HBP Chapter Seven: "The Slug Club"
Dec. 30th, 2012 01:39 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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deathtocapslock* Ron and Hermione don’t seem interested in discussing Malfoy’s behaviour. On the one hand, this is quite reasonable – they don’t have much information, after all, so the chances of them reaching any reliable conclusions are nil – but on the other hand, it’s totally out-of-character. These are the people, after all, who were prepared to drug and impersonate three of Draco’s friends on the grounds that he didn’t like muggleborns and so might possibly be the Heir of Slytherin. What’s happened to make them change their views? The débâcle at the Ministry? But then we don’t really get any sense that the characters in this book are brooding over the death of Sirius. I’m going to chalk their newfound lack of curiosity up to the demands of the plot.
* Still, at least they’re not tiptoeing around Harry like they’re worried he’s going to explode, as in OOTP.
* Good job Ron tells us that Malfoy has the Hand of Glory, since the last time we saw it, back in COS, he most definitely didn’t have it, and Lucius specifically ruled out the prospect of getting it for him.
* Incidentally, do you think that JKR means us to understand that Malfoy acquired the Hand sometime since 1992, or did she just half-remember writing about it in COS and assume Malfoy must have had it? She apparently doesn’t re-read her own books, after all.
* So is Draco actually meant to be a Death Eater, or is it just Harry imagining things? The fact that the DEs are meant to be Voldemort’s élite fighters makes it unlikely that he’s let random sixteen-year-olds into their ranks, but I don’t think we’re given any definitive information one way or the other.
* Ginny’s idea of a joke is “be careful, there’s a lot of Phlegm around”. Harry, instead of wondering whether he really wants to shackle himself to such a person, instead smiles “I’ll be careful not to slip in it.” Well, if all else fails, they can spend their married lives bonding over their juvenile sense of humour.
* Incidentally, Harry is actually described as “smiling” those quoted words. I’m not sure how he does it. He could “say them, smiling”, but “smiling” them? Is he a secret ventriloquist or something?
* Fleur’s talking about colours for the bridesmaids’ dresses, which is probably meant to mark her out as vain and shallow. True heroes don’t care at all about such things, which is why the Weasleys’ tackiness is a sign of their great virtue.
* And it’s time to leave for the Hogwarts Express. Ron hurries forward, hoping Fleur will kiss him goodbye, but Ginny humiliates him by tripping him up. Erm… yay girl power?
* Two Aurors arrive, and Mrs. Weasley “seemed a little flustered by [their] austere efficiency.” Not surprising, really, given the general corruption and incompetence of wizarding government. I imagine meeting some genuinely efficient workers must be rather disorienting.
* Harry runs off to find a seat “[w]ithout waiting to consult his grim-faced Auror.” Eugh, what a spoilt brat. I bet the Aurors all hate being assigned to guard him.
* Mr. Weasley pooh-poohs Harry’s suggestion that Malfoy was buying something dark and dangerous, on the grounds that the Ministry searched his house recently and took away all the dark and dangerous stuff. Yeah, because it’s not like a family with known ties to a dark and dangerous wizard and a fondness for dark and dangerous objects and who’ve recently been visiting a shop which sells dark and dangerous magical items might possibly be interested in acquiring anything dark and dangerous. Don’t be ridiculous, Harry!
* The train pulls off, and Mrs. Weasley’s last words are to Harry, not Ron or Ginny. I wonder what her own children think of this.
* Everybody’s looking at Neville and Luna, although Neville says that’s just because they’re with Harry. *cringes at patheticness of it all*
* Rowling’s really overdoing it with the “Luna, teller of uncomfortable truths” thing here. The girl’s said two lines, and both times we’re told that this is the sort of brutal honesty she specialises in. Really, Rowling, there’s no need for this. If Luna does actually tell uncomfortable truths, we readers can notice it for ourselves; if she doesn’t, saying otherwise won’t make it so. “Show, don’t tell” is a rule of fiction writing for a reason, you know.
* “Had Voldemort chosen Neville, it would be Neville sitting opposite Harry bearing the lightning-shaped scar and the weight of the prophecy… or would it?” No, because Neville, as the only half-way competent character in the series, would have beaten Voldemort long ago, and sent him scurrying back to Albania, tail between his legs.
* Ron comes in and complains about Malfoy not fulfilling his prefect’s duties. Yeah, because Ron’s always been a model of conscientiousness and dedication to duty.
