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deathtocapslock2006-06-02 11:38 am
sistermagpie.livejournal.com) wrote in deathtocapslock2006-06-02 11:38 am
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HBP Chapter Twelve
*Where is Dumbledore, forlornly wonders Harry—has he forgotten my super private lessons? The rest of the school might never see him from the welcome speech to the leaving feast, but the Chosen One needs a little more here!
*Harry had felt bolstered, comforted, and now he felt slightly abandoned. Remember how Sirius went crazy when left on his own? Gryffindors don’t handle this kind of thing well.
*While Harry waits for Dumbledore’s special treatment to resume he whiles away the time hexing unsuspecting people in the hallway. Crabbe’s toenails grow, which is pretty funny. But the real laughs come when Harry targets the squib janitor. Since Filch is already a second class citizen forced to clean the garbage cans of students better than he is through an accident of birth, Harry gets loads of applause when he glues the unsuspecting man’s tongue to the roof of his mouth.
*Btw, remember when Malfoy the Death Eater bully hexed helpless non-magical people for a laughing audience? No? Me neither.
*So Harry’s also been filling peoples’ ears with buzzing and nobody’s figured out that he’s hexing them and undone the spell?
*Harry’s having trouble with non-verbal spells, which is a shock (not) given they are the featured magic of the book.
*How does Harry seem to know to give his wand an upward flick for Levicorpus, and why are there no explanations for how one should move one’s wand? Not to mention, aren’t all spells verbal and non-verbal? And why am I trying to make magic follow any rules?
*Hermione doesn’t like spells that aren’t Ministry of Magic approved. Tell me again how she’s supposed to be some kind of exciting super genius?
*Harry has only just remembered seeing the Levicorpus spell before, putting him about 800 words behind the 11-year-olds reading the book…
*Harry never told Ron and Hermione about that trip into Snape’s Pensieve, leaving me to again wonder just how much he told them about the fight with Draco in the bathroom. Is he just protecting his Dad’s reputation or Snape’s privacy as well?
*Harry’s telling Ron and Hermione it was Sirius who told him about James using Levicorpus would seem more natural, but
*Wait, the Muggles at the QWC were asleep when the DEs were dangling them? That was kind of the DEs. WTF?
*Ron explains that the DEs were abusing the spell, where as Harry and his dad were just having a laugh. Having grown up with the twins, one must forgive Ron for thinking there’s a huge difference between these two things.
*Harry says if the Prince had been a budding DE he wouldn’t have been bragging about being a Half-Blood, an argument still very popular by many fans of Woobie!Snape. Could Harry be a Snarry shipper?
*Why does Harry suddenly have a bad moment of worrying about his father being a Pureblood here? What’s that got to do with anything?
*Hermione says most of the DEs are probably Half-Bloods pretending to be Pure, something I suspect she’ll do plenty of when she gets older, frankly.
*Ron proves he knows little about the way these things work when he claims he wouldn’t be allowed in the DEs because his family is made of blood traitors. Of course, if Ron did become a DE the family would probably decide he was only allowed in because the DEs wanted secret spy access to Molly’s spell for French dressing or something. Remember Ron, your family is the only thing exceptional about you!
*Ron also flicks a sausage that hits Ernie—so Hufflepuffs sit right behind Gryffindor. According to Hogwarts a History in the early years the Hufflepuffs actually sat at the Gryffindors feet and fed off their heroic scraps.
*A distraction arrived in the shape of Ginny. So that would be a Mary-Sue-love-interest-badly-characterized distraction then.
*Harry arrives in Hogsmeade to see Zonko’s Joke Shop has been closed. Oh no! Not the joke shop! Well, Harry’s right there will be no fun on this trip. When you’re sixteen you can’t think of anything fun to do that doesn’t involve itching powder. Damn. At least the sweet shop is open. Maybe they’ve got animal rides out front.
*What a surprise that Slughorn is in the Sweet Shop. Taking up an entire quarter of the space! ROTFL! He kills me!
*Btw, I saw Uncle Vernon in a play last night and he was also a huge teacher
*Harry’s still ignoring Slughorn’s suppers. Hermione, meanwhile, probably thinks they’re the most exciting thing ever, a true entry into the upper class that she’s earned through answering questions in class and has nothing to do with her being Harry’s little Mudblood friend! Can’t blame Harry for not putting much stock in Hermione’s social instincts.
*Harry’s been intentionally scheduling practice during the dinner so that he and Ginny can laugh about the inferior people Hermione’s got to spend time with without them. You think they know other kids are at the same time laughing over their friends having to spend time with Hermione?
*Slughorn waddles out ignoring Ron, which you know Hermione secretly loves. It’s just easier when the universe lets Ron know she’s superior.
