Pottermore: GOF chapters 1-20
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deathtocapslockThe Pottermore wiki has info for the first half of GOF at this point. There is surprisingly little material, compared to the earlier books. Maybe Rowling is getting tired of making things up on the spot.
Chapter 4 has a blurb about The Floo Network. Nothing new, but there's a story about how in 1855 a witch named Violet Tillyman entered the fireplace at her home while sobbing (following a fight with her husband). As a result instead of going to 'Mum's house' she ended up at the residence of Myron Otherhaus, with whom she stayed for 20 years and had 7 children. Violet only resurfaced after her husband's death. For more details follow the link. I suppose in 20 years she never ran across her husband in Diagon Alley. The lesson is, if you are interested in meeting random distressed magical folks, change your last name to something that rhymes with 'house'.
Chapter 6 tells us about Portkeys. Nothiing we didn't know. So 200 Portkeys around Britain covered all locations where wizards lived? I wonder how many Portkeys were needed for places like London or Hogsmeade alone.
We are not how hard is it to avert Ministry authorization of creating a Portkey (as Dumbledore does a few times in canon).
Chapter 7 informs us of the significance of colors, especially of clothing. As one might suspect, the color green has sinister connotations related to Dark magic and should not be worn at weddings. Makes one wonder what Molly was thinking with giving Harry green sweaters and green dress robes, surely avoiding association with Dark Magic is more important than something that brings out the color of his eyes? Also, doesn't Minerva sometimes wear green?
In chapter 15 we learn about Beauxbatons Academy of Magic
Not much new about this school. It is located in a chateau surrounded by formal gardens and lawns in the Pyrenees. Students come from France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg. (Possibly also a small number from other countries. I'm wondering about where Italian and Swiss wizards go. Rowling could have had a school for students from countries speaking Romance languages and have the students from countries speaking Germanic languages attend another school, but she did not follow such a division.) The Flamels are alumni and may have contributed to the school's funding with their alchemically-derived gold.
Other alumni include Vincent Duc de Trefle-Picques, who escaped the Terror by creating an illusion that he was already decapitated (and how believable was this when he walked around?), Luc Millefeuille, the infamous pastry-maker and Muggle-poisoner (see, Muggle-murderers aren't limited to DEs). Fleur Delacour was awarded medals for bravery from both the French and British Ministries of Magic - for her participation in the Battle of Hogwarts. (Not that we know what she did there.) Olympe Maxime is still headmistress.
Beauxbatons had 62 wins in the Triwizard tournament to Hogwarts 63 (was this tidbit supposed to compensate for Fleur's poor performance in the second task in GOF?)
We also learn about Durmstrang
The new details:
- There are apparently 11 wizarding schools, worldwide.
- Rowling claims that this school once had the darkest reputation, but admits it wasn't actually merited. In all its centuries of existence (at least 7, since that's how old the Triwizard Tournament is) it only had 2 headmasters who were 'wizards of dubious allegiance or nefarious intent' (how do they compare with Twinkles?), and the second of these was Igor Karkaroff.
- Durmstrang was founded by the great Bulgarian witch Nerida Vulchanova
- After her mysterious death, the headship was taken by Harfang Munter. He emphasized dueling and martial magic, and these remain central to the school's curriculum. (So - just the school for Harry?)
- Karkaroff was an unprincipled and egotistical man who encouraged a culture of fear and intimidation among the students, and many parents withdrew their children from Durmstrang while he was in charge. (Well, while under Dumbles' we see a culture of fear and intimidation - aka bullying - that ran for two generations, but we don't know of parents withdrawing their children. Then again, if children whose names Harry doesn't remember were withdrawn, how could we ever find out? What happened to Sally-Anne Perks? The mysterious disappearing Gryffindor girls? One might argue that up to 12 of Harry's classmates were withdrawn by 6th year.)
- Gellert Grindelwald was the most notorious Durmstrang former student.
- The school is probably located in the far north, but visitors are Obliviated of details of their travel (and that would include all members of Triwizard Tournament delegations during those times the tournament was hosted at Durmstrang).
- The famous Durmstrang ship is apparently routinely moored in a mountain lake behind the school.
