COS Chapter Eleven: "The Duelling Club"

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

 

* 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?

 

Comments

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

What's weird is that Dumbles says that after they heard Ginny was killed, they immediately owled him to reinstate him and complained about Lucius. I can't figure out the connection there- is it simply because they thought a kid died, instead of being petrified? But why would Dumbles be able to do anything about it ex post facto?

Did the governors know the theory about Lucius giving Ginny the diary? But surely, hearing that she was supposedly dead would make them even MORE terrified of thwarting Lucius, because now a kid's dead?

And if they didn't know he was involved in anything except trying to oust Dumbles, then what, did they regret falling in line because a life had been taken and grow a collective spine and stand up for themselves in order to protect the other kids? (hey, maybe appointing a new headmaster would've made more sense, rather than reinstating the guy that Lucius threatened them over?)

that would mean that the governors fired Lucius for threatening them at the end of the book, when their initial response to being threatened was to do what he told them to do. If he'd threaten to curse their families for not voting as they wished, imagine what he'd do if they challenged him *directly*.

EXACTLY. People are all 'Lucius is so evil, he threatened to curse their families' without actually looking at the situation and how stupid that seems and how it actually muddies up matters because it makes no sense how he could be so powerful that eleven governors do his bidding yet so powerless that they stage a coup to remove him. Um?

[karentheunicorn.livejournal.com]

EXACTLY. People are all 'Lucius is so evil, he threatened to curse their families' without actually looking at the situation and how stupid that seems and how it actually muddies up matters because it makes no sense how he could be so powerful that eleven governors do his bidding yet so powerless that they stage a coup to remove him. Um?


Yea, I don't get it, shouldn't the other 11 governors be just as powerful or important as he is?

Why would they wimp out at the prospect of Lucius Malfoy cursing their families - as soon as that happened, shouldn't one governor contact another and say, "Hay that pompus ass Lucius Malfoy came over here threatening to curse my family...what, the ass came over to your house to...Thats it, we're calling a meeting of all the governors tomorrow, etc. etc."

I mean, it doesn't sound like these people picked up the phone to call each other when this crap was going on...wait...Excuse me, not the phone, the nearest fireplace...

And hell they could just pop into a fireplace and visit each other and find out what the hell was going on. In fact when Lucius was contacting them they could have all shown up at the school within a few minutes to talk to Dumbledore directly. It looks like they made Lucius they're spokesman to remove him. WTH, he threatened them and now he's they're spokesman to remove the headmaster?

They sure sound like a lazy lot, you'd think they'd have all got on their brooms or apparated to the front gate to find out directly what was going on instead of trusting what a guy that threadened them was telling them.

Sounds like all the governors need to go, they're sloppy and lazy and seem only half interested in doing their job.

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

shouldn't the other 11 governors be just as powerful or important as he is?

Right! So maybe Lucius is really scary 'coz he's a DE with Dark magic powers, oooh, spooky, but there's eleven of those guys against one of him. Pretty decent odds! And like you said (I love your hypothetical conversation 'what, the ass came over to your house, too', lmao!), they should be talking to each other about how unstable Lucius is and he's a walking timebomb that needs to be dealt with.

Instead, they let this guy dictate to them in the running of a school where a monster is slithering around, trying to kill students. WOW. Good going, guys! They know he's up to no good- given that he's threatening them, his objective can't be anything that positive- but they'll cower away from him, even while kids are in danger. Nice.

Sounds like all the governors need to go, they're sloppy and lazy and seem only half interested in doing their job

That's basically the case with any and all authority figures/institutions in the books. Jeez, JKR has issues, no? Most of the teachers are incompetent or uncaring of student wellbeing (looking at you, Dumbles), same with the governors, same with the Ministry...

[lynn-waterfall.livejournal.com]

I don't know how many were *required*, but it was a unanimous vote:

“Dreadful thing, Dumbledore,” said Malfoy lazily, taking out a long roll of parchment, “but the governors feel it’s time for you to step aside. This is an Order of Suspension — you’ll find all twelve signatures on it. I’m afraid we feel you’re losing your touch.

That doesn't mean that Lucius threatened them *all*, though. Even Dumbledore doesn't say that he'd threatened all of them:

“Well, you see, Lucius,” said Dumbledore, smiling serenely, “the other eleven governors contacted me today. It was something like being caught in a hailstorm of owls, to tell the truth. They’d heard that Arthur Weasleys daughter had been killed and wanted me back here at once. They seemed to think I was the best man for the job after all. Very strange tales they told me, too…Several of them seemed to think that you had threatened to curse their families if they didn’t agree to suspend me in the first place.”

And frankly, Dumbledore could be lying. Maybe Dumbledore isn't as popular a headmaster as his closest friends/fans think. Consider how quickly the WW turned against him (as well as Harry) in OotP.