*Hermione apparently finds spending time with McClaggen and Zabini fun. Hermione’s interest in social issues is about as shallow as her interest in house elves. The Good Side is really lucky she's a Muggleborn.
*Ron shows no interest in extra large sugar quills, probably because he’s burning with jealousy watching Hermione and Harry get fawned over by Slughorn and not just getting Ron an invitation to the damn party like they could. God knows Ron couldn’t be showing little interest because he’s a 16-year-old boy and so a little too old to get excited about candy.
*Harry finds Mundungus in conference with Dumbledore’s brother and slams him against a wall for selling things from Sirius’ house. Thieving is bad when someone you know gets robbed—why doesn’t Mundungus go back to being the lovable kind of thief who robs other people?
*Sirius, btw, was Harry’s godfather for whom he is in deep mourning by not letting the man cross his mind except for in Very Subtle Scenes That Show That Really Harry Is Thinking Of Him A Lot Even Though Readers Who Are Inside His Head Never Know It.
*Harry’s still fuming over Mundungus stealing Sirius’ stuff. Given that this is Harry, he actually may not have realized he was stealing stuff from the Black House until now.
*Harry’s also forgotten that he owns everything in Sirius’ house now. (Say it with me Ron: Must be nice to be able to forget about a whole inherited fortune.)
*Ooh. I just had a thought that I hope Mundungus is selling all that stuff to Narcissa Malfoy!
*Hermione gets waspish, as usual, at Ron looking at the barmaid. It’s your own fault, Hermione. Why’d you have to decide you wanted the one boy in this whole series who actually notices a nice pair of breasts?
*Harry starts to pout and get jealous of Ginny and Dean being together. Bring on the cupids on lovebirds.
*Katie touches the cursed necklace and rises into the air. The narrator helpfully tells us that she does not rise “comically” like Ron, with one foot in the air. When your narrator has to let the audience know a horrible curse isn’t one of the hero’s lovable jokes, one might want to think about those heroes again.
*The kids run for help for Katie. Unfortunately they run into Hagrid, the one teacher potentially more deadly than the necklace.
*Hermione’s all, “It’s Leanne, isn’t it?” to Katie’s friend, like she’s a teacher, and I find this annoying.
*Hmm. I hadn’t thought of this before but the thing with Katie’s more of an accident than I’d noticed earlier. If she’d actually brought it to the castle it just would have gotten flagged by the sensor and probably no one would have touched it.
*Harry picks up the necklace to show to Madam Pomfrey. Because knowing what happened to Katie will help cure her. Sort of like how knowing what had happened to Montague might have helped cure him. But Katie’s a Gryffindor.
*Naturally this case is too big for Pomfrey and must go to Snape, All Around Badass Dark Arts Guy.
*Leanne tries to tell the story of what happened to Katie but starts crying. Let’s take a moment to silently judge her for it, shall we? Ginny wouldn’t break down so. She’d look all hard and blazing.
*Hee! Harry’s all, “What do you mean Dumbledore’s away? You tell him Harry Potter wants to see him right this moment!”
*So when exactly did Malfoy buy the necklace? I guess he sent Rosemerta to buy it as well as deliver it? Who Imperiused her, since he was at school? Bellatrix? Hmmm—makes me wonder if she might have had some hand in the non-Cabinet murder plots.
*Malfoy’s in detention, which takes away from his Cabinet time. He probably gets good about his homework after this. *pats sleek blond head for learning to multi-task—bet Lucius can’t do that*
*One wonders why Harry doesn’t mention to McGonagall that he heard Malfoy suggesting he had been given a job by the Dark Lord. Sweetens the pot a bit, doesn’t it?
*I think we can rule out the necklace being intended for Slughorn, Harry. Not exactly his type thing. If you want to get Slughorn you’d send a cursed candy box or hexed chocolate fondue or a pretty boy painted in poison or something.
*Funny how Harry doesn’t think of Zabini as Draco’s accomplice, being that he was lolling against a pillar.
*Now I’m having visions of tiny Draco and Blaise having fierce lolling contests where each tries to out-languid the other.
*Ron turfs a first-year out of an armchair. Future wife beater coming through!! (Sure Hermione kicks him out of the chair and gives it back to the other kid, but when they’re alone he’ll beat her up for that.)
*Since when has Malfoy been one of the world’s great thinkers? asks Harry, who knows from not great thinkers!
*Neither Ron or Hermione answer him. I think they may be making the same jokes about Harry and less-than-great thinking in their heads.
Designated Hero
This is a stellar chapter for Harry. He pouts, sulks, draws illogical conclusions even while guessing the culprit and attacks a disabled janitor when he’s not looking.
Exploitation Filmmakers’ Credo
So me and Harry are the only ones who remember Malfoy talking about doing something for Voldemort? And that Malfoy’s actually got ties to the guy? And that Voldemort really doesn’t have a problem using kids to get what he wants?
