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

[sharaz-jek.livejournal.com]

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

She admitted this in an interview, and decided that Colin must be cleverer than he looked to have modified his camera to run on magic. Which explains his servility - clever Gryffindors, after all, know their place.

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

In light of his dialogue at the end, when he knows it was Voldemort despite Harry trying to keep secret Ginny's possession, I think we're supposed to assume he knew who was doing it and was wondering how he was doing it from Albania. We're also supposed to not wonder when he figured out Voldemort was the heir of Slytherin and why he didn't mention this the first time.

[oryx_leucoryx]

Sorry this is a bit late; I’m afraid RL has been a bit hectic over the past few days.
As you can see, we had fun with the previous chapters in the meantime.

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

Becasue Lockhart Obliviated the wizard who actually invented that charm? (If there was one). The question is, what happened when a British family member of a werewolf who read Lockhart's book tried to hire Lockhart's services to rescue hir werewolf loved one.

* 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.

That's her assimilation into Gryffindor culture.

* “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.

Ron shows his suitability for wizarding politics. He can follow the proud tradition of Crouch and Fudge. And in the epilogue he hexes a Mugle because it's less hassle than learning to drive safely.

* 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.

Since Gryffindor lost to Ravenclaw by a large margin and Slytherin were leading in points before Dumbly's last minute 'correction', Slytherin may have taken the Quidditch Cup last year as well.

* 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.

So, does anyone think DiaryTom's plan was to kill Harry in the hospital wing and Colin was just an accidental victim?

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

The only electrical thing in optical cameras is the flash.

[sharaz-jek.livejournal.com]

So, does anyone think DiaryTom's plan was to kill Harry in the hospital wing and Colin was just an accidental victim?

I don't think so - at this point he was only going after Muggle-borns, and he says in the Chamber that his main priority with Harry was talking to him, not immediately killing him (it looks like some of his weaknesses were there from the beginning).

[oryx_leucoryx]

But he knew about Harry from the start, through Ginny's writing. He may have shifted to getting Harry already. The part about killing Muggle-borns may have been about the previous basilisk adventure, 50 years earlier.

He wanted to know if Harry had any secret power that allowed 'his' victory in 1981 before attacking him in the Chamber. But Tom may have thought he could just kill Harry if he caught him unawares. He could just have Ginny come to say hello and have the basilisk get him while he was distracted.

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

/* 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./

That would be fun and I wish that we could have seen how the Slytherins (as well as the other Houses) interact with the other teachers as well. How did the Slytherins handle Lupin's boggart lesson, for instance? What do they and the other Houses think of Trelawney? Did everybody think that Lockhart was a phony? Did the Ravenclaws appreciate Fake!Moody's lessons? Do any of the Hufflepuffs like Snape?

/* 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./

Maybe I just don't have the same sort of subtext radar that some other people do, but I didn't get that impression of Slughorn at all while I was reading HBP. He was enthralled by Tom, yes, but then again, so was everybody who wasn't Dumbledore.

/* 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./

Well, to be fair, Oliver was there when Draco called Hermione "Mudblood," wasn't he? So, if he's angry about that, then it's understandable.

/Once again, Rowling’s needs to both belittle Malfoy and make Harry the underdog are in conflict./

Draco just isn't allowed to be competent in anything. He isn't allowed to be a competent bully, a competent rival, or a competent enemy (the closest he gets is in HBP, but then all of his plans fail in the end anyway). I'd thought that the scene where he was shown to be a good flier in PS/SS was supposed to set him up as a worthy rival to Harry in at least that sense.

/* 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?/

I'm not a big sports fan, but I can't think of a single game in any sport where one team had to forfeit because of malfunctioning equipment. In the real world, it would happen just as you've said: the equipment would either be fixed or if it couldn't be, then the game would be rescheduled.

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

Or, as was the case in the third book, until they get struck by lightning or catch pneumonia. What exactly constitutes a viable reason to halt a Quidditch game in the wizarding world? Would they keep playing if there was a tornado or a hurricane going on at the same time?

/* 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?/

Yeah, that comment about ballet really came out of nowhere. It doesn't make sense that Draco, a pureblood wizard whose family hates Muggles, would know about that. Unless wizards have a form of ballet and we just don't hear about it.

/* 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./

Yeah, the fact that the Slytherin Team keeps Draco despite him losing to Harry in every match either means that they don't have any possible back-up players who are better or that Draco just really is a good player.

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

Now I'm wondering what Draco's reaction would be after hearing about Dobby's behavior all year. Would he be angry at Harry for freeing his house elf or, after learning about the stupid, dangerous, and ultimately pointless measures that Dobby took in order to keep Harry safe, would he be secretly relieved?

[oryx_leucoryx]

Yeah, that comment about ballet really came out of nowhere. It doesn't make sense that Draco, a pureblood wizard whose family hates Muggles, would know about that. Unless wizards have a form of ballet and we just don't hear about it.

Wizarding ballet - for the upperclass snobs. Of course in PS Draco also knew about helicopters. I bet he could teach Arthur how airplanes stay up.

