OOTP Chapter Seven: "The Ministry of Magic"

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

* Jeans and a t-shirt seems like quite a scruffy combination for a hearing, even if they are freshly laundered. Doesn’t Harry have a suit or something he could wear?

* So why is it again that moving Harry to No. 12 required a small battalion of witches and wizards to keep him safe, but taking him to the Ministry requires just one middle-aged guy?

* Kudos to Mr. Weasley for getting excited about automatic ticket machines, instead of just assuming that they’re an inferior substitute for magic like everyone else does. Still, it does make one wonder why he hasn’t learnt more about Muggle technology.

* To enter the Ministry, type 62442. This is where the letters MAGIC are on a numberpad. Just thought I’d point that out.

* Nothing triumphalist about that Statue of Magical Harmony at all, is there? Still, it does make the pureblood supremacists look a bit less bad. Wizards clearly think that they’re better than sapient magical creatures; all Mr. Malfoy et al. want to do is add sapient non-magical creatures to the statue.

* So does St. Mungo’s rely on charity to keep itself afloat, then? ’Cause you’d have thought that the WW would be able to fund at least one hospital, especially if it’s literally the only hospital available to them. But then, why get people to donate to it at all, if you can just fund it out of general taxation? And why would people put coins in the well? After all, you never hear people saying “I think the NHS is such a good thing, I’m going to voluntary pay more tax to help fund it.”

* And do we ever see the Department for Experimental Breeding investigate Hagrid?

* An “Official Gobstones Club” just sounds silly to me. Yes, let’s have all these senior governmental officials using public office space to play a game which squirts foul-smelling liquid into your face! I mean, I get that the HP books have a lot of whimsy in them, but the series is supposed to be growing up at this point. Official Gobstones Clubs just don’t fit with the serious atmosphere JKR’s trying to create.

* Does a society as small as the WW really need such a big government? Or are they all just so stupid that they need two bureaucrats to every normal citizen to constantly tell them what to do?

* The fact that the Goblin Liaison Office is part of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magic Creatures should tell you all you need to know about the wizarding world’s mindset when it comes to other sentient beings.

* If it’s any consolation, though, the Goblins do control the WW’s only bank. I bet they laugh about the wizards whilst secretly holding the Minister to ransom by threatening to use their power to take down the entire wizarding economy.

* A bit like Jews in anti-Semitic literature, now that I come to think of it. Normally, I’d just brush this off as a coincidence, and say that anyone trying to compare Goblins and Jews is reading too much into the text. In light of the fact that Rowling constantly bludgeons us over the head with her heavy-handed Nazi analogies, though…

* Oh, and now they have a “Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee” as part of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. Once again, “Muggle” is being used as a term of abuse, despite the fact that it’s the Wizarding World, not the Muggle, which is a corrupt, authoritarian, nepotistic dictatorship which breeds Dark Lords like a rotting log breeds toadstools.

* Once again, though, it makes the Pureblood Supremacists look a bit better. After all, if you were brought up to believe that Muggles were inherently stupid, wouldn’t you want to keep their (no doubt equally stupid) offspring at arm’s length?

* In fact, sod it – the Supremacists are actually better than mainstream society. At least their sense of superiority is consistent with their society’s views on Muggles – none of that hypocritical “Oh, Muggles are stupid and inferior – but whatever you do, don’t say so!” crap.

* And now I’m going to shut up on the topic for the rest of this chapter, lest my blood pressure climbs to unhealthy levels.

* Percy appears to have walked out of the photograph. So does this mean that magical photographs are able to know and react to events around them? But how would Photo!Percy have known about the argument? And isn’t there a scene later in the book when Moody shows Harry a picture of the Order of the Phoenix, and Harry thinks something along the lines of “They had no idea that they’d shortly be killed”? Probably Arthur’s removed his son himself.

* So why was the hearing time changed? Was it just to discredit Harry by making him look too arrogant to show up to his own hearing? But then, surely it would emerge that he was meant to turn up several hours later, thereby defeating the purpose of the change?

 

Comments

[harpsi-fizz.livejournal.com]

Doesn’t Harry have a suit or something he could wear?
Even Hagrid had his hairy brown suit that he wore. This is true. I guess Dress robes would be out of the question, but still.

