COS Chapter Eleven: "The Duelling Club"
Nov. 19th, 2010 06:39 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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deathtocapslock
* Percy’s looking “in far better spirits than last time they’d met”. Wonder if he’s been seeing Penelope in one of the less-used sections of the library?
* Although if we asked JKR, she’d probably say that he’s in a state of sadistic glee after docking points from a first-year, or something like that.
* Percy and Ron both seem quite hung up on the fact that it’s a girls’ toilet. Perhaps Gryffindor wizards are just insecure about their sexuality (cf. Harry), and so compensate by rejecting anything even remotely connected with the feminine sex.
* Harry can’t see why Ron and Hermione would be in the bathroom, but goes in there anyway, proving (as if any more proof were needed) that logic isn’t one of his strongest points.
* Trying to kill someone because you’ve just lost a Quidditch game would be totally IC for a Gryffindor, IMHO. Less so for a Slytherin, though: you’d have thought that a member of a House noted for cunning would be able to put such things into better perspective.
* Or at least they would, if JKR could convincingly write a cunning person.
* Ron immediately assumes it was Lucius Malfoy who opened the Chamber last time round, even though he has absolutely no idea whether Lucius was actually at school when that happened.
* Ron belittles Hermione’s reading, except when he needs her to do his homework for him, in which case he’s glad she knows so much.
* The Twins are giving Ginny nightmares until Percy stops them. This does not stop Percy from being the tactless one with no people skills, obviously.
* Is Neville “almost a Squib”? He’s always having magical accidents, to be sure, but his problem mostly seems to be one of control, rather than actual power. (Cf. Snape’s “we’ll be sending Finch-Fletchley home in a matchbox” comment.)
* Is there any explanation for Draco staying at school? He always goes home during the other years, AFAIK, so why break the pattern now, if not for authorial convenience?
* Or perhaps he’s just started going out with Pansy, and is spending a romantic Christmas Holidays with her…
* On a side note, I’ve never really got all the Pansy-hate that goes around. I can sort of understand it in the books, from a Doylist perspective if not a Watsonian one (Pansy being based on some girls who used to bully JKR at school), but why does fandom seem to hate her, too? Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever read one fic where she’s portrayed in a positive (or even a neutral) light, which is surprising given that (a) she doesn’t do anything that bad in canon, and (b) fandom (or at least parts of it) seems determined to like pretty much every other Slytherin in the books.
* Anyway, let us leave such characterisation conundrums, and return to the actual book…
* Harry has got to think of a way to steal something from Snape’s stores without being seen. *sigh* If only he had some sort of magical garment – a cloak, maybe, or something like that – which could make him invisible…
* As Harry, unfortunately, does not have any such garment until Rowling remembers about his invisibility cloak, he’s instead stuck with disfiguring the Slytherins to create a diversion.
* BTW, Hermione’s “I’d better do the actual stealing, as you’ll get expelled if you get caught” line doesn’t make much sense, given that Harry would surely be in even more trouble if he were found lobbing fireworks into cauldrons full of dangerous potions than if he were found stealing something from Snape’s stores.
* Snape turns a blind eye to Draco flicking puffer-fish eyes at Harry, which obviously counterbalances Harry’s getting the rules bent to help him, receiving free top-of-the-range broomsticks free of charge, being given extra tuition by Dumbledore, having the House Cup rigged so his House always wins…
* Oh, Harry, the things you have to do to save the school. I bet you hated disfiguring Malfoy like that, didn’t you?
* For all that we’re expected to see Snape’s dislike of Harry as an irrational result of his dislike for James, Harry doesn’t really do much to prove him wrong. He is lazy, arrogant, rude and mediocre, and here he’s endangering other pupils’ safety. It’s no wonder Snape doesn’t like him.
* For “he knows a tiny little bit about duelling”, read “he knows enough about duelling to completely wipe the floor with me”. And Harry, too, but unfortunately we’ll have to wait until HBP to enjoy that.
* “‘Wouldn’t it be good if they finished each other off?’ Ron muttered in Harry’s ear.” Note that this is completely different to Draco wishing that Slytherin’s monster would finish Hermione off.
