deathtocapslock | GOF Chapter 3: The Invitation

This is the obligatory Dursley chapter, in which we are treated to the home life of this family and learn how inferior they are to wizard families.

Dudley takes up a whole side of the square kitchen table. Ahem, I doubt a square kitchen table (as opposed to a dining room table) was designed to seat 8 people, 2 on a side. His parents excuse away his teachers' accusations of bullying. As opposed to the Weasleys who never receive reports making such heinous accusations against the twins (we'll see the school does occasionally owl their parents, but I don't see any awareness that some of what the twins do is bullying behavior). (This starts the theme of parents dealing with wayward sons in this book.) Dudley is forced into a diet of fruit and vegetables rather than his favorites. From the descriptions we get of the food Harry eats at Hogwarts I get the feeling Harry's favorites are closer to Dudley's than to the health foods, nor does he limit his intake. But somehow Harry remains thin, regardless of whether he gets starved by Petunia or stuffed by Molly or the House-elves.

Changing the food choices of the entire family is a good thing! However adjusting Harry's serving size to Dudley's (perceived?) emotional needs isn't. I don't begrudge Harry for working around a diet he doesn't need, but then I also sympathize with Dudley who does. Changing eating habits of years is hard.
This is also the place to say Dudley must have grown up as an emotional wreck. Knowing that his parents were capable of such physical and emotional deprivation of someone in their care - what if he ever failed to please them? I think a big part of his misbehavior is both making sure his parents know he *isn't* Harry as well as wanting the reassurance that they still love him, no matter what anyone else thinks.

Of Harry's 4 sources of help only one sends food he appreciates. Odd that even Hagrid managed to send an edible birthday cake. But how edible is it (or any of the others) 3 weeks later?

Harry is surprised that the Weasleys wrote directly to the Dursleys. Vernon is embarrassed that they didn't know how many stamps to use. But really, how hard is it to find out? Didn't they go to the post office to buy the stamps? What does it say about the exchange rate between Galleons and pounds that a family so poor finds it reasonable to spend on so many stamps for one letter? Molly's letter sounds as if she is trying too hard to make the Quidditch World Cup sound special and to make Arthur sound important. And of course she doesn't have enough imagination to realize that sending a letter by owl isn't normal for the Dursleys.

Harry is offended on Molly's behalf when Vernon calls her 'dumpy'. Since Molly likes Harry nobody is allowed to notice she is overweight.

I must say that the scene where Harry threatens Vernon with Sirius looks a lot less humorous now that I have seen Harry enjoy torturing a man for punishment, and Sirius engaging in Muggle-baiting.

If I am correct in my understanding that Ron is claiming that he and Molly wrote their respective letters at about the same time, then I am impressed with the UK post. Molly's letter arrived on Saturday morning. Pig arrived the same morning. Considering the speed of owls elsewhere, it looks as though Ron's letter was sent earlier that morning. So a letter got delivered the morning it was sent?

I am less impressed with the Weasleys. They plan on taking Harry regardless of the Dursleys' consent. One could argue that eventually Molly and Arthur realized their sons were not exaggerating when they said Harry had been imprisoned and starved, but seeing how Arthur views the treatment of Muggles, both in this book and in COS, I doubt this made a difference.

Harry is happy specifically because Dudley is suffering and he isn't. The seeds of the bully of HBP and war criminal of DH.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

oryx_leucoryx

From:

madderbrad.livejournal.com

Whether Harry was cheating or not, the important thing was that he wasn't actually learning - he couldn't work at that level on his own, he didn't understand why the Prince modified the potions the way he did. That he got better grades than his true knowledge allows isn't all that important in the long run, because internal Hogwarts grades count for nothing, only OWLs and NEWTs count outside Hogwarts (well, and ties and reputation etc). At an exam setting he wouldn't be able to use the Prince's work.

I totally agree. The discussion/topic to date in this thread has been about whether Harry was technically 'cheating' in his sixth year Potions class. If we put that issue aside then it's as you say above.

Of course Harry supposedly got invited to join the Aurors despite not having NEWT-level knowledge in most of the required subjects. I think his experience should count towards the DADA NEWT --

Yes, he was appointed to the aurors because he knows the Expelliarmus spell really reallly REALLY well ... *snort*

Ron is ahead of him - the Transfigured ghoul could count as a NEWT-level Transfiguration project.

Interesting; I always thought that the ghoul masquerade was a bit of a farce. And how good did it have to be if the impersonation was based on the hope that no-one would dare approach it?