The fact that the Goblin Liaison Office is part of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magic Creatures should tell you all you need to know about the wizarding world’s mindset when it comes to other sentient beings.
That got me wondering... wouldn't it be interesting if there was a series in which the wizards were the ones that answered to other sentient beings? Not elves or mermaids or anything that they'd consider "human plus" but vaguely humanoid things. Goblins, tenticula, gnomes, something with a body shape that's different enough to cause problems.
We're always seeing Flitwick standing on stacks of things. I'd like to see the humans having to duck and crouch (like Gandalf had to in the Hobbbit hole!) or operate communication devices that required use of both of their hands and one foot because they don't have adequate limbs.

It's not that I want to see them suffer, but... well... (Warning: Tangent) I'm suddenly reminded of this fella I used to live with. He was what he called a magic practitioner, and he claimed to have a lot of fairies that hung around him. A lot of the time, though, he'd be shouting at them and ordering them. It got my skepticism up t great heights- why the Hell would these creatures want to cater to you? is what I wondered. Same deal with the department as you're describing it- why do these goblins let the humans dictate the terms? Why are they the golden standard?

On a positive note (for my relief) I'd like to believe that there are some wizards who go off and live in the world of other sentient magical beings, teaching in their schools and such. Not in an "I'm studying you" kind of way, but in an "I'm an immigrant" way.

Oh, and now they have a “Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee” as part of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. Once again, “Muggle” is being used as a term of abuse, despite the fact that it’s the Wizarding World, not the Muggle, which is a corrupt, authoritarian, nepotistic dictatorship which breeds Dark Lords like a rotting log breeds toadstools.
This. It boggles my mind that people don't see how a person could interpret the word "muggle" as a slur.

[sunnyskywalker]

I forgot about Hagrid's suit. The clothes don't make sense in this world! If they wear robes, why isn't he wearing hairy brown robes that are the equivalent of unfashionable wizarding office wear? And why would Harry facing old-school wizards in robes while wearing Muggle jeans and t-shirt be better than just wearing his plain black school robes? Since they don't have the House logos in the books imo, they'd just be plain, unexceptional black robes, and a proper wizarding outfit. Maybe Mrs. Weasley thought that if he looked more like a poor, helpless Muggle, they'd take pity on him and be more inclined to think whatever he did was probably reasonable self-defense, not an underage wizard showing off his magic.

wouldn't it be interesting if there was a series in which the wizards were the ones that answered to other sentient beings?That sounds like an interesting story concept! Especially if it isn't about how the human wizards overthrow the evil, evil goblins and become the new rulers; working for more equality, sure, but not the same old "humanity triumphant!" theme. And stories about Potterverse wizards who went off to live with the goblins or the centaurs would be fascinating. Maybe Fleur has a Veela grandmother not because her grandmother ditched the Veela community to marry Grandpa Delacour, but because her grandfather moved east to a Veela town. And maybe they, or Fleur's parents, decided to take advantage of their wizarding ancestry to get their kids a Beaubatons education and rights and stuff, but they quietly keep in touch with their Veela relatives and culture. And that's why she gets along so well with Bill, who works with goblins and isn't too concerned about him getting a bit wolfy :D

As to why the goblins put up with what they do now, I figure a) they're getting more out of the deal than the humans realize, and b) they're biding their time (and maybe planning a more subtle campaign than straight-up violent rebellion this time) :D

[harpsi-fizz.livejournal.com]

I lo-ho-hove that story concept you just came up with, first off. Second... the clothes in the Wizard World drive me up a wall, too. It's like Rowling wanted them to be different, but halfway through didn't like it, or she kept on forgetting or something. I prefer imagining the school uniforms being present, and for everything else... ugh, just screw everything else. So arbitrary, this system of robes.

I see she forgot about the hats, too.

[sunnyskywalker]

Thanks! :D

Ah yes, the amazing disappearing hats! And I still can't figure out how they wear sweaters with robes, since the book robes don't conveniently open up to reveal ordinary Muggle clothes underneath. Can you imagine the Malfoys in sweaters? Even fancy cashmere ones which are so much prettier than the Weasleys' hand-knit ones and make Ron jealous? Even pureblood wizards can't figure out what they're supposed to wear.

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

It's like Rowling wanted them to be different, but halfway through didn't like it, or she kept on forgetting or something.

My vote goes to her being increasingly influenced by the movies, which for the most part got rid of the robes after Book/Movie 1...

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Indeed. And the descriptions of clothing in HBP and DH hardly mention robes at all. Suddenly wizards are wearing waistcoats and such. *eyeroll*