OOTP Chapter Eighteen: "Dumbledore's Army"

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

* Apparently Harry’s “outraged” at Hermione’s
suggestion that Umbridge has been intercepting his mail. I’m not sure whether
he’s supposed to be outraged at Umbridge for reading his letters, or Hermione
for suggesting it. Knowing Harry, it could be either.

* Is it possible to zoom “gloomily”?

* Harry is “squeezing his bullfrog so tight its eyes
were popping”, continuing the long tradition of animal cruelty in these books.

* Hermione’s probably right to distrust the
judgement of Sirius “the danger would have been what made it fun for you
father” Black. Not that Harry will ever consider this, of course. Sirius is
nice to Harry, therefore he is good, therefore we can trust his judgement.
Simple.

* According to Ron, Hermione sounds like his mother.
The books often describe Hermione acting in a mothering way towards the boys, which
has the effect of both making the boys look incompetent and making Ron/Hermione
seem rather creepy and Oedipal.

* Ginny is a lot like Lilly, although their
relationship isn’t quite as bad, as Harry was raised by his aunt and uncle and
therefore ought to be getting an Oedipus Complex on Aunt Petunia rather than
his mother.

* I’m surprised that Impervius Charm isn’t used more
often. It seems like a useful spell to know.

* I wonder, if you did it on the top of your head,
would it act like an umbrella and make the raindrops all miss you?

* Harry gets his first major scar pain, but he’ll
have to wait a while until he gets reliable Voldie!Vision.

* Harry continues acting like a petulant child,
withholding potentially valuable information because Dumbledore isn’t speaking
to him enough.

* Harry thinks of the mysterious Weapon again. I
think that all this build-up makes it rather disappointing when we actually get
to find out what it is.

* Also, it’s a prophecy, not a weapon. Does Sirius
not know what it actually was, was he deliberately misleading Harry to stop him
from guessing what it was or make it sound more interesting, or does he just
not have a very good grasp of the English language?

* Hermione’s made some more hats to try and trick
the house-elves into being free. She can’t offer to let them choose, because they
can’t be trusted to know what’s best for them and need a benevolent protector
figure to make their decisions for them. Hermione = such a New Labourite.

* So, out of the two freed house-elves we see in the
series, one is driven to alcoholism because she can’t cope with being free, and
the other is the most servile character in the whole series. What an
outstanding argument for tolerance and equality these books present.

* IIRC, the movie gave the task of revealing the
Room of Requirement’s existence to Neville. That seems like a rather good
change to me. Any change which means we have to see less of Dobby gets my
approval.

* Harry thinks of Dumbledore’s description of the ROR
the previous year, without wondering why a grown man would run back and forth
along a corridor instead of running to the nearest lavatory.

* Dobby claims that “very few people” know about the
ROR, although I’m sure you’d find somebody saying “Hey, I happened to find some
spare teaching equipment in this room the other day, but it had vanished when I
next passed that spot,” and somebody else saying, “Really? I found a room full of chamber pots,” and then eventually people
would realise what was up.

* Harry displays a rare moment of sensibleness by
not dashing to the ROR as soon as he hears about it, although it’s interesting
to note how Hermione now seems to have become his superego, which is
essentially her main function for the rest of the series, along with learning
all the magic that Harry and Ron can’t be bothered to.

* Erm, Harry, don’t you think it might be a good
idea to see how the ROR works before inviting everybody along? What if you
can’t get in, and end up wasting everybody’s time?

* Dumbledore likes it, therefore it’s good enough
for Hermione. Scenes like this really make me wish for Evil!Dumbledore. That’d
serve the Trio right for blindly trusting in him like that.

* Actually, wait, what am I talking about? We’ve
already got a book with Evil!Dumbledore in it. It’s called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

* Am I the only one who finds the idea of having to
swear that you’re “up to no good” before using the Marauders’ Map to be faintly
sinister?

* Not nearly as sinister as the Map itself, though.
Seriously, something like that would be every totalitarian dictator’s wet
dream. If a group of schoolchildren can make one covering Hogwarts, why do we
never hear of any Dark Lords making similar maps to spy on their enemies? Big
Brother’s got nothing on the wizarding world.

