OOTP Chapter Eleven: "The Sorting Hat's New Song"

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

* “Harry didn’t want to tell the others that he and Luna were having the same hallucination” – erm, Harry, two people don’t independently have the same hallucinations. If two of you can see it, it’s a safe bet that there’s something there.

* Also, note the arbitrary scepticism here. Harry knows that there exist sounds which can be heard by some people and not by others (the basilisk’s voice); why, then, is the idea of an object which only some people can see so ridiculous?

* Nice to see Luna sticking up for herself like that. Unlike Hermione, who seems to be intimidated into silence.

* Of course, the Trio will tacitly accept Luna’s assessment of Hagrid’s competence when they decide not to carry on with COMC next year.

* Luna’s role is quite interesting, IMHO. She seems here to be set up as the teller of uncomfortable truths, and it’s a shame JKR didn’t make more of this function. Maybe Harry could have accepted things he didn’t like hearing from someone he had no reason to be antagonistic towards (i.e., Luna), as a stepping-stone to listening to uncomfortable truths told even by people he didn’t like, such as Draco.

* I like how the Mirror of Erised scene has become an example of Harry seeing “something that Ron could not”, as if the Mirror really had Harry’s parents in it, and anyone else just isn’t seeing it properly. It might be more accurate to say that he and Ron had both seen different but equally valid things.

* Actually wait, scratch that – the idea of Harry seeing someone else’s viewpoint as “equally valid” just isn’t going to happen, is it?

* Ginny is “hailed by some fellow fourth-years” the moment they reach the Gryffindor table. See how popular she is! She’s totally worthy to be the Chosen One’s woman!

* Note how the Sorting Hat pairs Slytherin and Gryffindor as two really good friends. Either Salazar wasn’t as evil as everyone now believes, or Godric wasn’t such an opponent of Dark Magic as the Gryffindors would like to think.

* Slytherin supported teaching “those / Whose ancestry is purest”, even though the House’s other main value of “ambition” would make it a natural home for those on the fringes of wizarding society – such as muggle-borns – who want to make something of themselves, and most hereditary aristocracies (as the pureblood families seem to be in the WW) would feel more at home in brave and loyal Gryffindor than cunning and ambitious Slytherin. So either the Hat is mistaken to suggest that Slytherin was much of a pureblood supremacist (perhaps it’s getting a bit senile after a thousand years); or ambition only became associated with Slytherin House at a later date; or Slytherin wasn’t initially a pureblood fanatic, but became so at a later date (perhaps one of the muggle-borns tried to betray the school?); or wizarding aristocracy is more like that of ancient Rome, with every individual competing to be better than his peers.

* Actually, that last suggestion might be quite close to the truth: Hermione mentions that wizards don’t have any princes, and there never seem to have been any wizard kings (or if there were, they were too remote in time to be mentioned), so the idea of a group of competing noblemen trying for the top job is quite plausible.

* Although the WW does seem to be fairly corporatist, so perhaps it’s not so much individuals competing for glory as families manoeuvring to increase their influence, a bit like in Renaissance Italy.

* Getting back to the actual book, it’s interesting to see how Hufflepuff’s described as taking “the rest”, which is about as close as we get to a canonical admission that Hufflepuff’s just a rag-bag House for people who wouldn’t fit into the other Houses.

* The school apparently worked well for “several happy years”, which would seem odd if Slytherin and Gryffindor had been at loggerheads over such a basic principle as whom to admit. Perhaps as mentioned above Slytherin was initially OK with the idea of letting in Muggleborns, but later changed his mind (for whatever reason), leading to all the conflict?

* The Hat outright says that the Houses are supposed to be united, which doesn’t seem to chime with the portrayal of Slytherin in later books. Is JKR just extraordinarily un-self-reflective, putting in all that stuff about Houses uniting because it sounded like a good principle, but not realising that her actual portrayal of the Houses undercut this theme? Or did she intend to address it, but suffered burnout between Books 5 and 6, and ended the series as quickly as possible without bothering about thematic closure?

* So, is the Hat’s advice for the student body in general, or is it also directed more specifically at Dumbles? Certainly, I can’t imagine his rigging the House Cup to make Gryffindor win every year for the last four years would endear him to many students from other Houses, especially not Slytherin, given their traditional rivalry.

* Ron’s not being very restrained with his eating, is he? Remember, though, it’s only bad people like Dudley, Crabbe and Goyle who actually get fat. Ron, being a good guy, can eat as much as he likes and remain lean and lanky.

* Harry’s refusing to even consider being more friendly with the Slytherins. Truly that boy is a fount of love and compassion!