[aasaylva.livejournal.com]

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…?
OMG yes. Hermione's theory that nobody ever comes here is just as idiotic as Tom's where the RoR is concerned. If she got there (even if only once, before knowing Moaning Myrtle), that means someone else might,too!

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...
Fie! That would mean Harry and his cronies had to learn or change their mind on anything and that's just not on. I mean, his turnaround as to Snape was more than enough of that kind of thing thank you very much.

Oh dear, Quidditch! The way it's written, the outcome depends on the Seeker and the Seeker depends on how fast his broom is and on sheer luck of looking into the right direction at the right time. It's sort of like throwing dice - so why would anybody laud a player for winning? "Wow, he's the youngest dice thrower in centuries! He's scored a six!!!"

Given that Lockhart’s portrayed as almost universally incompetent, it’s a surprise he hasn’t been found out yet.
Well, he is an adult. In this series, that's an ideal group for incompetents to hide among.

* I don’t see why Madam Pomfrey’s getting so angry at Harry. Lockhart’s the one who de-boned him, after all.
Again, this is in tune with the rest of the series: blame the kid (Hagrid and Norbert, anyone?)

[sharaz-jek.livejournal.com]

Was Ginny needed to direct the Basilisk? For some reason I just assumed she summoned it and sent it out after people, but obviously that doesn't really work. Of course, it doesn't make sense that Hogwarts' plumbing is constantly wide enough to admit a giant snake, or that it can poke its head out whenever it feels like it - so are we to assume that it emerges from Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and slithers around the school with Ginny leading it? How come Myrtle never mentions to anyone that someone's summoning the Basilisk?

[sharaz-jek.livejournal.com]

There's a tapestry by the Room of Requirement showing a wizard trying to teach trolls ballet. Given that I'm pretty sure people had stopped making tapestries by the time ballet started, I have no idea why it's there.

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

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

I think this may be a case of Rowling remembering childhood. I had exactly the same sorts of things happen. Ex: when I was five I was told to take a note to another teacher at a different playground section - that teacher made me stay on that playground until their bell rang - when I came back to my own area the teacher who sent me with the note wanted to know why I allowed the other teacher to make me stay on the wrong playground.

That still makes me wonder about the logical abilities of both teachers involved. This chapter is one of the few times in canon I actually wondered about Madam Pomphrey. This early on in the series I think Rowling was still sticking in the head-nodding moments for kids.

[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]

That still makes me wonder about the logical abilities of both teachers involved. This chapter is one of the few times in canon I actually wondered about Madam Pomphrey. This early on in the series I think Rowling was still sticking in the head-nodding moments for kids.

I tend to agree -- I think everyone remembers at least one teacher in their life who made them wonder just how and why they became, and remained, teachers.

There is a reality courtroom show here in the U.S. called Judge Judy, I don't know if it is carried in any other country...

The other day Judge Judy had a case where the plaintiff was suing a woman who was president of her condo's homeowner association for the attorney's fees the plaintiff claimed the defendant caused her.

Seems the plaintiff liked to feed ducks who'd decided to squat in the association's swimming pool, and the condo association sent the plaintiff a letter asking her to cease and desist or face further legal action.

The plaintiff said the letter "scared" her into hiring an attorney; she additionally defended feeding the ducks because she said the swimming pool hadn't opened for the season yet.

For anyone not familiar with Judge Judy Schiendlin, you can't appreciate her reaction to the plaintiff. In Judge Judy's singularly entertaining way, she told the plaintiff that if she wanted to hire an attorney it was her right, but that the association letter had plainly stated that if she'd stop feeding the ducks there wouldn't be any additional action.

The plaintiff then continued to argue about feeding the ducks, and kept reiterating that since no one was using the pool that it shouldn't have caused a problem.

Judge Judy was flabbergasted, and in no uncertain terms yelled at the plaintiff that the ducks wouldn't know that the pool opens on June 15th so they better find another pool to use after that date! When the plaintiff still didn't get it, Judge Judy asked her what she did for a living.

Yep. This bubblehead stated that she taught third grade. You could see the gears going in Judge Judy's head, thinking "This idiot teaches kids?"

And even after the plaintiff lost the case, her comment to the audience at the end was that she'd still keep feeding the ducks, because no one's using the pool at that time. I guess she thinks the ducks will just know to move on when the pool's opened for the season...

So yeah, you have to wonder about the logic and intelligence of some teachers...

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

Ron shows his suitability for wizarding politics. He can follow the proud tradition of Crouch and Fudge. And in the epilogue he hexes a Mugle because it's less hassle than learning to drive safely.

Ha ha ha! Ron really was a lazy sod for whom principals took a back seat to convenience, wasn't he?

I really saw him as the ballast of the Trio, there to slow Harry down, keep him on that wide and easy path, "she'll be right, mate, let Hermione do all the work".

Still, he was only twelve (in this instance), hopefully it was just boyish bravado. I think that's how we're supposed to take it.

Although even in the last book he was still making such ethically poor choices - let's lie to Griphook, let's bewitch the driving examiner. Were there others?