Yet another thing: Dumbledore apparently wasn't reinstated by any kind of a vote. He got "a hailstorm of owls" -- presumably eleven separate owls. And the first Lucius heard about it was just that Dumbledore was back at the school. So Dumbledore wasn't formally voted back into his position until after he returned... and we only have his word about those owls he received. I could see the governors voting him back in on the grounds that the problem mysteriously disappeared shortly after he unofficially returned. Who are they to argue with success?

[karentheunicorn.livejournal.com]

“Dreadful thing, Dumbledore,” said Malfoy lazily, taking out a long roll of parchment, “but the governors feel it’s time for you to step aside. This is an Order of Suspension — you’ll find all twelve signatures on it. I’m afraid we feel you’re losing your touch.

So this makes me wonder did Lucius go around to each of the governors. Did he visit them personally with that parchment and get them to sign it. Thats what it sounds like doesn't it?


“Well, you see, Lucius,” said Dumbledore, smiling serenely, “the other eleven governors contacted me today. It was something like being caught in a hailstorm of owls, to tell the truth.

(stops Dumbledores speech) Didn't this conversation happen at the end? When Lucius came to DD's office. (bad memory) BUT, I cut the quote because I have to question. If all this bad stuff is going on, WHY wouldn't the governors get together and have a meeting at the school? The jerks are to lazy and can only send owls?? WTH?


They’d heard that Arthur Weasleys daughter had been killed and wanted me back here at once.

(stops Dumbledore's speech again) WHO did they hear that from?

They seemed to think I was the best man for the job after all.

(stops Dumbledore's speech again to consider) Wow, he wouldn't brag much would he?

Very strange tales they told me, too…Several of them seemed to think that you had threatened to curse their families if they didn’t agree to suspend me in the first place.”

hum, several, so yea it does sound like not all. That makes me question again how many may have actually supported Lucius at first until they heard some kid got killed. Which makes me question who might have told them Ginny got killed? Because I don't think anyone officially knew she was dead but it sounds like the governors believed she was dead. So maybe the ones that were supporting Lucius got scared.

But still, it just seems sorta like they're wishy-washy people; and people who can take the time out of their busy scheduel as school governors to actually show up at the school to deal with a big problem at the school.


and frankly, Dumbledore could be lying. Maybe Dumbledore isn't as popular a headmaster as his closest friends/fans think. Consider how quickly the WW turned against him (as well as Harry) in OotP.

Yea, I didn't really think of that but thats a good point.


Yet another thing: Dumbledore apparently wasn't reinstated by any kind of a vote. He got "a hailstorm of owls" -- presumably eleven separate owls. And the first Lucius heard about it was just that Dumbledore was back at the school. So Dumbledore wasn't formally voted back into his position until after he returned... and we only have his word about those owls he received. I could see the governors voting him back in on the grounds that the problem mysteriously disappeared shortly after he unofficially returned. Who are they to argue with success?


Yea, thats a good point to. I still say the governors sound like a bunch of lazy sods. Lucius is the only one taking the time to do anything, he actually does show up at the school and looks involved!! (LOL)

[sharaz-jek.livejournal.com]

They’d heard that Arthur Weasleys daughter had been killed and wanted me back here at once.

(stops Dumbledore's speech again) WHO did they hear that from?

Probably McGonagal. If she'd decided to close the school, the governors would have to be informed.

Yea, thats a good point to. I still say the governors sound like a bunch of lazy sods. Lucius is the only one taking the time to do anything, he actually does show up at the school and looks involved!! (LOL)

The governors' laissez-faire attitude could be ascribed to Dumbledore's reputation, his thousand titles, and his influence at the Ministry (he probably still had some at this point - I think his influence was partly a matter of inertia and only started to fade once Lucius was fired as governor and could devote all his time to politics). Lucius is the only one with any particular desire to challenge Dumbledore's regime at this point.

[oryx_leucoryx]

So this makes me wonder did Lucius go around to each of the governors. Did he visit them personally with that parchment and get them to sign it. Thats what it sounds like doesn't it?


So Lucius threatened to curse people if they didn't sign his parchment, and Hermione cursed without warning those that signed hers and went back on their word. And Slytherins are the ones who are supposed to be sneaky?

[karentheunicorn.livejournal.com]

So Lucius threatened to curse people if they didn't sign his parchment, and Hermione cursed without warning those that signed hers and went back on their word. And Slytherins are the ones who are supposed to be sneaky?

Yea, it's shady behavior, Hermiones actions. I think We're just supposed to accept Hermione as good, but I'm pretty sure in Lucius' mind he is doing what he believes is the right thing for himself and his family.

Rowling is expecting us the reader to accept that because Hermione is presented as a good character then it's acceptable for her to do bad things.

I would have to ask her, if this is Hermione's accepted behavior as a child/minor what happens later. When Hermione becomes an adult and works at the Ministry, is she just going to curse people if they don't agree with the Ministry rules/laws/orders?

[oryx_leucoryx]

What I was pointing out was that Lucius was being more direct than Hermione.

[sharaz-jek.livejournal.com]

A competent Slytherin is a pragmatic Slytherin. Hermione seems to be acting in a manner she thinks is cunning because she's not in an environment that values or encourages cunning.

