GOF Chapter 4: Back to the Burrow
Jan. 23rd, 2011 10:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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deathtocapslockThis is the start of the 'Harry with the Weasley family' section of the book. Since this is a longer book, in this one this section takes about 7 chapters, the longest in the series. I am not thrilled. Of course this section in each book shows how the Weasleys are the bestest family ever, and completely different from the Dursleys.
In Harry's praise, he cleaned his hiding place of all food. He did not, however sort out the contents of his trunk, as we shall see in DH.
Vernon is concerned about wizards showing up dressed in robes, thus giving away the secret that he is harboring not an insane boy but a magical one. I can't decide which option is scarier. Where do the Weasleys get Muggle clothing for their kids? Does this mean Muggle fashion has made it into the Wizarding World, but so far only for the younger generation?
Dudley got his pig's tail on Harry's 11th birthday, July 31st. It was removed surgically on September 1st. I'm not at all surprised he was traumatized. (And to remind you, the tail was in reaction to Vernon(!) being disrespectful to the mention of Dumbledore.)
The Weasleys are late. Well, they always manage to make it to the train the very last minute.
Yes Arhur, the Dursleys have an electric fire, with a plug! And his first idea of how to get out is by property destruction. Why not send the boys back home and Apparate to the Dursleys living room (or better yet, to outside their front door)? Even if for some reason Side-Along Apparition wasn't legal then or had yet to be invented, surely he could work a solution from Harry's end - either get the Dursleys' permission for the fireplace hook-up from their end or take Harry on the Knight Bus? In part it's because Rowling decided Harry had to leave 4PD by a different manner each book so the Knight Bus is out, but reworking the fireplace was still an option and it would have shown Arthur in better light. Though it would have saved Dudley the near-death experience - how could Harry enjoy his life without it?
Arthur is tall and thin, how could I forget? More support for the Dumbledore-Weasley family connection? Then shouldn't the fact that he is balding connect him to Slughorn?
Arthur broke the law to connect 4PD to the floo network. After writing a law with a loophole allowing him to enchant the car I'm not surprised. He also has a 'useful contact' at the Floo Regulation Panel. This contact is male so he can't be Madam Edgecombe. Arthur seems to have a contact in every department - and once you have contacts you don't need special treatment (or at least, you don't need to think of the exchange of favors as such).
Harry thinks the Dursleys didn't understand what Arthur was saying. Doesn't he realize Petunia should know at least some of it from hearsay?
No Harry, Fred's wink wasn't because he was hoping to get a glimpse of Dudley. He was going to kill him with candy.
It's touching how Vernon is shielding Petunia from wizard-attack. Not the first time - we saw him doing just that when Hagrid arrived at the Hut on the Rock too. Just like James facing Voldemort wandlessly. Except James could have had a wand had he been more alert, while Vernon had no better option. But James' stand is considered brave while Vernon is cowardly and ridiculous.
I suppose Dudley is ridiculous for not recognizing Arthur as the caring Muggle-lover? You know, the one who just blasted his way into the living room of Dudley's home?
So, do you think Fred's candy bag spilled completely accidentally or was it a planned move? It reads like his "Oh no - hang on -" came before the spill to me.
If Arthur is amazed at the way the Dursleys do not respond to Harry's farewell then I don't think he figured out yet the nature of the relationship between them and Harry. So I take my words from my review of the previous chapter back: The Weasley adults were plotting to kidnap Harry from his Muggle guardians despite not knowing (or not believing) that they had mistreated him. Now Vernon is forced to say good-bye at (unintended?) wandpoint.
Dudley nearly suffocates to death on twin-candy. Had he taken the candy after Arthur left I doubt he would have survived. What would have Twinkly done to make them take Harry in again the following summer? (And would Arthur have felt any remorse about his role in Dudley's death? What about the twins?)
Dudley's enlarged tongue protruding from his mouth, lolling around like a great slimy python - a foreshadowing of the Dark Mark?
Harry is reluctant to leave because he was enjoying the sight of his cousin in mortal danger and cousin's parents getting hysterical with fear. Full of love, this boy.
So Arthur, the champion of Muggle rights, is willing to kidnap the wizard ward of a Muggle family, invades a Muggle home without permission, blasts the living room upon running into trouble and corrects their manners toward their wizard ward. He is also surprised that the adult Muggles show fear when magic nearly kills their son. Right. This is the good, Muggle-loving guy, remember?
In Harry's praise, he cleaned his hiding place of all food. He did not, however sort out the contents of his trunk, as we shall see in DH.
Vernon is concerned about wizards showing up dressed in robes, thus giving away the secret that he is harboring not an insane boy but a magical one. I can't decide which option is scarier. Where do the Weasleys get Muggle clothing for their kids? Does this mean Muggle fashion has made it into the Wizarding World, but so far only for the younger generation?
Dudley got his pig's tail on Harry's 11th birthday, July 31st. It was removed surgically on September 1st. I'm not at all surprised he was traumatized. (And to remind you, the tail was in reaction to Vernon(!) being disrespectful to the mention of Dumbledore.)
The Weasleys are late. Well, they always manage to make it to the train the very last minute.
Yes Arhur, the Dursleys have an electric fire, with a plug! And his first idea of how to get out is by property destruction. Why not send the boys back home and Apparate to the Dursleys living room (or better yet, to outside their front door)? Even if for some reason Side-Along Apparition wasn't legal then or had yet to be invented, surely he could work a solution from Harry's end - either get the Dursleys' permission for the fireplace hook-up from their end or take Harry on the Knight Bus? In part it's because Rowling decided Harry had to leave 4PD by a different manner each book so the Knight Bus is out, but reworking the fireplace was still an option and it would have shown Arthur in better light. Though it would have saved Dudley the near-death experience - how could Harry enjoy his life without it?