Oh Dear Maths: The Tournament was established in the late 13th century and held every 5 years. There was a notorious instance in 1792 when the three headmasters were injured by a cockatrice. Assuming that until then the tournament was being held on schedule then the first one was probably held in 1292, and the 1792 was the 101st Tournament. I suppose Harry's victory counts as Hogwarts' 63rd, which means that the Tournament was held at least 124 times before that - 23 of them after the cockatrice incident. 1792 + 5*23 = 1907. This really leaves very little time for disbanding the tournament and attempting to restart it, even if we assume no wins by Durmstrang whatsoever. (Another way of looking at it: (1995 - 1292)/5 = 140.6 Knowing the tournament was held at least 125 times, no more than 15 opportunities to hold it were skipped even if we assume no Durmstrang wins.) It looks as though the Tournament was discontinued in the days of Headmaster Black (or perhaps just before his appointment as Headmaster), though there may have been a few later instances. As Hagrid says in chapter 16, "Never thought I'd live ter see the Triwizard Tournament played again!" Given the new information about the number of times it was played, there is indeed a good chance Hagrid did see it being played before, in one of the renewal attempts.
Another question: If Durmstrang has such a strong emphasis on combat spells, how come they hardly ever won the Tournament? Is that why Igor felt such pressure to give Viktor an advantage?
In chapter 18 we are told about The daily Prophet. No new information, but examples of Rowling's attitude: Wizardkind tends not to require alternative political flavours in its news coverage (which is not to say, however, that the Prophet does not have a political agenda). As a small, outsider and occasionally beleaguered community, wizards are, by and large, interested in the same kinds of stories: the Quidditch League results, whether anyone is in trouble for infractions of the International Statute of Secrecy, what irritating legislation the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office has come up with now, and when the next Celestina Warbeck/Weird Sisters concert will take place.
Chapter 4 has a blurb about The Floo Network. Nothing new, but there's a story about how in 1855 a witch named Violet Tillyman entered the fireplace at her home while sobbing (following a fight with her husband). As a result instead of going to 'Mum's house' she ended up at the residence of Myron Otherhaus, with whom she stayed for 20 years and had 7 children. Violet only resurfaced after her husband's death. For more details follow the link. I suppose in 20 years she never ran across her husband in Diagon Alley. The lesson is, if you are interested in meeting random distressed magical folks, change your last name to something that rhymes with 'house'.
Chapter 6 tells us about Portkeys. Nothiing we didn't know. So 200 Portkeys around Britain covered all locations where wizards lived? I wonder how many Portkeys were needed for places like London or Hogsmeade alone.
We are not how hard is it to avert Ministry authorization of creating a Portkey (as Dumbledore does a few times in canon).
Chapter 7 informs us of the significance of colors, especially of clothing. As one might suspect, the color green has sinister connotations related to Dark magic and should not be worn at weddings. Makes one wonder what Molly was thinking with giving Harry green sweaters and green dress robes, surely avoiding association with Dark Magic is more important than something that brings out the color of his eyes? Also, doesn't Minerva sometimes wear green?
In chapter 15 we learn about Beauxbatons Academy of Magic
Not much new about this school. It is located in a chateau surrounded by formal gardens and lawns in the Pyrenees. Students come from France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg. (Possibly also a small number from other countries. I'm wondering about where Italian and Swiss wizards go. Rowling could have had a school for students from countries speaking Romance languages and have the students from countries speaking Germanic languages attend another school, but she did not follow such a division.) The Flamels are alumni and may have contributed to the school's funding with their alchemically-derived gold.
Other alumni include Vincent Duc de Trefle-Picques, who escaped the Terror by creating an illusion that he was already decapitated (and how believable was this when he walked around?), Luc Millefeuille, the infamous pastry-maker and Muggle-poisoner (see, Muggle-murderers aren't limited to DEs). Fleur Delacour was awarded medals for bravery from both the French and British Ministries of Magic - for her participation in the Battle of Hogwarts. (Not that we know what she did there.) Olympe Maxime is still headmistress.