IITS
Look Harry, we know we knocked out Crabbe and Goyle and stole their bodies to find out if Malfoy was the Heir of Slytherin on far less circumstantial evidence than you have now, but we’re just not buying this Malfoy plot!
Idiot Picture
Yes Ron, being a Weasley pretty much gives you immunity against Death Eater recruitment. No wonder the Twins don’t pay much attention to who’s using their products.
Idiot World
So we know everybody thinks Malfoy’s got an alibi, but does anyone care that there’s a would-be murderer running around school? It’s not like there’s any investigation that follows. There doesn’t seem to be a Wizard equivalent of Hercule Poirot. If there was he’d probably have figured out how to undo that Muffliato spell.
Informed Attributes
In case you got confused with the hexing of the Squib janitor, these kids are actually not the Pureblood snobs.
Misdirected Answering
In this book at least we never really find out how Rosemerta’s controlled beyond the fact that there are coins involved, but we’d all rather know about where Ginny is and what Slughorn has at his candlelight suppers anyway.
Selling Wood
Watch Hermione’s painful attempts to show comfort to Leanne. She’s much more at home punishing the unjust. Leanne’s probably crying harder because she’s terrified Hermione’s going to give her leprosy if she doesn’t stop crying or something.
Final score: 8
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God, Magpie, you've got such an entitlement complex. Not everyone can be as comic and subtle a writer as Rowling, you know!
not just getting Ron an invitation to the damn party like they could.
Then he might think he was their equal! God, how on earth would Harry win arguments or Hermione get to hold his future success over his head?
Unfortunately they run into Hagrid, the one teacher potentially more deadly than the necklace.
How much do I love that his first reaction is 'Who's cursed? Not one of your friends, is it, Harry?' Hagrid's smarter than he looks - don't want to waste time rescuing a Marietta type, do ya?
He draws illogical conclusions even while guessing the culprit
His plot's kinda like Hermione's with the HBP book. They're right, but no-one wants to listen since they're so frigging annoying. And maybe because they both have a history of 'Someone's bested me. I must spend a year obsessing about how everyone will see, when I'm proved right, you wait!'
Wait, the Muggles at the QWC were asleep when the DEs were dangling them?
I just checked it, the Muggles are definitely awake.
Harry never told Ron and Hermione about Snape’s Pensieve, leaving me to again wonder just how much he told them about the fight with Draco in the bathroom.
I kind of assumed he didn't tell about the crying, which could either indicate he's being classy, or else implying that he walked in and saw Malfoy, who tried to Crucio him (since Ginny knows about that.); in which case he's being a prick. I vote option 2!
A distraction arrived in the shape of Ginny. So that would be a Mary-Sue-love-interest-badly-characterized distraction then.
Heh. How much do you want to bet she begged, pleaded and wept for the opportunity to bring him that letter? (Naw, I kid, she coolly offered, as is her compassionate wont.)
Perhaps Dumbledore was anxious to see a little more love in the world, and selected her in the hopes of matchmaking
and creating more babies to fight in his army(about the only future H/G I like is if they totally rehash James and Lily, since they're already so Oedipal.)What a surprise that Slughorn is in the Sweet Shop.
Wearing the fur hat of pureblood evil pioneered by Lucius, Draco and Karkaroff in the movies!
In case you got confused with the hexing of the Squib janitor, these kids are actually not the Pureblood snobs.
Hey. Draco tipped off Filch in PS and was on the Inquistorial Squad, who worked with him, and according to my WIP, Rowling included this to show that off-screen, he was kicking Mrs. Norris and showing off Filch's underwear! Or something.
Plus it's not prejudiced to use someone's 'race' or disability against them if they're already a jerk! Now, if you'll excuse me, a blind guy gave me attitude this morning, and I'm off to trip him.
I hope Mundungus is selling that stuff to Narcissa!
Hee! So the real locket everyone picked up on being mentioned in OotP's gone, then?
Hermione’s all, “It’s Leanne, isn’t it?” to Katie’s friend, like she’s a teacher, and I find this annoying.
LOL. I just took that as Hermione being so cool as a member of the Gryffindor inner circle that, like Harry, she can't be expected to know the names of the little people.
Harry picks up the necklace to show to Pomfrey. Because knowing what happened to Katie will help cure her.
And catch who did it, doubtlessly. VENGEANCE IS MINE, SAITH THE LORD! Anyway, Harry's all bad-ass for going near it at all (Ron's gasping in awe, my panties are totally wet.)
Since when has Malfoy been one of the world’s great thinkers? asks Harry, who knows from not great thinkers!
LOL. This was one of my favourite lines, for sheer irony.
