First chapter summary from me.
Aug. 21st, 2005 06:47 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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deathtocapslockYep, here's mine, a little later than one might have expected.
*Rowling said that this chapter has been thirteen years in the making. I can't say I would find a chapter like this easy to write either. It has the air of something that needed to be got out of the way, in places.
*Because I try to avoid politics, I may have everything ass-backwards here, but "one of his political opponents"? This suggests even more that this is an AU Britain where people that don't exist are in power and the PM has more than one serious opponent for his seat. Cuz even now, with the Lib Dems getting more votes than they had for ages in the last election...no. And certainly at no time during the mid-'90s. In fact, it'd be news if anyone was a genine opponent to the PM most of the time. We do take a while to source out charismatic politicians this side of the pond :(
*I may be over-reaching here, but I can't help thinking of London's Millenium Bridge, which was put up for the beginning of 2000, but had to be rebuilt because it was deemed unsafe. It didn't snap in half like the bridge here, but even so. It might have done :/
*Again, Herbert Chorley = not a real person. Ergo, the PM here is probably fictional. Although the idea of John Major conversing with wizards is intriguing.
*A grim mood has gripped the country, which doubtless makes a change from usual. I notice the grim mood hasn't gripped the opposition, though. Perhaps they have good patronuses. Curious thought, that the opposition might too know something about the magical world. Actually, there could be a plot-bunny in that. Leader of the opposition knows about Hogwarts, Harry et al. Got a magical relative, or something.
*Chilly mist in July? Not unheard of, ducks. He's obviously not been in the country long. One of those PMs that's always on holiday in Tuscany, I'd wager.
*I like to think that the froglike little man in the coughing portrait is a relative or ancestor of the toadlike Umbridge. But probably not.
*I can't imagine how scary it would actually be to suddenly have a portrait talk to you. We expect this kind of thing from stories - we get some clue from the atmosphere and can go in at least partially prepared. But for someone in the real world to have something like that happen must be almost traumatising. I admit to being easily freaked-out, but even so. I suppose it's for the good of the plot. After all, Muggles all over are apparently finding out about magic all the time and they get on with it. Human nature, I guess.
*Again, even though this is clearly some AU Britain, I am fond of the idea that Fudge mistook Maggie Thatcher for a man. I think a few people made similar observations while she was in power :)
*The idea of Fudge being a hoax planned by the opposition is further feeding the plot-bunny mentioned above. There's got to be some more Muggle politics in book seven, and maybe the opposition's got something secret going on :0
*It's interesting that Fudge laughs at the idea that anyone would believe the PM if he mentioned the first meeting. Hasn't the whole premise of the society been about keeping it utterly secret from the Muggles? I think people could afford to be a lot more lax than they are, since people who talk about magic tend not to get taken seriously by vast swathes of the population.
*"Serious" Black? Are we sure about this? Does Fudge not have a British accent or something? Plus, it suggests that Rowling is doing a shoutout to all those people with the "Are you fucking serious?" icons, and I rather wish she wouldn't (although if she puts something from here in book seven, I'm sure I'll change my mind).
*I still do not get the insistence on not mentioning Voldemort's name. I've read Rowling's reasoning about the power of names and the fear they might conjure up, but I don't think she's done it very well. We know people are scared of him, but it's only really in this book that we get the first hints as to why, and it's still not a lot.
*"So, I'm bringing dragons into the country, and I've got to ask you if I can, but don't expect me to give a shit whether you say yes, no, or WTF." Now, there's diplomacy for you :(
*Voldemort has committed "a thousand terrible crimes". Is this literal, or does it just sound cool? One wonders what they were. A thousand murders? That's a lot of people. Or maybe murders and lots of demented people like Neville's parents. Or maybe it's another one of those "too terrible to go into" plot-cheats. She should go into it, you know. People will start to wonder what the big deal is.
*I do sort of feel sorry for the PM here, even though he's the PM. I mean to say, awful stuff is happening, you're powerless to stop it and yet people are going to blame you and you can't just say "I don't know, man" because people want proper answers from their leaders. Besides, he's treated fairly sympathetically for a Muggle. Makes a nice change.
*People who hoped for Amelia Bones as the next minister have their hopes cruelly dashed. Woe :( No, it's another middle-aged man, and you've never heard of him! Yay, or something.
*I suspect Dememntors breed asexually, but the idea of Dementor-sex is curiously compelling.