Beauxbatons had 62 wins in the Triwizard tournament to Hogwarts 63 (was this tidbit supposed to compensate for Fleur's poor performance in the second task in GOF?)
We also learn about Durmstrang
The new details:
- There are apparently 11 wizarding schools, worldwide.
- Rowling claims that this school once had the darkest reputation, but admits it wasn't actually merited. In all its centuries of existence (at least 7, since that's how old the Triwizard Tournament is) it only had 2 headmasters who were 'wizards of dubious allegiance or nefarious intent' (how do they compare with Twinkles?), and the second of these was Igor Karkaroff.
- Durmstrang was founded by the great Bulgarian witch Nerida Vulchanova
- After her mysterious death, the headship was taken by Harfang Munter. He emphasized dueling and martial magic, and these remain central to the school's curriculum. (So - just the school for Harry?)
- Karkaroff was an unprincipled and egotistical man who encouraged a culture of fear and intimidation among the students, and many parents withdrew their children from Durmstrang while he was in charge. (Well, while under Dumbles' we see a culture of fear and intimidation - aka bullying - that ran for two generations, but we don't know of parents withdrawing their children. Then again, if children whose names Harry doesn't remember were withdrawn, how could we ever find out? What happened to Sally-Anne Perks? The mysterious disappearing Gryffindor girls? One might argue that up to 12 of Harry's classmates were withdrawn by 6th year.)
- Gellert Grindelwald was the most notorious Durmstrang former student.
- The school is probably located in the far north, but visitors are Obliviated of details of their travel (and that would include all members of Triwizard Tournament delegations during those times the tournament was hosted at Durmstrang).
- The famous Durmstrang ship is apparently routinely moored in a mountain lake behind the school.
Oh Dear Maths: The Tournament was established in the late 13th century and held every 5 years. There was a notorious instance in 1792 when the three headmasters were injured by a cockatrice. Assuming that until then the tournament was being held on schedule then the first one was probably held in 1292, and the 1792 was the 101st Tournament. I suppose Harry's victory counts as Hogwarts' 63rd, which means that the Tournament was held at least 124 times before that - 23 of them after the cockatrice incident. 1792 + 5*23 = 1907. This really leaves very little time for disbanding the tournament and attempting to restart it, even if we assume no wins by Durmstrang whatsoever. (Another way of looking at it: (1995 - 1292)/5 = 140.6 Knowing the tournament was held at least 125 times, no more than 15 opportunities to hold it were skipped even if we assume no Durmstrang wins.) It looks as though the Tournament was discontinued in the days of Headmaster Black (or perhaps just before his appointment as Headmaster), though there may have been a few later instances. As Hagrid says in chapter 16, "Never thought I'd live ter see the Triwizard Tournament played again!" Given the new information about the number of times it was played, there is indeed a good chance Hagrid did see it being played before, in one of the renewal attempts.
Another question: If Durmstrang has such a strong emphasis on combat spells, how come they hardly ever won the Tournament? Is that why Igor felt such pressure to give Viktor an advantage?
In chapter 18 we are told about The daily Prophet. No new information, but examples of Rowling's attitude: Wizardkind tends not to require alternative political flavours in its news coverage (which is not to say, however, that the Prophet does not have a political agenda). As a small, outsider and occasionally beleaguered community, wizards are, by and large, interested in the same kinds of stories: the Quidditch League results, whether anyone is in trouble for infractions of the International Statute of Secrecy, what irritating legislation the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office has come up with now, and when the next Celestina Warbeck/Weird Sisters concert will take place.
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no subject
Date: 2014-01-22 02:59 pm (UTC)*Sigh* On a more serious note, I am sort-of interested in the chapter on colors. Admittedly a lot of it looks like it was pulled out of Rowling's ass yet again (you...really deliberately set out to make Hufflepuff's colors yellow and black to suggest earthy things?) but there is some genuinely interesting stuff, like how she used colors to set up Hagrid and Dumbledore as a sort of yin and yang (I believe Edgar Allen Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" did something similar).
