GOF Chapter 22: The Unexpected Task
May. 28th, 2011 05:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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deathtocapslockToday's Transfiguration lesson is about turning an animal from one species to an animal from a different one. What's the point? Does the animal retain the neurology of its original species or acquire that of the new one? Even in the latter case, surely its memories are those of the original species? How do the poor creatures know how to do things?
Ron and Harry are having a sword-fight with fake wands. At least Minerva criticizes them. She announces the Yule Ball, where 4th years and up (as well as any younger guests some of them might invite) have a chance to socialize with the 24 guests. Because the guests are living on their respective vehicles and hardly have a chance to socialize with anyone. Unless you count Viktor ducking his fans in the library.
The champions and their dance partners traditionally open the ball. Now Harry has a task to distract him from preparing for the second task (something he hasn't thought about yet, despite his experience with the danger of the first one). Well, now he thinks of the dragon as a fun diversion, so maybe there is no contradiction.
Molly was right - at least among the 4th years and higher everybody is staying for Christmas, regardless of how they rank their prospects of getting a date to the ball. (Did Ginny think of going home before she got an invitation or was she counting on someone inviting her?) Harry suddenly notices the girls at Hogwarts, now that he needs one as a date. Until now he only noticed boys like Ron, Cedric, Viktor and Draco. Maybe he really is gay.
Well, at least Harry knows whom he'd like to ask, if given a chance. Now that he needs a date, he refuses 4 girls who ask him. Yes, they only care about him because he's famous, but so does almost everyone else, so what's the difference? Even Ron (and Draco!) originally got interested in him because he was TBWL.
The Hufflepuffs are letting Harry be. Which does not mean any of them believe he wasn't a cheat. Aw, Draco's audience has shrunk!
Rita's interview with Hagrid was mostly about Hagrid's opinion of Harry, of course. At least Hagrid acknowledges Severus' criticism about Harry's constant line-crossing wasn't entirely off. Oh, Hagrid will attend the ball. Guess with whom?
Why would Dumbles need to buy 800 barrels of mead for the ball? Buy one bottle and multiply however many times. Unless he wasn't that great at Transfiguration? But he did book the Weird Sisters, the only wizarding band in Britain (as far as we know). Wizarding cultural life is so exciting.
Filius let the students play games in class so he could chat with Harry and praise him. Is he the new Hagrid? Binns still insists on making goblin rebellions boring. That's because goblins are no longer rebellious. Now 'Moody' has them working seriously, he doesn't just impress them with Dark Arts demos. And he's teaching the entire class now, not just Harry. Severus would no sooner let them play games in class than adopt Harry. Little does Harry know. Right, how evil of a teacher to give students until the end of term to prepare for a test. (Which happens to be on a topic that is supposed to be crucial for Ron and Harry's preferred career path, BTW.)
Wizarding cards are cooler than Muggle ones because they explode occasionally, but skrewts are beasts from hell. I follow the logic, almost.
There are only 2 kinds of books Harry ever enjoys reading - Quidditch books and Dark Arts books. Now he is with the former. Despite having a potentially dangerous task to face in some 2.5 months. Hermione is such a spoil-sport to remind him of that.
The twins want Ron's owl to send a letter, but they won't tell him to whom. Fred knows he'll attend the ball with Angelina before he even asked her. Of course for all we know they have been dating since 1st year - Harry wouldn't be able to tell.
Ron wants to attend the ball with the best-looking girl he can manage, and that does *not* mean Hermione. This is his second major personal insult to her (in addition to many minor ones), which is why she made it a life mission to force him to acknowledge his mistake and marry her. Soulmates indeed.
Neither Harry nor Ron have a date, but Harry's fate is worse, because he is a champion. Harry can't get Cho alone. After all these years he finally discovered girls' preference to have company on the way to the bathroom.
A bezoar is a key ingredient of an antidote. Harry will remember this better coming from a younger version of Severus.
Harry manages finally to ask Cho, but he is too late. Oh, Cho would so have agreed if only he had asked before Cedric did! Even when he loses Harry gets affirmation that he really is the best. See, Cedric is pretty and brainless. As opposed to Harry who is not (yet) pretty and, er, well... (let's not discuss his brains here).