Malfoy's stupid enough to rely on his natural thinking power and talents, rather than relying on favouritism,
authorial interventionluck and being born one of the good people. People like him are almost as pathetic as Ron.no subject
(Anonymous) 2006-06-02 07:33 pm (UTC)(link)LOL, you're right. I'd completely forgotten how Filch was rude to Harry in...the last book? I think.
Seriously, if we're supposed to laugh because Filch is a jerk, you'd think the author would try to justify it by having him act like a jerk somewhere in the vicinity of the chapter where Harry's being a bigger jerk to him. It's the TTT all over again: the bully gets reamed for being a bully, even though he hasn't actually done anything mean in the whole of that book.
-L
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Snerk! Honestly, the way people are such apologists for Harry's behavior in instances like this is just sickening. So much for "chivalry"...
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I remembered them being awake too. Why is Hermione suddenly talking about sleep? Are they asleep in the movie?
Plus it's not prejudiced to use someone's 'race' or disability against them if they're already a jerk! Now, if you'll excuse me, a blind guy gave me attitude this morning, and I'm off to trip him.
Now you're getting it. Really, I think people with disabilities like it when people do stuff like that. It shows how non-prejudiced they are.
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You've caught a Flint, I think!
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(Anonymous) 2006-06-02 07:28 pm (UTC)(link)Said it before, saying it again: Canon!Hermione is a swot. She's got a good memory, an obsession with research, and the intellectual vibrancy and creativity of a rock. Being magically powerful or able to think logically isn't the same as being gifted.
Why does Harry suddenly have a bad moment of worrying about his father being a Pureblood here? What’s that got to do with anything?
It may be because he's been hoping his father is the HBP. Now it occurs to him that someone calling themselves The Half-Blood Whatever might in fact be a halfblood. He's going to have to puzzle it out later.
Hermione says most of the DEs are probably Half-Bloods pretending to be Pure, something I suspect she’ll do plenty of when she gets older, frankly.
Hermione's enough of a social climber that those pureblood Grangers Slughorn mentioned would be very tempting to claim.
What I don't get is, if all the pureblood families are in each other's stud books, how could anyone get away with pretending to be one of them? Voldemort is the exception because hardly anyone apart from Dumbledore and Harry knows he was originally Tom Riddle. But, say, a Muggle surname like Snape? Wouldn't that just scream Not Our Sort? (That seems to be the motivation for the silly nickname: admittedly he's a halfblood, but he's got one pureblood parent to boast of so that's okay, almost.)
Yes Ron, being a Weasley pretty much gives you immunity against Death Eater recruitment.
Sadly this seems to be a fact. I had hopes for Bill or Charlie, but Greyback (presumably) wouldn't have mauled one of their own and Charlie's too minor to make an impact. Ginny's possession by Bad Tommy himself should have left her potentially vulnerable, but of course it only made her more awesome. In fic the Weasley DE is always Percy, who canonically is one of the least likely candidates since JKR has shown that he's loyal to the Ministry - which, fanon to the contrary, is opposed to Voldemort.
-L
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Am I the only one that wishes that Ginny's possession by Diary!Tom meant that she had become a Horcrux, requiring her to be destroyed in Book Seven?
As for a Weasley Death Eater, what about one or both of the twins? The recruiter would have to step carefully, given their contracts with the Ministry and their financial backing from Harry, but I'm sure a fatal weakness could be found and exploited. Especially if it were pitched in terms of picking on some weaker target because it's so gosh-darn funny.
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You're definitely not alone there. Ginny still having some connection to Tom/Voldemort makes perfect sense plot-wise and could tie up many loose ends. I can't believe Rowling will just let that drop.
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Thank goodness I'm not the only one who thinks that there's a potential goldmine of plotbunnies with the Ginny-Voldemort connection. But then, I probably shouldn't be surprised...this isn't the first time I've wished Rowling had picked up a particular plot thread instead of tossing it aside.
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(Anonymous) 2006-06-02 11:26 pm (UTC)(link)You paint a tempting scenario. :) Especially as the DEs showed rare subtlety in dealing with the twins. It's a delicious irony that, when F&G kept their joke shop open and put up the U-No-Poo ads in what they undoubtedly thought of as a grand gesture of defiance and spreading teh funneh, instead of smiting them six ways from Sunday the DEs quietly went shopping there. (Which tells us they weren't Gryffindors.)
Otoh, JKR's track record suggests that will be the end of it and the twins will be more cautious in the next book. Aside from unlimited Muggle-baiting, there isn't a lot that the other side could tempt them with, because they've achieved their goal in life. Their greed, ambition, creativity and cruelty are apparently satisfied by the joke shop.
Word on Ginny, btw. If she's a Horcrux, that would be the perfect explanation of her character 180.