*I do feel a bit sorry for Fudge as well. I think it's probably my nature to instinctively support the underdog here, and Fudge is clearly one of those. He's a shit politician, we all think he sucks at his job, everyone in the world wanted him to resign...poor guy.
*How does one pronounce "Scrimgeour"? It looks like it might be pronounced in a number of ways, and it frustrated me throughout the book.
*Scrimgeour is probably not "evil" per se, since Fudge wasn't either, but the entirety of the book shows that we're not meant to warm to him. I predict that he dies in book seven and we get a new and totally adorable MoM who loves Harry and does everything just right.please not Arthur Weasley, for crying out loud
*Kingsley Shacklebot is doing twice the work of any of the other secrataries. One could so easily construct a slashy scenario out of this. Slashy S&M, no less, in which Kinglsley does anything Master desires. You know you were thinking it too.
*Chorley had the Imperius, apparently. Why not Imperio the PM? It's not as if Voldemort can't get into locked rooms or anything, that's how Amelia Bones died. It was "poorly performed", though. Maybe because someone didn't give enough of a shit whether it worked or not. So again, why a junior Minister and not the PM or someone worth cursing?
*"The other side can do magic too." Should be profound, but...no. Oh, the hairline cracks in the dialogue already. Still, at least Fudge isn't out on the streets yet. Still on my dead-list, mind.
*Rowling said that this chapter has been thirteen years in the making. I can't say I would find a chapter like this easy to write either. It has the air of something that needed to be got out of the way, in places.
*Because I try to avoid politics, I may have everything ass-backwards here, but "one of his political opponents"? This suggests even more that this is an AU Britain where people that don't exist are in power and the PM has more than one serious opponent for his seat. Cuz even now, with the Lib Dems getting more votes than they had for ages in the last election...no. And certainly at no time during the mid-'90s. In fact, it'd be news if anyone was a genine opponent to the PM most of the time. We do take a while to source out charismatic politicians this side of the pond :(
*I may be over-reaching here, but I can't help thinking of London's Millenium Bridge, which was put up for the beginning of 2000, but had to be rebuilt because it was deemed unsafe. It didn't snap in half like the bridge here, but even so. It might have done :/
*Again, Herbert Chorley = not a real person. Ergo, the PM here is probably fictional. Although the idea of John Major conversing with wizards is intriguing.
*A grim mood has gripped the country, which doubtless makes a change from usual. I notice the grim mood hasn't gripped the opposition, though. Perhaps they have good patronuses. Curious thought, that the opposition might too know something about the magical world. Actually, there could be a plot-bunny in that. Leader of the opposition knows about Hogwarts, Harry et al. Got a magical relative, or something.
*Chilly mist in July? Not unheard of, ducks. He's obviously not been in the country long. One of those PMs that's always on holiday in Tuscany, I'd wager.
*I like to think that the froglike little man in the coughing portrait is a relative or ancestor of the toadlike Umbridge. But probably not.
*I can't imagine how scary it would actually be to suddenly have a portrait talk to you. We expect this kind of thing from stories - we get some clue from the atmosphere and can go in at least partially prepared. But for someone in the real world to have something like that happen must be almost traumatising. I admit to being easily freaked-out, but even so. I suppose it's for the good of the plot. After all, Muggles all over are apparently finding out about magic all the time and they get on with it. Human nature, I guess.
*Again, even though this is clearly some AU Britain, I am fond of the idea that Fudge mistook Maggie Thatcher for a man. I think a few people made similar observations while she was in power :)
*The idea of Fudge being a hoax planned by the opposition is further feeding the plot-bunny mentioned above. There's got to be some more Muggle politics in book seven, and maybe the opposition's got something secret going on :0
*It's interesting that Fudge laughs at the idea that anyone would believe the PM if he mentioned the first meeting. Hasn't the whole premise of the society been about keeping it utterly secret from the Muggles? I think people could afford to be a lot more lax than they are, since people who talk about magic tend not to get taken seriously by vast swathes of the population.
*"Serious" Black? Are we sure about this? Does Fudge not have a British accent or something? Plus, it suggests that Rowling is doing a shoutout to all those people with the "Are you fucking serious?" icons, and I rather wish she wouldn't (although if she puts something from here in book seven, I'm sure I'll change my mind).
*I still do not get the insistence on not mentioning Voldemort's name. I've read Rowling's reasoning about the power of names and the fear they might conjure up, but I don't think she's done it very well. We know people are scared of him, but it's only really in this book that we get the first hints as to why, and it's still not a lot.
