PS Chapter Thirteen

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

*Ron cheerfully points out that Dumbledore was apparently right and the Mirror of Erised has driven Harry mad. How can you not love Ron?

*How does Hermione get back to school after Christmas? The kids never take the train back at Christmas, and she doesn’t have access to floos and Portkeys, does she?

*Harry’s almost given up hope of finding Nicolas Flamel in a library book. Which is really hilarious. A Muggle kid would have found out about three minutes after he wanted to know. No wonder Wizards don’t seem to do fiction—reference books are hard enough for them until someone invents an index spell.

*If Gryffindor can beat Hufflepuff they’ll overtake Slytherin for the first time in seven years. Those must have been the same seven years that Percy Weasley was being born over and over in a time loop, years now completely lost to the continuum and so impossible to fit into the canon we have.

* Gryffindor is angry at Snape refereeing, presuming he’s unfair, and yet Oliver also trusts that if they play a clean game he won’t be able to take points. Quite different from the position of Slytherin, who could have played the fairest game ever for the House Cup and still don’t have a chance. (Though people have explained to me that since they are Slytherin they *must* have cheated, and so it’s automatically fair to make sure they lose.)

*Hermione always loses at chess, which Harry and Ron think is very good for her. I, however, can’t help but be unsurprised that the thing that Ron’s randomly good at and Hermione is randomly bad it is something with no meaning outside the game. In real life it’s actually Hermione who treats people like chess pieces, not Ron.

*Harry tells them about Snape’s sudden, sinister desire to be referee. LOL! Snape—the villain who wants to be umpire! Im in ur Quidditch game, callin ur foulz!

*I’m going to assume that Ron’s suggestion that Harry really break his leg to avoid playing Quidditch is proof of Ron’s Seer abilities—omg Ron breaks his leg two books from now!

*Harry, of course, can’t do that because there’s no reserve Seeker. There’s no other person who could possibly perform this most straightforward task on the Quidditch field until Ginny Weasley II comes to town.

*Neville hops into the room explaining that he ran into Malfoy outside the library and he said he’d been looking for someone to practice the leg-locker on. This is a totally horrible type of thing for Malfoy to do at 11 (though I’m sure his delivery of the line was funny). It is, of course, a completely fine thing for Harry to be doing at 16 with toenail growing curses and such.

*Though of course the leg-locker would have been funny if Fred had done it. Especially if he’d done it to Malfoy himself.

*Interesting that when Ron says that Neville’s got to stand up to Malfoy, he means he should report him to McGonagall.

*If I were Neville, I’d probably be wanting the Trio to just piss off, myself. He doesn’t really care about what the Slytherins think of him, but he works hard to do whatever he has to do to be a Gryffindor and it really doesn’t work.

*Regardless, make sure to note this example of Malfoy bullying Neville—blink and you’ll miss it. Or worse file it with all those other times when Gryffindors hex people and it’s funny, since the Gryffindors thought it was funny.

*Nice example of house bias here, in that Malfoy has apparently insulted Neville (or made Neville feel insecure) by suggesting he doesn’t have enough courage to be in Gryffindor—as if Gryffindor is too good for Neville. Harry counters by pointing out that even if Neville isn’t quite as Gryffindor as Harry, he has still been Sorted into the superior house. I think it’s only in fanfic where the Slytherins have bias against Gryffindor to match the Gryffindor’s bias against Slytherins. In canon they insult individuals of the House, but respect the house just fine. Nobody within canon seems to see the standard Gryffindor flaws.

*Neville opens a chocolate frog that Harry gives him. The chocolate frog jumps out and beats Harry over the head with the Dumbledore/Nicolas Flamel card. He’s been sitting in the wrapper for weeks thinking the idiot child would never figure out who the guy was even with a whole library at his disposal.

*Not that this keeps Harry from announcing that he’s found Flamel as if Flamel wasn’t just dropped into his lap.

*Anyway, now that Harry’s got the card Hermione can suddenly open up a book she’s been reading that also talks about Flamel that she just, uh, never thought of checking.