* Malfoy “had happily abused” his prefect powers “all the previous year”. Odd, because all I remember is that he took some house points off of Harry once. Oh, yeah, right, taking points off the Chosen One is itself an abuse of power. Duh.
* Harry smirks at the sight of Marrietta’s “odd formation of pimples still etched across her face”. OK, so there are at least three things I can see which are deeply wrong with this: first of all, Hermione’s spell caused long-term damage, rather than just going away after a couple of days; second of all, Harry’s a sadist who gets off on seeing people being permanently disfigured; and third, Rowling still remembers this subplot, so we can’t even assign the lack of a satisfactory resolution to authorial forgetfulness.
* Harry and Zabini don’t acknowledge each other, because “Gryffindor and Slytherin students loathed each other on principle.” Remember when Voldemort wanted to abolish the school Houses and we were all expected to go “Oh noes, what a terrible idea!” Well, it’s scenes like this which make me think he was on to something. Seriously, when your pupils hate each other too much to even acknowledge their existence, you might want to rethink your House system.
* Ginny starts grimacing at Harry from behind Slughorn’s back. Why is it that whenever she appears on-page I’m filled with an overwhelming desire to slap her?
* For a brilliant networker, Slughorn doesn’t seem to have much subtlety. Not seeing your famous uncle, Belby? No pies for you then!
* “Everyone here seemed to have been invited because they were connected to someone well-known or influential – everyone except Ginny.” And Harry, of course, but he’s far too modest to say so.
* I’d be careful about denigrating Harry if I were you, Zabini, else Harry’s pet attack harpy might come after you.
* What’s with all the Zacharias hate going around? You’d have thought that Ginny and Harry would respect him as a fellow member of the DA. Did they get a peek at the plot outline and see that he’ll end up pushing first-years out of his way to escape?
* And WTF is up with Slughorn giving her a place in his club? Is hexing somebody really the sort of thing which would ensure you a good career? Actually, in the wizarding world, it probably is.
* Harry’s method of sneaking into the compartment by shoving Zabini out of the way is pretty stupid. Good job Malfoy notices and makes him pay for his idiocy.
* Even Blaise finds Ginny pretty, and he’s really hard to please. See everybody, Ginny’s so hot, even people who hate her think so! She’s totally a fitting mate for the Chosen One!
* Reason # 147 why Draco would make a bad spy: he’s incapable of keeping his mouth shut about his secret mission.
* So do pupils just wear their robes over their normal clothes? I suppose they must do, but it must be rather hot and awkward with so many layers of clothing on.
* Look, JKR, I don’t know how they do things up in Scotland, but in most of the Western world, it’s quite common for boyfriends and girlfriends to hold each other’s hands. I think Pansy was “expecting” Draco to take hold of hers, rather than “hoping”.
* Draco stands on Harry’s nose and fingers. ZOMG how evil of him! A really virtuous person would be brave and gallant enough to use a full-on Crucio, not go pussyfooting around with broken noses and the like.
* Although I don’t quite get why Draco didn’t take Harry’s invisibility cloak for himself. I mean, yeah, leaving him on the train is a good prank, but not as good as getting a free invisibility cloak at the expense of your worst enemy.
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Date: 2012-12-30 06:46 pm (UTC)The DEs aren't 'elite' fighters, they are those people Voldemort has the most power over, his personal slaves. The question is whether being able to contact Draco via the Dark Mark was something Tom saw as an advantage - as a way to ensure compliance.
Fleur’s talking about colours for the bridesmaids’ dresses, which is probably meant to mark her out as vain and shallow. True heroes don’t care at all about such things, which is why the Weasleys’ tackiness is a sign of their great virtue.
But the Chamber of Secrets had a tacky statue of Slytherin! That makes him heroic! And the Ministry had a tacky statue of an elf, a goblin and a centaur admiring a wizard and a witch! (Does anyone have good taste in wizarding Britain? Maybe the Malfoys.)
Anyway, Fleur wants dress colors that look good with Ginny's hair. Ginny is of course a thankless brat.
Two Aurors arrive, and Mrs. Weasley “seemed a little flustered by [their] austere efficiency.” Not surprising, really, given the general corruption and incompetence of wizarding government. I imagine meeting some genuinely efficient workers must be rather disorienting.
I wonder if their efficiency reminds her of Percy.