-L
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The edible dark marks amused me, too, especially in light of fandoms' bizarrely changeable 'respect for the dead' bit (Fred and George are within their rights to attack Malfoy in GoF for disrespecting Cedric - which didn't seem the point of that speech at all - I thought it was a warning/threat about what's to come, which is how the characters seemed to see it also, but whatever, it looks better for your favourite characters if they're defending Cedric's honour than their own; the guy they hated when he was alive; but making a joke out of something like the Dark Mark is okay).
Isn't an edible dark mark like the RL equivalent of an edible swastika; if the pureblood's attitude towards Muggleborns = Nazism!1!! parallel holds up (which is doesn't really, but again, whatever)?
If she's a Horcrux, that would be the perfect explanation of her character 180.
Someone noted her character change from GOF to OotP coincides with Voldie's return.
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(Anonymous) 2006-06-04 07:36 pm (UTC)(link)*nod* The twins evidently think they're raising morale. To the wizard in the street Voldemort is a terrifying bogeyman, so they're all, "Don't be scared of Voldemort. Behold, we mock him and get away with it." (It continues to amuse me that the bogeyman left them alone because they were useful to him.)
However. The Dark Mark is (supposedly) a symbol of atrocities. Making it into candy is a piece of tastelessness, and not the good kind like "Der Fuehrer's Face", but the icky kind that Fred and George specialize in. Also, as a political statement it's equivocal. If someone sold Osama Bun Laden pastry it could easily be taken as semi-affectionate mockery or even misguided support rather than condemnation.
As a matter of fact, while the twins obviously don't want VM to win, the only thing that makes it look like they're actually combating him is the plot contrivance where the Ministry is dependent on WWW products to fight the war. Subtract that, and their keeping the shop open looks less like a heroic gesture than simple determination to cash in on people's wartime needs; such as escapism (Daydream Charms, anyone?).
-L
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Not by a long shot. Although, if she reverts back to real!Ginny I just might change my mind. I kinda liked her.
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Funny how this has done nothing to quell the claims that Percy is going to be a Death Eater, while people are still using Ron's earlier statements that Percy cares more about being Head Boy than Ginny's welfare
(In retrospect, I can't blame him for that)and that Percy is so ambitious that he'd throw the family to the dementors as undebatable proof that Percy is going to be right up there with Voldie. If everything Ron says is supposed to be gospel, then Percy couldn't join the Death Eaters even if he wanted to.no subject
(Anonymous) 2006-06-03 12:40 pm (UTC)(link)To me Ron's remark about Percy's ambition is more revealing of Ron's own character. Ron usually thinks the worst of people. He makes three character judgments in GoF: that the twins are capable of blackmail (true), that Harry would lie to him about entering the tournament (false), and that thing about Percy. Seems like he can read the twins better than he can introverts like Harry or Percy.
Besides. Suppose Ron is right and Percy is a callous careerist who'd throw his family to the wolves, just like Mr. Crouch (as Ron sees it). How does that make him a wannabe DE? What's more likely, that he'd be scheming to become Minister for Magic, or the minion of some insane terrorist? For someone to join VM now out of ambition, they'd have to be 110% certain that he'll win. I doubt Percy is that deluded.
-L
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reposted for spelling
Sort of like, when a narrator has to let you know through Dumbledore the Omniscient that the stunt Hermione pulled with Umbridge and the centaurs was totally not her fault and all blame should be placed on the unsuspecting teacher. Yep, yep, yep.
*The kids run for help for Katie. Unfortunately they run into Hagrid, the one teacher potentially more deadly than the necklace.
But you never know, it could secretly be a really nice dark object that just needs a hug and some warm milk. lkjdhfdjfkjadh. Hagrid...
*Ron explains that the DEs were abusing the spell, where as Harry and his dad were just having a laugh. Having grown up with the twins, one must forgive Ron for thinking there’s a huge difference between these two things.
Don't forget Ginny! I'm sure her goofy and completely non-violent sense of humor played a big part in Ron's up-bringing, too. Except, wait, back in the day, Ginny was actually a nice person...
*Ooh. I just had a thought that I hope Mundungus is selling all that stuff to Narcissa Malfoy!
That would be so perfect. Also, I've been wondering this for a long time: how exactly did Sirius inherit his mother's house if he'd been disowned? JKR has shown us time and time again that sexism isn't a part of wizardng law (personal opinions aside), and so I'd think that either Bellatrix or Narcissa would have been up to inherit before he was. You could argue that Bellatrix was in jail at the time, I give you that, but Sirius was supposedly disowned, meaning technically, he shouldn't inherit anything. And it should have just passed straight to Narcissa. Am I wrong about this?
*Harry’s also forgotten that he owns everything in Sirius’ house now. (Say it with me Ron: Must be nice to be able to forget about a whole inherited fortune.)
