COS Chapter Eighteen: "Dobby's Reward"
Jan. 15th, 2011 02:40 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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deathtocapslock* Dumbledore’s beaming at Harry. Yes, Albus, it must be nice to know that Harry now worships you so much that he cares about your reaction more than anyone else’s.
* So how long has Dumbles known that Riddle’s been possessing Ginny? After HBP, I wouldn’t be surprised to know that he’d guessed from the start, but has been sitting on the information to let Harry “try his strength” or whatever.
* “Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was actually called Tom Riddle.” Yes, Dumbles, because you never tell anyone. Which seems somewhat odd, given that the pureblood fanatics who apparently make up his biggest supporters might hesitate at joining a known half-blood. Plus, of course, it’s a lot harder to be scared of Tommy Riddle of Slytherin House than it is of Lord Voldemort, Master of Death.
* On second thoughts, it’s not that odd. After all, the threat of Voldemort provides a useful means of distracting people from the underlying problems facing the Wizarding World, not least of which is the fact that this Machiavellian schoolteacher is controlling everything behind the scenes.
* Seriously, for all his supposed modesty in not accepting the Minister of Magic post, he seems to have acquired a remarkably large amount of influence. He’s already Headmaster of wizarding Britain’s only school, Supreme Warlock of the Wizengamot, Chief Mugwump and head of the International Confederation of Wizards, which in Muggle terms is like being Education Secretary, Speaker of the House of Commons, Lord Chancellor and Secretary-General of the UN all at once. More powerful, in fact, since the Education Secretary doesn’t hire and fire individual teachers, or expel individual pupils. No wonder he wants people distracted by Voldemort.
* Someone really ought to write a parody fic with Dumbledore as this sinister villain controlling everything behind the scenes, and the Death Eaters as a group of noble freedom-fighters trying to overthrow him, who have an unfair reputation as a group of dark wizards due to Dumbledore’s control of the press. Or better yet, Voldemort could be an agent working for Dumbledore, giving the WW something to unite against in order to stop them questioning Dumbledore’s authority.
* I wonder if Dumbledore’s being so lenient to Ginny here because he’s remembering how he was once taken in by Grindlewald?
* For some reason, I now find myself always suspecting the worst every time Dumbledore’s eyes start twinkling. I wonder what he could be up to here?
* Note how it’s Ron who immediately thinks of Hermione being OK. Another clue to Hr/R?
* Special Awards for Services to the School and two hundred points? Hardly an appropriate reward, IMHO. Not only is fighting millennium-old monsters not a recognised extra-curricular activity, making it inappropriate to give them points for it, but a glorified school trophy seems a bit inadequate. They should be given Orders of Merlin instead.
* Dumbledore doesn’t seem surprised that Lockhart tried to memory charm Harry and Ron. So does this mean that he knew all along about Gilderoy’s modus operandi? And he still hired him nevertheless? Remind me again, why is it that Dumbledore’s considered the greatest Headmaster Hogwarts has ever had?
* Harry doesn’t think he’s like Tom, because Harry’s in Gryffindor and Tom’s just a Slytherin. Oh dear. Maybe Voldemort’s idea of abolishing Houses was a good one after all.
* Also, note how Harry thinks “doing well in Slytherin” means “evil”. Yet more evidence of the Houses dividing students and encouraging them to think of members of other Houses as being beneath them. Seriously, it’s like the Founders thought that the WW was too boring, and set up a system purposefully designed to lead to as much civil war as possible.
* This would be an excellent opportunity for Dumbledore to say to Harry, “Look, Harry, I know you don’t like some Slytherin students, but Slytherins are people too, Slytherin House is every bit as good as any other House, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being sorted into Slytherin.” Instead, he seems to confirm Harry’s idea that choosing not to be sorted into Slytherin is some sort of moral test he had to pass.
* Getting all psychoanalytical here, I think that maybe Dumbledore knows deep down that he’d have been better-suited to Slytherin than Gryffindor (he’s cunning and manipulative enough, at any rate), and compensates by doing down Slytherin House whenever he can get away with it.
* Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled the sword out of the Hat, apparently. So does that mean that no other House member would be able to receive help from the Hat, or would they have pulled out something equally cool? If, say, Pansy had been taken into the Chamber and Draco had gone down to rescue her, would he have pulled out Slytherin’s crossbow or something?
* I’d like to think that Helga Hufflepuff, at least, would have offered up her weapon (battle-axe, maybe? Mace?) to anyone who needed it, regardless of House.