Mr. Weasley pooh-poohs Harry’s suggestion that Malfoy was buying something dark and dangerous, on the grounds that the Ministry searched his house recently and took away all the dark and dangerous stuff.
And after DH we know that this was despite the fact that Ollivander had been in the Malfoys' dungeon for over a month by now. In the supposedly secret hiding place under the drawing room, of which Arthur was informed by Ron back in COS. (And I wonder if Voldemort himself had already moved in with the Malfoys by then.) Some search.
The train pulls off, and Mrs. Weasley’s last words are to Harry, not Ron or Ginny. I wonder what her own children think of this.
Molly runs after the train like Ginny in PS. This must have romantic symbolism, right?
I notice Neville still has Trevor. So I can't blame Trevor's supposed escape to the lake (according to Pottermore) on fear of the twins. And Neville doesn't seem like he'd be grateful if Trevor were gone for good.
Ron is wondering why Draco isn't bullying first years. Except we never saw him bullying anyone of younger years. As opposed to, say, the twins.
I notice Harry didn't know Cormac, after sharing a common room for 5 years.
“Everyone here seemed to have been invited because they were connected to someone well-known or influential – everyone except Ginny.” And Harry, of course, but he’s far too modest to say so.
Harry is connected to Lily The Perfect, and Ginny must have reminded Horace of Lily The Perfect.
What’s with all the Zacharias hate going around? You’d have thought that Ginny and Harry would respect him as a fellow member of the DA. Did they get a peek at the plot outline and see that he’ll end up pushing first-years out of his way to escape?
Harry can't forgive Zach for wanting to know more about Cedric's death and Ginny is annoyed because he wants more details about the battle (which Ginny can't really provide, since she was out of most of it, having escaped with Ron and Luna and broken her ankle). Zach is guilty of wanting to make an informed opinion, which is a huge crime. You're supposed to follow Dumbledore and Harry without questioning.
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Date: 2013-01-04 12:40 am (UTC)Excellent, a new (to me, anyway) bit of anti-Ginny canon wisdom, even after all this time. Yay!
Molly runs after the train like Ginny in PS. This must have romantic symbolism, right?
Hee!!!! :-) :-)
Ginny must have reminded Horace of Lily The Perfect.
This flies in the face of the collected wisdom of the pro-Ginny HP fans, who have long protested that Ginny was nothing like Lily (otherwise their blessed H/G romantic union would be icky). And there is really absolutely nothing in the books that draw any sort of comparison between the two. I recall the H/G fans even pointing out that the two girls had different shades of reddish hair - auburn versus 'fiery red'?
No, if you want a beautiful muggle-born genius prefect it's towards Harry's distaff best friend you should cast your eyes ... :-)
Ginny is annoyed because he wants more details about the battle (which Ginny can't really provide, since she was out of most of it, having escaped with Ron and Luna and broken her ankle).
Hey, more anti-Ginny slant to the canon ... she didn't cowardly zap Zach in the back just because she's a brat, but also because she was embarrassed at her poor showing!
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Date: 2013-01-04 07:05 am (UTC)To be fair, once the kids realized Sirius wasn't there to be saved, their main goal was to get out of there alive, so I'm not blaming Ginny for 'poor showing'. But she could have been honest about it in the aftermath instead of hexing Zach.
But yes, this is the main anti-Ginny book, isn't it? Because Rowling was trying so hard to make her awesome without actually showing her being awesome in any way.
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Date: 2013-01-04 07:23 am (UTC)In book 5 she partakes in the Ministry battle ... and her contribution is to break her ankle and have to be carried out. Such a classic 'helpless female' trope!
In book 6 the only prowess she demonstrates is to dodge curses from death eaters. (If you don't count assaulting fellow students behind their backs.)
In book 7 she casts ONE 'well-aimed jinx' and otherwise is again recognised by her almost failing to dodge a Killing curse.
It's a 'poor showing' all along the way.
But yes, this is the main anti-Ginny book, isn't it? Because Rowling was trying so hard to make her awesome without actually showing her being awesome in any way.
It really is. The main 'anti-Ginny' book, simply because Rowling did such a horrible job at shoving her in the readers' faces. She'd spent three books building up H/Cho and then suddenly seemed to realise that she just had the single book #6 to build Ginny up as the token love interest suitable for the 'hero' before the princess is stuck in the tower for the duration of the concluding volume.