Of course, if that's really what she were going for, might it have been more appropriate if she'd actually made Hagrid female? Just a thought....
no subject
Date: 2014-01-22 04:52 pm (UTC)Rowling has yet to answer where do Muggle-borns from eastern and central Europe attend school. Or if they don't, and just remain outside of wizarding society, unaware of the significance of their powers, what happens to them.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-22 05:12 pm (UTC)First because it very clearly underlines that, no matter how many time JKR told us that it do, WW doesn't have gender equality. And witches are forced into same homemaker roles.
Albert only misses his wife when there's a lot of dirty dishes in need of washing. /btw, do we ever see males cleaning things? Or teaching Harry any cleaning spells?
It also (if the missing person was ever reported) it shows how ineffective the police force is. Somebody goes missing but isn't really hiding or on other side of the world and they still can't find them. But then it's also possible that nobody ever bothered to look for Violet.
And it makes me wonder about the whole marriage / WW bonding thing. Did Violet and Myron marry thus making Violet a bigamist, or did they have children out side of marriage? And if they did how is that handled? Who's names did the kids get? Is WW perfectly okay with children born out of wedlock?
Somehow I doubt JKR will ever tell us anything about that.
It seems likely that wizards will continue to favour old-fashioned newsprint, even while the Muggle world resorts increasingly to the internet. If Muggle newspapers had moving photographs, their circulation might be similarly buoyant.
This is just plain silly. It's not like the only benefit of internet is "moving pictures".
no subject
Date: 2014-01-22 05:20 pm (UTC)Good points about Violet's story. I thought the fact that her husband only missed her when he needed her as a housewife was meant to be a criticism of the fact that he saw her as nothing else. IOW that he didn't care about her as a companion, or even a person at all. (Which then may be seen as a justification of her new relationship, though no idea about legalities.)
no subject
Date: 2014-01-22 05:32 pm (UTC)Hm, if Violet and Myron were together for 20 years and in that time had seven children, then some of them must have gone to Hogwarts before Albert died. So,how it's possible nobody figured out that Violet was alive and well?
no subject
Date: 2014-01-22 05:56 pm (UTC)But the way the story is told it makes me think there are two possible explanations for Violet hiding for 20 years.
1. Albert was more then "a bit of a bully" and the fight they had might have been much more then just a small quarrel. Once she escaped form him she was too scared to get to the Ministry and file for divorce (although, it's even possible WW doesn't allow it at all). And in that case it means that Violet believed that the police force wouldn't be able (or even want) to protect her if Albert decide to attack her. And so she spent 20 years hiding from even her mother and being afraid that somebody will recognize her.
2. Violet just decide not to bother with getting separated from Albert. She wasn't going to talk with him ever again even if that meant not talking with her mother, and hiding from the rest of the WW.
Neither one is good.
And yes, the whole "he missed her when he needed her as a housewife" looks to me too like criticism. And justification for ditching him.
But as JKR gave us 7 books of women cleaning and cooking for men? From Molly mothering everybody, Hermiona cooking for Ron and Harry, Tonks being the only character ever to help Harry pack (and clean Hedwig's cage)...
It just feels contrived.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-22 06:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-22 08:44 pm (UTC)Hm, if Violet and Myron were together for 20 years and in that time had seven children, then some of them must have gone to Hogwarts before Albert died. So, how is it possible nobody figured out that Violet was alive and well?
Maybe they gave the children Myron's last name, so no one had reason to make the connection.
The legalities of the whole story are pretty muddled; it would have been interesting to know what they were in the mid-nineteenth century when this happened and what has changed in current times. (The attitudes, unfortunately, still seem much the same.)
no subject
Date: 2014-01-23 02:53 am (UTC)The real color set-up here for yin & yang would be Black & White. In which case black is symbolized twice - in Sirius and in Snape. And let's face it - JKR did give poor Snape all the more feminine traits. Not that I mind that he covers those bases, if she just hadn't hinted that he was more the evil step-mother type.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-23 02:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-23 03:04 am (UTC)Like I said, the one other time I've seen them used that way (granted, not in such a way as to refer explicitly to yin and yang--that's just the easiest way of phrasing it) was in "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allen Poe. And frankly, if that was intended to be a reference it wouldn't surprise me at all.