HBP Chapter Twelve: "Silver and Opals"

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

* Harry feels “slightly abandoned” now Dumbledore’s not talking to him. I wonder if this is how every other Hogwarts pupil and member of staff feels all the time?

* Harry’s trying out his hexes on unsuspecting victims in the corridors. Obviously he doesn’t give them an opportunity to fight back or defend themselves in any way; clearly, Gryffindors are only expected to show their famous courage and chivalry towards the right sort of people.

* Incidentally, remember when those notorious pureblood supremacists in Slytherin tried out experimental new hexes on the helpless squib janitor? No, me neither.

* So Levicorpus is specifically written as non-verbal. Any ideas as to why this is? Maybe there are two different kinds of spells, non-verbal and verbal, and the reason why non-verbal spells are usually so difficult is that you have to try and cast them using the “wrong” type of magic for that spell. Oh, for a thought-through and consistent system of magic!

* “On the other hand, the Prince had proved a much more effective teacher than Snape so far.” Ooh, I see what you did there, JKR, you master of irony you.

* “‘…and then there was another flash of light and I landed on the bed again!’ grinned Ron, helping himself to sausages.” Did Ron really “grin” that, Rowling? Does he have some hitherto unsuspected power as a ventriloquist? Or did you actually mean to write “said Ron, grinning”?

* I assume that when Hermione disapproves of the spell because it’s “not Ministry-approved”, there was meant to be an implicit “…and therefore potentially dangerous”? If so, she’s quite right, and Harry’s rather reckless for trying it out. If not, and her objection is just that it’s not been approved by the Ministry, then that’s a rather bizarre attitude for a supposedly curious and questioning person to take.

* We’re told that “[b]oth Harry and Ron shouted her down at once”, but only Ron gets quoted as saying anything. What Harry just making a loud incoherent noise then?

* Err, Ron, “Fred and George do it, therefore it must be OK” is not a good argument. You of all people should know that.

* Harry objects to the idea that the Prince wasn’t very nice, because “if he’d been a budding Death Eater he wouldn’t have been boasting about being ‘Half-Blood’.” Apparently he’s forgotten about all the people he’s met who were neither Death Eaters nor particularly nice people.

* “I’m going [to Hogsmeade] with Dean,” says Ginny, “might see you there.” Hey, look, everybody, she’s got a boyfriend! How cool and awesomely popular she is. Can you see how perfect she is for the Chosen One?

* “[W]hen they finally reached Hogsmeade and saw that Zonko’s Joke Shop had been boarded up, Harry took it as confirmation that this trip was not destined to be fun.” I, meanwhile, take it as confirmation that’s Harry’s been stuck in a state of arrested development since age eleven or so, which is when most people grow out of finding whoopee cushions and fake dog poos remotely fun.

* Incidentally, I wonder if Zonko’s has gone bust because it was out-competed by the Weasley Twins.

* Ron’s strange methods of speech are once again on display: he’s “shiver[ing]” his words now.

* Harry, Ron and Ginny like to laugh about Hermione being cooped up with McLaggen and Zabini. Meanwhile, I bet most other students are laughing about Harry, Ron and Ginny being stuck with… well, with each other, probably.

* Harry “had momentarily forgotten that he owned number twelve, Grimmauld Place.” Wow, it must be nice to be rich enough to forget about owning a new house and fortune.

* Incidentally, don’t think that this makes Harry any less of an underdog. Quite the reverse, in fact: since he keeps forgetting about his new house and wads of cash, it’s as if they don’t exist to him, and hence they make no difference to his levels of privilege.

* Hermione keeps belittling Ron and doing him down, and reacts quite strongly when he even so much hints at losing interest in her and showing attention to another woman. Can we say “abusive relationship”, anybody?

* Katie rises to the air, “not as Ron had done, suspended comically by the ankle, but gracefully.” Sorry Ron, even people who are half-way through being murdered look better than you.

* Harry recognises the opal necklace from four years ago, but next book he won’t be able to recognise Grindelwald from the previous chapter. Once again people’s abilities vary wildly according to the demands of the plot.

* I like how Ron doesn’t think that Draco could be behind it, because Katie got the necklace in the girls’ bathroom. Yeah, sure Draco could cast an Unforgiveable Curse and plot to murder somebody, but sneaking into a girls’ bathroom? Don’t be ridiculous. Even evil has standards, after all.

* So how exactly did Malfoy get the necklace to the school in the first place? Did he conceal it somewhere outside the grounds and give it to Madam Rosmerta later?

* “‘Away?’ Harry repeated angrily.” Yeah, how dare the Headmaster go away without telling Harry. He ought to have realised that his primary duty is to attend on the Chosen One whenever the Chosen One wishes him to be present.

* Harry tells McGonagall about Draco’s trip to Borgin and Burke’s… and for some reason neglects to tell her how he overheard him boasting that he’d been given a task by the Dark Lord. Oh well, can’t have Harry presenting his case too strongly, can we, or else Malfoy might get found out and apprehended before he can advance the plot sufficiently.

* Incidentally, does Harry ever tell anybody other than Ron and Hermione what he heard on the Hogwarts Express? If it was me I’d go to Dumbledore/a responsible teacher first thing off the train and report what I heard.

* Whilst McGonagall pooh-poohs Harry’s Malfoy theory, neither she nor any other members of staff ever try to find out who the actual culprit is.

* I’m not sure why the idea of using accomplices seems so ridiculous to Hermione. Maybe it’s too cunning for the average wizard to think of.

* Ron “casually [turfs] a first-year out of one of the good armchairs by the fire”. Good to know that Gryffindor prefects all have such a fair, friendly manner. Not like that evil Malfoy kid, who went around bullying the younger students.

* Incidentally, how come Harry always knows what year people are in? Do they have little numbers on their uniforms or something?