* So why did the governors want Dumbledore back? When has he done anything to stop the attacks?
* I don’t believe the cursing families part, either. A shrewd political operator like Lucius would never resort to something so obviously illegal. More likely the governors are just trying to cover their backsides in case Dumbledore’s angry with them. You know what he’s like about personal loyalty, after all.
* Come to think of it, does anyone know whether any of the governors went on to mysteriously find themselves in a position where their only option involved doing some humiliating and demeaning job for Dumbledore?
* So Lucius, a man whom even Voldemort described as “slippery”, now virtually goes to pieces the moment his plot’s uncovered. Has JKR been getting the car batteries out again, perhaps?
* If any more of Voldemort’s schoolthings turn up, Mr. Weasley will have them traced back to Lucius. That’s right, one of the main good guys is going to frame his personal enemy based on nothing more than a hunch.
* So “Lucius throws a sock which Dobby happens to catch” is now the same as “Lucius hands Dobby a sock.” Hmm, you’re on shaky legal grounds there, I think.
* Unfortunately, being free doesn’t seem to have changed Dobby’s inherent servility. Even more unfortunately, he’ll be back to inflict it upon us in later books.
* I hope than when Dumbles cancelled all those exams, he just cancelled the internal end-of-year ones, rather than the OWLs and NEWTs. How’re those seventh-years going to get jobs without any qualifications?
* Lucius Malfoy’s been sacked as a school governor. By whom, exactly? Do governors have the power to sack each other?
* Ginny Weasley’s perfectly happy again. She may have recklessly endangered her fellow-students’ safety (why did she write in that diary again? Why?), but none of them actually died, so that’s OK.
* So Percy – who, let us not forget, seems to have cared for Ginny the most out of all the Weasley brothers – has specifically asked her not to tell anyone about his girlfriend, so what does she do? Tell as soon as someone asks. In front of the twins. The best you can say is probably that she’s being extraordinarily naïve; the worst, I suppose, is that she’s maliciously hoping that the twins’ persecution of Percy might amuse her in some way.
* So, to recap, she’s written in this diary even after she suspects it’s possessing her, not told anyone that she’s the one attacking people, and completely betrayed Percy’s confidence. And yet, somehow, I still like this version better than the second one.
* Still, kissing in deserted corridors doesn’t seem particularly IC for the Percy we know. More evidence that he’s not nearly as pompous normally as he is when surrounded by people who constantly try to belittle him?
* And on that bombshell, it’s time to end the read-through. Thanks to everyone who read and commented on it.
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Date: 2011-01-15 03:45 pm (UTC)* So how long has Dumbles known that Riddle’s been possessing Ginny? After HBP, I wouldn’t be surprised to know that he’d guessed from the start, but has been sitting on the information to let Harry “try his strength” or whatever.
DD, in the early books, is essentially the author, so to think of him as a person makes little sense.
* “Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was actually called Tom Riddle.” Yes, Dumbles, because you never tell anyone. Which seems somewhat odd, given that the pureblood fanatics who apparently make up his biggest supporters might hesitate at joining a known half-blood. Plus, of course, it’s a lot harder to be scared of Tommy Riddle of Slytherin House than it is of Lord Voldemort, Master of Death.
And a lot harder to therefore support Dumbledore - if LV were really gone, we wouldn't need DD's protection and he'd be gone from Hogwarts, the Wizengamot and the UN thingy. Who, after all, keeps saying that LV is definitely coming back?
* Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled the sword out of the Hat, apparently. So does that mean that no other House member would be able to receive help from the Hat, or would they have pulled out something equally cool? If, say, Pansy had been taken into the Chamber and Draco had gone down to rescue her, would he have pulled out Slytherin’s crossbow or something?
Probably a mirror, given that that's what is usually used in legends to kill basilisks. You know, something more useful than a sword that Harry has never used.
* I don’t believe the cursing families part, either. A shrewd political operator like Lucius would never resort to something so obviously illegal. More likely the governors are just trying to cover their backsides in case Dumbledore’s angry with them. You know what he’s like about personal loyalty, after all.
True. They were all probably looking for a chance to be rid of him.
* If any more of Voldemort’s schoolthings turn up, Mr. Weasley will have them traced back to Lucius. That’s right, one of the main good guys is going to frame his personal enemy based on nothing more than a hunch.
And Arthur Weasley will go after Lucius for mere possession of Dark artifacts, when Arthur has been enchanting Muggle artifacts and leaving them around for his wayward children to find (I think Draco would have thought twice about taking a flying car to a Muggle suburb...)