* The map must be pretty big to show every floor of
Hogwarts. And it must be really difficult to find anybody is the Map shows
literally everyone in the school.

* So is the door still visible to everyone, or is it
just DA members who can see it? Because if it’s the former, mightn’t somebody accidentally
wander in and find them?

* Fred suggests “the Ministry of Magic are Morons”
as a name for the group. That’s the sort of thing that most people stop finding
funny around the time they go to high school.

* “Defence Association” is a better name than
“Dumbledore’s Army”, IMHO. It would make it easier to explain away if they ever
were caught.

* Yup, Harry, pin that parchment up against the
wall, with all your names on it. It’s not like anybody could find it there, is
it?

* I’m surprised they didn’t learn Expelliarmus as part of their regular
school lessons. DADA teaching in this school is a joke.

* Zach objects to learning disarming spells,
apparently thinking that they’re beneath everyone in the DA. Seriously, why
does everybody in this world seem so hostile to the idea that disarming your
opponents in a fight might be a good idea?

* Harry gets the group to practise without giving
them any instructions or demonstrations first. Apparently the group are going
to learn through a sort of intellectual osmosis from the Chosen One, rendering
proper lessons unnecessary.

* The Twins are what, seventeen years old now, and
their idea of fun is to Hex somebody behind his back? At the risk of coming
across as all Hermione-ish, what pathetic behaviour.

* Well, I say Hermione-ish, but the real Hermione
would be all for it. Hexing people is only bad when the good guys are the
victims!

* Also, note how the text never suggests that the
Twins deserve to be turned into small animals and bounced against the walls for
their behaviour. That sort of punishment’s only necessary when it’s the
Slytherins doing something bad.

* I wonder is Michael Corner’s unwillingness to jinx
Ginny is due to old-fashioned chivalry or something? Because that’s the sort of
attitude the WW would have, even though it would make no sense in a world where
women are every bit as good as fighting as men.

* “‘That wasn’t bad,’ said Harry, ‘but there’s
definite room for improvement… Let’s try again.’” Yeah, great feedback, Harry.
What a masterful teacher you are.

* Note how Cho’s defending Marietta to Harry, rather
than criticising her for not being dedicated enough to the DA. Clearly, this is
a sign that she is morally unfit to be the Chosen One’s woman. The truly
righteous know they are superior enough to get as judgemental as they like on
other people.

Comments

[oryx_leucoryx]

I don't think the castle knows everyone's allegiance, but it knows if a headmaster is a legitimate one. The castle doesn't mind any odd number of villains/enemies to teach, or enter the headmaster's office as regular teachers (see 'Moody' sitting for a meeting with Albus and Fudge), but some actions are only allowed to a 'true' headmaster.

[lynn-waterfall.livejournal.com]

I wonder what (in-universe, that is) disqualified Umbridge that didn't disqualify Dumbledore. It wasn't a callous indifference to the well-being of the students, that's for sure.

I mean... I can't see Dumbledore making *any* student use a Blood Quill. Not any. But I can't see Umbridge, say as headmistress in PS, being okay with the labyrinth of traps. Can you? I also think that, if not for/aside from the blood prejudice angle, she would have been more proactive in CoS -- probably not especially effective, but proactive. Although she'd've probably just settled for shutting down the school pretty quickly.

[oryx_leucoryx]

It can be as simple as her being appointed by the Minister rather than by the governors. But I doubt it.

[danajsparks.livejournal.com]

This is more in the realm of fanfiction, but it could be that a headmaster needs a certain amount of magical power and competence in order to control the wards on the castle.

It could also be that Umbridge couldn't gain access to the office simply because Dumbledore never really relinquished his control of the castle.

Or maybe the portraits of the former headmasters have some role in selecting the next headmaster, and they'll only give their allegiance to hir. Or maybe the sorting hat chooses the next headmaster. Or maybe the elves decide who the master of Hogwarts will be.