* I’d love to be a Slytherin in this scene. It’s so rare they’re given a chance to shine, watching their Head of House publicly kick arse must be a very enjoyable occasion for them.
* I don’t see why they don’t teach Expelliarmus in the normal curriculum. It seems to me that spells like this are the first thing you’d teach them in DADA (maybe Stupefy and Protego as well).
* Lockhart bounces back from his humiliation as usual.
* Snape’s “splitting up the dream team”, as he put it, makes me wonder why pupils aren’t made to work with their peers from other Houses more often on assignments and suchlike. Having the Gryffindors work with the Slytherins might teach them that their counterparts in other Houses are human being too, not caricatures of evil like most people seem to think.
* So did Malfoy use Expelliarmus on Harry, then? Harry still seems to have his wand, but that could be attributed to Malfoy just learning the spell and, therefore, not being very good at it. If so, then Harry’s the one who actually starts using non-Expelliarmus spells.
* “Whoops – my wand is a little over-excited” must surely win the award for most Freudian sentence in COS.
* So is Snape the one who gave Draco the idea of using the snake spell? If so, why? Using random dark magic (presumably) just for the hell of it doesn’t really seem his style. Is it perhaps because he knows that Harry doesn’t know how to block proper spells, and just wants Draco to cast one which Harry will be able to avoid more easily?
* Also, is Draco’s already knowing the Serpensortia spell a sign that Slytherin has its own duelling club? It wouldn’t actually surprise me to find that Slytherin has the best clubs; given what we’ve seen of inter-House relations, I doubt that Slytherin students would be made to feel very welcome in any school-wide clubs they did join, so they’d probably set up their own.
* I have to admit, that “What, drop my wand?” line is rather funny.
* Better not tell Harry that, in a society as small as the WW, and given that Salazar lived a thousand years ago, everybody’s probably related to him several times over.
* Anyway, the idea of there being one heir of Slytherin doesn’t really seem very likely. Even if there’s only one legitimate heir, all it would take would be for one descendant over the past thousand years to have one illegitimate child, and there could be any number of unknown heirs. It could be anyone. It could even be Dudley Dursley… (Now there’s a fanfic idea if ever I saw one!)
* I like the way everyone assumes that (a) being Slytherin’s heir automatically makes one evil, and (b) all Slytherin’s heirs would get sorted into Slytherin. And people say that blood’s not important in Harry Potter?
* BTW, I wonder what the Slytherins all think of this constant vilification of their House’s founder?
* That’s right, chaps, Salazar spoke Parseltongue, so anyone who speaks Parseltongue must also be evil. Just like Slazar wore clothes, and ate, and got married, so anyone who does any of those things must also be—no, wait…
* Come to think of it, the evidence for Harry being the Heir is much stronger than the evidence against Draco. Not that this’ll give Harry pause for thought when he knocks out two of Draco’s friends to spy on him.
* “‘He always seems so nice, though,’ said Hannah uncertainly.” Don’t worry, Hannah, we’ll stamp that out of him soon enough.
* Harry’s voice is “shaking with anger” now, both foreshadowing CAPSLOCK!Harry and making him look like the dangerous menace the Hufflepuffs all think he is.
* Harry’s really unlucky in that he has a motive for attacking everybody who’s been attacked so far. Maybe Tom’s trying to discredit him, like Lucius is trying to discredit Dumbledore?
* I like the way going to Dumbledore’s office is seen as such a big deal. You can tell he’s got such a close relationship with the student body, can’t you?
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Date: 2010-11-25 11:47 pm (UTC)Oh, there's always gonna be some fics that portray her in a good light- there's Ron/Pansy shipppers, for instance, and I'm sure there are those who ship her with other characters and treat her decently. But yeah, she's overwhelmingly hated by fans, which is odd. Well, in DH, it's confirmed because she wants to turn Harry over to Voldemort (damn her for not being happy to die because their hero is cowering from the villain and had the bad form to choose their school to hide out) but before that...IDK, really. I guess it's because she's pug-faced and always shrieks her lines?