Oh, that's nothing. Try completely forgetting that the object of your affection might have feelings and needs comparable to your own. It's a toughie, but somehow Harry sees it through the way he always does.
Re: reposted for spelling
He also told us that all blame should be removed from unsuspecting teachers in POA! I love Dumbledore. Even if he's not present at a situation, he instinctively knows who's at fault.
Re: reposted for spelling
I felt so bad for Snape in PoA..:(
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That would stop the plot mechanics! The chosen one shouldn't be given the task of suffering thru logical outcomes. Such as a teacher noticing that they are being hexed. Which is really strange since more than half of them are OOTP aurors.
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He was hoping that the helpful Prince was his father, but then he spotted a problem with it.
*Hermione says most of the DEs are probably Half-Bloods pretending to be Pure, something I suspect she’ll do plenty of when she gets older, frankly.
She may have some problem doing so, because a lot of people knows she is filling the Mudblood Female quote in the Slug Club. But since it seems that the Wizards cannot ever work out that 'Riddle' and 'Snape' are not Wizard names, the trick can still work.
*Harry arrives in Hogsmeade to see Zonko’s Joke Shop has been closed. Oh no! Not the joke shop!
It's the dark and grim reality of the war.
*Harry’s still fuming over Mundungus stealing Sirius’ stuff. Given that this is Harry, he actually may not have realized he was stealing stuff from the Black House until now.
But... the twins were stealing from the Black House under his nose and it was well!
*Ooh. I just had a thought that I hope Mundungus is selling all that stuff to Narcissa Malfoy!
Tho whom it may belong anyway.
*I think we can rule out the necklace being intended for Slughorn, Harry. Not exactly his type thing. If you want to get Slughorn you’d send a cursed candy box or hexed chocolate fondue or a pretty boy painted in poison or something.
It does not seem to be Dumbledore's kind of trinket either. Or it is? To go with his plum velvet suit?
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As well as hex, disfigure, punch, Crucio and attempt to murder; only Harry and his friends can steal. Mundungus has not proven that he'd give his life so that Harry may live, so he is not a member of the club.
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God, like you tell chicks in (undeserved!) authority important life-or-death stuff like that. She'd probably cry or scream or something. Wait for the big man to get back.
(Actually, I wonder if Harry just had a rare moment of embarrassment after admitting to stalking Malfoy all over Diagon Alley and obsessing about it for like, six months.)
Harry whiles away the time hexing unsuspecting people in the hallway.
This is not at all like his dad hexing people in the corridors and bragging (gotta love the general applause greeting Filch's hexes. I'm sure Harry blushes beetroot and fled like a startled faun.) neither is it an interesting comparison (and one I didn't catch. As ever. *pouts like a hero*) that James hexes Snape while carrying the Snitch while Harry beats up Malfoy while carrying the Snitch (the new generation is a caring sharing sort that only attack two-to-one instead of four. That's called moral growth!), though. Harry is a modest outsider, and so this is his brave stance protecting the victims of Crabbe and Filch's bullying! He's defending their freedoms. It's just like Lily standing up to James in defense of Snape! Somehow!
Harry slams him against a wall for selling things from Sirius’ house.
For some reason, Harry shoving Mundungus and choking him gets everyone online's knickers wet. (But then, so did 'You don't have to call me sir.' Sometimes people in fandom scare me.)
It's almost like violence is presented as attractive (and macho, of course) in canon (funny how Ginny learns to hex people and Malfoy gets that long awaited Harry beatdown when JKR wants us to notice them.)
Remember, though, this doesn't in anyway clash with at JKR's disgust at girls too silly to choose nice, safe, sensible guys (they only attack smelly/evil people!) and instead go for guys
presented as too cowardly to use their fists, instead usually sticking to verbal insults like Those Bitchy Girls In High Schoolwho will grow up to be women beaters.Harry’s also forgotten that he owns everything in Sirius’ house now. (Must be nice to be able to forget about a whole fortune.)
Harry's so selfless he was defending poor dead Sirius' possessions (all the stuff Sirius didn't dump in a fit of pique, that is), and didn't even consider his own!
So when exactly did Malfoy buy the necklace?
Sometime in the last four years, apparently? Maybe the same time he came back without his dad and bought the HoG then spent showing it off to the world off-screen? (My favourite part about the necklace is that Harry can remember every item that Malfoy glanced at four years ago, while he was concealed from view; but he can't remember the difference between a punch and slap; or his own reaction in the forest in PS?)
I think we can rule out the necklace being intended for Slughorn, Harry. Not exactly his type thing.
