GOF Chapter 3: The Invitation
Jan. 17th, 2011 09:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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deathtocapslockThis 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.
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.
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no subject
Date: 2011-01-22 07:10 pm (UTC)Harry isn't really bad at Potions, he just isn't exceptional. He got in the second-highest possible range of scores. (Sorry, I forget which is the highest, O or E.) He isn't as good as Hermione and Hermione isn't as good as the Prince. The difference seems to be, as you mentioned, a compelling interest outside of class where the student looks up information and synthesizes it out of a desire for the subject or for the marks.
For Potions, though, I think Snape's rule of only taking students in the highest range (O?) was better than Slughorn's taking students from the two highest ranges (O and E). The ones with the highest scores are more likely to have a natural interest and talent for the subject and more likely to do what the Prince did, figure out what makes things work together and apply the knowledge.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-22 08:10 pm (UTC)I agree with majorjune a little bit below. (http://community.livejournal.com/deathtocapslock/120708.html?thread=4884612#t4884612)
no subject
Date: 2011-01-22 09:57 pm (UTC)Yes, passing NEWT-level Potions is a requirement for the Auror job.
But it's rather more than, say, taking a pottery class to fulfill a requirement for one Fine Arts elective to get a Bachelor's in Business Administration.
It is more akin to requiring a Pre-Med student take Advanced Chemistry or Physiology 401, they are subjects that are NECESSARY FOR THE JOB...
The school where I got my BA gave choices between mathematics, computer courses and philosophy/logic. I did better with the logic.
(sigh)...things have really changed since my day...back then, those were considered 3 totally different subjects. One could never substitute a philosophy/logic or computer class for math, you'd have to take Algebra or Calculus or Geometry. Computer classes were considered either a business elective, or their own IT option. And philosophy/logic was, well, Philosophy...
For Potions, though, I think Snape's rule of only taking students in the highest range (O?) was better than Slughorn's taking students from the two highest ranges (O and E). The ones with the highest scores are more likely to have a natural interest and talent for the subject and more likely to do what the Prince did, figure out what makes things work together and apply the knowledge.
Agreed. But the irony is, presumably Slughorn was the instructor back when Snape was a student, so when Snape was a 6th year he would have been with classmates that only got an "E" on their OWLS...
LOL
no subject
Date: 2011-01-23 01:18 am (UTC)I know. I'm not so sure Harry knew (or that Rowling put it together, either.)
...back then, those were considered 3 totally different subjects.
They're under the general heading of "Mathematical/Analytical Reasoning." The logic courses are formula-intensive (If A, then B; if B, then C; therefore, if A then C [IIRC, lol!] and the like.) The computer courses are more programming than business and one can also take two statistics courses. You would need college-level algebra before being able to take these courses.
I agree that Snape would have been in with the E-level students when he was in school. Probably why he only took O-level students, he saw the difference when he was a student.
I don't get it on a fundamental level. To me it would make sense that Snape changed the requirement for practical reasons but, since Our Hero was such a mediocre Everyman, that had to be wrong and another strike against Snape (for potentially dashing Harry's dream to become an Auror.) If the Potions skill was more or less peripheral to an Auror's job, why not just have McGonagall or Hermione gripe about it a little? If it was so necessary to the job, why didn't we see any Aurors using Potions or talking about using Potions on the job? We see three Aurors or former Aurors in the series (Shacklebolt was an Auror, wasn't he?) and none of them say a word one way or another about Potions, the requirement to have NEWT-level Potions, whether it was a goofy requirement (we were shown that the Ministry is sometimes clueless) and nor did they talk to Harry about the need to study up on his Potions because it's so necessary in the job.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-23 01:44 am (UTC)Yep, in my day computer courses were programming (what else would they be), and they were either part of the Business curriculum, or a separate IT curriculum.
If it was so necessary to the job, why didn't we see any Aurors using Potions or talking about using Potions on the job? We see three Aurors or former Aurors in the series (Shacklebolt was an Auror, wasn't he?) and none of them say a word one way or another about Potions
Well we really don't see much of any Auror Action Figures in the series! LOL
From my understanding of Rowling's job description for the Auror position, it sounds sort of like the wizarding equivalent of a detective and a CSI expert...a homicide detective, for instance, might not have to have a degree in chemistry, but he or she better have a good knowledge of various poisons to recognize the effects on a victim.
So an Auror may not have to be a potions expert on the level of a Snape, but they better have a more than good knowledge of not only existing potions, but the theory behind the creation of various types of potions, in case it comes up in an investigation.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-23 02:13 am (UTC)You make a good case for an Auror to need a working knowledge of Potions. Too bad it wasn't more evident in the books. If just one of the Aurors in the Order had griped about their day at work, something general that gave an indication...
There are too many "if onlies" in this series.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-23 02:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-23 02:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-24 01:47 am (UTC)In COS Hermione brewed it from the instructions in Moste Potente Potions, which must have been an even older version than the one Horace taught. It takes a month to brew and is good for an hour each time. It requires 2 restricted ingredients - bicorn horn and boomslang skin.
In GOF Peter and Barty brew according to the version they learned at school, which must have been the one in the book Horace used. It only takes a few days (at the most) to brew (which is why Frank Bryce didn't notice any unusual smell), requires only one restricted ingredient (according to Severus only boomslang skin was missing) but like the older version is only good for one hour.
Then in DH we get the new improved version which lasts, well, as long as the plot requires it to. Whether the latest improvement was invented by Severus, Alastor or anyone else, it was either very recent or kept very secret because in GOF Albus was expecting 'Moody''s Polyjuice to lose effectiveness within an hour.