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

WHY wouldn't the governors get together and have a meeting at the school? The jerks are to lazy and can only send owls?? WTH?

My guess is that probably most of the governors care neither for Dumbledore OR Malfoy, and wouldn't mind seeing both gone.

But they don't have a single backbone amongst the 11, so they'll simper up to whomever seems to have the most power at the moment -- Dumbledore yesterday, Malfoy today, back to Dumbledore tomorrow.

They fold like a pack of cards in OotP, too, so they obviously aren't fanatical Dumbles supporters.

[sharaz-jek.livejournal.com]

They fold like a pack of cards in OotP, too, so they obviously aren't fanatical Dumbles supporters.

In OotP they're caving to an increasingly authoritarian government, though.

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

In OotP they're caving to an increasingly authoritarian government, though.

Dumbledore, Malfoy, the MoM...it's whoever or whatever is demonstrating the most power at the moment.

My feeling is that most, if not all, of the 11 are on the board because of glad-handing, back-patting (and perhaps palm-greasing) the "right people", that being on the board garners one a certain prestige, and that's all that most of them care about.

They probably only have a minimal interest at best in how Hogwarts is run, as has been pointed out not one of them ever actually visits the school. As long as nothing rocks the Hogwartian boat, the governors' only interest in retaining their prestigous positions on the board.

If Dumbles is in charge and all seems well, then they're happy enough with him; if a boat-rocker like Lucius Malfoy wants to take him on and succeeds, fine. When Malfoy fails, the others all cry "he threatened us!" and gladly throw Malfoy under the bus.

A couple of years later, Dumbles is on shakey ground and the MoM obviously wants him out; the governors still want their positions (is it only for prestige, or do these guys actually get paid?), so they quickly side with the MoM against Dumbles...

Then when it becomes obvious that the MoM was wrong and Dumbles was right, the board quickly agrees to Dumbles coming back as headmaster.

It's amazing that the Board of Governors don't all suffer from whiplash! LOL

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

Well, they ousted Albus *and* sent his monster-loving groundskeeper to Azkaban on suspicion of being behind whatever was attacking the students. After all, the last time anything like this happened, they expelled the boy for raising monsters in the castle, and everything quieted down.

They hauled the (no longer a boy) suspected perp off to Azkaban, got rid of Albus, who would have stopped them, and everything quieted down. For a while. To all appearances, Lucius had been right.

When --out of the blue-- the death of another student was announced (the last time it had been Myrtle), the rest of the governors decided suddenly that Lucius was *not* right, and went running to Albus, blaming Lucius for everything.

Albus had probably been off trying to get Hagrid out of stir, and the sudden flurry of owls announcing that a student had been killed in his absence, was perfect evidence that, whatever was attacking people, *Hagrid* could have had nothing to do with it.

And since the other governors don't take kindly to being threatened when whoever is making the threats turns out to be *wrong*, Lucius had to eat a nice dish of crow, seasoned with karma, with Albus twinkling at him for good measure.

And, after the fact, he discovers that not only did he lose his elf, but that the Potter boy seems *never to have gotten the Diary* at all. The whole campaign was a total failure.

And 2 years later the other shoe drops, when the Dark Lord wants to deploy the bloody thing himself, and can't, because Lucius *lost* it.

[oryx_leucoryx]

Was Ginny's supposed death announced? To just 11 governors or all 12? Lucius becomes paler than usual when Albus tells him the circumstances of his return. Was the extra pallor in response to the news that the governors wanted Albus back? That his little extortion scheme was exposed? Or to the news of Ginny's near-death experience?

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

Well, Rowling is clearly writing things to be dramatic, without bothering as to why thingds happen or what the motivations are.

But having the extortion scheme exposed is a likely one.

Unless Lucius is the sort who goes pale in a rage.

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

He's been back-stabbed by the other board members, a student may have died, he was very public in all of this so it's suddenly all on his head. I'd go pale, too.

Poor Lucius!

[terri-testing.livejournal.com]

"a nice dish of crow, seasoned with karma, with Albus twinkling at him for good measure"

Oh, you do have a way of putting things!

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

Dumbledore's presence hadn't stopped the attacks. Several students had been petrified. He's not doing his job. Oust him.

Dumbledore's gone. A student is rumored to have been killed. Obviously, he had been the only thing between the monster and a student's death. Bring him back.

All twelve signed the ouster document. Get back on Dumbledore's good side now. As Majorjune said, throw Lucius under the bus since he was the only one stupid enough to actually show his face during all of this.

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

Sounds like all the governors need to go, they're sloppy and lazy and seem only half interested in doing their job.

It sounds sort of like typical corporate politiking...you have any number of board members who wouldn't mind seeing the CEO kicked out, but don't have the cajones to actually do something themselves.

Along comes a board member with enough clout to actually do it, someone who perhaps is feared more than liked, and the wimps give him lipservice that they'll support his move to oust the CEO...

But if the attempt fails, the wimps throw the upstart under the bus and put forth all sorts of plausible denials regarding their roles in the attempted coup.