* Unfortunately, being free doesn’t seem to have changed Dobby’s inherent servility.
Just like black people! ;)
* So Percy – who, let us not forget, seems to have cared for Ginny the most out of all the Weasley brothers – has specifically asked her not to tell anyone about his girlfriend, so what does she do? Tell as soon as someone asks. In front of the twins. The best you can say is probably that she’s being extraordinarily naïve; the worst, I suppose, is that she’s maliciously hoping that the twins’ persecution of Percy might amuse her in some way.
I think she just wants them to like her.
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Date: 2011-01-15 05:13 pm (UTC)I think both of these have been done. Certainly the first one has; it's one of my favorite fanfic genres. ;)
* Dumbledore doesn’t seem surprised that Lockhart tried to memory charm Harry and Ron. So does this mean that he knew all along about Gilderoy’s modus operandi? And he still hired him nevertheless? Remind me again, why is it that Dumbledore’s considered the greatest Headmaster Hogwarts has ever had?
Because he's threatened or spelled everyone into saying so?
* I don’t believe the cursing families part, either. A shrewd political operator like Lucius would never resort to something so obviously illegal. More likely the governors are just trying to cover their backsides in case Dumbledore’s angry with them. You know what he’s like about personal loyalty, after all.
THANK YOU. Lucius did not get to the point of wielding the sort of influence he supposedly does by being *stupid* like that. And word on the Arthur Weasley thing. I love Arthur, but he is far from saintly.
And is it just me, or is the notion that the big bad villain's *schoolthings* are all such a terrible danger just...hilarious, in a not good way? "Voldemort's schoolthings," oooooh. What, is the quill he used in Charms class cursed too? His textbook must be the terror of ten counties. Why didn't JKR just hang onto this brilliant idea til the end? "Harry Potter and Voldemort's Schoolthings." Much better than the wtf "Deathly Hallows." *g*
Strike that. "Harry Potter and Tommy Riddle's Schoolthings." Even better.
I mean, it's not like Tommy was using the diary *himself.* It was designed to be a weapon; it wasn't just part of his "schoolthings."
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Date: 2011-01-15 05:37 pm (UTC)Ooh, wild konspirasy theory! Peter Pettigrew, a Gryffindor, was the one who revived the fetal Voldy. PP was a member of Order Mach 1 and we can theorize that DD was a Gryffindor via Hermione's statement in PS/SS, through the griffin door knocker and, through DD's not so tacit support of IOKIAGDI. Critical thinkers wonder how DD knew LV was in Albania; where the fetal form came from; how PP, a supposedly mundane wizard, came up with the Bone of my Father ritual to revive LV and, how a not apparently brave person like PP could cut of his own hand for the purpose of that ritual (though this may be foreshadowed by his cutting off a finger to "prove" his death eleven years earlier - or could it???)
Suggestions for a Trew Konspirasy:
1) DD sent PP to Voldy deliberately as an undercover agent posing as a double agent. When PP was made SK, he dutifully reported to DD. DD tells him to to ahead and reveal the Potters' whereabouts to Voldy, intimating that there would be a trap (but not mentioning that the trap was to get Voldy to kill the Potters so as to set up the Chosen One.) After the debacle, PP searches out DD (while Sirius is giving Hagrid the motorbike) and confronts him. DD mind-wipes him and Imperiuses him to fight Sirius and cut off his finger. PP only remembers that he betrayed his friends and fought Sirius. He follows DD's post-hypnotic suggestion of becoming the Weasleys' pet since the Weasleys have a connection with Order martyrs and a son who will be in Harry's year in school. He doesn't know why he does this but he does know he's still loyal to the Order in his heart.
2) As a loyal Order member, PP went to DD immediately upon arriving with his first Weasley owner at Hogwarts, throwing himself on DD's mercy for the weird things he did (see above,) following the pattern of putting himself in DD's debt. DD welcomes him and advises that he remain in rat form for the nonce because it will further the Order's plans to capture Voldy, who is actually still alive. Meanwhile, DD keeps the fear fires burning over Voldy's return in the WW.
3) Because Sirius broke out of Azkaban (Peter the spy's fatal mistake here - allowing his rat form to be photographed) it's time to revive Voldy. DD instructs PP to escape once Sirius is about to be captured. He is to go to Albania to gather rare ingredients for a job.
4) PP brings the rare ingredients back during the summer and DD creates the fetal body, animating it with a spell - a Magimatronic puppet, a riff on the Inferi. PP takes care of it because he fears DD by now and the puppet, like a portrait in more than one place, can report on his actions to the caster.
