COS Chapter Ten: "The Rogue Bludger"

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

 

Sorry this is a bit late; I’m afraid RL has been a bit hectic over the past few days.

 

 

* I wish we could see the Slytherin DADA lessons. Draco’s probably very good at doing the re-enactments. I bet he volunteers for all the parts, and hams everything up wonderfully.

* Or he did, at any rate, until Lockhart realised he was being upstaged and started choosing other people to come up.

* For all that people seem to think of Slughorn as some sort of “pervy boy-fancier”, I personally find the image of Lockhart sitting on top of Harry while Harry moans to be much more disturbing than anything Horace ever does.

* Again, I wish I could read Draco’s homework. He probably wrote a John Milton-esque epic poem. Hermione’s would be interesting too.

* Tomorrow’s assignment will be writing an essay on why nobody ever though to do the Homorphus charm on Lupin.

* It’s not surprising that Lockhart was seeker: a role where you’re literally the only person who matters would probably suit him down to the ground.

* Lockhart’s offer of extra Quidditch tuition is portrayed as being a sign of arrogance (“Hey, look, I’m better than the youngest Seeker for a century!”), but I don’t think he’d have had a chance to see Harry’s MadQuidditch!Skillz, so from his POV the offer’s probably quite a nice one.

* So is Ron’s criticism of Lockhart meant to be foreshadowing his later jealousy of Krum, then?

* I’d say that the Trio are taking something of a risk in brewing their potion in Myrtle’s bathroom. What if Filch comes round to try and fix the toilets, or a student decides she’s so desperate that she’ll even face Moaning Myrtle, or Myrtle herself gossips to the other ghosts/students, or…?

* Sprouting several extra arms out of your head is pretty bad. Not worse than being covered in tiny tentacles and hexed into unconsciousness on your way home from school, though.

* “Shredded skin of Boomslang, that’s definitely not in the students’ cupboard.” Erm, how do you know, Harry? It doesn’t sound inherently dark or valuable, and you aren’t exactly the sort of pupil to have memorised the contents of the students’ cupboard.

* Hermione’s getting quite excited by the thought of breaking the school rules. Maybe she’s kept her inner bad girl pent up for so long, she’s just bursting to let her out. Or maybe she’s excited by the danger.

* Back in the good ol’ days when Harry Potter was still an enjoyable franchise peopled with likeable characters, I found this quite endearing. In light of the Marietta Incident, though…

* Someone pointed out in an earlier read-through of COS that this sort of description (cheeks flushed, eyes wide and shining) is normally used for Malfoy. I wonder if this is coincidental, or whether Rowling was deliberately trying to make them look similar. (Bear in mind that this is before JKR gave up on the series, so she could conceivably have been trying to do something interesting like that.)

* Ron seems to have a hang-up about toenails, doesn’t he? Anyone want to make a bet that Fred and George once did something horrible to his toenails when he was young?

* Hermione’s eyes narrow dangerously, and Ron changes tack almost immediately. Why do I get the impression that this will be a common occurrence when they’re married?

* “It’ll be a lot less hassle if you can just knock Malfoy off his broom tomorrow,” says Ron. Bear in mind that they haven’t actually got any evidence that is was him. Apparently, though, wild conjecture is enough to justify killing someone.

* Also, note how Ron says that it will be “less hassle”, i.e., he won’t have to bother making the Polyjuice Potion, rather than “safer for the Muggleborns” or something like that. Clearly, murder is justified in the WW if the alternative is having to do a lot of work.

* Harry’s nervous about the prospect of facing a team riding better brooms than him. I wonder if this is how the other Seekers feel every time they ever face Harry?

* In my own personal canon, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw realised they’d never be able to beat Harry (or, rather, Harry’s superior brooms), and instead started their own unofficial competition to see who could come second to Gryffindor. The respective heads of houses even clubbed together and bought their own trophy to award.

* Wood’s calling Malfoy a “little bit of slime”, which is obviously OK, whereas any of Draco’s insults are proof of his inherent evilness.

* Everyone seems to be assuming that Draco bought his way onto the team, which would imply they don’t think he’s very good; if he wasn’t, though, we’d expect Fred and George to have reported on this when they were busy spying on Slytherin, instead of going on about how all the Slytherins looked like green blurs. Once again, Rowling’s needs to both belittle Malfoy and make Harry the underdog are in conflict.