(gotta say, I love the Pansy from the PoA movie, she was so dignified and solemn, so adorb!)
Harry has got to think of a way to steal something from Snape’s stores without being seen. *sigh* If only he had some sort of magical garment – a cloak, maybe, or something like that – which could make him invisible…
WTF? Where IS his invisibility cloak anyway? That would be the obvious solution. O.o
Hermione’s “I’d better do the actual stealing, as you’ll get expelled if you get caught” line doesn’t make much sense
Well, Hermione excels at saying things that somehow seem like common sense when it's totally illogical- for instance, insisting she went to hunt down the troll in PS/SS, and leaving the boys grateful to her. Um, how the hell did that benefit them in any way? Surely it'd make them look better if they had gone to warn a crying girl than tagging after one intent on foolish heroics?
Snape turns a blind eye to Draco flicking puffer-fish eyes at Harry, which obviously counterbalances Harry’s getting the rules bent to help him, receiving free top-of-the-range broomsticks free of charge, being given extra tuition by Dumbledore, having the House Cup rigged so his House always wins…
*wibbles* It's so very unfair when put like that.
For all that we’re expected to see Snape’s dislike of Harry as an irrational result of his dislike for James, Harry doesn’t really do much to prove him wrong. He is lazy, arrogant, rude and mediocre, and here he’s endangering other pupils’ safety.
EXACTLY. Try pointing that out to other fans, though. (I've tried) No, no, Snape is just an evil asshole who is blinded by his immature schoolboy grudge with absolutely NO justification for disliking a student who doesn't try in class, disrespects him in front of everyone, gets rules bent for him and can't get in trouble no matter how he tries and puts other kids in danger.
“‘Wouldn’t it be good if they finished each other off?’ Ron muttered in Harry’s ear.” Note that this is completely different to Draco wishing that Slytherin’s monster would finish Hermione off.
Okay, this I don't really have a problem with. The basilisk really is out to kill muggle-borns, whereas there's no real chance of Lockhart killing Snape. HOWEVER, when defending Draco's comment about Hermione, I reference Harry's vicious desire for the DADA curse to get Snape in HBP- there is an actual curse that has left previous teachers dead or horribly abused, and Harry's hoping it gets Snape dead, when the man's just been risking his life for years to protect his! Our hero. Ugh.
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Date: 2010-11-26 02:46 am (UTC)WTF? Where IS his invisibility cloak anyway? That would be the obvious solution. O.o
Well, the second most obvious solution. The most obvious solution (not that I thought of it myself, I admit) would be to *buy* the ingredients. Harry doesn't lack for money, and we know that you can order things by owl at Hogwarts, because in OotP, Filch tries to confiscate one of Harry's letters on the grounds that he heard Harry was placing an order for Dungbombs.
Considering that the potion takes a month to make, and that the boomslang skin and bicorn horn weren't needed right away, it probably wouldn't even have delayed things to have bought them rather than stealing them.
The basilisk really is out to kill muggle-borns, whereas there's no real chance of Lockhart killing Snape.
Well, no one's been killed by the monster, either. They're Petrified, but there's frankly no suggestion that they're even aware of it. It's inconvenient and bad for one's education to be "out" for so long, but there's a known cure and no doubt that it'll work.
Nor does anyone know what's really going on, not even whether the real monster belonging to Slytherin is involved. It could be someone with a new spell or potion for Petrifying people, who only claimed to have some connection to the Chamber of Secrets legend. So no one actually knew, at that point, whether anyone came close to being killed.
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Date: 2010-11-26 03:53 am (UTC)Don't they all know about the basiliks?
a) that it kills people with its gaze (that's common knowledge, no?) and so it's only blind luck that nobody's dead yet, but it was doing its best...
b) that Slytherin famously had a basilisk, and given his anti-muggleborn sentiments and that the only victims are muggleborns so far, that it makes sense the Heir of Slytherin is involved?