5) Under duress or Imperius, PP goes through with the ritual to "bring Voldy back." It's another riff on the Inferi spell, creating a Frankenstein from the puppet that has some of TR sr's traits due to the bone - a demonic version of LiveBoy!Pinocchio. This creation is under DD's power.
6) At DD's commands, the creation wreaks havoc in the WW and leads LV's old followers along, proving that DD was right and forcing everyone in the WW to turn to him and his organization. DD's big fault was arrogance in somehow injuring himself beyond repair. The Hallows were all a front devised by DD and implanted into key figures like Xeno and Olivander, and suggested in the book he bequeathed to Hermione, to lead Harry along. There is no real LV to die, the puppet merely self-destructs at the appropriately keyed moment, assured that Harry will use his "signature spell" due to DD's recent mentoring.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-15 05:42 pm (UTC)Strike that. "Harry Potter and Tommy Riddle's Schoolthings." Even better.
I think you win the internet for this.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-15 05:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-15 06:25 pm (UTC)It's hard to figure out why Hufflepuffs are so despised by the other houses (and the author).
Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled the sword out of the Hat, apparently.
And now that I think about it, what did old Godric need with a sword anyway? Was he in the habit of losing his wand?
On the other hand, maybe Voldie should have given up on his wands and used a sword on Harry. Yes, I can see it now: the Sword of Voldemort, its hilt entwined with silver snakes, and studded with black onyx and jet. :D
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Date: 2011-01-15 06:34 pm (UTC)I mean, the idiocy becomes blatant in the later books, but going back through the earlier ones it's sadly there too. I'm almost tempted to write parodyfic called "HP and Tommy Riddle's Schoolthings" now. (Or is "HP and the Schoolthings of Tommy Riddle" more mellifluous?)
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Date: 2011-01-15 06:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-15 06:38 pm (UTC)I think you get a prize. Want to share the internet?
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Date: 2011-01-15 06:41 pm (UTC)Harry: Wha- hey, that's not faiir!!- *swish whump gurgle*
Voldie: Ah. That's better. Now where was I?
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Date: 2011-01-15 07:06 pm (UTC)(Brilliant thing to point out.)
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Date: 2011-01-15 07:09 pm (UTC)Seriously, Voldemort *should* have used a sword. Or a knife, or gun, whatever. Maybe a piano set up to fall on Harry's head; that would be his style, wouldn't it? And no magic to bounce back.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-15 07:13 pm (UTC)A Slytherin would have gotten a water gun filled with the potion that turned Trevor into a tadpole in PoA, which would be effective at a distance. A Ravenclaw would have been given a mirror to reflect the basilisk's own reflection back at it, which would be effective at a distance but awkward. A Hufflepuff would have gotten a rooster, which would be the least clever but most practical.
Well, least clever except for the Sword of Gryffindor, which requires skill *and* requires you to be a sword-length from the basilisk when you use it.
...Oh, okay, maybe the Hat can't offer you situation-appropriate things. Um, maybe Slytherins would get a portkey that can transport everyone to safety. (Because retreat *is* an option.) I guess Ravenclaws would get a book that would tell them whatever they needed to know, but that would impede acting quickly. Hufflepuffs... wouldn't be in a situation alone, so they'd've probably worked something out without the Hat. Suggestions on what the Hat might give to them?
no subject
Date: 2011-01-15 07:21 pm (UTC)Or an Acme Anvil, in the manner of The Roadrunner/Wylie Coyote...
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Date: 2011-01-15 07:33 pm (UTC)THANK YOU. Lucius did not get to the point of wielding the sort of influence he supposedly does by being *stupid* like that. And word on the Arthur Weasley thing. I love Arthur, but he is far from saintly.
*Yes*. I'd like to third this.
Also, here are some ways that Lucius could get other governors to vote for Dumbledore's removal without threatening them:
* Offering money
* Offering to vote the way they want on another issue
* Suggesting that the governors should have more authority over the school, but that they won't while Dumbledore's headmaster
* Suggesting that Person X, who Governor Y would like to be headmaster, could replace Dumbledore
* Arguing that Dumbledore really doesn't run the school well in general, and this provides a good excuse to remove him even if it isn't guaranteed to solve the problem
* Pointing out that if the governors don't act, parents will be angry with them
* Pointing out that if something isn't done, their own kid(s) at Hogwarts will be in danger, and that Dumbledore isn't doing anything
* Calling in past favors
no subject
Date: 2011-01-15 08:16 pm (UTC)Their friends?