*Ron and Harry look mystified at mention of the Philosopher’s Stone. If I were reading the American version I would here point out that they had every reason to be confused by what Hermione said, because there’s no such thing as a Sorcerer’s Stone.

*Ron says it’s no wonder they didn’t find Flamel in books about recent history because he’s really old. Which sounds like it makes sense, until you remember that "recent" doesn’t mean "young," so as long as Flamel’s alive you’d think you’d hear about him—if only with regards to younger Wizards also studying Philosopher Stone-related things.

*First reference to werewolf bites, with different ways of treating them. Are any of these ways supposed to keep you from being a werewolf, I wonder?

*Btw, interesting thing for an 11-year-old to be studying. Harry doesn’t seem to have any first aid skills whatsoever, yet here he is in first year studying how to treat werewolf bites?

*Harry and Ron continue discussing the Stone while they copy down these methods in DADA. Which I guess means that if Harry ever gets bitten by a werewolf he’ll deserve it for talking in class that day when they studied them.

*Nope, sorry. Not buying it. After six books of "And then Gryffindor won despite the snow and Slytherin lost. And then Gryffindor won despite Harry having no legs and Slytherin lost. And then Gryffindor won despite the entire team having diphtheria and Slytherin wasn’t even in the running…" I’m not buying this, "Oh my, could somebody really challenge Slytherin? They never have for seven whole years—and the referee's biased!" Babies born next week can already see Gryffindor's going to win.

*Ooh. Harry sometimes has the horrible feeling that Snape can read minds. And it ends the little section of text and everything. Mwahahaha! He can!

*Harry knew, when Ron and Hermione wished him good luck before his school sports game, that they were wondering if they’d ever see him alive again. Because that’s what life is like when you’re a Gryffindor. In Saxon times Gryffindors bid farewell by saying, "Weladauþe, saz þat brytz. Uþarba spa," or "May one or both of us die heroically before we get a chance to run into each other again."

* Ron and Hermione have taken Malfoy’s idea about the leg-locker curse and want to use it on Snape if he looks like he might be thinking about hurting Harry. Thanks, Malfoy!

*Ron’s already telling Hermione not to nag. That marriage will be fun.

*Wood’s now on Harry’s side, though I don’t know exactly what the sides are or why everyone’s taken them. Surely it’s a given all the Gryffindors want to win and hate Snape?

*Everyone’s shocked Dumbledore’s at a Quidditch game. Sure the guy doesn’t usually take an interest in students but it’s Harry’s big game against Slytherin!

*Malfoy pokes Ron in the back of the head and says he didn’t see him. Malfoy’s actually funnier than I remember him. Not funny meaning witty, just a regular that kind of kid.

*Snape takes a point from Gryffindor for smacking a bludger at the referee. Remember it’s Snape who's the one that’s outrageously biased.

*Now Snape’s awarding Hufflepuff a point for no reason at all. Though in this game I don’t know how anyone could say that for sure.

*Malfoy is already bored with having to sit in the stands and not be the center of attention, so begins needling Ron incessantly.

*Neville tells Malfoy he’s worth twelve of him and Malfoy and his friends crack up, probably because it sounds like something incredibly pompous only Harry would say.

*Of course, even Harry didn’t mean Neville was valuable. He’d just rather have 12 Nevilles than one Malfoy, because Malfoy’s so annoying.

*This re-read of PS is really amazing, actually. The Slytherins keep coming across as better than I remember them, and I don’t think it’s just a case of their getting worse in later books so they seem harmless now.

*When Ron wrestles Malfoy to the ground, Neville hesitates, then joins in. He hesitated because he had to silence the part of him that said that two-against-one might be unnecessary by reminding himself that in order to be accepted he’d better fling himself into fights.

*Harry’s broken another record by catching the Snitch quickly. Yes, in the entire history of Quidditch there has never been a time when the little ball thingie happened to pop out early and be caught by one of the people waiting to catch it.

*It’s a good thing Quidditch is over now, because JKR is really stretching it to find ways that Harry does something amazing nobody’s ever done before. If we had a game in the next book she’d been down to, "No one had ever caught the Snitch when the pollen count was this high! Never!"