* I think it would have been good if Gryffindor had just assumed that Draco had bought his way onto the team, underestimate him, and end up losing because of this. That would teach Harry a valuable lesson the dangers of underestimating his opponents, and might make us take Draco more seriously as a peer antagonist figure.

* Once again, Wood, calm down, it’s only a game.

* Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw want Slytherin to lose as well. This might have made sense last book, when Slytherin had won for six years in a row, but now… Maybe they’re just trying to ingratiate themselves with Dumbledore by picking on his least favourite House.

* Wood’s staring at Flint threateningly and trying to crush his hand. Knowing JKR’s normal characterisation, I’m surprised that it’s not just Flint doing this, with Wood nobly standing there saying nothing as his fingers are crushed.

* “The Slytherins’ superior brooms were clearly doing their jobs” implies that winning a game of Quidditch is largely or solely due to the broom you ride. But this would mean that all Harry’s victories apart from this one were due to him having a better broom than his opponent. But that can’t be right, because Harry’s victories are always portrayed as a result of his awesome Seeker skills. In which case winning is due to personal skill, in which case the Slytherins are winning because they’re better players than the Gryffindors, in which case attributing their success to their brooms is wrong, in which case oh dear, logic…

* I’m surprised Wood agreed to call time out. Hey, Wood, are you sure you shouldn’t be with those pansy Ravenclaws or something?

* Note how, once again, the good guys jump to the conclusion that Slytherin are to blame.

* “‘Listen,’ said Harry… ‘with you two flying around me all the time the only way I’m going to catch that Snitch is if it flies up my sleeve,’ said Harry [sic].” The sad thing is, it probably would do that if that were required to let Harry win the game. It’s already flown into his mouth, after all.

* So why would they have to forfeit the match if the equipment is posing a danger to the players? Couldn’t they just reschedule, and in the meantime check the Bludger out?

* Oh yes, I forgot, rescheduling’s for cowards. Real men keep playing until their skulls get cracked open!

* At least George displays a rare moment of sanity by telling Wood that risking his players’ lives just to beat Slytherin is a stupid idea.

* So Draco knows enough about Muggle culture to make jokes about ballet, whereas the Weasleys always show a condescending attitude towards Muggles and can’t pronounce such common words as electricity and telephone. Remind me again, who’s the bigot in this story?

* Maybe the Malfoys are actually good friends with some nearby Muggle aristocrats, and learn all about Muggle culture from them. Pure blood is pure blood, after all, but blue blood is blue blood.

* Draco and Harry are both behaving very unprofessionally in stopping playing in order to glare at each other. Fortunately for Harry, the universe is geared to revolve around his needs, so the Snitch flies into the one place where Harry would notice it and Draco wouldn’t.

* In his benumbed state, Harry’s only thought is of Malfoy. This must make the H/D shippers out there very happy.

* “Malfoy thought Harry was attacking him.” And it wouldn’t be the first time if he was. Or, indeed, the last.

* Harry’s arm’s broken, but he still manages to win the game before fainting in a manly way. And people say he’s a Mary Sue!

* Given that Lockhart’s portrayed as almost universally incompetent, it’s a surprise he hasn’t been found out yet.

* I don’t see why Madam Pomfrey’s getting so angry at Harry. Lockhart’s the one who de-boned him, after all.

* So does Skele-Gro have more uses than just re-boning arms, then? ’Cause surely even Hogwarts wouldn’t have that many serious accidents that they’d need to keep some handy all the time.

* Still, at least the Trio can cheer themselves up with the thought of Draco being upset. It’s the power of Love, I tell you!

* Yes, Ron, people you don’t like always taste nasty. Evil tastes bad like that.

* Naturally Hermione’s Polyjuice potion would go a lovely golden colour and taste of caramel and hot chocolate. Harry’s would taste of something manly, like steak. I can’t think of what Ron’s would be like, though: the bitter taste of disappointment, perhaps?

* Flint’s shouting at Malfoy doesn’t seem to indicate that the latter bought his way onto the team. If he had, then surely we’d expect something like “If you don’t improve, we can always get Miller to replace you…” As it is, he sounds like a usually good player who was below his usual standards on that day.

