OOTP Chapter Thirteen: "Detention with Dolores"

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

* I can see how the idea of Harry duelling the Dark Lord and living to tell the tale might seem far-fetched to some, given that they’re used to thinking of Voldemort as an exceptionally powerful wizard, one of the most powerful in centuries. To us, on the other hand, looking back on the series after DH…

* The narrative voice pauses to draw attention to how Ron is reluctant to finish his apple pie. Knowing what the series thinks about fat people, this probably foreshadows WhinyBrat!Ron of the later novels.

* Hermione’s “snapping” at Ron now, and is getting so bitchy that even Harry, the epitome of bitchiness, feels the need to pull her up on it. True love, clearly.

* Ron isn’t even trying to do his homework, instead expecting Hermione to give him the answers. It makes me wonder how he and Harry managed to get any OWLs at all; did they somehow cheat and get Hermione to tell them the answers in their exams, too?

* I’m sorry, but every time Ron is called upon to fulfil his prefect duties, he just shows himself totally unfit for the role. He shouldn’t just be abdicating his responsibility like this and leaving everything to Hermione.

* Kudos to Hermione for handling the Fred and George situation without getting hexed. Pity she has to ruin it by trying to trick the house-elves into freeing themselves like that. In real life she’d probably be one of these left-wing activists who purport to be on the side of the people whilst simultaneously looking down on the people as too stupid to make their own decisions, needing their lives to be controlled by someone in the know… just like her! (Which would fit rather well with the “Hermione as JKR’s author avatar” theory.)

* Also, note how Ron’s attitude towards them is actually more respectful than Hermione’s. I might speculate that this sort of attitude is a result of Arthur’s Muggle enthusiasm, were it not for the fact that Arthur thinks of Muggles as inferior in much the same way as Hermione thinks of house-elves.

* So how does skill at magic work, then? Mostly it just seems to be a matter of pointing and saying the words (and waving your wand in the right way, at least in Philosopher’s Stone). I can’t really see any reason why Hermione should be better at it than everyone else (well, I suppose “because she’s JKR’s Mary Sue author avatar” is technically a reason, but you know what I mean).

* Hagrid-less COMC now. Note that the Slytherins, being evil, can never just “laugh”; they always “snigger”, “shriek” or “guffaw” instead.

* I forget: does Malfoy know where Hagrid is, or is he just bluffing to try and annoy Harry? Or don’t we ever find out?

* Draco’s really being horrible about Hagrid here. What’s Hagrid ever done to him? Apart from nearly getting him killed in his first COMC lesson, of course.

* Now that Hermione brings up the subject, I don’t think we ever see Draco going out of his way to make things difficult for Harry, do we? Maybe he’s not as bad a prefect as the trio seem to assume…

* Ginny says “Hi” to Harry as they pass. ZOMG foreshadowing!!1! Clearly they are destined for one another!

* Hermione dismisses the possibility of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks and Blibbering Humdingers. This from the girl who found out aged eleven that magic, wizards, witches, broomsticks, dragons, centaurs, zombies, the Philosopher’s Stone and a myriad other things are real. *facepalm*

* Ernie believes Harry, although once again it’s because his family are Dumbledore supporters. Does nobody think for themselves in this universe?

* Note the girly-ness of Umbridge’s room. As ever, femininity in this universe is equated with moral degeneracy.

* As a cat-lover, I instantly find myself warming to Dolores.

* Actually, Umbridge is right about Harry missing Quidditch. Still, she’s very much swimming against the tide, given that every other teacher seems to be on his side (well, apart from Snape), and I fear it’s too little, too late.

* Umbridge is watching Harry “as though she knew exactly what he was thinking”. Is she perhaps a legilimens?

* I know we’re supposed to think of Umbridge as true evil for using her quill to punish pupils, but to be honest it never really seemed that way to me. We already know that mainstream wizarding society has a very lax attitude towards physical harm – eleven-year-olds are made to do detentions in forests full of dangerous creatures without any adults to protect them, people play games which involve knocking people off broomsticks using small cannon balls, the Headmaster lets children fight monsters and dark lords alone, people not showing enough signs of magic are purposefully placed in life-threatening situations, soul-eating monsters are used to guard prisoners, children are given badly-supervised lessons with wild animals after cursory instructions, teachers turn pupils into animals and bounce them against the walls, and Arthur Weasley claims to still have scars from a flogging he received several decades ago – Umbridge doesn’t actually seem that extreme by wizarding standards.

* “Harry had the distinct impression that he was not alone in concealing things at the moment.” Really, Harry, are you sure? Because Ron’s doing such a good job of concealing it, I never noticed anything.

* “Harry had never before considered the possibility that there might be another teacher in the world he hated more than Snape” – wait, what’s Snape done to earn this hatred? Yes, he’s sarcastic to Harry in his lessons, but I’d have thought that that would be cancelled out by the fact that he saved Harry’s life in his first year. Not that he’s ever got much in the way of gratitude for that from anybody.

* This also echoes Harry’s surprise in PS that he hated Malfoy more than Dudley. It’s like he’s constantly surprised at his ability to hate. It’s the power of love, I tell you.

* Note how defensive Ron’s being about Quidditch try-outs, as if he expects everyone to mock him for it. Not surprising, really, given how everyone seems to go out of their way to make him feel insecure.

* So if Ron’s brothers made him Keep during the holidays, how come Harry didn’t notice this when he stayed round Ron’s house in COS and GOF?

* I know that Harry can’t just tell McGonagall or Dumbledore about his detentions for plot reasons, but I think it’s a shame that none of the adults every say “You should have told me, I could have stopped her.” It’s often hard enough to get children to seek help in cases of abuse and bullying without famous literary characters seeming to reinforce the view that doing so is somehow am admission of weakness.

* Ron even gets second-hand Quidditch robes. How’s that inferiority complex going, Weasley?

* Ron “comes from a family of good Quidditch players”, and must therefore be good at Quidditch himself. Not that blood’s important or anything, you understand.

* Why would picking up Hermione’s hat make the elves free? She isn’t their owner; surely the only people who could set them free would be Dumbledore, and possibly the school governors?

 

Comments

Re: Umbridge as villain-

[urbanman1984.livejournal.com]

As far as JKR's writing goes, Umbridge is the villain who best fits the world described. It has been remarked before that the HP series shows a world of people in funny cloaks running around being small minded. Voldemort is too melodramatic for such a context. The kind of baddies that belong in such a context are the Ministry, especially Umbridge. She is the best worked. It may be because JKR identifies with her. She says she identifies with Hermione. Given that Hermione and Umbridge are similar personalities she ought logically to identify with Umbridge as well.