PS Chapter Five

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

*I can’t remember when I figured out the pun in that name, but it was probably long after I first read it.

*Harry is reluctant to open his eyes after his awesome dream where a giant came and bullied everyone he hated. Can’t blame him.

*Harry’s so happy he feels a balloon swelling inside him. Oh my god. Harry, that’s not a balloon! It’s a chest monster egg!

*You know, having Harry randomly go through Hagrid’s pockets could have been a dangerous idea. I don’t want to think about what he might carry around in there.

*The owl flies around with a money pouch that people put coins in. I feel like Monty Python would have a field day with the physics of that. It’s not a question of where he grips it, it’s a simple question a weight ratios.

*Oh and by the way, Harry, you’ve got bags of gold as well. Not that you’ve really been poor up until now, but still.

*Harry’s completely shocked to hear Wizards have banks. The fact that there are Wizards at all is no problem, but they have banks??

*Never mess with Goblins Hagrid tells Harry, both as a foreshadowing of GoF and as yet another lesson in race stereotypes. Goblins can take care of themselves, even if they can’t win the right to carry a wand like Wizards.

*Hagrid brags about Dumbledore giving him important things to do, sounding a lot like Bellatrix LeStrange.

*There’s been a lot of discussion of exactly what Hagrid flew to the island on. I guess maybe it’s a Thestral. However, he also says he’s not supposed to use magic, indicating he flew by magic, and flying on a Thestral doesn’t require use of such.

*I’d like to think Hagrid is really saying "floo" and Harry just doesn’t yet recognize the word, but I don’t think there are any fireplaces besides the one in the hut.

*Though I’m surprised he didn’t just floo into that one. Saves him the trouble of knocking since he’s going to come in anyway. Plus it would have been a surprise and maybe would have caused the Muggles to spill or break something.

*Hagrid continues showing how cool he is by breaking the rules and asking Harry to cover for him. "Let ole Hagrid warm his hands under yer coat there, Harry. It’ll be our little secret arrr…"

*Halfway across the water Hagrid becomes possessed by the Muggle narrator and explains Gringott’s is far under the Underground.

*Hagrid actually feels a little off throughout this chapter, I guess because he’s having to give actual information. I can’t imagine him in later books reading the paper as a normal, intelligent adult as he seems to be doing here. I wonder if he became more of an idiot stereotype over time.

*Harry has a hard time not asking questions. Of course, by the time he gets to Hogwarts and has a whole library of answers at his disposal, he’s over it.

*Btw, Ministry of Magic messing up things as usual. Read: They don’t work for Dumbledore.

*The Ministry’s main job is hiding Magic for Muggles, so it’s probably unfair to expect them to have any kind of coherent system of justice or support system for their own people.

*And they’re hiding from Muggles because everyone would be wanting Magical solutions to their problems if Muggles knew about Wizards. Oh, you don’t need to tell us, Hagrid. We just read that whole chapter where you showed up at the Muggles’ house and they were all over you asking for spells for everything.

*Once on shore, Hagrid assumes the air of rude, condescending tourist in a foreign country, describing technology far in advance in anything he’s ever seen as quaint but silly. You know, the kind of tourist that would be done as biting, scolding satire if he were a Muggle.

*Crikey, Hagrid would like a dragon. He’s wanted one ever since he was a kid. And since he never really advanced mentally passed the age of 7 or so, he still does.

*Well there it is, the plain pointed hat for day wear that Harry will be accidentally knocking off Padma in GoF.

*This uniform is far more dignified than Dudley’s. Sure it’s a dress and a pointy hat—but it’s black!

*Even your traveling cloak has to be black with silver fastenings? Jeez, it’s worse than working at Calvin Klein. At least there you have a choice of black, white or khaki.

*Hagrid doesn’t know how Muggles manage without Magic. I think a better question is how a person who can do Magic still manages to be as incompetent as Hagrid.