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Date: 2011-01-15 08:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-15 09:53 pm (UTC)It is rather funny, isn't it? And so much better than the ridiculous Deathly Hallows she ended up desperately injecting.
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Date: 2011-01-15 09:55 pm (UTC)Heh. I can just see it. A Ravenclaw about to face down the basilisk, prays for help, puts on the hat, a bit *THUMP* hits him on the noggin, he removes the hat and out falls --
a book.
'One Hundred and One ways to Defeat a Basilisk'.
Unfortunately the poor Ravenclaw only has time to read page 1 - the best way to defeat a basilisk in combat is not to be there in the first place - before the giant snake gobbles him up.
:-)
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Date: 2011-01-15 10:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-15 10:17 pm (UTC)One wonders why *Harry* didn't make this knowledge public either. Sure, he told Bellatrix and the other Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries that Voldemort was a half-blood and Bellatrix apparently didn't believe him, but why wasn't he trying to spread the news around Hogwarts or tell his friends to let everybody know? Why didn't the Weasleys, after hearing that Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle, try to spread that information?
/* I wonder if Dumbledore’s being so lenient to Ginny here because he’s remembering how he was once taken in by Grindlewald?/
Ha, I never thought of that! One wonders if Dumbledore was referring to himself during his line about "older and wiser wizards [being] hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort." Or, if one wants to be more cynical about it, one might say, "Well, yeah, Albus, older and wiser wizards than Ginny were hoodwinked by Voldemort...because you didn't tell them the truth about him! You *let* him hoodwink them!"
/* Special Awards for Services to the School and two hundred points? Hardly an appropriate reward, IMHO./
I wonder if it's supposed to be ironic, considering that Tom Riddle received the same trophy for supposedly ridding the school of another monster.
/* Harry doesn’t think he’s like Tom, because Harry’s in Gryffindor and Tom’s just a Slytherin. Oh dear. Maybe Voldemort’s idea of abolishing Houses was a good one after all./
It's ironic that Gryffindor is supposed to be the superior House, while Slytherin House is evil and Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff are mostly ignored and left by the wayside, yet Voldemort's speech about Slytherin becoming the only House in Hogwarts is supposed to be unfair and prejudiced.
/* Also, note how Harry thinks “doing well in Slytherin” means “evil”./
Remind me again why Slytherin even still exists in Hogwarts if it's supposed to be the House of bullies, traitors, and racists? As the House of *bad* kids? Why have a House that's viewed as the wizarding equivalent of St. Brutus' Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys? Because it's tradition? Because even though Salazar Slytherin is viewed as evil incarnate, he was still once a member of the Founders? That's still no reason to have what's basically the dumping ground for troubled children.
/* This would be an excellent opportunity for Dumbledore to say to Harry, “Look, Harry, I know you don’t like some Slytherin students, but Slytherins are people too, Slytherin House is every bit as good as any other House, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being sorted into Slytherin.” Instead, he seems to confirm Harry’s idea that choosing not to be sorted into Slytherin is some sort of moral test he had to pass./
Even his line about Harry being better than Tom Riddle because Harry chose to reject Slytherin while Tom did not is disingenuous. Tom didn't reject Slytherin because Tom probably knew *nothing* about Slytherin! He grew up in the Muggle world just like Harry did. The only reason that Harry believed that avoiding Slytherin was a priority was because Hagrid told him that Slytherin was the only House that produced Dark (i.e. evil) wizards and because Draco Malfoy, a boy he had just met and disliked very much, had just been sorted there. Yeah, Harry made a choice, a choice based on hearsay and anger against another individual. Real moral fiber there.
/* So why did the governors want Dumbledore back? When has he done anything to stop the attacks?/
In the real world, Dumbledore would have been sacked ages ago. In the wizarding world, unpleasant things like possession and attempted murder should be quickly forgotten about and swept under the rug, never to be spoken of again.
/* Ginny Weasley’s perfectly happy again. She may have recklessly endangered her fellow-students’ safety (why did she write in that diary again? Why?), but none of them actually died, so that’s OK./
Again, sweep it under the rug, sweep it under the rug...
no subject
Date: 2011-01-15 10:28 pm (UTC)After HBP, I wouldn’t be surprised to know that he’d guessed from the start, but has been sitting on the information to let Harry “try his strength” or whatever.
Dumbledore's attitude in this chapter that he knew everything from the start really really REALLY peeved me, as I recall. It's no wonder there were so many fanfics over the years that had him deliberately setting up Harry's adventures, as some part of an asinine plan to 'train' Harry.