Arthur is tall and thin, how could I forget? More support for the Dumbledore-Weasley family connection? Then shouldn't the fact that he is balding connect him to Slughorn?
Arthur broke the law to connect 4PD to the floo network. After writing a law with a loophole allowing him to enchant the car I'm not surprised. He also has a 'useful contact' at the Floo Regulation Panel. This contact is male so he can't be Madam Edgecombe. Arthur seems to have a contact in every department - and once you have contacts you don't need special treatment (or at least, you don't need to think of the exchange of favors as such).
Harry thinks the Dursleys didn't understand what Arthur was saying. Doesn't he realize Petunia should know at least some of it from hearsay?
No Harry, Fred's wink wasn't because he was hoping to get a glimpse of Dudley. He was going to kill him with candy.
It's touching how Vernon is shielding Petunia from wizard-attack. Not the first time - we saw him doing just that when Hagrid arrived at the Hut on the Rock too. Just like James facing Voldemort wandlessly. Except James could have had a wand had he been more alert, while Vernon had no better option. But James' stand is considered brave while Vernon is cowardly and ridiculous.
I suppose Dudley is ridiculous for not recognizing Arthur as the caring Muggle-lover? You know, the one who just blasted his way into the living room of Dudley's home?
So, do you think Fred's candy bag spilled completely accidentally or was it a planned move? It reads like his "Oh no - hang on -" came before the spill to me.
If Arthur is amazed at the way the Dursleys do not respond to Harry's farewell then I don't think he figured out yet the nature of the relationship between them and Harry. So I take my words from my review of the previous chapter back: The Weasley adults were plotting to kidnap Harry from his Muggle guardians despite not knowing (or not believing) that they had mistreated him. Now Vernon is forced to say good-bye at (unintended?) wandpoint.
Dudley nearly suffocates to death on twin-candy. Had he taken the candy after Arthur left I doubt he would have survived. What would have Twinkly done to make them take Harry in again the following summer? (And would Arthur have felt any remorse about his role in Dudley's death? What about the twins?)
Dudley's enlarged tongue protruding from his mouth, lolling around like a great slimy python - a foreshadowing of the Dark Mark?
Harry is reluctant to leave because he was enjoying the sight of his cousin in mortal danger and cousin's parents getting hysterical with fear. Full of love, this boy.
So Arthur, the champion of Muggle rights, is willing to kidnap the wizard ward of a Muggle family, invades a Muggle home without permission, blasts the living room upon running into trouble and corrects their manners toward their wizard ward. He is also surprised that the adult Muggles show fear when magic nearly kills their son. Right. This is the good, Muggle-loving guy, remember?
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Date: 2011-01-24 12:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-24 03:04 pm (UTC)Gryffindor Exemption
Date: 2011-01-25 03:30 am (UTC)So Gran and Neville get off mutually escaping capture by authorial fiat, and the Weasleys and Harry are never tested.
(How DID Severus convince Tom that Harry would in reality be utterly indifferent to his first real girlfriend's torture/death? And that Harry felt no concern about the other Weasleys, or the OotP in general? And that the remains of the OotP was so ineffectual as not to be worth quashing? That's some smooth talking!) (Of course, Severus would have been helped by the fact that two of the three were demonstrably true....)
It's only people from inferior houses who deal directly with the hostage situation in DH.
The one time a Gryff was directly in that situation (in OotP), he caved instantly to the pressure. Harry agreed to give the prophecy to the DE's if Bella would stop torturing Neville. But he was rescued from the consequences of that choice by the appearance of the cavalry.
But the plot of DH required there be no cavalry, therefore no Gryff could REALLY be faced with that choice. Choosing between the slow death by torture of a loved one and one's principles/Tom's defeat...
“Lucky, lucky Gryffindor[s], to have the luxury of choices the rest of us don’t," as I seem to recall Draco emoting in a recently-posted fanfic....
Pure authorial contrivance. There's no possible choice in that situation that can appear unequivocably Brave, Noble, Loving, and Right. Either the chooser must betray a loved one to a horrific death, or betray the Cause and be responsible (perhaps) for Voldemort's triumph.
Either one would have to be hard-headed (hard-hearted) and choose Voldemort's defeat above all, whatever the cost to those one loves, or one would, like Xeno Lovegood, accept working for the Dark Lord in exchange (temporarily) for the lives and (one hopes) good treatment of loved ones.
Neither choice fits the definition of "chivalry."
Therefore no Gryff is ever put (by JKR) in position to make that choice.
As to Detritus's main point... If Tom's overt opponents are mostly Gryffs, he can't use family against them! That would violate Jo's Gryffindor Exemption.
Re: Gryffindor Exemption
Date: 2011-01-25 05:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-25 01:51 pm (UTC)Indeed it is. But hey, we're talking here about the same ruthless dictator who was kind enough to let the Hogwarts students go home for Christmas (the only thing dumber than that is that the kids actually returned to Hogwarts)
Again, why is this pos book praised for being really really dark and mature?
How awesome it would have been if Ginny was the one who was kidnapped and ended up saving Harry at Malfoy manor? but what can you do when her creator is bored /has a really bizarre love-hate relationship with her.