ext_6866 (![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
sistermagpie.livejournal.com) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
deathtocapslock2006-07-07 11:21 am
sistermagpie.livejournal.com) wrote in deathtocapslock2006-07-07 11:21 am
Entry tags:
HBP Chapter Seventeen
*I guess "sluggish" in this case means not really necessary to the plot but helpful in giving Harry something to do before we get to a climax.
*Fleur’s at work when the kids go back to school. I just find that little reference comforting. Fleur isn’t actually as useless as some of the Weasleys see her.
*Percy apparently stormed from the house covered in mashed parsnips for which George, Fred and Ginny (we love you, Ron!) all claimed credit. Remember how Old Ginny liked Percy? Glad she’s buried somewhere in the Forbidden Forest with her mouth sewn up and filled with salt!
*Draco Malfoy would so love to know that the Weasleys throw food at each other. Oh, the awful jokes that would inspire.
*Ginny pats her mother’s shoulder to comfort her though. She’s compassionate!
*Harry says he likes a quiet life. I’ll pause while this mildly amusing comment gets blown up into something hilariously witty that’s Just So Harry!
*I love that Ron’s pretty much forgotten to be pissy to Hermione while she’s been planning all day how she was gonna snub him.
*So if the Fat Lady and her friend have drunk all the wine out of a picture, does the wine refill itself? Seems like surely all the wine in all the pictures would have been drunk by now if that’s all that was available for a thousand of years. This is the kind of thing I shouldn’t be thinking about, isn’t it?
*Ginny doesn’t sound enthusiastic about meeting Dean. Glad to have you back, Dean. Harry’s libido goes into hibernation without the competition factor.
*Luckily, I am very enthusiastic about Ginny meeting Dean, because it means she’s not here anymore. Yay!
*Meanwhile, even Ron’s sexual encounters make him look stupid.
*Okay so…why is Hermione offering ridiculous alternatives for who Draco’s "Master" is? His father? Huh?
*And yet moment’s later she’s scolding Harry for not remembering Greyback’s name. Okay, yeah, Harry’s oblivious but Hermione seems to have taken over from Fudge in the "I don’t believe it’s Voldemort" department.
*And then Harry and Hermione drift off into conversations about how hard done by Harry is. These are the same two who stayed up all night establishing that Barty Crouch Sr. was attacked by someone when he was with Krum. Now Draco’s a DE and they’ve got a sudden attack of ADD.
*The next morning an Apparition lessons notice is pinned to the bulletin board. Pinned? Really? To a bulletin board? Next thing we know they’ll be using staples and stickie notes!
*Remember that movie "How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days?" I didn’t see it but I think Lavender is starring in it.
*Charlie’s bigger than Ron. Oh, we have no doubt of that Ron. Mmmm. Charlie….
*Everybody take a drink. Hermione just told us you can’t Apparate inside Hogwarts!
*Seamus, too, is excited to Apparate. He and his cousin will amuse themselves for hours with their Apparition skills and Irish names!
*We’re told Charms is a soft class, but Professor Flitwick seems to get batted around like a puffskein in it.
*Confession: I don’t find the baboon brandishing a stick all that funny either. Not so funny I’d want to put it on an icon, at least. I still prefer the lines Christopher Chant had to write, copied out of that boarding school novel. Now that was funny! (Too bad I can’t remember it word for word.)
*It’s weird that Apparition is such a mystery to everyone. It seems like driving, so you’d think lots of kids would have already done it. No equivalents to the 9 year olds who drive the tractor and such?
*Harry answers questions about Apparition for hours, but Malfoy’s having quite possibly joined a terrorist organization gets two minutes. Guess that ADD comes and goes.
*Dumbledore makes a joke about the Prophet telling the truth only occasionally and by accident. Um, actually it seems to run about 50/50 when it comes to truth, depending on what it’s needed to do for plot purposes.
*By the way, I guess we should assume that Malfoy was right and you did cover up the basilisk attacks second year, Albus? Mm-hmm. (Would Lucius have done it?)
*Dumbledore gets all teary when Harry announces he told Scrimgeor he was Dumbledore’s man through and through. He’s overcome with his good luck. That idiot Scrimgeor got Harry to pledge away his independence in ways pounds of sherbet lemons weren’t able to do!
