GOF Chapter 3: The Invitation

[oryx_leucoryx]

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.

Comments

[lynn-waterfall.livejournal.com]

Regarding Ron's broken wand in CoS: To be fair to Molly, Ron didn't tell his parents that he broke his wand (in the process of crashing the illegally enchanted car he "borrowed"). Not that Molly's Howler exactly encouraged him to tell her.

Although I don't know... I'm not surprised that the twins and Ginny wouldn't tell Molly, but Percy? He had to have noticed, and you'd really think he'd write to his parents about it. Maybe they did know, after all.

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Okay, then, I hadn't thought about that. At least they eventually got a new wand for him, right?

Seven hundred galleons! Most of it's gone on this trip, but they're going to buy me a new wand for next year.

*eyeroll* I don't want to sound like an elitist snob or anything, but...THEY WONDER WHY THEY'RE POOR? They just HAD to fritter it all away on a family trip for several people to Egypt and waste it all in one go? I mean, they have every right to go on vacation, but if they're struggling for clothes and such, you think they'd budget a bit better, FFS. I'm not saying they deserve poverty, but when they get this windfall and don't save it and use it wisely, it bugs me.

I think Ron should count himself lucky that at least they saved enough for his wand.

Percy? He had to have noticed, and you'd really think he'd write to his parents about it. Maybe they did know, after all.

Oh, yes, def! My point might still stand, then! Because you know Percy is that observant and conscientious, he would bring it to their attention.

It's just such a stupid plot thread, though. Ron not having a usable wand for a whole year, like, wtf was he doing in class? It's not like a textbook that you can share with the person next to you.

Although since they had spare textbooks, you think they might have a few spare old wands. Considering how it wound up being ultimately unimportant whether the wand chooses you or any of that now-defunct garbage. If a kid selected a wand from the stores, it probably counts as 'winning it' off the previous user. *eyeroll*

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

Although since they had spare textbooks, you think they might have a few spare old wands. Considering how it wound up being ultimately unimportant whether the wand chooses you or any of that now-defunct garbage.

But they didn't even have to go that route...in HBP we see Dumbles telling Tommie that there's a fund set up at Hogwarts to help poor students get their needed supplies. If the Weasleys really couldn't afford to buy Ron a new wand, then why didn't they avail themselves of that fund?

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

BECAUSE THEY'RE PROOOOUUUUUD.

I really don't want to offend anyone, but this thing about being proud and not accepting 'charity', I will never get. If you can't afford something and you really need it, why not just accept if someone not totally repulsive is offering? Of course if it's someone who's gonna lord it over you, that's a totally different matter, but otherwise, why let pride stand in the way?

But I can see the Weasleys refusing to avail themselves of any hand-outs 'coz they're an ancient pureblood family and have standards, kthxbai.

[lynn-waterfall.livejournal.com]

It doesn't *have* to be because they're proud. What if the fund is determined by family income without taking the number of dependents into account? That wouldn't be a good rule, but that could probably disqualify the Weasleys. Riddle obviously wouldn't've had a problem with that, though.

Also... Ron's the one who makes the most noise about being poor. Well, he's also the one we hear the most from, but the twins don't complain -- they're strongly focused on making money, but they don't complain about their current situation. Percy doesn't complain. *Ginny* doesn't complain.

I don't think we've heard Arthur or Molly bemoan their poverty, either. Molly complains about Arthur's lack of ambition, which could be an indirect way of mentioning it, but all in all, they manage.

That isn't necessarily just a flaw on Ron's part, because he probably got more hand-me-downs than anyone else in the family, including Ginny. Still, the Weasleys may not *be* quite as poor as Ron's complaints and Draco's insults would lead us to believe. Not at all well-off, of course, but perhaps not so poor that the fund was a possibility for them.

[condwiramurs.livejournal.com]

Ron just got unlucky in birth order, in a way, you mean? That they have enough to cover everyone but it gets stretched tight right at the end, and Ron as the youngest boy comes in last, so he gets the worst of it (and so is more inclined to complain)? Makes sense to me. Bill and Charlie do get new brooms for winning important roles at school, IIRC. And they clearly aren't having to save the last penny to buy an apple for the whole family to have dinner.

The wand thing is a bit too much, though. It's not that huge an expense and is the most vital part of a student/wizard's magical equipment. That seems a bit like authorial fiat to me.

[merrymelody.livejournal.com]

I think Ginny might be mentioned as complaining about hand-me-downs in CoS to the Riddle diary, but I don't have the books anymore, so I'm not 100% on that. (And after CoS, of course, V1.0 Ginny died, and V2.0 Ginny would never dream of complaining! ;)

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

But I can see the Weasleys refusing to avail themselves of any hand-outs 'coz they're an ancient pureblood family and have standards, kthxbai.

Okay, I can buy that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had misplaced pride and might not want charity.

But if the fund exists, why would anyone even have to tell them? Why couldn't McGonagall have just mentioned to Dumbledore that Ron Weasley was in desperate need of a wand, and that she was going to utilze the Hogwarts Charity Fund to see that he got it.

Or why couldn't Ron have done that himself? Surely he wasn't so proud of all the problems his broken wand was causing him! Why didn't he just go to McGonagall and say, "Gee, my parents won't buy me a new wand, but it's really affecting my coursework! Do you think I could use some of the Hogwarts Charity Fund to get myself a new one?"