It seems almost impossible for Rowling to have done such a bad job, sometimes ... one might be inclined to wonder if it was on purpose, if we were supposed to not like Ginny ... but Rowling was so enthusiastically patting herself on the back in the Interview o' Doom immediately after the book's release with her two sycophantic 'interviewers', instructing them and the fans on why Ginny was so wonderful ... we just have to believe that Rowling sincerely thought she'd done a good job with Ginny.
And then in book 7 she keeps Ginny firmly in that tower, almost totally out of sight, while giving any scenes of depth (with Harry) to Hermione and Luna.
It beggars the mind, it does. It's like HBP (and then DH) were free gifts for the anti-H/G crowd.
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Date: 2013-01-04 06:23 pm (UTC)Yes, it’s really strange that Ginny barely showed up in DH. You’d think that since she’s Harry’s girlfriend and One True Love, she’d come with them on their camping trip. Or, if she simply couldn’t come with Harry and Co. on the hunt for Horcruxes because she was needed at home, why not have her keep a constant correspondence with them, so that they could keep tabs on what’s going on back at Hogwarts and the reader could learn what Ginny and Neville were doing to keep up the resistance? Ginny doesn’t fight alongside Harry in the final battle either. She fights along with Hermione and Luna, but not with him. And when the battle is finally over, Harry doesn’t even run over to her to hug or kiss her. He just heads off to Dumbledore’s office as soon as he’s done meeting with Hermione, Ron, and Luna.
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Date: 2013-01-04 10:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-04 10:56 pm (UTC)I was really worried that Ginny would be a major player in DH. Given how artificially Rowling had written her in HBP, how clumsily she'd been supposedly placed on centre stage with Harry, I couldn't see how the girl could fail to be even more prominent in the end game. Particularly with Rowling's HBP Interview o' Doom wherein she showed just how pleased she was with her 'perfect for him' love interest. I really did think there was a big chance that Ginny would feature prominently in DH, would come dashing to Harry's rescue at some stage, flaming tresses flying in the wind, 'hard, blazing look' cutting down the dark lord and so forth. Seriously. Something as embarrassingly blatant and amateurish as what Rowling wrote in these HBP chapters.
And yet she made Ginny a non-entity. A complete washout. Even when everything's over, as you say, Harry explicitly thinks "I choose to ignore Ginny (in her pain), I can always see her later, I want a sandwich".
I'm stunned sometimes - like now, having written the above! - that any HP fan can hold true to Rowling's H/G pairing. Or at least believe that it was anything more than a simple case of teenage attraction to a rather nasty little girl.
This was the chapter where the whole Ginny train wreck unravelled. I remember squirming in my seat, thinking no, but wait, this can't be serious, I would never contrive to hoist Ginny into the limelight - if she is to become Harry's love interest - so badly! She's a member of the Slub Club JUST BECAUSE. No, this can't be serious, there must be a reason we'll be given later?
But there never was.
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Date: 2013-01-05 12:29 pm (UTC)It's a 'poor showing' all along the way.
You could also add, in book 7 she leads an attempted break-in into the Headmaster's Office to steal the Sword of Gryffindor, and fails. All successful resistance activity was henceforth to be carried out by the nearest capable male character, Neville.
Does Harry even think of Ginny as a soul mate? I had an idea that Harry's true love is actually Ron - who was shown to be the one most precious to him in the 2nd Triwizard Task - and Ginny eventually fulfils a role as a sort of female component of Ron he can marry and have kids with. Or maybe a better way of putting it is that "Harry+Ginny" is just a subset of "Harry+Ron".
After all, the Harry/Ginny pairing only really kicks off with Ron's nod of consent. Even in that scene at the Burrow in DH when Harry and Ginny are having a Moment, Ron breaks them up as if it's his right to interfere and Harry certainly doesn't protest. For all I can see Ginny was never anything more than "Ron's sister" in Harry's eyes and their relationship exists only as sanctioned by Ron.
I always saw JK's strength as a writer in action/intrigue rather than in romance, so while reading HBP the first time I decided not to be too put off by Harry/Ginny, since there were (supposedly) bigger things at play.
But in the end it turned out that the only issue of any apparent importance was who married who, and that made it all the harder to believe in any sort of 'Happy Ever After'. For instance, at the end of HBP Harry notes that the wonderful thing about Ginny is that she rarely gets "weepy". God forbid that any icky signs of emotion mess up their perfect, wonderful romance. What a loving, communicative couple those two must be ...