Although for a beast that's so hungry and out there trying to hunt down some dinner, it's remarkable that none of the victims end up being eaten. O.o
And you have a good point that someone could be using the CoS legend as a red herring, but that's way too sophisticated a plot for this book, come on!
I can't remember now, but how did the whole school come to blame the Heir of Slytherin? I thought the Chamber of Secrets was only mentioned once Ginny was taken? So what fueled all the rumors?
Ugh, it's so hard trying to work out what people would reasonably know or assume at certain points in time.
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Date: 2010-11-26 04:51 am (UTC)We don't know how similar the situation was to 50 years ago, but by now we have already seen spiders escaping the castle and we will soon learn that roosters are being killed, so someone with knowledge of magical creatures should be able to come up with the hypothesis that the monster might be a basilisk. Especially someone who knew Harry, the Parselmouth, can hear it when others can't. (That would be Hermione, Ron and soon Albus.)
The first threat Ginny wrote was 'Enemies of the heir - beware' - so they knew the attacks were claimed to be by the heir of Slytherin, but only Albus (and probably Severus) knew who that was. And Albus had 'sources' (what were they?) claiming that guy was in Albania. (Hence his claim that he knew who was doing it but not how.)
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Date: 2010-11-26 05:04 am (UTC)Yeah, hmm, really circumstantial evidence there. A note left by the culprit, HMM. Wouldn't anyone naturally point the finger at Slytherin? If a Slyth had committed the crimes and written, 'Enemies of Helga Hufflepuff, beware', would anyone really be eyeballing 'puffs with suspicion?
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Date: 2010-11-26 02:50 pm (UTC)This always confused me - did none of the other founders have any heirs?
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Date: 2010-11-26 05:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-26 11:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-27 04:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2010-11-26 04:53 am (UTC)After the first attack with the cat, Possessed!Ginny wrote on the wall, "THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE."
Don't they all know about the basiliks?
Nope. Until Hermione worked it out, no one said anything about basilisks. The legend was that Slytherin had a monster of some kind, but not what it was. Not even that it was some kind of snake.
At the point when Draco had that line, the victims were one Muggleborn, and one cat. The cat owned by a Squib, so therefore someone who had magical ancestors (otherwise he'd be a Muggle).
And you have a good point that someone could be using the CoS legend as a red herring, but that's way too sophisticated a plot for this book, come on!
Well, I'm talking about the thought processes of the characters, within the story. They don't know that they're in a poorly-written children's book.
Although knowing JKR's love of surprise twists, it totally could have been a red herring. For a Harry Potter book, it doesn't have to be sophisticated, just absurdly difficult to work out.
The more I think about it... if it hadn't been Voldemort, surely it would have been Lockhart, staging something so that he could fake a daring rescue, don't you think? But 16-year-old Voldemort is even harder to guess, so it obviously fits the books' style better. ;)
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Date: 2010-11-26 05:11 am (UTC)And yeah, pretty thin evidence to say it was a Slytherin- they didn't have a large body of victims yet, there wasn't a definite MO established at all.
I'm talking about the thought processes of the characters, within the story. They don't know that they're in a poorly-written children's book
Oh, I meant it was too sophisticated a plot for any of the characters to think up. Let alone for anyone else to even guess that was what was going on. Besides, as soon as a Slytherin is accused of something, why would they look any further, right? Unless it's someone they like, in which case, the truth is subjective and molded by Harry's will- like Stan Shunpike definitely NOT being a Death Eater, no way! Because he speaks in a charming accent, he can't be evil! Despite boasting of being a DE! It must be the Imperius that made him claim that! O.o
Now I'm wondering what was the point of the basilisk petrifying things at all? It wasn't to eat, considering none of the victims were nommed on. Did Tom just want to scare Albus away or what? (hey, good thing we're doing a re-read, I might be able to figure a few things out along the way) Why didn't he just set the basilisk on Albus directly anyway? He's afraid of the man, but it's not risking his neck if he has possessed!Ginny command the thing over to Albus' office and gobble him up.
I really like the idea of Lockhart staging the whole thing, that would be so in character for him, the pompous peacock! Ha!
