PS Chapter Six

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

*A quick visit from the wizards has changed the way the Dursleys treat Harry completely, for the better. But remember, Dumbledore couldn’t have done that earlier because it would have made the Dursleys even more horribly abusive to Harry.

*I forgot Harry actually named Hedwig in a surprising burst of creativity. Does Harry really seem like the kind of boy who’d name his pets after things he read in history books?

*Actually, this is probably the first and last time Harry willingly opened a history book.

*His school books are very interesting and Harry stays up reading them—what?! Harry’s reading textbooks? But they don’t have hexes scribbled in the margins!

*Heading off any audience questions yes, it is a little odd that Wizards use trains to get to school. It’s not because there’s anything good in Muggle technology, mind you. They just love the nineteenth century vibe.

*Meanwhile, Dudley’s scheduled for surgery a month after he’s gotten the tail. You know what would have been funny? He should have died of a staph infection.

*Okay, Harry pulls on his jeans because he doesn’t want to wear his wizard robes. Indicating (not for the last time) that you wear either trousers or robes. So what’s Ron supposed to tuck his shirt into, exactly? And how does anyone see his shirt?

*Good planning on the Wizard’s part to not mention about the secret platform even Harry won’t be able to see when he gets to the station. Now that’s the Hagrid I know.

*Molly makes her first appearance with her first line—you guessed it, she’s complaining about the Muggle train station being "packed with Muggles." Well, at least it’s consistent. You can always tell the people who are going to be fighting against prejudice by their bigoted remarks.

*OMG Ginny had the first line after the kid in the robe shop! That’s totally true love!

*The twins start their twin shtick right away. Because we’d never know they were twins if they their life wasn’t a constant vaudeville act. We get it. You look alike. Doesn’t make you funny.

*I forgot Ron’s always been tall, thin and gangling. I guess because it’s hard to imagine any 11-year-old being all that tall and gangling.

*I notice even if you hit the wall at a run, you’re standing still on the other side. You’d think there’d be a pile of kids just beyond the wall who crashed into each other.

*Why do you walk right in between platforms nine and ten if you’re trying to get to 9 ¾? Shouldn’t you go slightly right or left of center? Oh dear, maths.

*The twins offer Harry a hand, which means they’re incredibly nice people who are morally superior to any Slytherin.

*Ginny begs to gawk at Harry Potter on the train. Again, sign of true love. Not at all like, say, Romilda Vane wanting to see him.

*It’s sad that while Ginny isn’t being annoying in this scene, because she’s not evil yet, I still want her to get run over knowing what she’ll become.

*Harry watches Ginny as he pulls away, because he’s already in love with her, deep down. You never forget your first fangirl.

*Fred and George have apparently kindly sent their little brother to look for a seat by himself on his first trip to boarding school. Well, twins can’t be separated. At least the weird kind can’t.

*The Weasleys all come in to make sure Harry Potter knows who they are and they get another look at them. ::sniff:: They’re the only people who don’t care about Harry’s fame in all the world!

*Harry finds Ron just as interesting as Ron finds him—last time he’ll have that experience.

*He didn’t find that other Wizarding kid interesting at all, btw. He was blond. Also back then Harry instinctively knew to be sort of ashamed of growing up Muggle. Just as now he instinctively knows not to be ashamed of asking questions. It’s so much easier when you establish your celebrity straight off!

*Ron mentions his Squib relative that nobody talks about when Harry asks if his whole family is wizards. Interestingly, Ron somehow doesn’t think that "Are your whole family wizards?" is Harry asking him about how Pureblood he is.

*Harry notes that Ron must be one of those old Wizarding families that were kind of bad when the other boy talked about them, but since Ron isn’t coming out and saying this, we can appreciate the coolness of it without it being classist. Go ahead, marvel at his bloodline. I’ll wait.

*Harry says not all Muggles are bad—not good enough for him to actually like any of them, but not all of them abuse him on level with the Dursleys, at least.

*Ron follows the Wizard tradition of meeting new people by sharing your basic character motivation. The blond kid was a snob, the twins are always joking, Ginny chases after Harry and Ron, being a main character, spews out a paragraph about how he feels overshadowed by his older brothers.