*"So, I'm bringing dragons into the country, and I've got to ask you if I can, but don't expect me to give a shit whether you say yes, no, or WTF." Now, there's diplomacy for you :(
*Voldemort has committed "a thousand terrible crimes". Is this literal, or does it just sound cool? One wonders what they were. A thousand murders? That's a lot of people. Or maybe murders and lots of demented people like Neville's parents. Or maybe it's another one of those "too terrible to go into" plot-cheats. She should go into it, you know. People will start to wonder what the big deal is.
*I do sort of feel sorry for the PM here, even though he's the PM. I mean to say, awful stuff is happening, you're powerless to stop it and yet people are going to blame you and you can't just say "I don't know, man" because people want proper answers from their leaders. Besides, he's treated fairly sympathetically for a Muggle. Makes a nice change.
*People who hoped for Amelia Bones as the next minister have their hopes cruelly dashed. Woe :( No, it's another middle-aged man, and you've never heard of him! Yay, or something.
*I suspect Dememntors breed asexually, but the idea of Dementor-sex is curiously compelling.
*I do feel a bit sorry for Fudge as well. I think it's probably my nature to instinctively support the underdog here, and Fudge is clearly one of those. He's a shit politician, we all think he sucks at his job, everyone in the world wanted him to resign...poor guy.
*How does one pronounce "Scrimgeour"? It looks like it might be pronounced in a number of ways, and it frustrated me throughout the book.
*Scrimgeour is probably not "evil" per se, since Fudge wasn't either, but the entirety of the book shows that we're not meant to warm to him. I predict that he dies in book seven and we get a new and totally adorable MoM who loves Harry and does everything just right.
*Kingsley Shacklebot is doing twice the work of any of the other secrataries. One could so easily construct a slashy scenario out of this. Slashy S&M, no less, in which Kinglsley does anything Master desires. You know you were thinking it too.
*Chorley had the Imperius, apparently. Why not Imperio the PM? It's not as if Voldemort can't get into locked rooms or anything, that's how Amelia Bones died. It was "poorly performed", though. Maybe because someone didn't give enough of a shit whether it worked or not. So again, why a junior Minister and not the PM or someone worth cursing?
*"The other side can do magic too." Should be profound, but...no. Oh, the hairline cracks in the dialogue already. Still, at least Fudge isn't out on the streets yet. Still on my dead-list, mind.
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no subject
Date: 2005-08-21 07:19 pm (UTC)We've heard of him, but we haven't paid attention - he's mentioned by at the beginning of chapter 7 in OotP.
Lupin glanced at Harry, then said to Tonks, 'What were you saying about Scrimgeour?'
'Oh... yeah... well, we need to be a bit more careful, he's been asking Kingsley and me funny questions...'
no subject
Date: 2005-08-21 08:05 pm (UTC)Yeah. Though I can't help wondering why the ex ministers don't come together and talk about these experiences. Making sure they weren't just crazy. Though who knows, maybe they do. ;-)
no subject
Date: 2005-08-21 08:15 pm (UTC)Same here. I never could conjure up any serious dislike for him, since he's way too incompetent to be 'evil', but here I felt some genuine sympathy for him.
Not nearly half as much as I felt for the Muggle PM. Talk about your bad day. ยด:D
I notice the grim mood hasn't gripped the opposition, though. Perhaps they have good patronuses.
This is probably Rowling trying to make some oh-so-subtle point about how political instincts are stronger than the humanity in politicians. Or something.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-21 08:33 pm (UTC)Oh I HATE THAT SO MUCH. It never sounds as "Serious." Ever. But then again I am Swedish and my accent would likely be spelled out in all its comedy if I ever made an apperance in the HP verse.
Voldemort has committed "a thousand terrible crimes". Is this literal, or does it just sound cool? One wonders what they were.
Death. Death. Death. Lunch. Death. Quick shower. Death. Death. Death. A thousand individual crimes sounds like far too much, given how incompetent and few his servants are. Plus, I'm not too clear on Voldemort's whole killing policy either - killing for fun, or for profit or a little bit of both? My money's on the 'sounds cool' option but I'm not going to be surprised if that's not the case either.