I was going to finish with a joke along the lines of if the ghoul's transfiguration was REALLY important then Hermione would have done it! but then I noticed that the canon doesn't attribute the transfiguration to Ron:

"And your mum and dad are in on this plan?" asked Harry.

"Dad is. He helped Fred and George transform the ghoul. ..."

From:

oryx_leucoryx

So Ron had no part in the ghoul project except possibly as a model? OK, he is down to DADA only as well.

I'm willing to accept Hermione did NEWT-level work in DADA (fighting, campsite defenses, researching Horcruxes and how to destroy them, memory charms), Charms (all they needed for daily living, that TARDIS bag of hers) and Transfiguration (disguises of the boys for the Gringotts break-in, transfiguration of food to make it edible). She may have at least theoretical knowledge of the 7th year curriculum of her other subjects. But of course she is the one who completes her education and sits exams properly rather than coast on fame.

From:

madderbrad.livejournal.com

So Ron had no part in the ghoul project except possibly as a model?

Oh dear. I burst out laughing when I read that sentence. Ron Weasley - MODEL. Certainly a word I've never associated with him before. Thank you.

(I'm vaguely aware of R/Hr stories which have Ron as ~~impossibly~~ handsome ... understandable if one is a (female) R/Hr fan. And they've got to have *some* reason for Hermione to hook up with him! :-)

I've never thought that actor Grint was much chop in the looks department - slightly the reverse, actually - but I'm no judge of male pulchritude.)

From:

oryx_leucoryx

Yes, he was appointed to the aurors because he knows the Expelliarmus spell really reallly REALLY well ... *snort*

Well, I have a relevant RL example. When I was about 11 I took Judo. Got to participate in some local competitions - nothing great, just kids from several clubs in town. In one of the other clubs there was this kid who perfected the use of the most basic throw, the first one that is taught. He managed to beat kids who were formally more advanced than him while using this one throw all the time - because he knew how to do it from any position, on any size of opponent etc.

If Harry can disarm any would-be attacker before he gets hit by a spell it doesn't matter what advanced spell his attacker was going to send his way. Unless of course, the attacker has more than one wand.

Harry is also good at Shield Charms and stunning, and I bet he finally learned Finite to end spells he may have been hit with. Though he sucks at non-verbal spells.

From:

madderbrad.livejournal.com

That's an interesting example!

But your one-throw kid will never be given a black belt ... because - I believe - one has to demonstrate ability in multiple throws and techniques to move up the ranks.

But in Rowling's interview fantasy world Harry makes Auror and then boss Auror; positions that I would assume typically require credentials more complete than a one-spell repertoire. Even if, in practice, that one spell gets Harry out of many jams.

Harry is also good at Shield Charms and stunning, and I bet he finally learned Finite ...

One of the things I disliked about DH is how everything seemed to regress to about 4th or 5th year. Voldemort was dumber, the Trio spent half the year under the Cloak or polyjuiced, the spells all seemed 5'th year - shield, stunning, *yawn* - I think that was part of the reason why I couldn't take the book seriously as I read it.

From:

majorjune.livejournal.com

One of the things I disliked about DH is how everything seemed to regress to about 4th or 5th year. Voldemort was dumber, the Trio spent half the year under the Cloak or polyjuiced, the spells all seemed 5'th year - shield, stunning, *yawn* - I think that was part of the reason why I couldn't take the book seriously as I read it.

Perhaps it's due to the fact that Rowling has basically claimed that she had the ending practically written from the very beginning...

So perhaps the ending reflects the level of writing she was at when she first started the series...

From:

madderbrad.livejournal.com

So perhaps the ending reflects the level of writing she was at when she first started the series...

I made exactly the same observation about the epilogue the other day, somewhere. We know for sure that Rowling had written the epilogue years earlier, she stated same in her interviews. And it really showed. Superficial and trite and quite disconnected from the book and the series.

As for the entirety of the seventh book ... she obviously hadn't written that years earlier. And I don't think it's a case of her having thought out the ending years earlier either. In fact I think it's the exact opposite ... Rowling didn't have a clue how Harry was going to prevail until she sat down to write DH. All she knew is that she was going to keep him as a barely adquate wizard, as an 'everyman'. You'd think that the Trio would have come up against spells, wielded by adults and Death Eaters, which was new to them, since they hadn't finished high school. But no, Rowling's tunnel vision made her stick with Harry and thus she didn't realise she'd artificially restrained all of her characters to the same (low) standards.