*Is the broken-down escalator supposed to underline the limits of Muggle society? Because last I checked Wizards spent a good portion of their lives climbing stairs.

*Harry just can’t help trusting Hagrid. That’s part of being one of the good guys. Only nasty kids don’t trust him just because he behaves in irresponsibly.

*Hagrid makes sure to stop at a pub to show everybody Dumbledore trusts him with the little freak…err, I mean Harry Potter, a new Hogwarts student.

*Yeah, that’s pretty much the only reason Hagrid goes into the first bar is to tell everybody Potter’s back and Hagrid’s got him. Was that one of DD’s orders?

*So before Quirrell took a year off, was he teaching DADA? Can the curse skip a year? Because if it can Dumbledore could have just had rotating teachers.

*Hagrid also has a note about the You-Know-What in vault 713. No wonder Harry comes up with such brilliant codes later in the series. He learns from the master.

*In the middle of the Gringott’s Amazing Caves Ride™, Harry is suddenly blurts out he can never remember the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite, possibly the most un-Harry line in the entire series.

*The fact that raising a child is costly is mentioned, combined with the fact that Harry’s ability to pay his own way has been hidden from the Dursleys, and adding up to the Dursleys being greedy and sucking again.

*Hagrid asks the Goblin to go more slowly with the cart. Good thing nobody can hear that. That’s the kind of panty-waist request gets a giant re-sorted into Slytherin.

*Yes, Dumbledore really did send Hagrid to get the Philosopher’s Stone, the thing that needs to be kept safe and secret. Dumbledore really ought to learn the difference between trusting someone to do something requiring discretion and caution because they actually possess discretion and caution, and trusting someone to fanboy you personally until the end of time.

*Now that Hagrid’s done bragging to everyone, the kid can fuck off and get his own uniform by himself. Besides, the best thing to do when you’re carrying a treasure of immense importance and you’re not to bright is to go get drunk in a bar. Too bad there’s no card games going on at the time or Hagrid could have dropped the stone then and there.

*I’m surprised there’s no theories about Hagrid having some sort of history with Madam Malkin. Both times Harry has to go there Hagrid makes some excuse not to go inside so that Harry can see Malfoy alone.

*I’ve heard some theories about the first Wizarding Child Harry sees being marked as his true love for life. Don’t know where I heard it.

*Harry goes to the back of the shop, where another boy is standing quietly on a stool being fitted. Harry steps up on a stool beside him. "Hullo," says the boy, "Hogwarts too—" OMG! What a little bastard!

*Harry is strongly reminded of Dudley listening to the boy talk, but I don’t actually remember Dudley being this ironic. Isn’t "Then I’m going to drag them off to look at racing brooms…" kind of joking about his own brattiness?

*Nope, I guess it’s not a joke. As we’ll no doubt see when this kid shows up at school with a racing broom…or not.

*Uh oh, mysterious blond boy, you’ve made Harry feel stupid by asking everyday questions. And everyone knows feeling stupid is proof is a sign of evil in the person who makes you feel that way. And not just, you know, sometimes the unfortunate by-product of being wrong or clueless.

*He’s some sort of servant. He’s a gamekeeper. Yes, exactly. Who is this blond boy? I think I like him even more than Dudley!

*And he’s got gossip about the weirdo teacher! Uh-oh, we all know how kids hate that kind of thing. No wonder Harry dislikes him. Next he’ll be telling Harry how the shop teacher lost his fingers. Run, Harry, run!

*How dare the boy suggest Hagrid drinks to excess? Why it’s got to be all of ten o’clock in the morning by now and Hagrid’s only gone for a drink once!

*Harry doesn’t feel like going into the matter of his parents being dead to the stranger boy, except to note that the boy doesn’t sound sorry at all to hear that two people he doesn’t know ceased to live at some point in the last eleven years. Sure he says he’s sorry, but where’s the grief?

*Well, the boy’s back on the right track now, talking about "our kind" meaning wizards and how they’re superior to Muggles, right? Hagrid endeared himself through it, after all.