*Dumbledore was forced to jinx Dawlish. How can people doubt what house this guy was in?
*Dumbledore does know the truth about the argument between Snape and Malfoy, but he cleverly pretends he doesn’t think it’s of any importance so that Harry will feel like he’s surrounded by idiots and must act on his own.
*And when Harry makes it clear that’s what he thinks, Dumbledore gets all snippy. Apparently somebody needs a few lessons in just how Dumbledore’s Men behave!
*And then he throws in some "just imagine I’m basing all my thoughts on my personal trust in Snape that I won’t explain to you" to make Harry even more nervous. Instead of just saying something like, "I know what’s going on. I’m on it."
*Yay Phineas!
*Harry’s pissed off at Dumbledore, which Dumbledore says happens "even between the best of friends." Seriously, how can Harry stand this guy? What a condescending fuck. Yes, Albus, the best of friends always have a dynamic where one person tells the other person what they may or may not question, especially when their own safety is at stake.
*Dumbledore assures Harry that what he has to say is really important. It’s not, of course. That is, he’s got something important to say but drags it out far longer than it would take to say it. And hints at how amazingly hard it was for him to obtain the memories. Yeah, yeah, Albus, you’re a regular Indiana Jones. Get that AK ready, Snape.
*Heh. I love that Dumbledore drops all these hints about the kind of feelings good-looking orphans inspire and Harry never relates it to himself. But they treat me horribly, sir! I never got any special treatment except what I deserved!
*Okay, here’s an important bit. Harry is tempted to think that Dumbledore trusts people too much, just as Snape said, but really he knows that Dumbledore didn’t trust Tom Riddle. He just never makes the jump to seeing that Dumbledore’s problem isn’t that he trusts too much, it’s that he deals with the world on a strict need-to-know basis, since it makes it easier to manipulate. He’s the epitome of goodness!
*Is it bad of me that I’m totally rooting for little psycho Tom at school with Dumbledore?
*Dumbledore neatly categorizes Death Eaters into three types: the weak seeking protection, the ambitious seeking shared glory, the thuggish gravitating towards a leader for more refined sorts of cruelty. How did this group acquire a dark glamour?
*Anyway, note how petty and mindless the enemy is. You’ll never have to give much thought to more complicated reasons this guy managed to almost take over the world. Do any of those descriptions seem to truly cover Regulus Black? They don’t to me. They don’t completely explain Malfoy either from what we’ve seen. And I think Snape had a little more going on with him too.
*Harry finds the Gaunts’ house indescribably filthy in this scene. And we all remember what Harry’s room looked like after a few weeks home from school!
*There’s a knock at the door. Tall, pale, dark-haired, handsome. It’s the teenaged Voldemort. Ooh, let him in! squeals Harry. Let him in! Do! It’s like Mystery Date!
*I like that Parseltongue can still incorporate British-y turns of phrase: Dies years ago, didn’t he? I’m Morfin, ain’t I? It’s over, innit?
*Once the Riddles were found dead the authorities went straight to the known Muggle-hater. Well, surely this will come out all right. We know what a stellar record Wizard detectives have!
*The Ministry didn’t have to use Veritaseum or Legilimancy on Morfin. Unfortunately they didn’t have to use them with Sirius Black either…
*And then Tom implanted a memory with a complex form of magic…uh, you wanna back up there a bit, Albus? That’s quite a massive device you just slipped in there. You can implant false memories in people? Might have been better to go with a simpler magic we know, like Imperius. This just really sounds like Dumbledore’s just waving his hand because he has no idea.
*I don’t even want to think about how Dumbledore "extracted" that memory. Twinkle twinkle.
*Dumbledore says whatever Morfin was, he did not deserve to die for murders he never committed. Wait, he didn’t? He was bad and racist, so doesn’t he just deserve bad things in general?
*Slughorn has straw-colored hair. I imagined him dark-haired for some reason, what little had left.
*Slughorn with his little feet on a velvet pouf, surrounded by his favorite young tittering boys. Albus, are you sure we ought to see this memory? This is a YA book.