* I can’t help but hope that those stabbing pains really annoy Harry.

* Dobby’s sponging Harry’s forehead. Eugh, what a creep.

* If Dobby really thought that Harry wouldn’t be able to get back to Hogwarts another way than by train, he’s as stupid as he is irritating.

* I think it says a lot for the Malfoys’ self-control that they’ve only threatened to kill Dobby, rather than actually doing it. If he were my elf, he’d be dead within thirty minutes.

* For all that Dobby goes on about wanting to be free, he really is the most servile character in the series.

* “Not kill you, only cripple you for life!” Oh well, that’s alright, then.

* Harry had assumed that the Bludger had been tampered with by Draco, purely on the basis of his dislike for him. Now that he learns the Bludger was, in fact, enchanted by Dobby, he feels a pang of remorse at jumping to conclusions about his fellow-student, and resolves to try and be fairer in future.

* Only joking; Harry’s the Chosen One, and therefore never has to re-evaluate his preconceptions. Or, if he does, the person in question is dead, so he doesn’t have to actually say sorry or treat them any differently or anything like that.

* If I were one of the dregs of the magical world, I’d feel quite offended at Dobby trying to associate himself with me.

* Whereas most House-elves are dregs, Dobby’s like the brown stain on the bottom of the teacup that you try to wash out but can never quite get rid of.

* Dobby cracks a jug over his head. Unfortunately, it doesn’t knock him out.

* Collin comes in. Fortunately he’s knocked out, so he can’t annoy me.

* No, wait, I spoke too soon: he was trying to give some grapes to Harry. Seriously, I think he’s got even less dignity than Dobby here; at least Dobby can use the excuse of being a House-elf, and, therefore, naturally servile.

* BTW, I thought cameras didn’t work in Hogwarts, along with any other electrical equipment?

* Erm, Dumbles, surely the answer to “who?” would naturally lead to the answer to “how?”

Comments

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

Quidditch was an amazingly artificial contrivance, wasn't it? Looking back at these earlier books I wonder why in blazes we were so surprised when the end of the series crashed and burned with the abundance of blatant dei ex machinis, gimmicks and plot crutches Rowling brought in to keep her story moving and her hero alive. Subtlety wasn't her strong suit. She'd done it from the beginning. You need your protagonist to shine? Make him a member of a team sport where only one team member counts! With rules that serve only to move the story where you want it to move!

Anyway I love - well, hate - well, you know what I mean - the broom hypocrisy and circular logic. Heh. :-) There really was a huge Gryffindor/Harry blind side to the whole Quidditch/broom thing in the series, wasn't there?

Sometimes I wonder if Rowling saw it ... whether it was deliberate. She was determined to make Harry just a normal, average, barely-adequate wizard in terms of magical ability and skills. Did she intend the same when it came to, even - gasp! - quidditch? For example, he only wins his game against Slytherin in book 6 because he sinks to taunting the opposing Seeker. Harper's about to claim the snitch when Harry calls him names in desperation. I remember being surprised when I first read that passage.

The super-Seeker Harry of the early books never had to stoop so low, he won by other means - an unfair broom advantage or luck. Was Rowling getting tired of Harry and quidditch later on?

So is Ron’s criticism of Lockhart meant to be foreshadowing his later jealousy of Krum, then?

Wow, I've never thought of that before. I wonder if that's how a R/Hr fan sees it? That Ron was 'jealous' of Hermione's crush on Lockhart? Jealousy and fighting being the only indicators of this Rowling love match it could well be so!

The Dobby thing is another beautiful example of the paucity of a Rowling plot. It really was silly, wasn't it? Saving the hero by killing him, yeah, right. It's no wonder she always left it up to Dumbledore to explain at the end of each book; only a character of his stature could possibly prop up the plot and stop the reader from rolling his eyes in disbelief. Anyone of lesser importance and there'd be no chance of accepting it all.

Anyway, with all the super-powers that a house elf has, clearly superior to that of a wizard, Dobby could have easily taken Harry out of the picture/Hogwarts at any time he choose. Setting up these 'indirect' traps reeks of the silliness of a Dr. Evil plot. Except we're supposed to laugh and mock the latter.