* Malfoy’s never been one of the world’s great thinkers, says Harry, who clearly recognises a fellow simpleton when he sees one.

Comments

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

/Harry’s trying out his hexes on unsuspecting victims in the corridors. Obviously he doesn’t give them an opportunity to fight back or defend themselves in any way/

Well, his father didn’t. At least not with Snape.

/Incidentally, remember when those notorious pureblood supremacists in Slytherin tried out experimental new hexes on the helpless squib janitor? No, me neither./

In fact, when was the last time that we heard of the Slytherins hexing anybody outside of the Trio since Draco hexed Neville in PS/SS?

/Hermione keeps belittling Ron and doing him down, and reacts quite strongly when he even so much hints at losing interest in her and showing attention to another woman./

But when Ron makes Hermione cry and flips out at her about Viktor Krum, he’s just being a jealous jerk.

/Sorry Ron, even people who are half-way through being murdered look better than you./

Poor Ron. *hugs him*

/Yeah, sure Draco could cast an Unforgiveable Curse and plot to murder somebody, but sneaking into a girls’ bathroom? Don’t be ridiculous. Even evil has standards, after all./

Umm…didn’t Tom Riddle kill a girl in the girls’ bathroom? And doesn’t Ron know this?

/Whilst McGonagall pooh-poohs Harry’s Malfoy theory, neither she nor any other members of staff ever try to find out who the actual culprit is./

And neither does Hermione, who also denies Harry’s theory. She’s far too busy sniping at Harry about the Half-Blood Prince’s book and being nasty to Ron to worry about something as insignificant as attempted murder.

[oryx_leucoryx]

In fact, when was the last time that we heard of the Slytherins hexing anybody outside of the Trio since Draco hexed Neville in PS/SS?

In OOTP Harry believes a Slytherin hexed Angelina to disable her before a Quidditch game. I can't remember if any hexes were involved when the IS captured Neville, Luna and Ginny.

[mmmarcusz.livejournal.com]

At least then there was at least some purpose, they weren't attacking them for their amusement.

[lynn-waterfall.livejournal.com]

/Yeah, sure Draco could cast an Unforgiveable Curse and plot to murder somebody, but sneaking into a girls’ bathroom? Don’t be ridiculous. Even evil has standards, after all./

Umm…didn’t Tom Riddle kill a girl in the girls’ bathroom? And doesn’t Ron know this?

And wasn't Ron himself in a girls' bathroom frequently in that book?

Maybe his point is that Draco would've been noticed, since this bathroom wasn't an abandoned one. Still, if you're using the Imperius Curse anyway... nope, this objection doesn't stand up to scrutiny, either.

[dracasadiablo.livejournal.com]

And neither does Hermione, who also denies Harry’s theory. She’s far too busy sniping at Harry about the Half-Blood Prince’s book and being nasty to Ron to worry about something as insignificant as attempted murder.

One of the things that bothers me most about this book is the rampant OOC syndrome.
Ron and Hermione went along with Harry for years. And whenever something interesting was happening all three of them were in the middle of it.
In this book there are attempted murders and they don't care.
Even if they believed Harry was wrong with his Draco obsession, they still should have been trying to find out what is happening.

[sunnyskywalker]

It's a shame Draco (or Snape, helping him) didn't set up a decoy alternate suspect. Then Ron and Hermione could have had their own explanation for what was going on and been keeping tabs on it, but Harry disagreed with their conclusion. (I wonder if Zacharias Smith is a leftover fossil of such a subplot that cut cut, come to think of it.)

I mean, I like the explanation that after the Ministry "rescue" fiasco, Ron and Hermione are wary of trusting Harry's judgment on what should be done about a problem, but there obviously is a problem here (Harry didn't just get a Voldie-vision hallucination that Ron got poisoned!), so it would make sense if they thought they knew what was going on - and that they had taken steps to make sure it was under control ("Harry, we told McGonagall what we overheard Zacharias say, and we and Ginny and Luna have been having the portraits watch his every move! He can't try again without being discovered") and Harry really was just being paranoid and bearing grudges.

[dracasadiablo.livejournal.com]

It's a shame Draco (or Snape, helping him) didn't set up a decoy alternate suspect. Then Ron and Hermione could have had their own explanation for what was going on and been keeping tabs on it, but Harry disagreed with their conclusion. (I wonder if Zacharias Smith is a leftover fossil of such a subplot that cut cut, come to think of it.)
That would have been much more interesting to read.
But it would have also made sense so I suppose JKR just couldn't use it. WW is above silly things such as sense.

Yes, the way they just don't care about things is stupidly OOC.
Ron was almost killed, Katie Bell was in hospital for six months (even if they don't care about her personally, I would have expected them to think it was a attack on Gryffindor Quidditch team or something) ... they should have reacted to it.

I mean, Hermione spends time trying to find out who was the Half-Blood Prince but she doesn't care to investigate anything else?
If she was fed up with Harry's Draco obsession she should have been working extra hard to find out who is responsible for the attacks.
If nothing else then just so she could say "You see Harry? It wasn't Draco! I told you so!"

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

"Maybe his point is that Draco would've been noticed, since this bathroom wasn't an abandoned one. Still, if you're using the Imperius Curse anyway... nope, this objection doesn't stand up to scrutiny, either."

Yeah, that objection, whilst slightly less silly, still fails. After all, there are plenty of ways Malfoy could have avoided being noticed: hide in a cubicle till the right moment, polyjuice, invisibility cloak...

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

Actually, now that I think of it, we aren't told that Katie got the necklace in the bathrooms, just that she had it when she came back. Draco could have met her on the way back, convinced her to come somewhere quiet with him, whipped out his want and imperioed her, all without ever setting foot in the bathrooms.