*Why are they all boys? If this were our world we’d assume it was just because at that time girls were shut out of this kind of thing, but the Wizarding World wasn’t supposed to have that sort of inequality, right? Seems like Slughorn was just forced to eventually let girls in. Hmmmm…
*Harry recognized Riddle at once. His was the most handsome face. The most handsome in all the world. Harry Riddle. Tom Potter. Harry Potter-Riddle. Harry Riddle-Potter. The Dark Lords Potter-Riddle…
*Slughorn’s tampered with his memory, so it looks ridiculously fake. Too bad he didn’t know any of that *waves hand* complex memory magic like Tom knows.
*Dumbledore tells Harry the true memory is there beneath this one, but Harry must go back to Slughorn anyway. ::sigh:: Can’t you just fix this one that’s been crudely altered? There’s no CSI wizards?
*Dumbledore assures Harry Slughorn has weaknesses like the rest of us. Just in case Harry didn’t notice that Slughorn is the personification of weakness. A well-timed Twinkie would probably do the trick here.
*Phineas says he can’t see why Harry can do this better than Dumbledore. Funny, I’d think Phineas would know about Slughorn’s pervy boy fancying.
Exploitation Filmmakers’ Credo
How many times does Harry have to discover this nefarious plot of Malfoy’s before anyone else acknowledges the nefarious plot?
IITS
But why do I have to get the memory from Slughorn, sir? Can’t we just ask him the important information? Isn’t it right here under the slapped-on stuff? It’s just this will take several chapters…
Idiot Picture
Lots of people call their father Master.
Informed Attributes
Slughorn has weaknesses, but they are hidden.
Ken and Andrew’s Rule of Plot Holes
And then…and then Riddle did some sort of super magico stuff and Morfin though he killed the Riddles.
McGuffin
This memory I am sending you after is amazingly important Harry. We need the memory itself. I could in no way tell you what I think is in it. Nor could I just tell Slughorn what I think is in it and have him just confirm it.
Misdirected Answering
Yes, I know it looks like Malfoy’s up to something really serious but I really need to hear about Lupin right now, Harry!
Whooshing Powder
Floo!
Final score: 8
Slytherin Liquid Count:
Drunken Fat Lady, drunken Morfin, drunken monks, 500 year-old wine (none for Hermione, thanks!), Slughorn’s wine, Pensieve water.
no subject
Poor Lavender, the only girl who didn't have ulterior motives in play.
The point of the lesson? When dealing with lovers its best to use underhanded tricks. Loved ones always enjoy being manipulated. Manipulation says LOVE in big shiny letters.
Okay, here’s an important bit. Harry is tempted to think that Dumbledore trusts people too much, just as Snape said, but really he knows that Dumbledore didn’t trust Tom Riddle. He just never makes the jump to seeing that Dumbledore’s problem isn’t that he trusts too much, it’s that he deals with the world on a strict need-to-know basis, since it makes it easier to manipulate. He’s the epitome of goodness!
Why did he allow a psychopath into Hogwarts? Why didn't it worry him? I guess magical genius is in such short supply they will even take the insane crowd too. Now they can't control Riddle so lets put it all on the shoulders of a crazy teen. Dumble's plan is going like gangbusters!
Harry recognized Riddle at once. His was the most handsome face. The most handsome in all the world. Harry Riddle. Tom Potter. Harry Potter-Riddle. Harry Riddle-Potter. The Dark Lords Potter-Riddle…
True on so many levels. Riddle was broken so they made NEW, IMPROVED Riddle-Potter!
And then Tom implanted a memory with a complex form of magic…uh, you wanna back up there a bit, Albus? That’s quite a massive device you just slipped in there. You can implant false memories in people? Might have been better to go with a simpler magic we know, like Imperius. This just really sounds like Dumbledore’s just waving his hand because he has no idea.
We saw this magic in action in OOTP. But the bad guys didn't do it but Dumbledore's men. Besides getting a face full of spots, Marietta's brain was also wiped. Shacklebolt did the honors and it was so powerful even Harry felt it fly by him. I doubt Marietta got her real memories back. Oh well.
no subject
How tragic. To be permanently branded "Sneak" and never know why...
no subject
no subject
no subject
Look at how hard it was for Slughorn to even alter his own memory, but Tom's just uploading into Morfin's brain!
I know its kind of jarring, showing this much power at the end. Maybe Rowling was inspired by Philip K. Dick recently.
no subject
"If we hadn't married megalomaniacs, we'd have died out ages ago!"