The thing is, it feels like there was potential for more to Harry/Ginny than endless observations of how badass, feisty and redheaded and cute Ginny is. Ginny pointed this out herself in OotP when Harry was angsting about being possessed by Voldemort. Who was the one person in Harry's world who knew what it felt like to have Voldemort invade her brain? Who could have, dare we say, shared insights into how Voldemort thinks and how he controls people? At the VERY LEAST, who was the ONE PERSON who could genuinely sympathise with Harry in all his pain, confusion and aloneness while he was being mentally attacked by Voldemort?
Excuse me for the long rant! ... For all the reasons gone through above, this was the book where I really began to hate Ginny and the fact we're supposed to regard her as a heroine. :(
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Date: 2013-01-05 01:03 pm (UTC)No. That's a Rowling meta-observation, Rowling patting herself on the back and lecturing her readers that she wrote them as soul mates.
If it wasn't for Rowling trying to make the H/G more than what she wrote the pairing would be more acceptable. It was just Harry's first teenage fling, he liked Ginny's looks (just like 'a lot of boys' :-)) and she was a good kisser, nothing more than that.
(The epilogue is still sad, suggesting he matured no further but stuck with that first fling, knowing no better, poor boy.)
A lot of fans have suggested that Harry only married Ginny so he could 'officially' become a member of the Weasley family. I never thought much of the theory myself; he was already pretty much adopted as it was, regardless of his marrying her.
... while reading HBP the first time I decided not to be too put off by Harry/Ginny, since there were (supposedly) bigger things at play.
Heh. :-) I'd spent the previous 2 years debating how the romantic side of things was going to end up, so I couldn't help but focus on such.
But in the end it turned out that the only issue of any apparent importance was who married who -
Pretty much. Harry only defeated the dark lord through a lucky deus ex machina accident - so there was no big payoff to any heroic pursuits, no big drama to which closure had to be paid - and the wizarding world wasn't changed in the slightest. So yes.
... it feels like there was potential for more to Harry/Ginny than endless observations of how badass, feisty and redheaded and cute Ginny is.
Yes. But Rowling chose not to use it. Instead that's all she gave us; a superficial one-dimensional not very nice little girl.
... this was the book where I really began to hate Ginny -
Same here. She was a non-entity for books 1-4, and acceptably assertive/independent in OotP. It was only with Rowling's bad, simplistic, trite and artificial writing in this book that there was reason to really hate Ginny. Both because she was so horribly written, and also because what *was* written made her out to be a nasty little brat of a girl.
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Date: 2013-01-05 01:13 pm (UTC)Ha ha, YES! I'd forgotten that.
I've had pro-canon zombie fans insist that Ginny was the LEADER of the DA (because the painting of Nigellus happens to mention her name first of the three) and that she was a GOOD leader because of the expedition to grab the sword. That this was proof of how capable she is.
Ha ha ha!! You've got to be desperate if you're a Ginny fan. :-)
Are you sure that she *leads* the attempted break-in? Nigellus says that 'the girl and her friends' were foolhardy and were punished. The focus is on her with the discussion right outside the Trio's tent because the news of the raid was relayed via Bill Weasley, hence the emphasis on little Ginny.
Is all you've got to go on just the fact that Nigellus mentions 'the silly girl' first?
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Date: 2013-01-05 09:20 pm (UTC)So here are a couple of other things that Ginny achieved in book 7:
- Kissed Harry like he had never been kissed before
- Got defensive and jealous when Harry's ex-girlfriend arrived on the scene
Yep, that's a strong, self-reliant female character right there, that is ...
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Date: 2012-12-30 09:33 pm (UTC)It appears her Continuity Editor doesn't either!!
* “Had Voldemort chosen Neville, it would be Neville sitting opposite Harry bearing the lightning-shaped scar and the weight of the prophecy… or would it?” No, because Neville, as the only half-way competent character in the series, would have beaten Voldemort long ago, and sent him scurrying back to Albania, tail between his legs.
More than likely that the Longbottoms, including Neville,would be dead because Snape was in love with Lily Potter not Alice Longbottom.
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Date: 2012-12-30 11:13 pm (UTC)As am I. Really, their stubborn refusal to believe Harry’s claims is so nonsensical and out of character that the only viable reason is “Because the plot says so.” Especially when Hermione cares more about Harry doing better than her at Potions than the attempted murders of her crush and a fellow Gryffindor girl.
