COS Chapter Thirteen: "The Very Secret Diary"

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

* Hermione’s really ashamed to be seen with a furry face. Pity the memory of this won’t stop her from cursing the words “SNEAK” across Marietta Edgecombe’s face in OOTP.

* Way to go, Dumbledore, giving the job of janitor to the person in the school least qualified for it. No wonder Filch has snapped.

* And Filch was so angry, he walked into Dumbledore’s office and beat him to death with a wet mop. The end.

* Ron’s once again demonstrating what it was like back when the WW was explained by somebody who might reasonably be expected to know about it, before he was lobotomised and his memories all given to Hermione.

* Ron’s had to spend an hour wiping slime off of Tom Riddle’s trophy. Even in (sort of) death, the Dark Lord still has the power to make people suffer. :)

* I think it says something about the insularity of the WW that it’s unthinkable for anyone to buy anything from a Muggle shop without being Muggle-born themselves.

* “Maybe he murdered Myrtle, that would’ve done everyone a favour…” *Chalks one up for Seer!Ron.*

* Harry keeps Riddle’s diary, even though he doesn’t know why. Even in the early books, the malign influence of authorial fiat is plain to see.

* Also, for all that Harry will bitch about Draco’s “infatuation with the Dark Arts” in HBP, it’s interesting to note that he seems to feel an instinctive bond with the evil Lord Voldemort, and doesn’t turn against him till he knows who he really is.

* Note, however, that Harry’s being initially taken in by Tom, before turning against him when he realises who he really is, is entirely different to Draco’s initially supporting Lord V, before turning against him when he realises what sort of man he really is.

* Ron’s dismissive of all that intellectualism stuff, until he needs Hermione to help him with his homework, in which case he’s all for it. Hypocrite.

* Ron’s disgusted to be surrounded by all that girly pink. See under “Gryffindors, insecure sexuality thereof”.

* I love those little Cupid!Dwarves, BTW.

* Yeah, because obviously The Boy Who Lived and the star player on the Gryffindor Quidditch team would only get one Valentine. *rolls eyes*

* Malfoy probably feels that Christmas has come early in this scene. :)

* Still, you’d’ve thought that a member of a House famed for its cunning would have known better than to needlessly antagonise authority figures. IITS, I guess.

* “Malfoy, who obviously hadn’t noticed the date on the front cover, and thought he had Harry’s own diary.” Christ, JKR, show, don’t tell, remember?

* I’m going to disagree with Harry and suggest that Ron does need to spend the whole of Charms belching slugs. Aside from being fun to watch, being on the receiving end of a few curses might stop all this wand-happy “Hex first, ask questions later” Gryffindorishness.

* Harry hasn’t yet hit puberty, so we’re spared the usual gushing descriptions of how handsome Tom is.

* Being a helpful old soul, Dippet pauses to have a long expositional conversation with Tom for the benefit of anybody who might be magically watching from fifty years in the future.

* DD’s “penetrating stare” is probably meant to show us how awesomely perceptive he is in guessing that it was really Tom all along. Unfortunately, it makes him look like an arrogant fool whose neurosis about sharing information leads him to recklessly endanger the lives of students under his care.

* So Hagrid’s just going to let that giant spider wander the corridors, then? It may not have killed anybody before, but it’s a miracle it didn’t kill anyone that night.

Comments

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

I cannot believe it when people go 'oh, Slytherin's not intended to be the least popular house, look at JKR's shades of grey, she has Snape, Slughorn...er...Regulus, Andromeda...' *eyeroll* Yeah, no, she clearly meant for everyone to crap all over Slytherin and to think the worst of them- no character in that house was meant to be seen from anything but a negative perspective. We've seen the way she quickly shuts down and slams people who actually like Snape- ridiculous! Who could love him?! GASP.

When Draco was quickly Sorted into Slytherin, we weren't supposed to nod our heads and think, "Of course he belongs there, because he's so cunning," we were supposed to nod our heads and think, "Of course he belongs there, because he's a rude, nasty brat."

EXACTLY. From the moment he was sorted into Slytherin, it's meant to confirm that he is a foe, to think the worst of him, to automatically view him with suspicion and dislike. It would've been so cool if JKR had eventually subverted that, but no, it wasn't like she was building up that image only to shatter it, it really was that black-and-white. If you're in that house, you deserve to be hated and mistreated and that's the end of that.

Having Snape belatedly revealed to have his heart on the right side doesn't make JKR the master of subtlety and clever writing. All it means was that perhaps he was better than the dregs of humanity the house regularly received and that he could've been good enough to be in a different house. *eyeroll*

If Hagrid ONCE made the mistake of having dangerous animals around kids, that'd be different but he frequently does it, over and over and over again. I get the impression he doesn't even really care for the protection of ordinary wizard kids, not at the expense of his wild, menacing 'pets'. And the kids always are expected to look out for him- if they get hurt and complain about it, they're evil, but it's a mark of virtue to put up with his idiocy and keep quiet about it.

I'm finding it difficult to believe that Albus kept quiet all that time, even after a student was killed, just because he wanted to give Tom a second chance.

IKR? Seriously, someone explain to me why the hell Dumbles decided to keep this info to himself in a way that DOESN'T make him look like a complete bastard. Interesting that Hagrid is so loyal to a man that could've helped him but chose to stay silent. But you could tell him that Dumbles sat on his ass and did nothing to help clear his name and point out the real culprit and he'll still go, 'Dumbledore is a great man, he had his reasons, it all worked out.' *eyeroll* The whole wizarding world is just so brainwashed.

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

From the moment he was sorted into Slytherin, it's meant to confirm that he is a foe, to think the worst of him, to automatically view him with suspicion and dislike. It would've been so cool if JKR had eventually subverted that

You know what would have made a really powerful story? That the alleged "Chosen One", "The Boy Who Lived" whom Voldie's opponents all hung their collective hope on, eventually succumbed to the Voldie soulbit and became Voldie's heir, while Draco, the one who started out in Voldie's Youth Corp and at first seemed to be the one to grow up to assume Voldie's mantle, instead becomes the Wizarding World's saviour...

[oryx_leucoryx]

Didn't this happen? Harry ends up enjoying torturing an other while Draco takes risks to himself and his parents by not giving crucial information about the DA (the communication by coins, how to enter the ROR). And of course, his action was what got the whole Elder Wand business confused. Anyway, I have more trust that Draco turned out a decent adult than Harry.

[tevye-cat.livejournal.com]

agree completely!