*I’ll bet in many of the later books JKR was wishing she hadn’t already used that "and Harry caught the Snitch and the game ended fast" already.

*Obviously this game took place back when you just had to beat people instead of the later, more complicated, idea that you had to earn lots of points or else you could win the game and lose the cup.

*I’m really embarrassed for Hermione now. Jumping up and down over Gryffindor winning the game. Why must she embarrass herself trying to talk about Quidditch?

*Dumbledore comes down to personally congratulate Harry. Snape spits on the ground. Along with the entire rest of the student body, especially those not in Gryffindor.

*That "We probably won’t see you alive again" scene was a bit anti-climactic, wasn’t it? It must have been awkward when they were all walking back to school ten minutes later, right as rain.

*Harry keeps his broom in the broom shed? Not in his room?

*Harry’s really done something to be proud of now. Caught a gold ball out of the air in the most forgettable school Quidditch match in history.

*Ron’s cheering through a heavy nosebleed—which proves that Malfoy can’t fight.

*I love that Harry is living a fictional drama in his mind where Snape is obsessed with destroying his Quidditch career.

*Snape’s got a prowling walk. And people wonder why people think he’s teh sex? The man ought to have a man with a synthesizer walking behind him providing his theme music.

*Damn, that’s a good sinister conversation Harry half-overhears between Snape and Quirrel.

*It’s a victory all around, because not only did Harry catch the Snitch but Ron and Neville both randomly leapt on some annoying Slytherins and tried to beat them up. Ron got a bloody nose and Neville’s unconscious. You said it Ron—that’s showing Slytherin! I’m sure Malfoy will think about you as he sends his robes to the dry-cleaners to get your blood out of them.

*Too bad by the time Neville wakes up he’ll be forgotten again.





Designated Hero
So you think Snape’s trying to bully Quirrel into giving up the Stone, Harry? Don’t suppose you’d consider alerting Dumbledore to that fact? No, probably better to guard that secret and assume this is a job for the sixth graders.

Idiot World
The Trio is wrong about Snape and Quirrel, of course, but how sad that they live in a world where the Philosopher’s Stone really could conceivably be guarded by a single nervous teacher.

Informed Attributes
Slytherin’s hard to beat, Gryffindor’s the underdog and Harry broke some sort of record by doing something he does regularly in practice.

Nut o’ Fun
Snape asked Quirrel to meet him out in the forest? I think he was just hoping for some nuts o’fun out there to spice things up. I mean, you live in a castle full of secret places and closed offices. Do you really need to rendezvous under the sinister sycamore in the misty murky forest?

Final score: 4

Signs of things to come: Harry realizes he has fewer nightmares when he’s tired out from Quidditch training: physical exertion>mental. The Gryffindors and Slytherins get bad ideas from each other to use in the ongoing battle. Angered by Slytherin needling, the Gryffindors go at it heroically two-against-one. Neville endangers himself with no rewards.

Comments

[papier.livejournal.com]

Ron and Harry look mystified at mention of the Philosopher’s Stone. If I were reading the American version I would here point out that they had every reason to be confused by what Hermione said, because there’s no such thing as a Sorcerer’s Stone.

Poor dumb American kids who are certain to have no idea what a Philosopher's stone is. The fact that I, as a thirteen-year old English girl, had no idea what a Philosopher's stone was on my first read, means nothing of course.
I guess the idea is that 'Philosopher's' didn't sound as sparkly and marketable as 'Sorcerer's'.

Malfoy is already bored with having to sit in the stands and not be the center of attention, so begins needling Ron incessantly.

R/D OTP!!

I’m really embarrassed for Hermione now. Jumping up and down over Gryffindor winning the game. Why must she embarrass herself trying to talk about Quidditch?

I think it's pretty funny that she's actually cheering like it was a big surprise they won the game. Surely at the end of book 6 even the Gryffinjocks would grow bored of the continuous mindless victories?

I love that Harry is living a fictional drama in his mind where Snape is obsessed with destroying his Quidditch career.

I'd forgotten how strong his paranoia issues were even in the first book. Kid needs therapy.