The shrill authorial voiceDear Jo might have explanations up her sleeve yet.no subject
Date: 2005-08-21 10:00 pm (UTC)LOL, she has to be the WORST when it comes to accent-writing. It takes me like five minutes to translate every time Hagrid opens his mouth, urgh. (I have a strange desire now to see her do accents from other English-speaking countries, though.)
The shrill authorial voice
*snerk*
no subject
Date: 2005-08-21 10:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-21 11:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-21 11:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-21 11:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-22 12:51 am (UTC)(That is, with an initial short I sound as in SIH-rus, not with a long I as in SYE-rus.)
no subject
Date: 2005-08-22 03:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-22 09:44 am (UTC)Anyway, I pronounce Scrimgeour, rather obviously and probably wrongly, as "Scrim-gow-er"
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Date: 2005-08-22 09:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-22 11:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-22 03:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-22 04:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-22 06:03 pm (UTC)Good point.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-22 11:51 pm (UTC)Kill for Fun and Profit! Ask Me How!
Actually, like any good revolutionary leader- or terrist ( Gorge Washington, Osama bin Laden) It seems that Voldie and the crew kill those who get in their way. Stay out of the way, no killing, see?
no subject
Date: 2005-08-22 11:53 pm (UTC)It seems? She is having a laugh at them and the stereotypes, too.
Belgians have a twang in their French and do smart things in their language, like say ninety instead of four twenties and ten.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-23 01:08 am (UTC)And yet, there was no scene of Fleur raising her arms, showing a flash of unshaven armpit; even when she's being blatantly stereotypical, Rowling disappoints.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-23 07:33 am (UTC)sensiblecowardly for the WW.Poor old Muggles don't get the choice, I guess!
no subject
Date: 2005-10-05 01:56 pm (UTC)It has the air of something that needed to be got out of the way, in places.
I imagine it's setting up for the next book, and some kind of resolution re: Muggles.
Magpie's latest entry made some interesting points on this...
Ergo, the PM here is probably fictional.
I kind of assumed it'd be based on Blair if anyone, just cause I seriously doubt Rowling pays much attention to minor details like, you know, accuracy; but she seems to find contemporary parallels important.
Curious thought, that the opposition might too know something about the magical world.
I would have thought the Tories would get on like a house on fire with the wizards.
Muggles all over are apparently finding out about magic all the time and they get on with it. Human nature, I guess.
It'd almost be a relief, really, rather than just thinking you'd gone crazy. That, and having a secret world sort of appeals to the paranoid part of all of us - I knew there was something I wasn't invited to! etc.
"Serious" Black? Are we sure about this? Does Fudge not have a British accent or something?
I swear, I don't want to be cruel to our American friends across the seas, but if I didn't know better, I would suspect these books were written by an American. I mean, how hard is it to write about British accents and weather when you come from, um, Britain? With that and the conservative politics of the books...
I still do not get the insistence on not mentioning Voldemort's name.
It's only purpose appears to be to show us who the really brave people are (ie. those who haven't been brought up to fear it yet still put on airs about being able to say it; and the bad-ass rebels like Sirius and Dumbledore.) And we can just look at their house badges for that!
Voldemort has committed "a thousand terrible crimes". Is this literal, or does it just sound cool? Or maybe it's another one of those "too terrible to go into" plot-cheats.
Let's hope they're not ten murders and the rest all counter-hexings and total minor rule breaking like nearly killing people or trying Unforgiveables for the good side's sake.
I predict that he dies in book seven and we get a new and totally adorable MoM who loves Harry and does everything just right. please not Arthur Weasley, for crying out loud.
Ew. I predict you're right, depressingly enough. The new one will probably call Harry 'The Chosen One' in all seriousness. *pukes*
Kingsley Shacklebot is doing twice the work of any of the other secrataries.
I'm glad Kingsley's having to slum it with Muggles, the whole Order creeps me out, but especially him and his mind-wiping in OotP.
Why not Imperio the PM?
What were they doing the Imperio for in the first place, anyway? The guy thinks he's a chicken, but that's apparently a 'comedy' side affect, yeah, not the actual intent of the spell. Although that'd probably be a good one, since no-one would respect the guy. Maybe the Opposition paid a wizard?
And since when can you have poor ones and good ones? Maybe the person performing it had a pure heart like Harry? ;)
no subject
Date: 2009-01-07 02:27 am (UTC)Yeah, because Muggle security is as bad as wizard security, so the PM believes that his opponent can sneak pranksters into his office. And presumably assassins too.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-07 02:30 am (UTC)