Harry's one consolation is that Ron failed even worse than he did, by asking someone who more obviously outclassed him. Ron's consolation is that Neville was refused by Hermione - ie Neville ranks even lower than Ron because the girl who turned Neville down ranks much lower than the one who completely ignored Ron. Of course Ron can't imagine anyone (but Neville) asking Hermione of his own will. Not happening, right? (Notice how Neville is better socialized and braver than both trio boys - he dares to ask a girl before they do, and his choice is based on the girl's behavior rather than purely her looks. Also, he didn't give up when he was turned down. Also, Ginny is so popular that the only one who asked her to the ball was Neville, and only because Hermione refused him.)
Suddenly Ron has the realization of the century - Hermione has 2 X chromosomes! (Do wizards know about chromosomes? Never mind.) But despite her repeated insistence, he can't get that she already had a date. Ron even tries setting Ginny up with Harry - again, too late. Not that Ginny likes Neville, in any way. Not that he was her preference. He was just her ticket to the ball. As she leaves for dinner we part for ever with Ginny V1.0, the one who, among other things, keeps Hermione's confidence.
Finally Harry asks Parvati, who for plot-contrived reasons is still available. Lavender was already asked by Seamus, but Padma might go with Ron. We can all sigh with relief that this messy business was completed in a single chapter.
Ron and Harry are having a sword-fight with fake wands. At least Minerva criticizes them. She announces the Yule Ball, where 4th years and up (as well as any younger guests some of them might invite) have a chance to socialize with the 24 guests. Because the guests are living on their respective vehicles and hardly have a chance to socialize with anyone. Unless you count Viktor ducking his fans in the library.
The champions and their dance partners traditionally open the ball. Now Harry has a task to distract him from preparing for the second task (something he hasn't thought about yet, despite his experience with the danger of the first one). Well, now he thinks of the dragon as a fun diversion, so maybe there is no contradiction.
Molly was right - at least among the 4th years and higher everybody is staying for Christmas, regardless of how they rank their prospects of getting a date to the ball. (Did Ginny think of going home before she got an invitation or was she counting on someone inviting her?) Harry suddenly notices the girls at Hogwarts, now that he needs one as a date. Until now he only noticed boys like Ron, Cedric, Viktor and Draco. Maybe he really is gay.
Well, at least Harry knows whom he'd like to ask, if given a chance. Now that he needs a date, he refuses 4 girls who ask him. Yes, they only care about him because he's famous, but so does almost everyone else, so what's the difference? Even Ron (and Draco!) originally got interested in him because he was TBWL.
The Hufflepuffs are letting Harry be. Which does not mean any of them believe he wasn't a cheat. Aw, Draco's audience has shrunk!
Rita's interview with Hagrid was mostly about Hagrid's opinion of Harry, of course. At least Hagrid acknowledges Severus' criticism about Harry's constant line-crossing wasn't entirely off. Oh, Hagrid will attend the ball. Guess with whom?
Why would Dumbles need to buy 800 barrels of mead for the ball? Buy one bottle and multiply however many times. Unless he wasn't that great at Transfiguration? But he did book the Weird Sisters, the only wizarding band in Britain (as far as we know). Wizarding cultural life is so exciting.
Filius let the students play games in class so he could chat with Harry and praise him. Is he the new Hagrid? Binns still insists on making goblin rebellions boring. That's because goblins are no longer rebellious. Now 'Moody' has them working seriously, he doesn't just impress them with Dark Arts demos. And he's teaching the entire class now, not just Harry. Severus would no sooner let them play games in class than adopt Harry. Little does Harry know. Right, how evil of a teacher to give students until the end of term to prepare for a test. (Which happens to be on a topic that is supposed to be crucial for Ron and Harry's preferred career path, BTW.)
Wizarding cards are cooler than Muggle ones because they explode occasionally, but skrewts are beasts from hell. I follow the logic, almost.
There are only 2 kinds of books Harry ever enjoys reading - Quidditch books and Dark Arts books. Now he is with the former. Despite having a potentially dangerous task to face in some 2.5 months. Hermione is such a spoil-sport to remind him of that.