From:

majorjune.livejournal.com

As for the entirety of the seventh book ... she obviously hadn't written that years earlier.

No, I don't think she had actually physically written it down, she still had to write the first book yet! LOL

But I think what she's implied (whether it's actually true or not), is that she "saw" the whole ending -- not just the Epilogue -- in her mind when the idea for the Harry Potter story first popped into her mind.

And it seems that she decided that come Hell or high water she was going to stick to that vision...

The problems arose because she then had to write 5 more books between 1 and 7, and by the time she'd gotten to the end of Book 6, instead of sitting back and saying "I need to revise my original concept for the last book based on what I've now actually written and published," she instead stuck to her guns and had to shoehorn stuff to fit her unbudging outline for DH.

And I think that unwavering from her original concept for Book 7 is reflected in how amateur it comes off compared to the earlier books, especially the first four.

Rowling didn't have a clue how Harry was going to prevail until she sat down to write DH. All she knew is that she was going to keep him as a barely adquate wizard, as an 'everyman'.

We'll have to agree to disagree here; I think that to this day Rowling thinks that Harry was/is a great wizard. And I *do* think she had the concept for the Deathly Hallows from the beginning, she just forgot/neglected to include them in the prior books and so their appearance in the last book comes out of left field...

You'd think that the Trio would have come up against spells, wielded by adults and Death Eaters, which was new to them, since they hadn't finished high school.

Everyone seems to get progressively dumber in the later books, adults included. :-(

Edited Date: 2011-01-22 01:58 am (UTC)

From:

madderbrad.livejournal.com

No, I don't think she had actually physically written it down, she still had to write the first book yet! LOL

From what she's said she apparently *had* written the epilogue - physically written/typed it - long before she knew what she was going to do with the 7th book. Even as far back as the first, I think.

I think that to this day Rowling thinks that Harry was/is a great wizard.

Because of any magical ability? Because I can't see it, I think it's obvious that Harry has no such talent.

Because he is 'good'? Maybe. I think she spouted off stuff along those lines in some of her interviews after DH was published.

And I *do* think she had the concept for the Deathly Hallows from the beginning, she just forgot/neglected to include them in the prior books and so their appearance in the last book comes out of left field...

No way. One of the things for which the fans lauded Rowling was her mastery of 'foreshadowing', which she demonstrated ably with the first few books. McGonagall as an animagus in book 1, angimagi being critical to the plot of book 3. Polyjuice being brewed by Hermione in book 2, critical to book 4. The H/G shipping crowd believe that Ginny's waving goodbye to her brothers in book 1 meant that she was destined to marry Harry at the end of the series. ;-) Things like that.

But NOTHING about Deathly Hallows, or Beedle the Bard. NOTHING.

Furthermore the new wand lore she introduced in book 7 completely contradicts what we were told and shown for all of the preceding six books, what we had drilled into us with every tome - 'the wand chooses the wizard'. Which was turned upside down for book 7, to allow the Elder Wand, one of the Hallows, to work.

No, Rowling didn't have a single clue about the Hallows until she sat down to write the last book, realised that she couldn't think of a way to tie everything she'd already written together, and so decided to just invent some more gimmicks to get her (and Harry) out of the mess, even if it contradicted her earlier work.

From:

madderbrad.livejournal.com

Everyone seems to get progressively dumber in the later books, adults included. :-(

Yes, I could feel my intelligence slipping away as I read each successive Rowling novel ...

Oh, that's not what you meant? :-)

From:

oryx_leucoryx

But your one-throw kid will never be given a black belt ... because - I believe - one has to demonstrate ability in multiple throws and techniques to move up the ranks.

Nor would he be qualified to teach others.

Anyway, a wizard who knows a few basic dueling spells really well can beat one who knows many but takes too much time deciding what to cast.

In a more realistic setting would long duels with multiple spells exchanged happen? I learned from medieval reenactors that real sword fights were nothing like what movies show. The first to make a single mistake died, and that could be within seconds.

From:

madderbrad.livejournal.com

Anyway, a wizard who knows a few basic dueling spells really well can beat one who knows many but takes too much time deciding what to cast.

That's a classic weakness that fanon attributes to Hermione ... not sure if it's backed up by canon or not.

The first to make a single mistake died, and that could be within seconds.

That would be even more pronounced in Rowling's world with the unblockable Killing Curse. Why would a DE use anything else?