproving tones in GoF, my bad! But he's a character JKR tries to get people to hate- whereas Hermione is the golden girl, and she still gets slapped with that word which has negative connotations. So good call on Percy, but if I might clarify, I meant more like guys who we're supposed to like, the heroes.

Lol, you're right, Myrtle's totally creepy and what makes it worse is that the actress is in her 30s, at least! *shudders* But I just get mad at Harry's continuing lack of gratitude to people who help save his life. He owes her, and he doesn't lift a finger- let alone get his butt down to her toilet just ONCE- to show her he appreciates it.

I honestly think Draco's not trying to hurt Hermione by that point- he's realized there are problems with this 'purebloods rule, muggleborns drool' ideology and while he's gotten into the habit of slagging her off, he can't really put his heart into it. It's more just wanting to annoy someone he doesn't like as opposed to stomping this inferior retarded sub-human being beneath his boot, y'know?

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

/But I just get mad at Harry's continuing lack of gratitude to people who help save his life. He owes her, and he doesn't lift a finger- let alone get his butt down to her toilet just ONCE- to show her he appreciates it./

I think that Harry just has a problem with gratitude towards distasteful people in general. Despite being abused by the Dursleys, he still leaps at the chance to avoid going to Ms. Figg's house, even though she's not described as doing anything worse than making him look at all of her photos of her cats. If he were truly abused and frightened of the Dursleys, I'd think that he would welcome the chance to go to her house as a better alternative. You and others have already mentioned Harry failing to (even grudgingly) thank Snape or to think slightly more favorably of him after PS/SS. There may be other cases, but I can't think of them at the moment.

I think the general message is: "Yes, they helped him, but they're still awful people, so they don't deserve Harry's open gratitude."

[annoni-no.livejournal.com]

I know a lot of people slag Harry for not appreciating Ms. Figg's babysitting respites, but I'm not sure that (this specific) lack of gratitude can really be held against him. Doesn't Ms. Figg herself *apologize* to Harry in book five about how miserable she made sure he was when she was babysitting him to make sure the Dursleys would keep sending him back to her?

True, being forced to look at pictures of cats doesn't sound so terrible, but there are ways to make something even this innocuous a trial of endurance for an athletic little boy. She might not have allowed Harry to get up and do anything else *besides* look at the pictures of her cats. She might have insisted that Harry actually respond to her inane little comments of 'Oh, wasn't he precious!' thus keeping Harry from getting away even in his own head, and so on and so forth...

So no, its not terrible, but at least at the beginning of the series Harry was nice enough not to lash out at anyone he couldn't at least convince himself had attacked him first in some way. So while he felt free to fight back against the Dursleys, Ms. Figg hadn't actually done anything *wrong* so... as much as he hated his visits with her he couldn't justify doing anything worse than mentally calling her names, which isn't really the best outlet for frustration.

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

Randomly, I hate the word 'bossy'. It seems developed solely to put down females who are assertive and not meekly melting into the background as they ought in the presence of their male superiors.

Back around 1970 the feminist group The Red-Stocking Collective published "The Bitch Manifesto", the basic premise of which was that all the qualities that when shown by a woman resulted in her being labeled "bitch", were all qualities that were considered positive when shown by a man -- as you point out, strength and confidence, also intelligence, assertiveness, ambition, boldness, and a healthy sense of self-worth.

The word "bossy" I think is just a polite codeword for "bitch"... :-/

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

Just because troglodytes use that epithat to indicate assertive women doesn't mean that there ain't no such thing as an annoyingly bossy, nagging, overbearing little girl...

You are correct, it doesn't.

But what epithet do people come up with to label an annoyingly bossy, nagging, overbearing little boy?

[mmmarcusz.livejournal.com]

I think it's more that people have a more positive view of their own actions. I am assertive, you are bossy; I am confident, you are arrogant; I am brave, you are foolhardy, etc.

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

But sometimes people use "bossy" to mean the other person is reminding them of their duties when they'd rather not be reminded. Exactly as in this case. It's a put-down of the no-fun "goody-two-shoes" in the crowd.

[robina1984.livejournal.com]

jeez, when is a guy ever described as bossy? Never! He's strong and confident and a million other positive adjectives, not bossy!

Different fandom, but Leonardo is often called "bossy" (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fandom) in narration, generally if one of his brothers is the one we see the scene through. I've seen a few random X-men fics of Cyclops being called bossy, but that was years ago. Um...I think there's a few others, but I've been in the TMNT fandom too long to remember them. I used to branch out more....

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

A question, just for fun: Percy gets called pompous. James Potter gets called arrogant. Which of these two is more like Hermione?

[oryx_leucoryx]

Hermione starts out a lot like Percy, but the Hermione of the late books is closer to James, except she doesn't do the stuff for 'fun' but for 'serious business' or romance.

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

I see more similarity between James Potter and Hermione- Percy doesn't have the mean vindictive streak those two have.