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deathtocapslockHarry takes Ron and Hermione to send Sirius his victory letter (4th, BTW). Meanwhile Harry tells Ron Igor was a DE. Of course Ron never heard of this before, despite his family's involvement in the war.
Pigwidgeon joins the club of Harry's sycophants. Ron is optimistic about Harry's chances to win - he finally read the book cover and realized whose story he is living in.
Dean's drawings for Harry's party show Harry victorious and Cedric on fire. Because Gryffindors are such good sports.
To his admirers' encouragement, Harry opens the egg. It screeches. The sound reminds Seamus of a banshee (his worst fear last year), Neville of tortured screams and George of Percy's singing. Hmm, Neville - how does one fight the Cruciatus Curse? You endure it, sometimes to your breaking point, but where's the fighting?
Hermione learns from Fred how to get to the kitchens. But he doesn't want Hermione to upset the elves - he enjoys their work, after all.
The Canary Creams are probably the mildest joke-candy the twins ever came up with. Yet I wonder if Neville's laughter was sincere or just his way of avoiding derision for the sin of not knowing how to take a joke.
There are only 10 skrewts left (down from 20 some 5 weeks previously), but in compensation they are 6 feet long, each. Maybe there's a Law of Conservation of Skrewtness. Hagrid has no idea if they hibernate or not. Why should he?
Rita shows up to the sight of scared burnt kids in Hagrid's hut and the trio attempting to catch the last escaped one. She notices quickly that Hagrid had scandal-raising potential (if his ancestry wasn't enough on its own). Ron is hoping the interview will free them of the skrewts, he doesn't think Hagrid will be in any trouble. Nor do the trio think he ought to be, despite not appreciating his choice of curriculum. I'm not sure they realize a teacher isn't supposed to endanger his students.
Sybil does needlework? Maybe she could fix Ron's dress robes? Ah, she saw Death (personified?) in the orb, circling ever lower over the castle. I wonder if what she actually saw was the owl Barty used to communicate with his Master?
Ron likes gloating about not having homework. Because school is for losers in this universe.
Viktor is in the library. Is this about his studies in general? Is he there because Madam Pince's disciplinary actions keep his fans at bay? Was he hoping to see Hermione? Or has he figured out the egg's clue already and he's looking up a strategy for the second task?
Ron would ask for an autograph, but realizes that would make him be like the fangirls.
Hermione isn't at the library - she comes to take the boys to the kitchens to see her discovery. So some two weeks after being told how to get to the kitchens Hermione actually went there to speak to the elves. And would you believe it? Dobby is there - arrived the previous week - late enough so we wouldn't wonder why he didn't help Harry with the first task, but in time to be roped in by 'Moody' for the second.
Dobby has odd fashion sense, but it's all his own. Hogwarts elves wear uniforms of non-clothes. Winky appears to be wearing made-for-elves clothes. I'm guessing those were the ones her former master gave her. Which means he probably had them prepared (who knows how long) ahead of time, in case the occasion arose. IOW being sacked was a constant threat which Crouch kept over Winky's head, possibly for years.
Winky is acting depressed, and described in most unflattering language. Dobby and the Hogwarts elves are just dying to serve Ron and Harry.
Dobby has been traveling the country for a year and a half in search for employment? I can understand traditional elf-owning families not wanting to pay an elf when they can have one for free, but wouldn't a young middle-income family (from the non-elf-owning ranks) or a shopkeeper appreciate cheap help? I think Dobby's problem was not casting his net wide enough.
Dobby went to visit Winky and discovered she was free - does this mean he came (yet again, because by the time of QWC Winky knew of his job search) to the Crouch home to discover she was gone, or was the freed Winky hanging about on the Crouch-home porch steps or what? If she was gone - how did he find her?
And then the only place he could imagine that would take 2 elves at once was Hogwarts. Then Dobby ruins any hopes for there being respectable free elves in the story with his tale of negotiating Albus' offer *down*. Winky, of course shows that the normal response to being freed is to be a dysfunctional mess. She shows species-appropriate pride by insisting not to want payment. Remember how in COS Ron said his mother would love to have an elf to do the ironing? I'm sure Winky could have found a place with the Weasleys if it weren't for Dobby's interference. But the Crouch exposition needed her at Hogwarts this year.