It's not surprising that we're now mocking and laughing the former.

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

Was Rowling getting tired of Harry and quidditch later on?

I do believe I read an interview Rowling gave towards the end of the series (when Book 5 or 6 was coming out) admitting that she was getting tired writing about Quidditch matches. Can't remember where I read it, tho...

[sharaz-jek.livejournal.com]

I think she said in the same interview that she gave Luna the commentary job for the last Quidditch match she'd ever have to write specifically to get through it - one of the few times her self-indulgence was actually entertaining.

(You do have to wonder why if she hated it so much she couldn't have had Dumbledore's briefings clash with training or something, though.)

[karentheunicorn.livejournal.com]

Does it sound a bit like she'd rather be writing a romance novel for teenagers?

Personally the Quidditch got on my nerves as well, I guess her annoyance in having to write it translated pretty well to me. But I'm a adult female the only sport I am even remotly interesting in is car racing, everything else in my opinion is borning and lame.


I however don't feel sorry for JKR, that she had to write about quidditch. Basicly what she is saying is she had to suffer through pleasing the audience she wrote for - apparently you pre-teen and teen boys are supposed to be the core audiance.

To bad those boys probably were more interested in what that actress that plays Hermione is doing than reading about harry and Quidditch.

I remember seeing a live interview and there was an audiance of kids who got to talk to JKR. I forget exactly how the questions and answers went, but there was a teenage boy and I think the boy was asked about the book and he confessed he hadn't read it. I believe someone said something about what he liked about the story and if I remember rightly he commented about movie Hermione.

Another example of the core audiance, I was told by my 12 year old cousin about a year ago while I was playing the lego Harry potter game on DS that he didn't like harry Potter.

My 12 year old cousin loves to read and he likes things like castles and dragons, but he doesn't like the HP series.

So I really do wonder why JKR forced herself to write Quidditch if she she didn't want to write it. I don't quite get why she was focusing it on herself and us since it seems to be pretty uninterested half the time.

[oryx_leucoryx]

It's part of the boarding school genre. These schools are supposed to have a sport everyone is crazy over and the main character is supposed to participate. Though typically there is supposed to be some struggle involved - maybe the character isn't initially good at sports and s/he struggles to master the needed skills. Or maybe s/he would rather be playing a different game and takes a time to adjust to what this school does differently than hir previous school. Or s/he has to adjust to playing in a different way or with different people than s/he'd like, etc. But Harry is immediately the best Seeker ever that the Quidditch scenes are boring. In other school stories, even a sport I never heard of before can be made interesting - not because of the game but because of how it contributes to the development of the character.

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

Does it sound a bit like she'd rather be writing a romance novel for teenagers?

At the point when she gave that interview, that basically was what she was writing.


I forget exactly how the questions and answers went, but there was a teenage boy and I think the boy was asked about the book and he confessed he hadn't read it. I believe someone said something about what he liked about the story and if I remember rightly he commented about movie Hermione.

REELZ Channel for the past week has been running half-hour HP documentaries as the run-up to the Nov. 19th movie release, their latest installment had the host interviewing Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson on the set (so obviously it was made months ago)...

And did the host have any of them talk about the book? No. The host instead asked Watson to explain to the audience for those who haven't read the book what the plot of Deathly Hallows is about!

So obviously there must be a large segment of the population whose only knowledge of Harry Potter is from the movies and not from the books.

So much for Rowling being the best thing for reading literacy since the Guttenberg Bible! :-P


So I really do wonder why JKR forced herself to write Quidditch if she she didn't want to write it. I don't quite get why she was focusing it on herself and us since it seems to be pretty uninterested half the time.

I think she was fine with it for the first two books or so...the interview where she said she was getting tired of it was done around the time that either Book 5 or 6 was coming out. I think it had gotten to the point of just what more could she write about Quidditch and keep it interesting that she hadn't already written.

But she doesn't have anyone to blame but herself -- she'd made the decision early on to give Quidditch an importance that in the long run, it really didn't have for the plot as a whole; I mean, after Harry caught the Snitch in his mouth in Book 1, there really wasn't any point plot-wise to subsequent Quidditch matches in the series. She could have had half as many games in the books just for flavor...