*Unfortunately, Harry’s already identified this kid as "their kind," so his assumption of connection are insulting and inappropriate.

*Seriously, though, this kid is obviously a terrible bigot. Too bad there would be no way to correct his wrong assumptions by talking to him or making any effort in that direction. This egg’s gone bad, sir, throw it out!

*He’s also pretty rotten about judging people by house. I’m glad our hero will never be like that!

*The boy asks Harry’s surname last in the conversation. But I’m sure he wanted to ask it first, so if anybody asks, he asked Harry’s surname right away and didn’t bother to try to find out about Harry at all.

*Okay, maybe he asked where he was going to school, whether he played Quidditch or had a broom, if he knew what house he’d be in, but those are terrible questions to ask. Imagine what would happen to a Muggle kid who asked a kid he’d just met whether he played soccer or if he had a Gameboy. He’d be rightly told off, that’s what!

*I’m sorry to keep going on about this, but it’s just especially rude of this kid after the great interest Harry took in him!

*And the other kid hops down from his stool and says, "Well, see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," blissfully unaware of his own dreadful nature. I hope that’s fixed in the future.

*Before he goes I find myself suddenly flashing forward five years to, "Watch where you’re sticking those pins, woman!"

*Harry tells Hagrid about the boy saying Muggle family kids didn’t belong, and Hagrid is quick to assure Harry he’s not from a Muggle family. His parents are Wizards! It’s not like those people who raised you count, they’re Muggles!

*Hagrid also assures Harry that if the boy had known who he was, he’d never have made him feel stupid. He’d have rightly fallen on the floor and kissed the hem of Harry’s garment had he known. The fact that he mistakenly made small talk Harry couldn’t follow reflected badly on him, not Harry.

*Oh, Hagrid then goes on to defend Muggleborns in general. To review, Muggles suck, but Muggleborns should not be blamed for the inferior families into which they were born. Prejudice should be based on physical abilities that are accidents of birth, not relatives that are an accident of birth, see?

*Hagrid is again possessed by the narrator, explaining Quidditch as being like football in that everyone follows it etc. Because Hagrid knows all about football and the Muggles who follow it.

*One way it is not like football is that it’s hard to explain the rules, because unlike football, the rules make no sense except in the context of plot.

*Hagrid explains everyone thinks Hufflepuff is a load of duffers, which is nothing like what the bad kid just said at all.

*Harry manipulates a little sympathy by whining that he might be a Hufflepuff, and Hagrid quickly informs him that the worst house is Slytherin. Oh, and also that no single Wizard who ever went bad wasn’t in Slytherin—except for that Sirius Black guy and the alleged hundreds of Wizards who submitted to Voldemort.

*Wow, a page after their introduction Hufflepuffs are already the losers of the school. And you know…it works. Because there’s nothing about any Hufflepuff that’s particularly uncool compared to other houses ever, yet this cloud of Loser continues to hang over them throughout the series.

*Rowling’s often praised for none of her heroes being perfect and for her people being hypocrites. She’ll openly explain that Sirius doesn’t always live his own good advice. But with Hagrid, it’s kind of disturbing the way his bigotry is always dressed up in cuddly. He’s quick to put down Muggles, makes sweeping, wrong generalizations about which groups of people are inherently inferior and casually insults people via slurs…while being held up as the purest soul of the good side. Seems to me he’s there constantly showing how racism and bigotry is a good thing—a salt-of-the-earth, common sense thing.

*Hagrid knows Voldemort was at Hogwarts. Does he know he was Tom Riddle? Isn’t it kind of silly for Hagrid to not call him Tom since they were schoolmates?

*Harry looks up curses for Dudley. Hagrid tells Harry that yes, it would be a very good idea to curse Dudley but he doesn’t want to get caught doing magic outside of school. So don’t do it except in special circumstances. Like if Dudley deserves it.