I love your icon :D
no subject
Yes, we can't use Veritaserum or anything to find the memory, because Slughorn's so incredibly talented and accomplished. But at the same time so inept that Harry 'Dumb as a Box of Hair' Potter spots how dodgy his memory looks.
And Riddle can frame someone so expertly that even they don't realise it, but he needs Sluggy's help with Horcruxes?
Why is Hermione offering ridiculous alternatives for who Draco’s "Master" is? His father? Huh?
Hermione reads too much fanfic.
Charlie’s bigger than Ron. Oh, we have no doubt of that Ron. Mmmm. Charlie...
I'm totally imagining Charlie swooping in, muscles flexed, to rescue Draco in Book Seven now, you realise.
I like the bit where Ron mentions how the ever-so-brave and open Fred and George avoid laughing at people who are bigger than them, preferring to do that behind their back.
I love that Ron’s pretty much forgotten to be pissy to Hermione while she’s been planning all day how she was gonna snub him.
And the first thing she did on arrival was visit Hagrid. She's crying out for help, people!
I kinda liked her not giving in on the grudge-bearing when Harry asked, though (especially with his super-lame 'But...Christmas...' - yeah, you really made sure everyone around you had a wonderful holiday in OotP!) since he wouldn't forgive Ron in GoF until he felt like it.
But yeah, Ron's cute. Can't imagine him smirking over Marietta now, or snubbing Cedric a year later. (No-one touch a book, I don't want my illusions shattered!)
Dumbledore was forced to jinx Dawlish. How can people doubt what house this guy was in?
Could we call this...a counter-jinx? ;) He probably just incapacitated him in a minor and temporary way, like making him hilariously quadraplegic or something.
I really want to pound Albus' withered old face here, especially when he's so patronisingly 'amused' at being followed (where is he going, anyway? I'm sure we were told, but I never mustered enough interest to pay attention.) and his fake modest when pretending to be insulted that Scrimgy would call Harry 'Dumbledore's Man.'
Ginny doesn’t sound enthusiastic about meeting Dean. Glad to have you back, Dean.
We'll ignore the fact that she's never sounded enthusiastic about Dean. This, combined with her confession later that all the times she's purposely given the impression of being over Harry were fake since she still fancied him, her never behaving around Michael or Dean in the way we're apparently supposed to assume she does while crushing ie. shyly, and her swiftness in finding fault with them (Michael didn't sound sufficiently subservient towards Gryffindor!) but never with Harry in no way indicates that she's dating other guys purely to attract Harry, though.
(I always loved the way Ginny/Dean were described as 'having problems for ages' and being 'rocky' as if they were a middle-aged divorcing couple, rather than two teenagers who are together out of choice.)
He and his cousin will amuse themselves for hours with their Apparition skills and Irish names!
Someone should do fanart of Seamus in a green suit carrying a pig under each arm.
no subject
And when Harry makes it clear that's he thinks, Dumbledore gets all snippy.
For a good guy Dumbledore is a bit insistent on blind obedience though he'd fit in well in Washington. Come to think of it, isn't he the head of the Wizengamot. See maybe the problem is that we think of him as a teacher when we should really be thinking of him as a politician.
no subject
I think you're right. DD's training Harry to be DD 2.0. He'll probably find out he inherited the plum velvet suit in the next book.
See maybe the problem is that we think of him as a teacher when we should really be thinking of him as a politician.
Yes. Absolutely.
no subject
Oh, no. She's going to be Minister for Magic someday, isn't she? Or maybe she'll take Umbridge's job. No wonder they have the same middle name.
Although an election where Percy runs against Hermione would be awesome.
And then Tom implanted a memory with a complex form of magic…uh, you wanna back up there a bit, Albus? That’s quite a massive device you just slipped in there.
I wonder whether we're going to find out in Book 7 that big chunks of HBP was just fake memories someone implanted into Harry's mind? (I mean besides maybe the Pensieve ones. The minute Dumbledore said his memory was "refreshingly accurate," I started suspecting all the memories.)
My Two Cents from Elanor
(Anonymous) 2006-07-07 09:24 pm (UTC)(link)>>"I love that Ron’s pretty much forgotten to be pissy to Hermione while she’s been planning all day how she was gonna snub him."