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

/I really don't want to offend anyone, but this thing about being proud and not accepting 'charity', I will never get. If you can't afford something and you really need it, why not just accept if someone not totally repulsive is offering? Of course if it's someone who's gonna lord it over you, that's a totally different matter, but otherwise, why let pride stand in the way?/

Or not even you, what if your *child* needs it? There's this one scene in "The Brothers Karamazov" which really bugged me for this reason. In the scene, Alyosha Karamazov, who's a really nice guy, is giving back this other guy's money back to him (long story short: one of Alyosha's brothers got into a fight with the guy which led to the money being taken). This man's son is very ill and the man needs the money in order to help his son. So, Alyosha is giving the money back to him. At first, the man accepts it. But then he changes his mind and decides to reject it. Why? Because he doesn't want his son to know that his father was in anybody's debt.

...Yeah, never mind that his son was on the verge of dying. Never mind that money is money, no matter who it comes from, and that it could have been used to save his son. No, nothing is more important than his pride and sense of self-worth, and if his son dies, so be it. It's better that his son die than grow up knowing that his father once had to accept money from a stranger in order to save his life. Great priorities there, Dad. -_-

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

Although I don't know... I'm not surprised that the twins and Ginny wouldn't tell Molly, but Percy? He had to have noticed, and you'd really think he'd write to his parents about it. Maybe they did know, after all.

Also, why didn't McGonagall, as Ron's Head of House, let his parents know he could do with a new wand?

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

Exactly, his teachers would've known and none of them bothered. I guess unless it's the Chosen One, the other students don't matter? Ron's just Harry's sidekick, he doesn't need any attention!

(that moment in CoS where Minerva rushes off to get Harry when Hermione's petrified...and then absent-mindedly includes Ron as well as an after-thought...wow. Nice)

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

And, the teachers know the Weasleys are poor and might not be able to buy him a new wand right off. Some compassionate teacher could front it for him - he or she wouldn't even need to make it a gift as much as a loaner that the Weasleys could pay back. I mean, some teacher bought the rich kid a broom without expecting any reimbursement, right?

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

IFKR? Wow, great point there. And Minerva's supposed to be the awesomest Head of House ever, too. We talk about favoritism between houses, but god, there's an example of appalling favoritism within a house. She'll buy an expensive, brand spanking new broom to increase Gryffindor's chances of winning a mere quidditch match, but a kid lacks a vital tool to complete his schoolwork and is left to fend for himself all year. PRIORITIES, LACKING, MUCH?

[condwiramurs.livejournal.com]

Really. I rather like Ron in some ways; he's a fairly decent guy who gets a lot of crap dumped on him and who gets repeatedly ignored. The times when he does get fed up with it he usually is rather sympathetic, IMO. One wonders what his life would have been like if he didn't end up the friend of the BWL: better, worse, about the same??

And people accuse Snape of being biased in favor of his House, but there's rather more direct evidence of blatant favoritism on Minerva's part than on Snape's. (I'm not saying it's impossible for him to be as well, but out of what we actually see, Minerva is definitely worse.)

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

Better, probably. We see him as the most sociable of the trio- when he and Harry were on the outs, he got on perfectly well with Dean and Seamus. I think he'd've been happier friends with two normal guys. Not feeling like he's living in Harry's shadow and not good enough and even his mother would prefer Harry as her son instead. Ugh.

And without Harry making him go rescue Hermione, the trio would never have formed and he he wouldn't have had all that dramallama over Hermione. I think if he hadn't had her at the back of his mind, been obsessed with her reactions and feelings, he could've had a perfectly happy relationship with Lavender. (I honestly don't see what he gets from a relationship with Hermione, aside from frequent criticism and greater insecurity and the threat of violence if he steps out of line)

there's rather more direct evidence of blatant favoritism on Minerva's part than on Snape's

YES. He's a more obvious target because he's unpleasant and the head of the rival house, but Minerva's not gonna win any awards for her actions either.

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

/I think if he hadn't had her at the back of his mind, been obsessed with her reactions and feelings, he could've had a perfectly happy relationship with Lavender./

Even though Ron's romance with Lavender came out of nowhere, Lavender did seem like a nice girl for him. Sure, she did call him "Won-Won" and she did give him that ridiculous necklace, but she honestly cared about him, stood up to Snape on his behalf, and made him feel good about himself. She supported him and encouraged him during the Quidditch tryouts and was actually *nice* to him. A pity that Hermione was so self-righteous and so wrapped up in herself that she failed to notice just why Lavender was succeeding with Ron and she wasn't.

/I honestly don't see what he gets from a relationship with Hermione, aside from frequent criticism and greater insecurity and the threat of violence if he steps out of line/

I know that there's the whole "opposites attract" idea with them, but Hermione is just so awful to him in the later books (as well as in PoA with her selfish insensitivity about Scabbers) that it falls apart. She acts like she's his overbearing mother and constantly criticizes him. She is physically abusive towards him in HBP and DH and verbally abusive to him throughout the latter half of the series. They're supposed to be friends, yet they're always arguing about stupid things. It's not banter; it's just childish tantrums. Which is a shame, because I *liked* Ron/Hermione. I wasn't a huge R/Hr shipper, in the sense that I didn't frequently look up fanart or fanfiction of the two of them, but I accepted them as a canon couple. But now I'm wondering just what it is that Ron sees in her or, in Hermione's defense, what she sees in him, since she's always putting him down for being lazy, insensitive, etc.

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

She'll buy an expensive, brand spanking new broom to increase Gryffindor's chances of winning a mere quidditch match, but a kid lacks a vital tool to complete his schoolwork and is left to fend for himself all year. PRIORITIES, LACKING, MUCH?

Does make one wonder about Rowling's own abilities -- or lack thereof -- as a teacher...