*Hagrid also tells Harry he can’t do curses at his level—curses being actual Dark Magic, remember. So much for that "Oh Harry, it’s so amazing you’ve never been tempted by Dark Magic at all!" theory. It’s the only magic he’s tempted to do ever, even before he’s got a wand.

*Apparently toads are out of fashion and get you laughed at. Okay, I’ll give Hagrid that one. If there’s one trend he might follow it would judging people based on their pets. Normally one wouldn’t take fashion advice from someone who chose to hide his wand in a pink umbrella.

*Toads are obviously the worst of the three—they’ve got no claws. Toads are for pussies.

*Ollivander remembers Lily buying her first wand. So do Wizards get more than one wand in their life or not?

*Lily’s and James’ wands were comfortingly gender appropriate. Lily’s was swishy and James was stiffer with more power—but pliable.

*Ollivander tells Harry you never get such good results with another Wizard’s wand. And so a million Sixth Year fantasies of Neville turning out to be the best Wizard ever were born.

*Harry turns out to be chosen by the Holly and Phoenix feather, and unusual combination. Very unusual. Iow, he gets the Gary Stu Protagonist Deluxe!

*Hagrid kindly explains Harry’s been singled out and that’s always hard. Really hard. Dreadful suffering. YOU HEAR ME??






Box Picture
I think I spotted Noel Coward and Buster Keaton in that Leaky Cauldron scene.

Designated Hero
In this case his opposite—that kid who was mildly snotty in the robe shop and just as bigoted as the big guy but in a different way? Deserves to die in a fire.

James Bond Exposition Rule.2
An addition to the usual rule: sometimes the narrator needs to possess certain characters to make sure they explain things well when they wouldn’t otherwise.

Misdirected Answering
Years later, readers are still confused as to exactly how Hagrid got to the island given there’s no sign of any magical transportation and Wizards have no spells that just lets them fly without that. However, he will spend a long paragraph explaining exactly what would happen to you if you tried to rob Gringott’s, something that so far has never come up again.

Final score: 4

Signs of things to come: Hagrid pays lip service to tolerance while teaching Harry the Wizarding caste system (Hufflepuffs are bad, but Slytherins are the real untouchables), Harry has his mother’s eyes, apparently, Hagrid explains Muggle-baiting is bad not because it’s wrong to use Magic not because it’s an unfair use of power, but because you might get caught using Magic in Muggle places, when faced with a someone you didn’t like on sight Harry’s not encouraged to be patient, but to see the kid as even more evil than he originally seemed.

Comments

[sarahtales.livejournal.com]

It's funny to think of how I first read PS (in a babysitting house, after PoA, and I distinctly recall actually giving a small cheer for Gryffindor's Quidditch victory). I think even then I was vaguely startled that the nemesis was the first kid Harry met, though my thoughts were along the lines of 'hey - isn't that the pipsqueak Hermione slapped? Hey, pipsqueak, I remember you, you have a cool name. Man alive, don't bother with this conversation, do you know how much you and Harry are going to hate each others' faces?'

I do think JKR is writing brilliant mystery in a way, since I was totally fooled by the evil sign pasted on yay, and it did not occur to me until the Book Four Epiphany and Subsequent Swift Re-Read of All The Books, that Draco was actually being perfectly civil. And indeed I think he is the only wizarding world inhabitant ever to be nice to Harry without knowing who he is or finding out almost at once.

I'm sort of embarrassed by how entirely unable I am to be snarky. I love this scene. I melt and yelp things like 'look at him swaggering like an idiot! what's your surname? Could he possibly be more homeschooled? House pride! But also, Ravenclaws are the second choice, so if anyone were to imagine it would be Hufflepuff or Gryffindor for this mysterious blond boy, they would be wrong. Because it's clearly Ravenclaw. I merely note.'