*Ron explains that Fred and George mess around a lot but still get really good marks because they're inherently smart. Harry says he knows just what Ron means—he’s small and scrawny but he’s still really athletic because he’s inherently cool.

*Despite Blondie’s boasts about breaking school rules, it’s Ron who’s got an unofficial animal his first year.

*Harry doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with being unable to afford an owl, especially when you’re sitting with such a great example of noblesse oblige as Harry. A less exalted boy might have just agreed that it sucked when you couldn’t get stuff you wanted. (I’ve been reading this book with a main character who would have responded that way, having no money himself.)

*Harry explains that he’s not trying to be brave in saying Voldemort’s name; it’s just there’s no actual reason not to say it that anyone’s ever explained.

*Although Ron’s a Pureblood home schooled all his life, he informs Harry there’s loads of kids from Muggle families who do just fine in school.

*Harry’s nerves at starting a new school are a little calmed with the appearance of the trolley lady. It might be a whole new world but at least it’s peopled with familiar Agatha Christie types.

*The trolley lady has no Mars Bars, which won’t bother any of the Muggleborns, because who wouldn’t rather eat stuff that often sounds…well, completely foul.

*Geez, Ron’s already all screwed up by his first appearance, isn’t he? He’s like constantly announcing his mother’s shortcomings and defending her, all the time referring to her as "she" like Molly can’t be invoked by name any more than Voldemort can.

*Btw—Molly’s sandwiches are dry? Didn’t she read her plump poor country mum’s handbook? Her food’s supposed to be better than anyone’s!

*Since Malfoy isn’t in the scene yet, I feel compelled to add his lines. "Maybe your mum didn’t forget you don’t like corned beef, Ron. Maybe she just doesn’t love you."

*Harry reflects that it’s nice being able to be with someone so obviously inferior to him in every way. Yes, if it ever comes down to it, Ron’s the one to choose!

*Dumbledore’s chocolate frog card says he’s considered the greatest wizard of modern times. Think he wrote that himself? I do.

*Awww, but the mention of ten pin bowling undercuts his brilliance and makes me think he’s just like regular folk. I love him already!

*They have a good time eating their every flavour beans. Because there’s nothing more fun than buying a bag of candy and finding out 98 percent of it is inedible.

*If Ron’s got Charlie’s wand, what’s Charlie using? And why is his wand in such terrible shape? I’ll bet the Weasleys (except Percy) are all just the type of kids who destroy everything.

*Ron has to have a hand-me-down wand, because the family has to save up to buy two wands for Ginny: the first one apple wood with a my little pony core. The second’s solid gold built around one of her own fiery locks.

*Hermione Granger appears, and her first speech is in fact more boastful and insulting than the blond kid’s. But since she’s bragging about being smart Harry’s not reminded of Dudley, so Harry doesn’t dislike her. Oh, and also she tells him about his fame. Wonder what he would have learned from Draco had he known who Harry was? That he was a great Dark Wizard?

*Hermione also informs us that Gryffindor’s the best without telling us why, because she can’t say "Because the author says so."

*Oh, Dumbledore was one. I guess that might as well be "because the author says so."

*Everyone seems to agree Ravenclaw isn’t too bad. Hufflepuff really does suck. It says so in Hogwarts, A History.

*Harry’s also wondering what older Wizards do when they leave school—honestly, does someone do a spell on Harry when he gets to Hogwarts that robs him of all the normal curiosity he’s displaying in this chapter? Like maybe Dumbledore?

*Oh, someone tried to rob Gringotts. That totally makes Hagrid’s endless talk about what would happen if you did worth it. Not.

*Apparently even bank robberies make everyone think Voldemort is back. This year. Four years from now he can hijack an international tournament and even with no other suspects, nobody will hear a word against Voldemort.

*The pale boy enters. Harry notices he’s looking at him with a lot more interest than he had in Diagon Alley? WTF, Harry. A couple of hours of proper fawning over the boy who lived and normal boy/boy interaction isn’t up to snuff? What part of "Are you going to Hogwarts do you play Quidditch do you have a broom do you know what house you’ll be in?" suggested disinterest?

*Well, the blond kid starts out exactly like Ron does (is it true you’re Harry Potter?) but loses points by having two boys with him who don’t actually do or say anything but look mean and thickset, which is just as bad.