[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...

[oryx_leucoryx]

How come Myrtle never mentions to anyone that someone's summoning the Basilisk?

I could say she was too busy being sorry for herself to notice or to care, but in HBP she yells for help when Harry nearly kills Draco. So either she is one character who improved her ways or she really cared about Draco.

[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.)

[detritius.livejournal.com]

So either she is one character who improved her ways or she really cared about Draco.

Enough, even, for her not to want him to die so he could keep her company as a ghost, which would be quite a step for Myrtle. Which leads me to believe that JKR wasn't thinking about her or her character arc at all, and just wanted whatever would be the most dramatic at that moment.

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's right; I forgot about that. Hee, now I'm imagining Draco sitting Arthur down and carefully explaining to him how airplanes work while the rest of the Weasley family glares at him.

I wonder if Lucius knows that his son knows so much about Muggles?

[oryx_leucoryx]

All three of them ended up seriously morally dodgy. The difference between Ron and Hermione is that Ron does unethical things out of laziness while Hermione does them out of vengeance and self-righteousness. I think Harry's motivations for unethical behavior are closer to Hermione's, combined with lack of thought and seeking enjoyment.

[mmmarcusz.livejournal.com]

Cameras are mechanical, not electronic. It could be an old-fashioned type where you have to wind the film on yourself,and have a magic flash.

In light of his dialogue at the end, when he knows it was Voldemort despite Harry trying to keep secret Ginny's possession, I think we're supposed to assume he knew who was doing it and was wondering how he was doing it from Albania. We're also supposed to not wonder when he figured out Voldemort was the heir of Slytherin and why he didn't mention this the first time.

Never noticed that plothole. Maybe when he looked into Riddle's past and found the Gaunts?

[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.

[karentheunicorn.livejournal.com]

Which leads me to believe that JKR wasn't thinking about her or her character arc at all, and just wanted whatever would be the most dramatic at that moment.

I think you hit the monkey on the head with a hammer right there. I had been looking for the right way to put what I had been thinking for a while. There are certain things that happen in the series that I always question, or I alwasy go...WTH?

I think your statement right there probably answers the whole damn thing.

It didn't have to fit into the characters personality, or it didn't have to fit into what we understand something to be or what we would expect one character to do or say. Hell, the whole last book seemed like it is setup for just dramatic effect or to just totally make us go, really? What just happened?

I have even pondered that the whole last book, certain scenes and things come across as a great setup to make the movie dramatic or pop on screen.

My least favorite thing in the book (Besides Snape's death) is Molly yelling Bitch and AK'ing Bellatrix.

It's Mommy runs in and saves the day.

Why not friggin have Hermione and Ginny beat Bellatrix; instead mom comes in and offs the second in command of evil but she also gets to yell a curse word so all the little children can go around calling the baddies bitch.

To me that was written not for the novel aspect of the story being a book, it just seems like it was written for the big screen, so the audiance can cheer when mommy comes in and yells a curse word and kills bellatrix.

[oryx_leucoryx]

I think he found the Gaunts years ago. Long before the first war. Morfin was arrested in the 1940s. Do you think he survived in Azkaban all the way to the 90s? (Though I'm sure Dumbles didn't know about the Gaunts while Tom was still a student)

Rowling intended him to know that it was Voldemort behind the petrifications all along. What he didn't know was where the monster was coming from because he couldn't hear the snake's voice (he isn't a true Parselmouth, he can only understand it when humans speak it). Of course once he found Harry was a Parselmouth he did nothing to make use of this talent to find the monster. (And apparently neither did he make any serious effort to get information from Myrtle. Or maybe she refused to speak to him - why should she trust one of the teachers that failed to protect her at her school?)

The plot hole is that since Twinkly knew that Voldemort was Riddle, heir of Slytherin for years why did he insist that people refer to him as Voldemort, and why didn't he tell the world that the leader of the extremist pureblood supremacy faction is a half-blood?

[karentheunicorn.livejournal.com]

I have to agree with you on that.

I was just looking at Chamber and I was just flitting through randomly and I came to the section where they are going to 'steal' potion ingrediants from Snape.

I reread a little bit of it, and Harry seemed to be totally void of emotions that he got so many people splashed by the swelling solution. He was even going to laugh at Draco and at the end the only thing he can find to complain about is that Snape seemed to know it was him and that Snape was probably going to do something nasty to him because of it.

Um, Harry, dude, you just did a couple of nasty things. Your friend through our help just stole from the school and you just caused other people to be hurt by your actions.

How about a little remorse, Harry Potter, Mr. love and compassion. He didn't for a moment give a second thought to all the people he hurt except to worry about himself and what he might suffer.

Yea, he is just a kid but he certainly doesn't seem like this very loving thing we're supposed to believe. I could imagine myself at 12 in that situation and I would be feeling guilty and bad that I got someone hurt by throwing that firework into the caldron. Even if I thought I was doing the right thing I'm pretty sure it would still bother me.

We just don't seem to get that from the chosen one.

[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.