/Ginny’s idea of a joke is “be careful, there’s a lot of Phlegm around”/
At least it’s some consolation for Draco’s embarrassing attempt at humor in Madam Malkin’s. Apparently, “she has cooties” is the epitome of witty repartee in the wizarding world, so it’s not just him.
/Ron hurries forward, hoping Fleur will kiss him goodbye, but Ginny humiliates him by tripping him up./
Umm…why? No, really, why? Fleur is already engaged to Bill, so why is Ginny so determined that Ron not have any interaction with her? For Bill’s sake? For Hermione’s sake? Or does she just hate Fleur that much? Or, rather, does she disdain Ron this much?
/Harry smirks at the sight of Marrietta’s “odd formation of pimples still etched across her face”./
Just like how Umbridge must have smirked at the sight of the scars still etched on Harry’s hand. Or maybe how Voldemort might have smirked when Bellatrix told him about how she scarred and tortured Hermione in Malfoy Manor.
Seriously – what is *up* with this? Harry barely knows this girl, and all she did was to tell on him, but everything turned out fine in the end anyway (except for Sirius’ death). Why is he being so vindictive and sadistic? If this had happened to Voldemort and Harry had smirked, at least that would have been partly understandable because of Voldemort’s crimes against Harry. Heck, even if Draco or Snape had been the one who was scarred, at least they have a history of mutual animosity to account for Harry’s smugness. But Marietta? The girl who showed up in only one book and barely had any dialogue? Who didn’t really interact with Harry at all? Somehow, her humiliation is such a triumph that it warrants Harry’s smirking? I don’t get this.
/Remember when Voldemort wanted to abolish the school Houses and we were all expected to go “Oh noes, what a terrible idea!”/
Or when the Sorting Hat urged the Houses to unite in the last book? Whatever happened to that? Although, come to think of it, does that make it kind of ironic that when Voldemort announced that Slytherin will be the only House, he was preparing to burn the Sorting Hat?
/And Harry, of course, but he’s far too modest to say so./
Well, Harry *is* well-known, so that’s why he counts.
/Even Blaise finds Ginny pretty, and he’s really hard to please. See everybody, Ginny’s so hot, even people who hate her think so!/
So, does that mean that Hermione is actually really pretty too, since Draco was so shocked by her makeover at the Yule Ball that he couldn’t think of anything to insult her with?
/Reason # 147 why Draco would make a bad spy: he’s incapable of keeping his mouth shut about his secret mission./
In an alternate universe where Voldemort actually cared about some of his followers, I wonder if Draco ever reminded him of Barty.
/Draco stands on Harry’s nose and fingers. ZOMG how evil of him! A really virtuous person would be brave and gallant enough to use a full-on Crucio, not go pussyfooting around with broken noses and the like./
Especially broken noses that are able to be healed. Not like Marietta’s lasting scars. Also, other people have pointed out that Draco and his friends were stepped on when Harry and Co. all hexed them unconscious in GoF. And they were also turned into slugs by the end of OotP. So, yeah, Draco stomping on Harry’s face is nasty, but it’s not like it’s completely unwarranted.
/Although I don’t quite get why Draco didn’t take Harry’s invisibility cloak for himself./
That’s a good point. Surely Draco would have thought that it could be useful for his mission, right?
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Date: 2012-12-31 12:47 am (UTC)JKR was asked about this and replied that she hates traitors.
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Date: 2013-01-01 10:32 pm (UTC)My two cents!
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Date: 2013-01-04 12:55 am (UTC)That's a huge caveat right there, isn't it? Giving Harry a lot of *emotional* (if not logical) reason to rage at Marietta.
Why is he being so vindictive and sadistic?
Because he's a sixteen year old boy, and sixteen year old boys can't stand tattle-tales and betrayers.
(Which puts Rowling - her stated reason for Marietta's pimple permanency being "I abhor a traitor" - in the same mental mindset as her teenage protagonist. But I guess that's a good thing for an author.)
So, does that mean that Hermione is actually really pretty too, since Draco was so shocked by her makeover at the Yule Ball that he couldn’t think of anything to insult her with?
Yes, it does! Good one!