[saylee.livejournal.com]

I'd forgotten how strong his paranoia issues were even in the first book. Kid needs therapy.

First thing I'd do if I was in charge of that world: recruit some mental health professionals. It would do wonders.

[saylee.livejournal.com]

*Harry’s almost given up hope of finding Nicolas Flamel in a library book. Which is really hilarious. A Muggle kid would have found out about three minutes after he wanted to know. No wonder Wizards don’t seem to do fiction—reference books are hard enough for them until someone invents an index spell.

I'm actually constantly surprised by the number of people I deal with who have no clue how to use a library. The saddest part about it is that these are almost all university students.

*If Gryffindor can beat Hufflepuff they’ll overtake Slytherin for the first time in seven years. Those must have been the same seven years that Percy Weasley was being born over and over in a time loop, years now completely lost to the continuum and so impossible to fit into the canon we have.

Huh?

* Gryffindor is angry at Snape refereeing, presuming he’s unfair, and yet Oliver also trusts that if they play a clean game he won’t be able to take points. Quite different from the position of Slytherin, who could have played the fairest game ever for the House Cup and still don’t have a chance. (Though people have explained to me that since they are Slytherin they *must* have cheated, and so it’s automatically fair to make sure they lose.)

Of course they must have cheated by virtue of being Slytherin: after all, any defensive move by a Slytherin player is cheating. It's in the rulebook.

In real life it’s actually Hermione who treats people like chess pieces, not Ron.

I'm glad of that. At least this way I still like at least one of the trio members.


*Ron and Harry look mystified at mention of the Philosopher’s Stone. If I were reading the American version I would here point out that they had every reason to be confused by what Hermione said, because there’s no such thing as a Sorcerer’s Stone.

I think the rationale I heard for this was not that American children wouldn't know what a Philosopher's Stone was, but that they wouldn't know what a Philosopher was. Which leaves me speechless in bafflement.

[musouka-manga.livejournal.com]

I believe it was because "Philosopher" doesn't sound particularly magical or interesting. On the other hand, on my first read though I thought "Hey, that sounds like a Philosopher's Stone", so...

[merrymelody.livejournal.com]

R/D OTP!!

'Ron was on top of him' is pretty strong evidence already, but count in that this is like the second time in as many chapters that he's leapt on Malfoy, and I'm thinking you have a rock solid case.

I think it's pretty funny that she's actually cheering like it was a big surprise they won the game. Surely at the end of book 6 even the Gryffinjocks would grow bored of the continuous mindless victories?

The Gryffindors would be like, ten times more likeable (what, 10x0 is still O! Naw, I kid, Percy, Lavender and Parvati save the house for me.) if they didn't combine their Sue/Stu style Most Popular/Smartest/Talented/Prettiest Kids in School OMG!1!! with an inexplicable martyr complex.

[merrymelody.livejournal.com]

Hermione always loses at chess, which Harry and Ron think is very good for her.

I forget, what is the thing that Harry always loses at that’s very good for him, again?

Though people have explained to me that since they are Slytherin they *must* have cheated, and so it’s automatically fair to make sure they lose.

I love people earnestly explaining the rules of Quidditch as if it’s a real game or something. Flint was totally cobbing, and that’s breaking the rules! No, there’s no fancy name for the fouls the Gryffindors commit throughout the series. Yes, that’s a coincidence. And yes, the rules of fair play about expensive versus standard brooms, insults as a distraction, copying the opposing Seeker’s spotting of the Snitch and shoving them out of the way, insulting the referees and attacking the other team all vary depending on who’s playing! It makes perfect sense to me, why do you ask?

Regardless, make sure to note this example of Malfoy bullying Neville—blink and you’ll miss it.

Come now, there was the time that he purposefully taunted Neville about his parents being hospitalised, after he was told about it by his Aunt Bellatrix that he met for the first time that day, and then cruelly used his awesome subtle acting talent to pretend he didn’t know that he was referring specifically to Neville in order to get Neville in trouble by inserting himself between Neville’s fists! (I too have had canon carefully explained to me!)

