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deathtocapslock* Thought I should perhaps point out that by this point in COS we were at Hogwarts. Ah, the days when the Potter books were reasonably well-paced…
* Apparently they’ve been trying to remove Sirius’ mother for a month. IOW, someone annoys you, you kick them out of the house. What a charming group of people.
* Yes, Ginny, let’s all laugh at the unkempt, drunken petty criminal. What a hilarious man!
* Also, given Mundungus’ proven unreliability, why do they let him join the Order or attend meetings?
* Yes, JKR, Tonks is clumsy, we get it. You don’t need to show her knocking over chairs every time she does something. Less is more, remember, and doesn’t make us want to strangle the character every time we see her.
* So why exactly is Sirius getting so angsty about staying at No. 12, again? This is the man who’s been incarcerated in an impregnable island fortress for twelve years, surrounded by an army of depression-inducing monsters, whilst staying sane enough to escape and evade the biggest manhunt in recent wizarding history for almost a year. How is his current situation worse than that?
* Although come to think of it he didn’t have Ginny with him then. Canonical proof that Ginny Mk. 2 is officially more depressing than a Dementor? :p
* I know Sirius doesn’t like his family, but distastefully surveying his antique silverware like that just makes him look really spoilt. Most people would be glad to own something so valuable, but I suppose we can’t have Sirius counting his blessings, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to angst all the time and make Harry feel all miserable.
* Let’s all laugh at the Twins and their reckless use of magic! That’ll really do their behaviour a whole world of good.
* So how are magical pests any different to Muggle pests? Do they only live in places with high concentrations of magic? But then, surely they wouldn’t have enough habitat to survive, and would pretty soon go extinct? Or are they just like normal pests, only magical, in which case how come Muggles haven’t discovered them yet?
* I’m glad that the goblins did, by and large, decide to stay out of the war. If were in the books, I’d want my species to stay as far away as possible from these violent, stupid, permanently infantilised people. Whilst embezzling all the gold they left in my bank, of course. ;-)
* As if to prove my point, the Weasley children are all howling with laughter at Mundungus’ rather unfunny story.
* Remember when I asked why they let Mundungus be part of the Order? Turns out he’s loyal to Dumbledore. Silly me for not guessing that.
* Let’s be reminded of how overweight Dudley is. Unlike Harry, who can eat three helpings of dessert at every meal and not get fat.
* Note how Sirius had to stick his oar in and ruin the atmosphere. His maturity level’s really dropped in this book. Maybe killing him off was the kindest thing to do, as it stopped him becoming even worse later on in the series.
* And now the adults are all arguing in front of the kids. After all, it’s not like that’ll undermine their authority or anything.
* “Harry felt sure that Lupin, at least, knew that some Extendable Ears had survived Mrs. Weasley’s purge.” And did nothing about it. How depressingly IC.
* Ginny’s raging clearly proves that she’s a tough, independent, strong girl, fully the equal to the Chosen One. As opposed to, say, an immature, whiny brat, who throws a tantrum every time she doesn’t get what she wants.
* “‘Dumbledore’s got a shrewd idea,’ said Lupin, ‘and Dumbledore’s shrewd ideas normally turn out to be accurate.’” Aargh, this Dumbledore sycophancy, it’s too much! Why can’t I be reading a sensible series, with characters who can think for themselves? Heck, I’d even prefer to be reading My Immortal than this.
* BTW, why does nobody wonder where Dumbledore gets his information about Voldemort from? Very suspicious, if you ask me…
* “Fudge thinks Dumbledore is plotting to overthrow him.” Knowing our Dumbles, it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest to learn that he was plotting to overthrow the Minister, and replace him with someone who’ll do what he, Dumbledore, says – for the greater good, of course…
* Fudge has become more confident in the exercise of his power. Which is a bad thing. Everyone should stay tied to Dumbledore’s apron strings for all their life!
* Still, this chapter makes the whole war sound so exciting and underhand. A pity it turned out to be such a disappointment, really.