The twins want Ron's owl to send a letter, but they won't tell him to whom. Fred knows he'll attend the ball with Angelina before he even asked her. Of course for all we know they have been dating since 1st year - Harry wouldn't be able to tell.
Ron wants to attend the ball with the best-looking girl he can manage, and that does *not* mean Hermione. This is his second major personal insult to her (in addition to many minor ones), which is why she made it a life mission to force him to acknowledge his mistake and marry her. Soulmates indeed.
Neither Harry nor Ron have a date, but Harry's fate is worse, because he is a champion. Harry can't get Cho alone. After all these years he finally discovered girls' preference to have company on the way to the bathroom.
A bezoar is a key ingredient of an antidote. Harry will remember this better coming from a younger version of Severus.
Harry manages finally to ask Cho, but he is too late. Oh, Cho would so have agreed if only he had asked before Cedric did! Even when he loses Harry gets affirmation that he really is the best. See, Cedric is pretty and brainless. As opposed to Harry who is not (yet) pretty and, er, well... (let's not discuss his brains here).
Harry's one consolation is that Ron failed even worse than he did, by asking someone who more obviously outclassed him. Ron's consolation is that Neville was refused by Hermione - ie Neville ranks even lower than Ron because the girl who turned Neville down ranks much lower than the one who completely ignored Ron. Of course Ron can't imagine anyone (but Neville) asking Hermione of his own will. Not happening, right? (Notice how Neville is better socialized and braver than both trio boys - he dares to ask a girl before they do, and his choice is based on the girl's behavior rather than purely her looks. Also, he didn't give up when he was turned down. Also, Ginny is so popular that the only one who asked her to the ball was Neville, and only because Hermione refused him.)
Suddenly Ron has the realization of the century - Hermione has 2 X chromosomes! (Do wizards know about chromosomes? Never mind.) But despite her repeated insistence, he can't get that she already had a date. Ron even tries setting Ginny up with Harry - again, too late. Not that Ginny likes Neville, in any way. Not that he was her preference. He was just her ticket to the ball. As she leaves for dinner we part for ever with Ginny V1.0, the one who, among other things, keeps Hermione's confidence.
Finally Harry asks Parvati, who for plot-contrived reasons is still available. Lavender was already asked by Seamus, but Padma might go with Ron. We can all sigh with relief that this messy business was completed in a single chapter.
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Re: Comment #1 of 2
Date: 2011-06-05 10:53 pm (UTC)Lucius turns up in the graveyard about two nanoseconds after his dark master sends out the call. That's enthusiasm!
There's never a sign of the Malfoys equivocating over their position in the forthcoming war. Never a hint of them considering what safety might lie in joining the Order. No attempt to open discussions with Dumbledore and his crew.
Also, I personally have a hard time criticising the Malfoys for their pureblood supremacy, because that's so obviously a result of growing up in wider society, rather than any particular moral failing on their part. We know that the good guys are fine ...
Pointing out that the 'good guys' have their faults doesn't exonerate the Malfoys for their sins. Whatever grievances you have against wizarding society you must also hold against the Malfoys ... PLUS their pureblood supremacy stance. The Malfoys still come out as even-more-evil. :-)
Most of his actions in the rest of the series consist of him making mildly insulting remarks ...
... which show that he is a 'cowardly murdering type of person'. We Hermione fans will NEVER forget his gloating over forthcoming murder, you know. :-)
Plus you're conveniently forgetting various cowardly attacks (on the Express, etc) as well.
Doesn't Dobby say that they mostly leave him to get on with punishing himself?
I don't know. And either way, they're responsible for abusing their poor house elf. SHAME, Malfoys! SHAME!
Re: Comment #1 of 2
Date: 2011-06-06 04:39 pm (UTC)No, that's being a responsible husband and father. I don't understand why you think someone should engage in pointless reckless behavior that has zero chance to do any good (neither to them personally nor their family nor broader society) and all the chances to endanger their loved ones just to prove a point to bystanders?
When Voldemort disappeared the first time the surviving free DEs were playing a dangerous game: the only way to keep Tom from returning was for neither of them to go to him, but if anyone broke down and brought Tom back it was better to answer a summons faster rather than slower.