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Date: 2013-01-05 11:34 pm (UTC)For Sirius' death not to happen, one of the following would have to occur/not occur: Harry remembering the mirror instead of going for the Floo to contact Sirius; Harry choosing to stay at Hogwarts and contact the Order via Minerva, Snape, Patronus, or owl; and/or Sirius choosing to stay at Grimmauld Place and let the Order handle it.
So I can't see a way for him to lay that on Marietta logically OR emotionally, unless he is literally blaming everyone who ever did something against him for it. Which I guess I could almost believe of Harry.
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Date: 2013-01-06 12:01 am (UTC)I agree with you; I think both aikaterini and I were mistaken in attaching Sirius's death to the Marietta chain of the events.
So I'd say it's simply a case of a teenage Harry sharing his author mistress's abhorrence for traitors.
That, and the fact that he still would have associated special 'emotional payload' to her betrayal. After all, the D.A. was practically the only good thing that Harry experienced in a very bad year - while initially reluctant to take it on he grew to love leading the D.A. sessions - and so he would naturally detest Marietta's betraying them.
(Of course his extreme indifference to starting up the D.A. again in book #6 weakens my argument, but that's a HBP problem/error. :-) I do think my reasoning makes sense for Harry as Rowling chose to write him in OotP.)
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Date: 2013-01-06 10:03 pm (UTC)Yes, although apparently she found all that makeover stuff too much hassle to bother with normally. So Hermione, like so many other HP characters, gets to have her cake and eat it: she gets credit for not being vain and shallow (as do Harry and Ron for hanging around with her), but she's actually super beautiful as well.
(By DH, she's apparently attractive enough for random muggles to proposition her in the street. I'm not sure when she supposedly got so sexy, though, because Harry naturally doesn't notice on his own.)
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Date: 2013-01-07 08:31 am (UTC)Being wolf-whistled in the street doesn't mean Hermione is sexy; it means the people wolf-whistling her are sexist d***heads.
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Date: 2013-01-01 11:11 pm (UTC)It never occurs to him that Malfoy may want to replace the things that were taken away and hide them better this time so as not to lose them.
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Date: 2013-01-03 02:38 pm (UTC)For a bravely brave Gryffindor, she does seem to be all talk, no action. Apart from her omg totally badass Bat Bogey Jinx in OotP once any authority figures had left the room, she does come off as very sly in this book (as opposed to poor dead COS!Ginny, whose body she stole.) - here, she's talking about Fleur behind her back, tripping Ron, making faces about Slughorn behind his back...
When she crashes into Zacharias Smith, she then immediately tells the teacher it was an accident.
She calls Luna 'Loony' behind her back, but gets enraged when others do so.
She lies to her mother (which I'm guessing is supposed to make her look badass, when really it's like...you're lying to Mommy to hide a mess you made. That's totally adult!)
Not that her constant aggression isn't in keeping with Harry and his friends, but at least they take people on to their faces. (Usually vastly outnumbering their victims, but hey...)
Maybe it's the Evil Feminity in her coming out (Hermione also uses deception to even the playing field, at least, in OotP.)
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Date: 2013-01-03 08:32 pm (UTC)Oh, wait, I forgot; if Draco makes faces behind Snape’s back to Harry, trips him, calls people names, and tries to pass off his misbehavior as a misunderstanding or an accident, he’s evil and an obnoxious bully. But when Ginny does the same things, she’s awesome.
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Date: 2013-01-03 10:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-06 10:07 pm (UTC)Maybe it's the Evil Feminity in her coming out (Hermione also uses deception to even the playing field, at least, in OotP.)
Well, when Harry wants to try out the Prince's spells, he doesn't exactly give his
victimstest participants fair warning, so it's not just a girl thing going on. (Maybe Rowling was trying to ward off accusations of sexism by making all her characters equally obnoxious and unlikeable, regardless of gender.)no subject
Date: 2013-01-04 01:06 am (UTC)Ugh.
Maybe this was the book that proved that Rowling was writing to a juvenile readership, I think(*). But even as a teen I would have questioned this sort of thing - unjustified sycophancy and simple horridness - I would hope.
(*) Or that, despite her intent, she couldn't go above that level.
It's also the book where any hope of Harry being *special* - other than lucking out with special mummy magic - went out the door. Draco defeats him embarrassingly easily in this chapter. Snape completely wallops him at the end with ease (making Harry's bluster at wanting to engage in DH a poor farce). This whole book was just about Harry Potter, schoolboy, focusing on teenage lust and jealousies. With a big battle of nothing at the end.