So Draco's plan is to have someone Imperius Rosmerta to Imperius Katie to take the necklace, which is carried by Katie (why does she open it, anyway?) somehow past the sensors, into the castle and to Dumbledore, who will not recognise it as Dark with his super-powers and will...what, try it on? Then it'll make him fly, and be in pain inexplicably, but possibly not even kill him?
God, Draco's from the same school of planning as Fake!Moody.
He should have been in Gryffindor, there he could have just learnt that since he suspects Harry of spying on him, he needs to organise to have his friends stripped and have their bodies stolen. Which will not help him in any way, but he'll feel smugger. Much simpler!
Harry says if the Prince had been a DE he wouldn’t have been bragging about being a Half-Blood, an argument still very popular by fans of Woobie!Snape. Could Harry be a Snarry shipper?
I love how Harry goes from Hermione's remark that the HBP seems a jerk to 'BUT HE'S NOT A DEATH EATER, PROBABLY!' (Because...blood isn't important, but everyone with just a hint of Muggle - not too much, or you become a fatty - is automatically okay? That kinda sounds like blood is important.) Has he been lurking in fandom, or something?
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No, they're jealous their friends get to hang out with someone who knows Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley!
Filch is already a second class citizen forced to clean the garbage cans of students better than he is through an accident of birth.
People wouldn't be born inferior if it didn't reflect their inner characters.
Hermione doesn’t like spells that aren’t Ministry approved.
Was the Sneak hex?
Hermione says most DEs are probably Half-Bloods pretending to be Pure, something I suspect she’ll do plenty of when she gets older, frankly.
Mrs. Weasley! One of our oldest pureblooded (through coincidence naturally, until now - shh!) families!
Ron proves he knows little about the way these things work when he claims he wouldn’t be allowed in the DEs because his family is made of blood traitors.
The DEs are exclusive! That's why they're the ones winning over the giants, werewolves and dementors, while the Order is mainly working with famous purebloods like the Weasleys, Potters and Black descendants.
Harry’s still ignoring Slughorn’s suppers.
He could meet celebrities just looking in the mirror! It's so sad when ordinary people get excited/jealous over things like that. Lucky Ginny understands him and can spend glorious hours laughing at all the schlubs over practice.
Can’t blame Harry for not putting much stock in Hermione’s social instincts.
Harry's so smart. Like Arthur, he knows the only reason someone would want one of his is to get to him, or as a poor replacement for him.
Harry starts to pout and get jealous of Ginny and Dean being together. Bring on the cupids on lovebirds.
He doesn't want to rip Dean limb from limb yet, or roar in agreement that Ginny's a slut, so I guess I won't put down my Harlequin novel just yet.
I guess he sent Rosemerta to buy it as well as deliver it?
Why doesn't Rosmerta take it to the school? Surely she'd get past easier than Katie?
Look Harry, we know we knocked out Crabbe and Goyle and stole their bodies to find out if Malfoy was the Heir of Slytherin on far less circumstantial evidence than you have now, but we’re just not buying this Malfoy plot!
Well, you've got to give them something kind of motive for this! Can't they at least hex someone?
Leanne’s probably crying harder because she’s terrified Hermione’s going to give her leprosy if she doesn’t stop crying or something.
Bwhahaha!
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They need to be fed, walked and played with repeatedly, or they start destroying stuff and relieving themselves on the floor :P
Since Filch is already a second class citizen forced to clean the garbage cans of students better than he is through an accident of birth, Harry gets loads of applause when he glues the unsuspecting man’s tongue to the roof of his mouth.
Filch will put that tongue to good use later with Madam Pince (still the best pairing in the whole book!). Anyway, I am suddenly reminded of the way Rowling mentioned "you should be feeling sorry for Filch" on her website (in response, I think, to a question about squibs) as if it was something that nobody would have thought of until she came along with her unique authorial perspective to tell us so.
Hexing bad Muggles who can't defend themselves against it is also perfectly fine. See book seven, when Vernon Dursley gets killed or disappeared or something and everyone goes "yay!"
And why am I trying to make magic follow any rules?
That would be continuity. Or possibly you being a filthy dirty entitlement whore!!!!1 Why must people expect Rowling to write books to their own specifications??? Etc.
Harry never told Ron and Hermione about that trip into Snape’s Pensieve, leaving me to again wonder just how much he told them about the fight with Draco in the bathroom.
Harry is only able to confess deep dark secrets to Ron and Hermione if it makes him look much cooler. Revealing that his dad was an utter dickwad as a boy would perhaps make him look like an utter dickwad by association. Or maybe not. But best not to risk it, I'm sure.
(Like he gives a flying wet wank about Snape's privacy. Would he have told Ron and Hermione the Death Eater news otherwise?)
Ron explains that the DEs were abusing the spell, where as Harry and his dad were just having a laugh.
People designated good do good things and therefore cannot mean any harm no matter what they do. It is one of the main messages of the series. Er.