I wistfully, passionately want to read the AU where it was Snape who picked up Harry. Because not only would everything have been better explained, not only would we have got a Gothic feeling of being trapped between a rock and a hard place (Dursleys vs. Sinister Stranger), not only might Snape like Harry better once he'd seen his home life, not only would it have been a better story, but at the first half-friendly word from Draco's mouth Harry would probably have been like, 'YOU ARE MY NEW BEST FRIEND. TAKE ME HOME. I FEAR THAT MAN STARING MENACINGLY IN THROUGH THE WINDOW. TELL ME ALL ABOUT THIS GAME YOU CALL QUIDDITCH, I AM SURE I SHALL ENJOY IT!'

Yet I am also sort of won by Harry, who after all is a friendless wee thing, being all 'er' and wishing he knew anything at all omg please he feels like a retard. Don't worry Harry, you'll be able to crush this mystery blond's pretensions to calm and authority soon enough.

Hagrid, you say? Was Hagrid in this chapter? Insofar as I remember there was only really one scene in this ch... oh, wait, yes, Draco pointed him out and told us he was dangerous and unreliable! Classic Hagrid moment. Love it.

[sarahtales.livejournal.com]

Oh, oh. Chest monster egg? For the win.

In which I go off on the robe shop...

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I think Draco's best moment here is, "I say, look at that man!" Maybe that's a totally normal thing for British kids to hear, but it makes me expect him to refer to his parents as mater and pater and just generally sounding like the kids in that book Christopher Chant has to copy lines from.

I do think she's brilliant at doing this, because I mean, Draco is trying to make a friend by trying to sound like his dad, and his dad is a jerk. But still people get so defensive about Harry's "reminded of Dudley" that he has to become monstrous instead of just, you know, the kind of kid that could easily be the comic relief or one of Harry's quirky friends later on. You'd think nobody ever tried to build themselves up as a kid to impress others, even when Harry himself is happy to know something Draco doesn't about Hagrid. Many people assumed Harry would become friends with this kid--and iirc Draco really spends a lot of this book seeming to think the same thing and being constantly frustrated and confused when it does work out that way. Stupid Potter doesn't even know how these books are supposed to go!

See--and this is something I put into my possibly ill-conceived Phoenix Rising proposal--it just can't be a complete coincidence that Rowling decided to make Harry fall under the school bully's eye this way. I mean...in my sadder moments I wonder if this scene here is just foreshadowing of what a jerk this kid will turn out to be, but it's just...why give him two scenes of attempting and failing to be friends with Harry to make him a nemesis? It's like even the first one where Harry's the only one of the two who's actually antagonistic isn't enough to completely put him off. I say, it's the boy from the robe shop. How much of an arse was I? Oh well, best foot forward. "Hello again, old chap! Fancy a game of tennis at my all-white country club?"

Why is this scene really necessary anyway? Hagrid doesn't need Draco's mentioning of things like Hufflepuff to tell Harry about the houses--he could just ask him what Hogwarts is like, or Hagrid might have said something about Harry being a sure Gryffindor and Harry could have then asked him what that meant. (Totally IC for Hagrid.) Draco could easily have been overheard talking about Muggleborns after Harry had already dissed him, or even in the scene on the train. Why a whole Malfoy scene that in retrospect, really goes nowhere? You know what I mean? The train scene advances the plot. This scene just has Harry meet a kid in passing and not like him all that much, then the kid leaves with no fight or anything. He doesn't get any information he doesn't get elsewhere, isn't made to feel any way that's significant. And when we see Draco later it seems similar on his end--he's kind of taken aback when he sees it was Harry in the shop, but doesn't seem to dislike him, nor has he made some completely blunder, as far as he knows, in dealing with him. It's not even like something in the robe shop sets up his behavior in the train--nobody misses it in the movie. JKR had wanted to put in a scene showing Malfoy at home so we could see that home...so I think there's evidence he's possibly a character for whom character might actually matter.

Re: In which I go off on the robe shop...

[sarahtales.livejournal.com]

You're going to Phoenix Rising? Oh misery! I really wanted to go and Aja said I could be on a panel (though I have never been to a con and would have sucked at that), but there were money issues, and around then I'll be job hunting and handing in my thesis, so apparently, no.