* Ron’s being such an insensitive jerk that NHN leaves and sits by somebody else. He’ll display this sort of behaviour again in HBP, when he alienates Moaning Myrtle, who’s just about to tell Harry that Draco’s the one behind the murder attempts.

* Looking back on this book, I remembered Ron and Hermione’s arguments as basically being good-natured banter, but they really do seem to be getting on each other’s nerves here. JKR must have some pretty odd ideas about love if she thinks that these two are right for each other. (Although actually, looking at her relationship with her first husband…)

* Professor Umbridge’s speech all sounds like fairly run-of-the-mill and uncontroversial stuff to me. I’m not entirely sure how Hermione got from it to “The Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts”.

* Also, trust AuthorAvatar!Hermione to guess what’s wrong with Umbridge from the beginning. In reality, I think Hermione would agree with much of what Umbridge is doing (hey, maybe Hogwarts would benefit from not leaving staff hiring entirely in the hands of the Twinkly One…), and the two seem to have quite similar personalities, so she’d probably connect on a personal level.

* Ron really isn’t a very good prefect, is he? “Hey, you lot, midgets”?

* You’d have thought that after four years the Fat Lady would be able to recognise Gryffindor students and let them in. Apparently, though, such thinking is too original for the WW.

* Seamus sounds sort of embarrassed about his mother’s behaviour, IMHO, at least at the start of his conversation. It’s not until Harry starts insulting his family that he begins to get all defensive and start disbelieving Harry.

* Also, memo to Harry: if you’re trying to convince people that you’re telling the truth, it’s probably not a good idea to insult their relatives when they ask you what’s going on.

* “‘I’ll have a go at anyone who calls me a liar,’ said Harry.” Given that Seamus’ mum – and, indeed, most of the WW – probably only heard the official Ministry line, isn’t it only to be expected that they’d be a bit sceptical about Harry’s claims? When you only give people one side of the story, it’s no wonder they end up supporting that side (which, come to think of it, might explain a lot about why many fans seem to follow the Harry-Dumbledore party line…).

* Now Harry’s shouting abuse at Seamus and brandishing his wand. How on earth could anybody believe the Ministry propaganda about him being mad? Clearly he is a model of sanity and emotional stability.

* Note how Ron’s first reaction is to side with Harry. I’m sure he’ll prove to be an excellent choice as prefect. *facepalm*

* Seriously, though, I wish Seamus had been made prefect instead. It would be so satisfying for this scene to end with Harry being given detention.

* So Ron lets Harry’s comments about Seamus’ mother pass, but threatens Seamus with detention. So not only does Harry look nasty and defensive, but his best friend looks like he’s using his new-found prefect powers to play favourites. Seriously, it’s like they’re purposefully trying to alienate every boy in that room.

* Unfortunately, though, it doesn’t alienate anyone else, and the other boys line up to agree with Harry, which would just make Seamus feel even more put upon, and less likely to accept what Harry says.

* I’m especially disappointed with Neville. He seems like the sort of character who ought to tell Harry that’s he’s being a dick. Instead he chips in to say how great he and Dumbledore are. Mr. Longbottom, as of this moment you are officially dead to me.

* Harry wonders how many more attacks like Seamus’ he will have to endure before it is all over. Well if your first response to people asking you what happened is to insult them and their family and threaten them with your wand, probably quite a few.

* BTW, does anyone know how prefects are chosen at Hogwarts? Ron and Hermione seem to be the only Gryffindor prefects, but surely there ought to be pairs of sixth- and seventh-year prefects as well? Or is it just that people get appointed in their fifth year, then once they leave school a new pair of fifth-years are appointed, so that there are always two in each house? But then, wouldn’t that mean that students in some years have no chance whatsoever of being made prefects? And isn’t that a little unfair?

 

Comments

[charlottehywd.livejournal.com]

Crap, sorry- for some reason I was thinking of Dumbledore as Julius Caesar, not Cicero. I just think that Snape would make sense that way as far as being wracked by guilt and often seen as being the bad guy when really he wasn't.

[sharaz-jek.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure how guilt-wracked the historical Brutus actually was - he seems to have been fairly resolute about killing the presumed tyrant. (Though Dante's placement of Brutus in one of Satan's mouths is reminiscent of some sections of fandom, and combined with his placing of political enemies in Hell, some even while still alive, claiming that demons were living inside their bodies, elevates his standing almost to the level of the esteemed author herself).

[charlottehywd.livejournal.com]

Well clearly I need to brush up on my Roman history! Curse you, Shakespeare! (who also ruined Richard III for me) ;-)

[sharaz-jek.livejournal.com]

Oh, don't get me started on Richard III...