Ron’s cheering through a heavy nosebleed—which proves that Malfoy can’t fight.

Especially since Ron’s bigger and has six brothers (I dunno, I never had brothers, but I got enough practice fighting with a sister to guess that you don’t grow up the youngest of that many boys without learning to take care of yourself) and fairly physically aggressive; whereas Malfoy’s weedy and an only child and presumably has Crabbe and Goyle for all that ruffian stuff.

Neville tells Malfoy he’s worth twelve of him and Malfoy and his friends crack up, probably because it sounds like something incredibly pompous only Harry would say.

Anytime the words ‘worth’ or any kind of value comparison between people comes up, it’s a fair bet Harry’s involved.
It’s also hilarious how the Great Gryffindor Wit (like so many of their awesome attributes) totally skipped over Neville. If Harry (or New!Ginny or Hermione) had said that, Malfoy would have looked stupid and silently gaped, and we’d all have had to embarrassedly pretend it was funny. (Neville is funny, actually, just in a very Afterschool Special kind of way. So Ron too, here, with his little ‘You go, girl!’ encouragement.)

I’m not buying this, "Oh my, could somebody really challenge Slytherin? They never have for seven whole years—and the referees biased!"

I love that in their heads, they’ve clearly all decided they’re going to (or deserve to) win (because of their not-so-secret weapon Harry, but don’t mention that, this is one of the latter of the alternating Quidditch chapters - Smug Overconfidence and Needless Angst to Prove Gryffindor’s Modesty and Underdog Status.), it’s just a question of whether they’ll be ‘allowed’ to.

And this whole seven years thing is completely meaningless, considering it’s Harry’s first year. (And weird that he’s more fixated about winning than the Weasley twins, who besides being psychoes would presumably be looking even more forward to a win both against Slytherin - and it’s so bizarre how every game comes down to this, even this one, which is against Hufflepuff! - and for the prestige, since they’ve been at school longer.) I mean, his most personal rivalry so far is Malfoy (Snape I don’t think represents Slytherin at this point in the series so much as he will later – now it seems more like he’s the mean teacher rather than the opposite of James’ Gryffindor or whatever.) and Malfoy’s had no pleasure from his house being the champions since he too, y’know, joined the school like four months ago. (Although at least Malfoy’s probably know about the record, as well as always considered himself a Slytherin; Harry only realised the whole concept of houses at all recently.)

[merrymelody.livejournal.com]

Harry, of course, can’t do that because there’s no reserve Seeker. There’s no other person who could possibly perform this most straightforward task until Ginny Weasley II comes to town.

The problem of course, is that everyone in Gryffindor House is too shy and retiring to offer themselves as a replacement. (Continuing the never-ending list of stuff in HP that makes no sense, the whole reserve thing is up there. Don’t they play at the end of PS without a Seeker? You can’t just get a sub? Or perhaps they had a not-Harry player and so ritually sacrificed he or she after the game to punish them for lacking his Stu like powers. But then Malfoy reschedules a game in POA because of his arm, and gets a sub to play in HBP. Is JKR somehow suggesting an allowance was made for Draco that couldn’t have been for Harry? Or that Slytherin has plenty of decent Quidditch players lying around – since even nonentity Harper gives Harry a run for his money – and Gryffindor a shortage? TELL ME IT ISN’T SO, MAGPIE, TELL ME NOW.)

It is, of course, a completely fine thing for Harry to be doing at 16 with toenail growing curses and such.

Yeah, but Harry hexed a mean Squib, and Malfoy hexed a loser Pureblood. That makes it much better. Or worse. Quick, canon lovers, explain this one away!

Flamel...’s really old

I’ve always wondered if there’s any reason why he has to be 666 years old.

Harry and Ron continue discussing the Stone

It’s hilarious how into the idea of a Stone Harry is, considering it’s specifically brought up in HBP as something he automatically rejected. I mean, right here, his first reaction is ‘No wonder Snape wants it, who wouldn’t want the ability to live forever and tons of gold?’ (it’s also hilarious how he and Ron are discussing the things they’ll buy if they ever got on, like they’re not both aware Harry could buy half of that stuff now.)