Imho,he already vaguely wants to break up with Lavender and tries to make up with Hermione by pretending their fall-out didn't happen.
>>"Meanwhile, even Ron’s sexual encounters make him look stupid."
Harry didn't look very smart with Cho either.I think JKR can't/doesn't want to write even remotely normal relationship , specially not if major characters are involved in it ,if it won't end in marriage.
>>"Okay so…why is Hermione offering ridiculous alternatives for who Draco’s "Master" is? His father? Huh?"
This made me think about D/L hurt/comfort and I feel sick consequently .I am sure that wasn't the idea.
>>"Dumbledore gets all teary ... He’s overcome with his good luck. That idiot Scrimgeor got Harry to pledge away his independence in ways pounds of sherbet lemons weren’t able to do!"
&"Luckily, I am very enthusiastic about Ginny meeting Dean, because it means she’s not here anymore. Yay!"
LOL!!!My favourites for this chapter!
>>"Is it bad of me that I’m totally rooting for little psycho Tom at school with Dumbledore?"
Certainly not,Tom is my favourite character.I would love to know more about their interactions at school.
>>"Tall, pale, dark-haired, handsome. It’s the teenaged Voldemort."
Rowling seems unable to write about Tom without using the word "handsome".Interesting why...
>>"I don’t even want to think about how Dumbledore "extracted" that memory. Twinkle twinkle."
In GoF Voldemort says:"She (Bertha Jorkins)told me many things ...but the means I used to break the Memory Charm upon her were powerful...her mind and body were both damaged beyond repair." Of course,may be Voldemort just didn't care how he broke the charm ,but sure even Dumbledore wouldn't be able to penetrate Voldemort's charm without inflicting some damage on Morfin. Specially, if he really has no idea what charm exactly Tom used.
>>"Slughorn’s tampered with his memory, so it looks ridiculously fake."
Even if he would succeed in this "tampering" , the crudest lack of logic would make clear this memory was fake. It would sound like that: "What with your uncanny ability to know things you shouldn't,and your careful flattery of the people who matter-thank you for the pineapple ,btw,you're quite right,it is my favourite-you'll go wrong,boy,mark my words." The last part sounds believable in the context,doesn't it? Particularly immediately after thanking Tom for the pineapple and winking at him just before saying this sentence.Red Hen called Slughorn "a good Slytherin",unfortunately I am not as sure of it now,as used to be after reading her essay. If he would really be one,he would have tried to change previous parts of this memory too. May be I am nitpicking though...
>> Btw,don't you love that Harry "could not see what was so significant about it (the memory)" other than the fog and doesn't ask what Horcruxes are and why 16 year old Riddle ,who was already exceptionally powerful,had to ask about them and not,like, look for this information in a book or already know it.
>>"He [the Minister] is not very happy with me,either.We must try not to sink beneath our anguish,Harry,but battle on."
This line somehow made me appreciate Dumbledore's sense of humour first and ,unfortunately, last time in 6 books in a way that :"Nitwit!Blubber!Oddment!Tweak!" never did.
>>"As though he had read Harry's mind, Dumbledore..." --follows comment in which Dumbledore says this happens "even between the best of friends."
Remember in OotF :"as though they had just entered the house of a dying person" and in GoF Winky "disappeared...as she fought the force that was restraining her"? Me too.
Btw,very similar comment appears again somewhere in the book.
Elanor -part2
(Anonymous) 2006-07-07 09:27 pm (UTC)(link)English is a foreign tongue for me and may be I am mistaken ,but use of words "in turn" made me understand this sentence as if Dumbledore's warning against thievery was a direct result of Tom's refusal his company on a trip to Diagon Alley .Surely, it doesn't mean that?
Sorry if the comment was too long.
Re: Elanor -part2
Re: Elanor -part2
She was sitting on the teacher's desk, alone except for a small ring of twittering yellow birds circling her head, which she had clearly just conjured out of midair.
That makes it sound as if Hermione conjured her head out of thin air, not the birds.
no subject
And let's us totally forget that it was her's and the twins' actions that made her upset in the first place. Quite frankly I'm surprised that Molly doesn't yell at her kids for their behaviour, she has done it for far less. But I guess that's only reserved for Ron or the twins sometimes.
