OOTP Chapter Six: "The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black"

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

 

* Just in case we haven’t got how super-sassy and awesome Ginny is, Fred’s now going on about how she ignores her mother’s instructions. It’s just so ridiculously unsubtle, and it means that, even when she isn’t present, I still want to give Ginny a good, hard kick.

* “‘Maybe it’s something that can kill loads of people at once,’ suggested George.” Like a bomb, or mortar-shell, or one of the other weapons Muggles have invented. Seriously, a Dark Lord who’s willing to use Muggle technology could totally own the WW.

* Honestly, JKR, maybe in future you should just write “GINNY IS COOL AND REBELLIOUS AND SUPER-SASSY” on a plank of wood and beat me around the face with it. It might be more subtle.

* “‘She doesn’t trust us at all, you know,’ said Ron regretfully.” Since we’ve seen them flout her instructions without a second thought, she’s probably right not to.

* I wonder if there’s supposed to be anything significant about Harry’s dream here?

* And a new day dawns, bright and clear. Harry’s dressed and breakfasted, but not, I note, washed.

* So Sirius can calm his mother down, run to the front door, answer it and begin speaking to Shacklebolt in the time it takes Harry to walk across the room and close the door? Really?

* I like the way JKR’s portraying the Skiving Snackboxes as a fun idea, and not at all an irresponsible way for kids to bunk off class. For an ex-teacher, Miss Rowling can come across as remarkably anti-education sometimes.

* It’s suddenly struck me that, having seen Lord Voldemort come back last book, all this talk of Extendable Ears is just really out-of-place. They would have been a fun and interesting idea in earlier books, but the whole “Twins inventing stuff” subplot just seems jarringly light-hearted in the darker, edgier second half of the series.

* No wonder Kreacher ends up betraying the Order, when everyone around him treats him with such hostility.

* Shocking as it is to hear myself saying this, Hermione’s easily the nicest character in this scene. At least she’s trying to be sympathetic and understanding, which is more than we can say for the others.

* I like how Sirius is getting all judgemental about his younger brother. I mean, I know he joined Voldemort, but nil nisi bonum and all that.

* I doubt that Phineas Nigellus really was the least popular headmaster Hogwarts ever had. Or, if he was, he’s probably been eclipsed by Dumbledore now.

* You’d have thought that the Blacks would have found a more aesthetically pleasing way of editing the tapestry than covering it in burn marks.

* Maybe it’s just my inner Slytherin showing, but all the Black heirlooms look rather cool. Why are they throwing them away, again?

* Wow, that line about “a heavy locket that none of them could open” is such a brilliant piece of foreshadowing that it makes all these Grimmauld Place chapters totally worth it!

* Bah, silly Kreacher, trying to save the priceless mementoes of his beloved former owners from the whiny son who treats him like dirt. Clearly he deserves to be sworn at and thrown around for his insolence.

* I bet Snape was relieved that Harry and he never met, too.

* I like the way that Harry washing his hair is seen as a big deal, rather than, say, a piece of basic hygiene. Cannon proof for DirtySlob!Harry?

* Harry: “Dumbledore, don’t you love me anymore? Why won’t you speak to me?”

Every other student in Hogwarts: “Now you know how we feel about him, you spoilt little git!”

 

Comments

[danajsparks.livejournal.com]

>>>>Wow, that line about “a heavy locket that none of them could open” is such a brilliant piece of foreshadowing that it makes all these Grimmauld Place chapters totally worth it!

This chapter gave us so many potential clues and raised so many questions about wizarding culture and history. It's really disappointing that the only things that turned out to be significant were the locket and the info on Regulus.

For instance, I would really like to know what it means to be a noble and most ancient house.

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

>For instance, I would really like to know what it means to be a noble and most ancient house.<

Er, vainglory and rampant narcissim? Admittedly it's a bit more acceptable than playing evil anagrams and running around calling yourself something that sounds rather like an evil French cheese.

Make's you wonder whether Tom eventually realized how silly that sounded, and *that's* why he didn't want anyone using that stupid name.

[charlottehywd.livejournal.com]

Admittedly it's a bit more acceptable than playing evil anagrams and running around calling yourself something that sounds rather like an evil French cheese.

I never thought of it that way, but yeah, pretty much. I am now imagining a slice of cheese with glowing red eyes though...

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

Right complexion, too.

[charlottehywd.livejournal.com]

Is it sad when your main villain makes people think of food?

[koi-no-soshan.livejournal.com]

I think the only time it isn't is in Dragonball, and that's because so many of the characters actually are named after food.

Voldemort's silliness might matter less if he was effectively threatening through the series. But between sitting on his arse doing nothing and each year failing to kill his incompetent teenage nemesis, Voldemort doesn't make for much of a scary villain.

[charlottehywd.livejournal.com]

I think my other main problem with him is that he relies too much as a character on the usual trappings of villainy (dark robes, snake minion, glowing red eyes, etc.), which may have been frightening at one point but has been overdone so much that it has become very Saturday morning cartoon-ish. There isn't a lot about him that is unique to him as a villain, and I think that's really too bad. Some of the best villains are the ones that surprise you with how evil they are rather than having a big neon sign on their head that proclaims that they are so. Actually, this is part of the reason that Umbridge is a much more effective villain. She has an element of surprise that Voldemort doesn't.

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes! An element of surprise, and an element of realism. We have all known people like Umbridge, whereas I hope never to meet anyone remotely like Voldemort. (Dumbledore's a pretty good villain, too, compared to Voldemort!)

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

The whole series read much better back when Lucius Malfoy was standing in as the villain of the piece. You could *understand* Malfoy, and he was in a position to really mess you over if you got in his way. He might not have been threatening the end of the world, but at least he represented a real threat.

[fishinginthemud.livejournal.com]

It's pretty sad that Voldemort manages to make Umbridge of all people look subtle by comparison.

[kahran042]

Er, vainglory and rampant narcissim?

If that were the case, then wouldn't Sirius have said so while hating on his dead relatives?