But what I'm confused about is ... is that position now rock-solid canon? When Rowling had Dumbledore say this in book 7:
"We have protected him because it has been essential to teach him, to raise him, to let him try his strength," said Dumbledore, his eyes still tight shut.
I took it for pure bull, just her trying to sidestep questions her readers may have been asking at that point - "if it was planned for Harry to die why have we spent ten years wading through seven books of his adventures?". Because the whole 'testing his strength' thing just doesn't make sense.
(Nor did the other 'essential' item on Dumbledore's agenda, stated immediately before:
"So the boy…the boy must die?" asked Snape quite calmly.
"And Voldemort himself must do it, Severus. That is essential."
There was absolutely NOTHING involved in Harry's death, the release of his soul fragment or resurrection which required Riddle's being the one to deliver the death blow. Nothing. But Rowling needed the readers to believe that her series mandated the expected big showdown between the two, so she hoped Dumbledore's/her unsupported bluster here would be accepted without question.)
Anyway, even though it makes no sense for Dumbledore to plan for his sacrificial lamb to 'test his strength' - unless anyone here can tell me otherwise - is it still canon that, in these early books, Dumbledore *did* know of - and even plan - Harry's little adventures? That could have resulted in the deaths of the Trio and any number of other students? Or did Rowling just not think of the implications when she threw in those 'essential' statements of Dumbledore's in DH?
“Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was actually called Tom Riddle.” Yes, Dumbles, because you never tell anyone.
Ludicrous, isn't it? And yet that's one big bluff that Rowling got away with. She needed Riddle to spearhead the DEs and drive them with the pureblood agenda, so Dumbledore, leader of the Wizarding World, just kept that secret to himself, and Harry never questions this.
So “Lucius throws a sock which Dobby happens to catch” is now the same as “Lucius hands Dobby a sock.” Hmm, you’re on shaky legal grounds there, I think.
Yeah, that was yet another example of Rowling just throwing something together for the convenience of her plot and hoping it would stick. My god, why in blazes did this series get to be so popular? And everyone shocked when she just kept doing the same thing? Was it because there was just SO MUCH of it, defying belief, blowing all the fuses, in the last book?
So Percy – who, let us not forget, seems to have cared for Ginny the most out of all the Weasley brothers – has specifically asked her not to tell anyone about his girlfriend, so what does she do? Tell as soon as someone asks.
Oh, THANK YOU. I'm adding this to the list of why Ginny Weasley is simply a not-very-nice girl.
See, the Ginny supporters in the fandom don't like to consider all of her bad qualities (which is most of her appearances in books 6 & 7). In particular they sidestep the fact that Ginny betrayed Hermione's confidence in HBP. Ginny's telling Ron that Hermione had kissed Krum is what started the whole miserable and pathetic sequence of ugly puerile jealousy that filled up most of that book. All Ginny Weasley's fault, betraying Hermione's confidence to get herself off the hook when Ron accosts her about kissing Dean.
This is a beautiful parallel to that and just shows how nasty this girl is.
Thanks for your critique of the book, it's been good fun!
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Date: 2011-01-15 10:36 pm (UTC)I may need plot suggestions; I conscript all of you now by decree.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-15 10:55 pm (UTC)Other decent ones I've read are On the Wings of a Phoenix (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3000137/1/On_the_Wings_of_a_Phoenix) and (more crackficcy) Symmetry (http://www.sycophanthex.com/occlumency/viewstory.php?sid=7228).
On my 'to read' list is Harry Potter and the Otherside (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2277604/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_Otherside), and it looks like there might be a few more on the 'Voldie isn't evil list' (http://maverickprof.livejournal.com/12543.html) maverickprof put together, although it's not exclusively canon-reversal.
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Date: 2011-01-15 11:08 pm (UTC)Slytherin exists so that everybody can tell right away who is good and trustworthy and who not by the color of their scarf, and in order to keep all the evil kids from sullying and perverting the other Houses with their evilness and deviousness. And also so that the brave upholders of the good, the Gryffs, have a practice group to learn on in school. See, it's compassionate: they're allowed to be at Hogwarts and not all arrested immediately after being Sorted because of the very faint hope that some of them might avoid actually doing anything too wrong, and just sort of exist miserably in roles supporting the others and giving people an excuse to complain if something goes a way they don't like politically; they Slyths get to be there to be scapegoats. Plus the Aurors will need somebody to catch someday.
/sarcasm