What’s that got to do with anything?
All purebloods = Death Eaters. Either that, or he had to have a wonder about who the HBP might have been. It's my dad! Oh wait...
something I suspect she’ll do plenty of when she gets older, frankly.
Unless it benefits her to be "discriminated against". As in: they gave the job to someone else - it must be because I'm Muggleborn!!!! Insert comments about how I don't understand what it's like to be part of a group that's discriminated against here. I do not know suffering like Hermione does!
When you’re sixteen you can’t think of anything fun to do that doesn’t involve itching powder.
These books seem to have a difficulty deciding who they're aimed at. On the one hand, it's all "OMG GROWN UP THEMES TOO SCARY FOR KIDS WTF" and on the other hand, people seem to be at this much younger level sometimes :(
Anyway, now that there's no joke shop, the HP teenagers are going to have to behave like in a regular Young Adult novel, and become drug addicted teenage parents.
What a surprise that Slughorn is in the Sweet Shop. Taking up an entire quarter of the space! ROTFL! He kills me!
Those old-style sweet shops aren't usually very big, but even so. Although I'd totally be in the sweet shop too. Mmm, sugar fix (except I'd then ruin the taste sensation by worrying if any of the sweets were Fair Trade or not. I'm such a wet liberal)
Thieving is bad when someone you know gets robbed—why doesn’t Mundungus go back to being the lovable kind of thief who robs other people?
I am reminded of those people who write messages on the Daily Mail website to complain about how criminals have no morals now, and how they never used to hurt poor people or children or anything bad like that! Look at the Krays, always so nice to their own dear mum and never hurt anyone that didn't have it coming. Etc.
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No kidding. We're six books in, and he still hasn't mentioned he was considered for Slytherin. (Wonder if that'll come up in Book Seven. It'll probably be a COS redux where they reassure him that he's super-dooper good for choosing the Better type of wizards in Gryffindor, rather than going there by default.)
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He strongly reminds me James here, with all this hexing people left and right without reason at all. We've been told that James outgrew that phase; Harry grows into this. He seems strangely detached about it: those actions barely worth of mention, he's not even inventing any excuses for them. That? He's just trying hexes from the book! All the way through HBP he's letting some outside(inside) force to 'guide' him: it's Felix Felicitis makes Harry act like a cool and ruthless bastard - he'd never be able to such things himself, no way; his interest in Ginny is not really his own - he has some *monster* within who wants her; he's not responsible for hexing and cursing people - Prince is (yeah, blame it all on TV). Harry trying to get in touch with his Slytherin side, but it seems that his Slytherin side getting in touch with him more effectively.
Btw, remember when Malfoy the Death Eater bully hexed helpless non-magical people for a laughing audience? No? Me neither.
Heh, Malfoy the Death Eater could really get along with Dudley the muggle: they could share stories about known muggle-lovers like Harry Potter, Hagrid or the twins...
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Nice catch. I wonder if it's JKR purposefully removing responsibility for his more negative actions. But then, there was a similiar theme in OotP where it was implied he was so spiteful at times because of Voldemort's influence and the 'little voice' in his head, when it seemed a logical transition from his aggression in previous books.
We've been told that James outgrew that phase
Lily disapproved of it, though. Whereas H/G with their much more harmonious relationship, can bond together over attacking random people whenever you feel like it.
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Well, Voldemort is a Shadow archetype in the books. Whose Shadow? Harry's, of course. So when he's acknowledging everything repressed and denied in himself as a 'Voldemort's influence', he's not so far from the truth. Maybe there's no such person as Voldemort at all. Maybe he's just an embodiment of Harry's subconscious. Nobody heard of him for ten years, until the boy named Harry Potter came to Hogwarts XD
Whereas H/G with their much more harmonious relationship, can bond together over attacking random people whenever you feel like it.
What's the main reason I dislike H/G so much. OotP/HBP Ginny makes Harry, well, a less man than he could be.
Excuse me...
And why am I trying to make magic follow any rules?
Sistermagpie, I see you're being bogged down by logic here. Forget logic, it's an utterly overestimated activity of the brain. Also, how can you forget that the books are plot driven? That's why the worldbuilding is pathetic, the characters are cardboard cutouts and inconsistent at that, there is no continuity and about a gazillion plot-holes wider and deeper than the Marianne Trench... oh, wait.
And what's with the Necklace of Doom? Everyone and his dog can touch it, but Katie with her gloves with the tiny wee hole gets zapped? It's impossible to take Dark Artefact into Hogwarts except when it's Harry the Chosen One who carries them in? Now I know I read the book once and so I may be utterly wrong about this, my memory of apparently fan-written books ain't what it used to be. Enlighten me? Please?
Thank you for listening.