Anyway, Winky won't have anyone say a bad word about her former master. And she shows genuine concern for him. Of course, she knows that when she left he had nobody to help him subdue Jr and hide him.
Dobby is allowed to call Dumbles names (but then Dumbles isn't his master but his employer). Dobby is proud to keep Albus' secrets for him. I wonder what those are? Was Dobby deep into Dumbly's plans? It seems the biggest 'secret' Dobby ever knew was that Aberforth was Albus' brother.
Dobby still punishes himself for calling the Malfoys bad Dark wizards. Some fans took this as evidence Dobby wasn't really free (or maybe free of Lucius alone, but not of Narcissa), but I think his actions at the manor in DH prove otherwise. So what is going on here? Presumably whatever magical coercion that is involved in the enslavement of elves broke when he was freed. Is it that part of his mind doesn't (yet?) register his new status? Or is this like Ron still showing some effects of Imperius after the class-demo was over?
Winky's behavior looks like the behavior of a jilted lover. Also, Crouch Sr seems to have been in the habit of discussing his colleagues with her - like one would talk to a wife or mistress. (Elkins noted that for at least 3 elf generations the Crouches had females elves - she wondered if the Crouch males were sleeping with the help.)
Ron shows a moment of humanity when he promises Dobby his Christmas sweater. Of course it's the hated maroon sweater, so it isn't such a big sacrifice. And he realizes how easily one can get extra food.
Hermione hopes the other elves will take Dobby's example. She also hopes Winky will overcome Crouch Sr. She keeps thinking of elves in human terms, unwilling to consider they might have a different perspective.
Hermione agrees Ludo isn't a good department head. Ron prefers a bad administrator with a sense of humor over a good one. I can just see him as an Auror following the same lines. Percy can't recognize a joke. That's because in the Weasley household most things that pass for a joke are ways of dismissing, undermining and humiliating him.
Pigwidgeon joins the club of Harry's sycophants. Ron is optimistic about Harry's chances to win - he finally read the book cover and realized whose story he is living in.
Dean's drawings for Harry's party show Harry victorious and Cedric on fire. Because Gryffindors are such good sports.
To his admirers' encouragement, Harry opens the egg. It screeches. The sound reminds Seamus of a banshee (his worst fear last year), Neville of tortured screams and George of Percy's singing. Hmm, Neville - how does one fight the Cruciatus Curse? You endure it, sometimes to your breaking point, but where's the fighting?
Hermione learns from Fred how to get to the kitchens. But he doesn't want Hermione to upset the elves - he enjoys their work, after all.
The Canary Creams are probably the mildest joke-candy the twins ever came up with. Yet I wonder if Neville's laughter was sincere or just his way of avoiding derision for the sin of not knowing how to take a joke.
There are only 10 skrewts left (down from 20 some 5 weeks previously), but in compensation they are 6 feet long, each. Maybe there's a Law of Conservation of Skrewtness. Hagrid has no idea if they hibernate or not. Why should he?
Rita shows up to the sight of scared burnt kids in Hagrid's hut and the trio attempting to catch the last escaped one. She notices quickly that Hagrid had scandal-raising potential (if his ancestry wasn't enough on its own). Ron is hoping the interview will free them of the skrewts, he doesn't think Hagrid will be in any trouble. Nor do the trio think he ought to be, despite not appreciating his choice of curriculum. I'm not sure they realize a teacher isn't supposed to endanger his students.
Sybil does needlework? Maybe she could fix Ron's dress robes? Ah, she saw Death (personified?) in the orb, circling ever lower over the castle. I wonder if what she actually saw was the owl Barty used to communicate with his Master?
Ron likes gloating about not having homework. Because school is for losers in this universe.