*Long entry: You know, it’s been a while since I’ve read this scene and wow; Harry’s diss here is totally bizarre. I guess I’d always remembered it as building up to Harry refusing the hand I guess because fandom always talks about it like it’s some great blow for justice (Ron was just blowing his nose! The snort totally didn’t count as insulting Draco’s family so that Draco insulted his back). Instead it’s literally that this kid comes in, it becomes obvious that his family and Ron’s family have a long animosity, they snipe at each other quickly, and Harry for some reason decides to pick a fight. In the every day language of boy dominance interaction, isn’t Harry like beyond crossing the line here? He might as well ask this kid to fight with him, because he gives him no choice. Yeah, we know it’s Malfoy and he’s a jerk etc., but he would have gotten the exact same reaction from Seamus or Dean. In fact I think he occasionally will in future.

*Oh, you’re going to fight us, are you? says Draco, and the narrator makes sure to make clear how brave Harry and Ron are for standing up for themselves. Well, why did you both intentionally pick a fight with the kid for if the other two are so unbearably huge and intimidating?

*Harry then tells Draco to leave, which of course he can’t actually do without leaving his testicles behind. I’m kind of beginning to see why Malfoy is driven so crazy by Harry’s popularity. From his pov Harry totally thinks he’s all that.

*Not to mention, for the first time I’m sort of beginning to see why Draco responds with his Voldemort-y threats. I used to think Draco was just humiliated personally so pretended his "side" had been rejected, but Harry’s behavior does probably seem to Draco to indicate that he’s joined the Weasley fight against the Malfoys. After all, as far as Draco probably knows they got alone fine in the robe shop. It’s only now he’s sitting with the Weasley boy that he’s been told Malfoy’s the wrong sort.

*Peter bites Goyle for no reason I can see, and the Slytherin trio disappear. They tend to do that a lot. Disappear, I mean, when we’ve got the point that they suck even though there’s no real reason for them to leave except the author needs to usher in a new scene and can’t be bothered to follow the first to a logical conclusion.

*Sad. You’d think Goyle’s fight with the rat might have made them all start laughing. Of course, a fight might have helped too, which is why the Slytherins have to be yanked out with a hook.

*Speaking of which, Hermione’s back to get a little more face time. Malfoy’s personality fits fine with Harry’s and Ron’s, but he’s evil. Hermione’s tedious and has nothing in common with Harry and Ron, but she’s vulnerable. I know which one I’d rather see become a friend.

*Ron explains that all standing up to snobs aside, some Wizarding families really are much better than others, and that he, Ron, can help him keep from making friends with the wrong sort.

*Harry explains meeting Malfoy in Diagon Alley. I’d love to hear his version of that story and compare it to Draco’s, Rashamon-style.

*Harry and Ron make Hermione leave, yet seem to just pull their robes on over their clothes. Ah, the magic of Wizarding clothes.





Designated Hero
Designated villain again. Boy those Slytherins-to-be must have brought quite the story back to their friends in another car. Harry Potter? Total jerk off. Oh, sorry. What I mean to say is that Draco probably vilified Harry.

"Fruit Cart, Fruit Cart!"
The car doesn’t actually spill over, but there is candy all over by the end of the scene.

Idiot World
Five minutes into his journey to his new world, Harry’s already become superstitious over saying Voldemort’s name for no reason.

Informed Attributes
The two boys with Malfoy are totally mean. At least they’re mean-looking. They don’t actually do anything mean.

Off-screen Teleportation
The rival kids have no intention of leaving the compartment…until they magically disappear due to the appearance of a rat.

Final score: 5

Shape of Things To Come:
Harry’s last month at the Dursleys wasn’t fun. Yes, he had to spend another month there after all this happened. The first difficulty of the way the books always have to start right before Harry’s birthday and end in June to show the world really does revolve around Harry.

Slytherin liquid count:
Harry literally draws first blood with Malfoy, which appears as two pink spots on his cheeks. Blood and Malfoy. What a pair.

Comments

[kahran042]

Voldy-boy might not have taken an animal at all. IIRC, the letter says that you MAY take an animal, not that you must.