Back to early November 1981: the Dark Mark is, very surprisingly, gone (though there may be some indication that not completely, not for good). In any case, his friend at Hogwarts tells him Albus is insisting that the Dark Lord has the capacity to return. But he can't do it on his own or he would have done so. Lucius (or any other DE on hir own) can't ensure the Dark Lord's non-return, all he can do is not be the one to return him. At best he can monitor the other DEs he knows of (and hope there isn't anyone, DE or external supporter, he isn't aware of), make sure they know it is in their best interest to keep the Dark Lord gone and watch for any sign that any of them thinks otherwise. (Which is why I really liked the theory that Lucius arranged for Bella to attack the Longbottoms in order to get her out of the way. Sure, he sacrificed 2 upstanding citizens, though 2 he may have had an issue with in the first place, what with Frank having been an Auror in the days of Crouch's policies, but that kept Bella from bringing Voldemort back in 1982.) If Fenrir indeed was a 'family friend' as Draco claimed to Borgin, this would be the background of said 'friendship'. Though he would never say out loud that this was his goal, because if anyone present ever changed hir mind Lucius and his family were toast. So he could talk about how times are not the best, but at least quieter than before. Maybe things would improve if the Minister stopped listening to that old fool at Hogwarts. Or if one of their own could be made Minister (hint, nudge).
So in the fall of 1994 his Dark Mark starts returning. Which means someone cracked and went to Albania. And he didn't know who that was. Time to be paranoid. He was already in the middle of a plan to do something about Fudge's regime (whether that was to replace Fudge or to convince him that Lucius was the one who had the solutions to problems Fudge couldn't deal with) - so he needs to try to make the case to the Dark Lord that it was all for his cause, once the inevitable happens and he summons the circle. And be there fast, or it won't be that convincing. (I think the DEs with families were the quickest to show up. They had the most to lose from being suspected by Voldemort.)
There's never a sign of the Malfoys equivocating over their position in the forthcoming war. Never a hint of them considering what safety might lie in joining the Order. No attempt to open discussions with Dumbledore and his crew.
Lucius did not go to Albania ever. Despite the fact that at least at some point it became common knowledge (at least within Ministry circles) that Voldemort was there. Why would he consider joining forces with Dumbles? Why replace one personality-cult leader with another, one who was merely more subtle than the first and with whom Lucius had deep disagreement? No, best wait for an opportunity to be rid of them both.
Whatever grievances you have against wizarding society you must also hold against the Malfoys ... PLUS their pureblood supremacy stance. The Malfoys still come out as even-more-evil.
No, the Malfoys are more self-consistent and less hypocritical.
... which show that he is a 'cowardly murdering type of person'. We Hermione fans will NEVER forget his gloating over forthcoming murder, you know. :-)
This should be addressed in a different post.
Re: Comment #1 of 2
Date: 2011-06-10 11:01 am (UTC)I think this:
Why would he consider joining forces with Dumbles? Why replace one personality-cult leader with another, one who was merely more subtle than the first and with whom Lucius had deep disagreement?
... is overkill. Dumbledore wasn't dangerous to anyone whose name wasn't Harry Potter.
If Malfoy was that worried about Voldemort's return why not immigrate to Australia? (That's where everyone seems to go to get away from the Dark Lord.)
Seriously, why I have to allow that Malfoy might have had no choice but to return to the graveyard (given that he's a Slytherin, and therefore his and his family's welfare counts ever so much more important than that of society's :-)), we still know he's evil from what he does while he's free from Riddle. Like slipping the diary into Ginny's books in year 2. That was evil; and no-one was forcing Malfoy to do it. I don't believe it's canon that Riddle had left instructions for him to do it. (In fact it's something like fanon that Riddle was ANGRY, upon his return, to discover that Malfoy had allowed one of the horcruxes to be destroyed.)
EVIL = MALFOY.
:-)
Re: Comment #1 of 2
Date: 2011-06-22 12:13 am (UTC)... is overkill. Dumbledore wasn't dangerous to anyone whose name wasn't Harry Potter.
Albus was dangerous to anyone whose death would serve the greater good, sooner or later. He was very dangerous to Severus (see Elder Wand business) and would have been just as dangerous to the Malfoys if the circumstances demanded it according to his judgment. And only his judgment. No input from anyone else required.