*I love that Ron’s pretty much forgotten to be pissy to Hermione while she’s been planning all day how she was gonna snub him.
Ron cannot even hold grudges like Hermione and Harry can. Just shows how superior they are though.
*It’s weird that Apparition is such a mystery to everyone. It seems like driving, so you’d think lots of kids would have already done it. No equivalents to the 9 year olds who drive the tractor and such?
Especially, what it all comes down to is: concentrate really hard. I find it way more jarring that apperation lesson take place in the school and apparently always have. When Percy and the twins learned to do it, it was always over the summer break, so I assumed that it was something you had to go to the Ministry for and not related to school at all.
*Phineas says he can’t see why Harry can do this better than Dumbledore. Funny, I’d think Phineas would know about Slughorn’s pervy boy fancying.
But Phineas also knows what an utter moron Harry is, having actually talked to him.
no subject
You know, I really feel that all Lord Voldemort needs to do is rejuvenate himself (surely a snap for someone who rose from the dead) and the Chosen One will no longer be a problem. What with living on his doorstep holding an enormous sign saying 'I LOVE YOU TOM' and tossing his underwear at his Dark but oh so handsome head.
Well, you know, if Dumbledore told Harry what he was planning, adding in parts like 'I am quite cheerfully risking the life of other students as I watch Draco Malfoy having a nervous breakdown waiting for the moment where I can use, I mean save, him.' Might have gone over fine at the time but once the 'other students' who Harry had presumed to be expendable Hufflepuffs turned out to be Ron... well, the boy's got a nasty temper on him. He's like a weapon that needs to be pointed at people! The people Dumbledore has no use for. Mmm. Chosen weapons.
no subject
no subject
That reminds me of live-action RPG, this sort of things happens there quite often.
Security guy #1: I found this thing under the chair, it looks like a bomb, ticking AND twinkling. I think it's an assassination attempt on Emperor-
Gamemaster: Forget about it. You didn't see it.
Security guy #2: Hey, there was a bomb under the chair in the hall. Here, record it as neutralized.
GM: Place it back! It's not a bomb, you didn't see it.
Assorted ladies: We're just brainless socialites, we came here to dance, but there's a BOMB under the chair-
GM: Look, who's a Gamemaster here? I said you didn't see it! We NEED this bomb to move plot along. And don't forget to act surprised when terrorists will make their appearance.
no subject
Slughorn reminds me of no-one more than Dumbledore here, what with his mammoth ego, fake chastising, setting himself up as one of the kids ('we'll all be in trouble!'), and flattering his favourite for breaking the rules, as well as his desire to seen as predicting people's paths even though he did nothing to stop them.
The Ministry didn’t have to use Veritaseum or Legilimancy on Morfin. Unfortunately they didn’t have to use them with Sirius Black either…
Be fair. How could they use those things when they were only invented in GoF?
What a condescending fuck.
I love the battle of egoes here (Luna is so outclassed!) - 'I'm so smart I understand even more than the great Harry Potter' vs Harry's 'Well, I'm not going to "permit" this"! Talking to the Chosen One here, show some respect!' with bonding over how little Scrimgeour's opinion matters to either of them.
(I love how naturally Ddore's argument with the Minister isn't over anything petty like differing policies on giants or centaurs or werewolves or imprisoning innocent people, but of course Harry's own personal welfare.
And I'm surprised we don't get a bitchfit from Harry on this, anyway. ZOMG, Dumbledore was totally protecting you like a child! Like you're not already a man who can make his own decisions!)
Dumbledore wins though, for the shameless and obvious 'We're BFFs!' reminder. The bit about how often friends fight because each believes their thoughts are most important is pretty funny, though, since Albus and Harry make it a point to surround themselves with people who'll automatically defer to them on everything and give their opinions priorities at all times.
Lavender...is starring in How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days
My favourite part about this scene is Hermione stalking off with Neville. You can just imagine him forlornly waiting for one of the Trio to pick him up when they fight with each other, and cheerfully accepting the inevitable dropping once they make up again.
(You should see the GoF movie just for this hilarious bit where Harry, having fought with Ron, is hanging out with Neville and shushes him when he begins to talk. Know your place, almost-ran! ;)
I don’t even want to think about how Dumbledore "extracted" that memory.