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Date: 2011-02-18 03:27 pm (UTC)Can we not refer to this Ginny as Ginny from now on? Even Ginny MK 2 sounds too Ginny-ish. How about "LBCA" (or Low Budget Crazula?). Probably a little clunky, though. :(
To be fair regarding Sirius' mother, imagine if you were trying to read and she kept wailing at you. Or if someone rang the doorbell and she started screeching about "Mudbloods", etc. People would probably wonder what was wrong with you. ;-) (That said, you'd think that Sirius would have worked out his grudge with his mum... :/)
That actually kind of bothered me: how *is* Harry able to eat so much food but still stay skinny? Did he just inherit a really, really quick metabolism? *Shrugs*
And yes, to sum up, these "heroes" have issues. 'Nuff said. :(
Again, great update. :)
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Date: 2011-02-18 04:48 pm (UTC)He does play a lot of sport, and walking around the ridiculously oversized castle (There are 12 subjects, and Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures and Astronomy are not taught in classrooms - so they have about seven storeys housing nine classrooms?) would take weight off you.
Also, it's odd that magic can replace the bones in his arm, but not correct his eyesight? Muggles even have laser eye treatment.
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Date: 2011-02-18 04:57 pm (UTC)(Please excuse my naivetie for a moment. ;-)
And that's a very good question regarding laser eye treatment. Maybe Harry's not old enough to have it? Or, knowing Harry, he probably doesn't care. "I yam what I yam"...or whatever. :/
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Date: 2011-02-26 02:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-18 05:17 pm (UTC)Quidditch doesn't seem to provide much physical exertion though (except possibly for the Beaters).
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Date: 2011-02-18 05:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-18 07:26 pm (UTC)Yes
Date: 2011-02-18 09:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-18 10:46 pm (UTC)That's simultaneously sad and very, very true.
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Date: 2011-02-19 06:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-19 06:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-19 02:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-18 03:27 pm (UTC)To be fair, though, the idea might have been implanted Inception-like already from this one fanfic I read- one which got taken down because of people harassing the author. Later on, other fans' observations just watered the idea.
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Date: 2011-02-18 04:45 pm (UTC)They didn't! They orchestrated the whole thing for their own ends, those nasty, wealthy, hook-nosed moneylenders. Let me lend you my copy of The Protocols of the Goblins or Gringotts.
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Date: 2011-02-18 05:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-18 10:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-18 10:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-19 06:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-26 02:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-18 05:12 pm (UTC)I see no contradiction.
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Date: 2011-02-18 05:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-18 09:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-18 05:43 pm (UTC)The reread value of OotP goes way down when you realize the top-secret business of the Order was to sit around wasting time guarding some worthless trinket.
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Date: 2011-02-18 05:52 pm (UTC)The reread value of OotP goes way down when you realize the top-secret business of the Order was to sit around wasting time guarding some worthless trinket.
LOL! Top Secret businss. It Makes you wonder what the hell Severus was actually telling the order on his visits.
And that reminds me that in one of the chapters someone sort of complained 'he (severus) never says for dinner'
Is it just me or does it makes sense why he would never stay for dinner; because who would really want to stay for dinner with how they all behave.
hell, it makes me wonder IF they ever actually asked him to stay for dinner; somehow I doubt it.
Voldie and the DE sat around playing poker for a majority of every book. They just waited around for the last 5-10 chapters to show up so they could look like they do bad ass stuff.
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Date: 2011-02-18 08:15 pm (UTC)We never did hear them ask if he wanted to stay, did we? And can you imagine a dinner with Snape and Sirius at the same table, let alone with Harry and Ron and everyone? *shudders*
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Date: 2011-02-18 08:44 pm (UTC)I bet Snape had to loose 'on purpose' to Voldemort. On everyone else, I now know the whole reason the rest of the Death Eaters really didn't like them...He cleaned them out in poker every time.
Lucius Malfoy: The Dark Lord has requested another game tonight, he says you should bring chips this time.
Rudolphus Lastrange: If you're inviting that bastard Snape again I'm not playing!
We never did hear them ask if he wanted to stay, did we? And can you imagine a dinner with Snape and Sirius at the same table, let alone with Harry and Ron and everyone? *shudders*
I forget which book it was, but there was that Christmas meal that he attended with a small group at Hogwarts. The one where Trelawany went all stupid about how many people were sitting at the table (I forget which book that was in now). As I remember Snape was there but I don't remember him saying anything to anyone or even being snarky to anyone. He wasn't even snarky to Trelawany about the stuff she was saying, it was McGonagall who snarked at her.
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Date: 2011-02-19 03:14 am (UTC)POA. The one where he didn't want to wear the hat that came in the cracker-thingie, the hat that resembled Augusta Longbottom's hat.
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Date: 2011-02-19 01:18 pm (UTC)It's a bit strange, he was the butt of the joke in that scene.
But When I think of christmas crackers they are supposed to have surprise gifts inside. So I have to wonder how that hat showed up to mock him in that way, or that a similar hat to what he was shown in, in the boggard lesson.