Viktor is in the library. Is this about his studies in general? Is he there because Madam Pince's disciplinary actions keep his fans at bay? Was he hoping to see Hermione? Or has he figured out the egg's clue already and he's looking up a strategy for the second task?
Ron would ask for an autograph, but realizes that would make him be like the fangirls.
Hermione isn't at the library - she comes to take the boys to the kitchens to see her discovery. So some two weeks after being told how to get to the kitchens Hermione actually went there to speak to the elves. And would you believe it? Dobby is there - arrived the previous week - late enough so we wouldn't wonder why he didn't help Harry with the first task, but in time to be roped in by 'Moody' for the second.
Dobby has odd fashion sense, but it's all his own. Hogwarts elves wear uniforms of non-clothes. Winky appears to be wearing made-for-elves clothes. I'm guessing those were the ones her former master gave her. Which means he probably had them prepared (who knows how long) ahead of time, in case the occasion arose. IOW being sacked was a constant threat which Crouch kept over Winky's head, possibly for years.
Winky is acting depressed, and described in most unflattering language. Dobby and the Hogwarts elves are just dying to serve Ron and Harry.
Dobby has been traveling the country for a year and a half in search for employment? I can understand traditional elf-owning families not wanting to pay an elf when they can have one for free, but wouldn't a young middle-income family (from the non-elf-owning ranks) or a shopkeeper appreciate cheap help? I think Dobby's problem was not casting his net wide enough.
Dobby went to visit Winky and discovered she was free - does this mean he came (yet again, because by the time of QWC Winky knew of his job search) to the Crouch home to discover she was gone, or was the freed Winky hanging about on the Crouch-home porch steps or what? If she was gone - how did he find her?
And then the only place he could imagine that would take 2 elves at once was Hogwarts. Then Dobby ruins any hopes for there being respectable free elves in the story with his tale of negotiating Albus' offer *down*. Winky, of course shows that the normal response to being freed is to be a dysfunctional mess. She shows species-appropriate pride by insisting not to want payment. Remember how in COS Ron said his mother would love to have an elf to do the ironing? I'm sure Winky could have found a place with the Weasleys if it weren't for Dobby's interference. But the Crouch exposition needed her at Hogwarts this year.
Anyway, Winky won't have anyone say a bad word about her former master. And she shows genuine concern for him. Of course, she knows that when she left he had nobody to help him subdue Jr and hide him.
Dobby is allowed to call Dumbles names (but then Dumbles isn't his master but his employer). Dobby is proud to keep Albus' secrets for him. I wonder what those are? Was Dobby deep into Dumbly's plans? It seems the biggest 'secret' Dobby ever knew was that Aberforth was Albus' brother.
Dobby still punishes himself for calling the Malfoys bad Dark wizards. Some fans took this as evidence Dobby wasn't really free (or maybe free of Lucius alone, but not of Narcissa), but I think his actions at the manor in DH prove otherwise. So what is going on here? Presumably whatever magical coercion that is involved in the enslavement of elves broke when he was freed. Is it that part of his mind doesn't (yet?) register his new status? Or is this like Ron still showing some effects of Imperius after the class-demo was over?
Winky's behavior looks like the behavior of a jilted lover. Also, Crouch Sr seems to have been in the habit of discussing his colleagues with her - like one would talk to a wife or mistress. (Elkins noted that for at least 3 elf generations the Crouches had females elves - she wondered if the Crouch males were sleeping with the help.)
Ron shows a moment of humanity when he promises Dobby his Christmas sweater. Of course it's the hated maroon sweater, so it isn't such a big sacrifice. And he realizes how easily one can get extra food.
Hermione hopes the other elves will take Dobby's example. She also hopes Winky will overcome Crouch Sr. She keeps thinking of elves in human terms, unwilling to consider they might have a different perspective.
Hermione agrees Ludo isn't a good department head. Ron prefers a bad administrator with a sense of humor over a good one. I can just see him as an Auror following the same lines. Percy can't recognize a joke. That's because in the Weasley household most things that pass for a joke are ways of dismissing, undermining and humiliating him.