Yeah, I absolutely believe this scene's there to show us more of both Draco and Harry's characters. I mean it's also the first interaction of Harry's we see with a peer, you know? (Dudley's a relative and I don't count him.) And since I am a character fiend, this is why this is one of my favourite scenes in alllll of canon. (Other Such Scenes: Draco in Hagrid's class in GoF, the Bathroom Scene in HBP, the Train Scene in HBP, the - let me think, I must have some non-Draco-related favourite scenes!)

People who comment on Harry's first impression of Draco seem to conveniently forget that Harry's first impression of Hermione was not fantastic either, and Hermione was working on the twin pluses of not reminding him of Dudley and not being a bigot, which Draco clearly is. (Actually, now there's a thought - Harry is instantly prejudiced against people who make him feel stupid.)

Re: In which I go off on the robe shop...

[go-back-chief.livejournal.com]

People who comment on Harry's first impression of Draco seem to conveniently forget that Harry's first impression of Hermione was not fantastic either, and Hermione was working on the twin pluses of not reminding him of Dudley and not being a bigot, which Draco clearly is.

When I first read PS, I kind of expected the turnabout re Hermione to be foreshadowing what would happen with Harry and Draco. I still haven't entirely written it off, since there's one book left.

Re: In which I go off on the robe shop...

[merrymelody.livejournal.com]

Oh, me too. The whole 'there's some stuff you can't go through without becoming friends, regardless of personality differences' seemed to be hinting at it, and combined with all the Snape/James parallels that suggest some kind of dangerous experience for Harry and Draco...

Re: In which I go off on the robe shop...

[go-back-chief.livejournal.com]

Exactly, Dumbledore's comparison at the end seems to be foreshadowing something, too.

Re: In which I go off on the robe shop...

[static-pixie.livejournal.com]

When I first read PS, I kind of expected the turnabout re Hermione to be foreshadowing what would happen with Harry and Draco. I still haven't entirely written it off, since there's one book left.

Ooo, nice. Especially since the last book might connect with the first (just 'cause the second connected with the sixth). And Harry was with Draco when he saw Voldemort for the first time. If that means anything....>.>

Re: In which I go off on the robe shop...

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I have never been to one of these things either! If I end up doing something I fear they may find me hiding in a closet when it's time for me to go on. Or I'll throw up in the middle.

People who comment on Harry's first impression of Draco seem to conveniently forget that Harry's first impression of Hermione was not fantastic either, and Hermione was working on the twin pluses of not reminding him of Dudley and not being a bigot, which Draco clearly is. (Actually, now there's a thought - Harry is instantly prejudiced against people who make him feel stupid.)

Right--Hermione as a type (as opposed to the girl we know in this book) could just as easily have been the villain instead of the Draco type (meaning the snobby kid). They're both trying too hard, though Draco seems the more needing of friends as a personality. He does everything wrong that Hermione does right when he doesn't show vulnerability and doesn't fall on his sword for no reason to help the other boys...which I can't really blame him for. Maybe he wound up being humiliated by Harry for years, but at least he doesn't have to do Harry's homework. (I'd love it if he got a line like that in Book VII...)

Re: In which I go off on the robe shop...

[merrymelody.livejournal.com]

He does everything wrong that Hermione does right when he doesn't show vulnerability

That's pretty much the explanation for every single one of Harry's peer relationships (whereas the adult ones all seem to divide into Tormentor and Rescuer.)

Neville and Luna need no explanation.

Hermione offends the boys in the same way Draco does, by knowing more than they do, but then becomes acceptable when she's snivelling in fear while they're the macho rescuers (and more importantly, she recognises this then, almost asks for their forgiveness - especially with the end's 'books aren't important!' rejection of her values in favour of 'bravery and friendship', their own; and becomes their helper.
So it becomes okay for her to know more, since she's using it in their service and because they're then more secure and can reject knowledge as something only losers concern themselves with.
I know a lot of people love the Trio's friendship, but I don't think it's ever moved on from PS - Hermione assists practically but is always on the edge of being pushed out, Ron bolsters Harry's ego but is less secure than him and wins him over by being his second in both meanings of the word, and Harry's king.)