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Date: 2010-11-26 02:53 pm (UTC)The basilisk can't get into Albus' office, Albus has a phoenix with a sharp beak, Albus is the greatest wizard in the world... I think Voldemort was too scared of Dumbledore to risk leaving his death to something like this. The only times he actively tried to kill him were with a confirmed AK by his own hand, or a knife in the back from his right hand man.
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Date: 2010-11-26 11:10 pm (UTC)And did he really think Fawkes was a threat? I thought in the Chamber, when he flew in, Tom laughed it off because he thought the phoenix was useless? (even though as someone obsessed with immortality, it's so stupid that he wouldn't know its tears can heal *eyeroll*)
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Date: 2010-11-26 11:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-27 01:03 am (UTC)Diary!Tom didn't have adult!Voldemort's full power and knowledge. And remember, instead of simply grabbing Bella and Disapparating immediately once he'd lost the fight in OotP, he Disapparates (I'm assuming he left, since he vanishes from Harry's view and one would expect Dumbledore to at least restrain Voldemort's body while his mind was elsewhere), possesses Harry, dares Dumbledore to kill him, then comes back to pick up Bella and escape conveniently in full view of Ministry officials. Voldemort seemed to think there was at least a chance that Dumbledore would kill Harry to take Voldemort with him. If he thought Dumbledore would sacrifice Harry like that, he'd be certain Ginny would be considered expendable.
And did he really think Fawkes was a threat? I thought in the Chamber, when he flew in, Tom laughed it off because he thought the phoenix was useless? (even though as someone obsessed with immortality, it's so stupid that he wouldn't know its tears can heal *eyeroll*)
True. I tend to assume diary!Tom is the smart Voldemort, who would be aware of the risks of a fast, flight-capable, intelligent, immortal animal with undying loyalty to his worst enemy and a sharp beak perfectly suited for destroying the soft, squishy, primary weapons of a giant snake.
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Date: 2010-11-26 06:16 pm (UTC)But do we know that just anyone was allowed to buy such ingredients, or that children were allowed? Potions ingredients -- or certain potions ingredients -- may be restricted to sale to adults only.
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Date: 2010-11-26 11:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-26 11:51 pm (UTC)But a broomstick is quite a different thing from botanicals which could be dangerous just on their own, and definitely dangerous when combined with other substances in certain ways.
In nonmagikal society, a 12 y.o. can go into a market and buy some apples, or a container of milk, or a package of steaks. That same 12 y.o. can't buy a packet of cigarettes or a 6-pack of beer.
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Date: 2010-11-26 11:58 pm (UTC)And I get your analogy, but the wizarding world isn't overly logical or given to safety standards- I mean, their 12 year-olds are walking around with lethal weapons everyday...
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Date: 2010-11-27 12:17 am (UTC)First off, there's nothing in the books to suggest that potions ingredients CAN be ordered thru the mail.
And if they can, there may be a requirement to show proof of age, and/or to have an equivalent of a prescription, especially if the buyer is younger than 17 (which seems to be the age of majority in the wizarding world).
Even if it IS a case of anyone with the funds being able to buy anything, the purveyors of such ingredients may be required to keep a list of buyers, much as buyers of bulk nitrates or certain pharmaceuticals are kept on a list here in the U.S.
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Date: 2010-11-27 02:22 am (UTC)LOL!!!
Wizard ID check! You kids can't be buying this, adults only.
Certainly they could have got Draco to make them up some fake ID's since we know he's got printing skills with badges.
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Date: 2010-12-01 01:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-01 03:46 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2010-11-26 05:33 pm (UTC)Unless the apothecaries they know of (In Diagon Alley, they probably don't even know of the one in Hogsmeade) don't keep these items, or don't sell them anonymously. They may be restricted by law. But the kids should have tried that first.
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Date: 2010-11-26 11:48 pm (UTC)And yes, even if they were thwarted, they SHOULD have tried to buy them legally first. (too bad Crookshanks wasn't around in this book, they could've sent him off to order the ingredients)