Note the blatant mention about the 'few that could be tricked into speaking'.
I also love how Morfin conveniently died after this, so Albus gets to look the concerned saviour who would have campaigned to save an innocent man, but never actually has to make an effort for an icky person who might not show the proper gratitude and remould themselves in his image.
the Wizarding World wasn’t supposed to have that sort of inequality, right?
Maybe it's just supposed to be more evidence of how prejudiced the Slytherins are (ZOMG, they didn't have girls on their Quidditch team, either!)
They keep to specific gender roles and groups like Draco and Pansy, whereas the Gryffindor dorms are a hotbed of feminism when they're not making five year plans to snag their soulmate. (Not to mention the boys - when they're not judging every girl on either her appearance or her romantic history; they're devoted New Men! Girls can play games with us, and they can even be deemed nearly as good as we are at them!)
Confession: I don’t find the baboon brandishing a stick all that funny. Not so funny I’d want to put it on an icon, at least.
I'll top that and say that I didn't laugh at Roonil Wazlib.
...Yeah, I said it.
(I think being in fandom kills a lot of the jokes. Like you'd read the book and sort of smile, and then you go online and there's 147389 people saying 'ZOMG WON-WON, SOOOOO FUNNY!' and 'U KNOW POO = GENIUS!' and you're like '...Really?')
Hermione seems to have taken over from Fudge.
Someone theorised that maybe Ron and Hermione are dubious because Harry was so sure of himself in OotP and then ended up risking all their lives (and taking out Sirius) for nothing. But that sounds too in keeping with continuity, so I'm just gonna assume that without a common enemy to unite against, we need Harry's friends to doubt him so he can properly fulfill his role as martyr.
no subject
No, this is classic paedophile grooming. Everything you've said. Particularly the incredibly creepy "we'll all be in trouble!"
A bit late.
She goes out to work? She'll have to stop that when she's married, you know! Doesn't she know who's the man of the house? Those foreign women with their funny ideas, eh?
Draco Malfoy would so love to know that the Weasleys throw food at each other.
I can imagine the fandom response to that. How beastly he is for saying that the Weasleys should know better than to waste food! I personally know what it's like to be poor [insert personal story here] and someone as priviledged as Draco has no right to tell the noble Weasleys what they can and can't do with their food!!! Also, I would have thrown mashed parsnip at Percy for just being there too!!! Any normal person would!!! Etc.
So if the Fat Lady and her friend have drunk all the wine out of a picture, does the wine refill itself? Seems like surely all the wine in all the pictures would have been drunk by now if that’s all that was available for a thousand of years.
It seems to me that either it would be gone, or it would last forever as depicted (just as people in paintings appear to be lasting forever). But I doubt you'd get a sensible answer by asking about it.
Harry’s libido goes into hibernation without the competition factor.
I think the idea is that it's not a proper romance without some kind of barrier or obstacle to be overcome. The trouble with this book is that the obstacles are all so idiotic and contrived. For example, one might understand if Ron's family disliked mudbloods, or if Ginny appeared to be having a real relationship with Dean, but the obstacles presented are just a case of people being too stupid to talk to one another. You can say how that's normal teenage behaviour and don't you remember being young? as much as you want, but it doesn't make it any more entertaining or good to read.
Now Draco’s a DE and they’ve got a sudden attack of ADD.
One could speculate something stupid like "maybe they had been cursed!" but I think it's more likely that this is another one of those badly inserted trials that the hero has to go through, whereby nobody understands his sorrow and woe. How can Harry claim credit for being the most intelligent person in the place who spotted Death Eater activity when nobody else did if people believe him and offer him help? A hero's going to be all pussified if people start offering assistance!
Confession: I don’t find the baboon brandishing a stick all that funny either.
It's certainly not made more funny by the constant references and icons about it. Yes, beating a joke into the ground = killing it! Who knew?
Yay Phineas!
Phineas is awesome, considering he's supposed to have no personality (being made of paint and all - Rowling said, it must be true!). I don't care if Sirius says he was Hogwarts' least popular headmaster, I would have liked him! Even if I was the only one! I bet he's being left out of the film versions, though (and Tonks isn't!)
GoF?