Makes you wonder was that Dumbledore's doing?
To me that would be like winning the lottery, to have a hat so similar show up randomly in the Christmas Cracker Severus ended up pulling.
Snape doesn't seem to be the hat type to start with. I don't think it's ever been said in canon that he wears hats; I guess that is the author trying to be funny but I just find it hard to believe that hat happened to randomly be in the one Severus ended up getting. Or should I say sharing with Dumbledore.
The scene is rather weird to me because I find it strange for Dumbledore to share a silly gag gift like that with Severus. maybe one of the kids but what inspired him to get Severus to do it, and what the hell inspired Severus to accept.
Although I think they tradition over in England so maybe it's not so unusual for two grown men to share a Christmas cracker thingie.
Actually, I never knew what the damn things were till I read these books. It's not something I ever had as a kid and I don't know anyone who ever actually had these as a holiday tradition or otherwise.
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Date: 2011-02-19 04:19 pm (UTC)As for how the hat got there: I agree that it seems a bit too coincidental. I wouldn't put it past Dumbledore to have arranged it in an attempt to humiliate Severus. His entire strategy with Severus over the past dozen years seems to have been to keep him disempowered that way, undermining his authority and self-esteem, and with Remus in the castle Severus is probably not submitting to his leash so quietly.
But then, I long ago ceased to be able to give Dumbles the benefit of the doubt. The Doyalist explanation is probably that JKR thought it would be truly hilarious to have him be humiliated and gave no thought to how the hat happened to be in the cracker he got.
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Date: 2011-02-19 06:35 pm (UTC)Re reading
Date: 2011-02-18 09:07 pm (UTC)Re: Re reading
Date: 2011-02-18 10:16 pm (UTC)Voldemort: And here, Nigini and I stand before Niagra Falls. If you look closely in the water...right there, (he points to a couple of specks about to go over the falls) you can see the muggles I used Imperio on and convienced them to jump.
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Date: 2011-02-19 06:18 am (UTC)Well, see, they were pretending Voldie wasn't really back yet and there was no war. So Avery, Macnair and the others had to go to work at their desk jobs at the Ministry all that time. Didn't get around to raiding that much.
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Date: 2011-02-19 03:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-18 09:33 pm (UTC)Oh, no! Tonks is becoming Bella Swan! D:
/* Let’s be reminded of how overweight Dudley is. Unlike Harry, who can eat three helpings of dessert at every meal and not get fat./
I think that Harry must have the same medical condition that Shaggy from "Scooby Doo" and Usagi/Serena from "Sailor Moon" have. They can eat as much as they want (which is usually a lot) and still stay skinny.
/* Note how Sirius had to stick his oar in and ruin the atmosphere. His maturity level’s really dropped in this book. Maybe killing him off was the kindest thing to do, as it stopped him becoming even worse later on in the series./
The sad part is that you may have a point. Poor Sirius. :(
/* And now the adults are all arguing in front of the kids. After all, it’s not like that’ll undermine their authority or anything./
Is this the chapter where Molly shouts that Sirius should stop confusing Harry for James? Because even though she may have had a point, I still thought that it was very rude of her to say that, especially in front of everyone.
/* BTW, why does nobody wonder where Dumbledore gets his information about Voldemort from? Very suspicious, if you ask me…/
This reminds me of a humor fanfic that I read where Dumbledore and Voldemort were actually in cahoots and secretly met in Dumbledore's office to discuss the progress of the war.
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Date: 2011-02-18 10:07 pm (UTC)As I said on one of the COS threads, I could totally believe Dumbledore orchestrating the war like that. Voldemort's rebellion could be his equivalent of the burning of the Reichstag.
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Date: 2011-02-19 01:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-19 11:23 am (UTC)* “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."
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Date: 2011-02-18 10:10 pm (UTC)Well said! We Gringotts Grrls appreciate that perspective. :)
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Date: 2011-02-20 04:51 pm (UTC)Or maybe she thought dropping his maturity level was the kindest thing to do so that it wasn't as much of a tragedy when she killed him off.
Sirius's death still really pisses me off. I don't see what purpose it served in the subsequent plot or development of the other characters, and it would have been interesting to see if it was possible for him and Snape to eventually achieve some kind of reconciliation. I hate that she killed him off without a good reason (that I can see) instead of allowing him to grow up.
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Date: 2011-02-20 05:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-20 07:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-21 02:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-21 02:35 am (UTC)