Ron wins Harry over instantly by being admiring of his celebrity status (which I think is something Harry most definitely values.
The way the second Draco introduction is worded almost plays with that, where Draco's much more interested, which is obviously supposed to be a swipe at him sucking up to celebrity, when of course, he was asking tons of questions before. Like, Malfoy's bad for faking liking Harry for his own benefit, but he's also behaving much more appropriately if not sincerely by showing Harry's story and fame the proper respect.) without requiring anything from Harry (I'm getting off strict canon now, but I'd almost say it's interesting that Ron approaches and fanboys in a private compartment, whereas someone like Ginny or Colin is almost asking for a show of allegiance or acknowledgement with their public fussing. If Harry recognised Ron as a social inferior like Neville, he's lost nothing by getting along with him here, like he might with say, Neville himself, who's running all over the train.)
I mean, I think it's very important that Ron (like Luna later, or even Young!Snape) shows himself as someone who Harry can sympathise (to his limited extent) with - later I know they bond over money, obviously Luna and Harry have both been bereaved (although Luna's loss is less, since she's lost one parent, just like Ron's background is both less dramatically tragic but also less dramatically happier, too - for instance, they can bond over the money thing, but that's already in the past for Harry.) while also remaining someone he can feel better than.

And obviously Ginny was the ultimate in vulnerability, both by fangirling Harry and then being saved by him.

Draco has plenty of vulnerability, but he doesn't show it first off and he's never in a position where he needs to be aided by Harry (I'd like to think PS!Harry would have saved anyone from the troll, although I doubt even CoS!Harry would, let alone HBP - although even then the structure is fascinating, so Ron and Harry lose no face for going to save Hermione, since she's already shown yet more vulnerability by crying all afternoon after their insults.) - even the Sectumsempra and Snape's arrival means that Harry doesn't have to choose to do anything.

Re: In which I go off on the robe shop...

[(Anonymous)]

I mean, I think it's very important that Ron (like Luna later, or even Young!Snape) shows himself as someone who Harry can sympathise (to his limited extent) with [...] while also remaining someone he can feel better than.

I agree. Not to anticipate the next chapter, but Harry's preference for Ron over Draco seems to be less about which of them is worthy and much more about how they make him feel. It definitely doesn't hurt Ron's chances that he's so obviously willing to be second banana to a celebrity.

-L

Re: In which I go off on the robe shop...

[merrymelody.livejournal.com]

Exactly. People make it into an ideological rejection - he hates Draco because he loathes privilege (yeah, because he then rejects one of those fancy brooms you're not allowed. Not.) and the whole 'Muggleborn people shouldn't be allowed!' and he loves Ron for being caring-sharing and inclusive (except where one of his first lines is about how his family don't speak to their 'accountant' cousin.)
I mean, fair play to JKR, reading it, it's very clearly written how Harry bonds with Ron - he finds Ron interesting as a pureblood right after Ron asks about his scar, he even notes nervously that Ron must be one of the wizarding families Draco's mentioned, Ron tells him he's poor and feels inferior next to all his big brothers and they're friends.

[bigmamag.livejournal.com]

I wistfully, passionately want to read the AU where it was Snape who picked up Harry.

I demand that you write it. Now, woman. Your Snape is delicious and your Draco beautiful, so who better? (I ask as if you don't have a million RL things to do and a post-HBP epic to complete for me... Perhaps there's an AU version of your life where you get to sit in a mansion, doing nothing but writing and being fed by hot manservants. If that's the case, then write that as well.)

[biichan.livejournal.com]

Dude. I want to read Snape Picks Up Harry AU too. If I had PS with me here in CA I'd WRITE it. (Which probably means it's a good thing I don't.)