I’m really embarrassed for Hermione now.

She hugged the frivolous Parvati Patil, she was so crazed!

Harry’s really done something to be proud of now. Caught a gold ball out of the air in the most forgettable school Quidditch match in history.

No-one will say he’s just a famous name now! It’s so limiting being only a celebrity renowned for having the power to defeat evil when you can have that and enjoy the attention from your other inherited gifts.

If I were reading the American version I would here point out that they had every reason to be confused by what Hermione said, because there’s no such thing as a Sorcerer’s Stone.

How does this not hurt American’s kids feelings? ‘You guys would think it was a stone that debated metaphysics, so we changed it! Do you feel better, now? There are less syllables!’
I like Hermione’s cute dramatic whisper, though.

Ron and Hermione have taken Malfoy’s idea about the leg-locker curse and want to use it on Snape if he looks like he might be thinking about hurting Harry. Thanks, Malfoy!

Kind of hilarious they end up aping him right down to casting it on Neville (oh no, wait, that was a Full Body Bind, wasn’t it, not just a Leg Locker?)

Snape takes a point from Gryffindor for smacking a bludger at the referee. Remember it’s Snape the one that’s outrageously biased.

And the other teams that lack sportsmanship.
I can’t imagine even the ever fair and reasonable McGonagall not doling out at least a detention for that, but to be honest, in an equivalent Muggle game, he’d be off the pitch for that, no?
This is really random, too, since they’ve just started playing and Snape can’t have started off giving them crap since The Almighty Dumbledore is watching (LOL, it’d be hilarious if he just chimed in here and started deciding what’s a penalty and what isn’t. ‘100 points to Gryffindor for having pleasing uniforms. And 50 to George Weasley – it takes a great deal of courage to stand up to another team. But even more to stand up to one’s teachers.’) Like George just walked onto the field, and SMACK.

Malfoy is already bored with having to sit in the stands and not be the center of attention.

I chuckled affectionately at that. What’s wrong with me?

[sarahtales.livejournal.com]

Oh, the awesomeness of my rage when people tell me that Draco can't fight. Ron, the Tall Younger Brother of Many Great Big Brothers Including the Weasley Twins, got a bloody nose! He held his own!

Of course, people seem to think Harry won a fight against Draco in Book 5. Well, I too will prove my fighting prowess against anyone George Weasley chooses to hold down for me.

Ahem. I mean, I am proud of my baby only child pale shrimplet. (For though he is TALL AND MANLY now, he was VERY SMALL back then, not that he ever got points for being the short brave kid like Harry.)

Perhaps Hermione is just impatient with her chess pieces. They can't do her real good by using them, or be a constant reminder of her verging on sociopathic brilliance like Marietta Edgecombe. Whereas perhaps Ron sees ways to use people like chess pieces, but would never do so, because they are people and they deserve respect! (Except the Slytherins, of course.) That's my fanwank, and it is precious to me.

Snape can read minds! I wonder if he thinks Harry's melodrama is really funny, or if he's annoyed and bored already. 'only James Potter's child would have such self-important thoughts. I just know it.'

I am so embarrassingly fond of tiny Malfoy. I am just as prejudiced as Albus Dumbledore. Time to go off the tower for my own good.

Oh Neville. The sole thing you have going for you is that you are not vicious like the other Gryffindor kids. Stop making me hate you. Stop, I say. And put your plant down, cos that will turn you blind.

I do remember being distressed by this bullying, because I do hate the bullies. Fortunately Malfoy apparently got over this childish nastiness and by fifth year could barely remember who Neville was! He should keep a little black book like the twins. That'd help him bully properly.

Also, he should be more sensible. I mean, theoretically Neville could have hexed him back! He's not helplessly without any magic like a Squib! Harry should give him pointers.

Also, I have just remembered how much I love the fact that in PoA they REALLY NEED a Gryffindor sub. But of course it doesn't occur to Ginny that she can play. No. The real Ginny couldn't play, of course. This false Ginny learned Quidditch flying on her bat wings in hell!

I wonder if JKR meant to have lots of random segues to the ground during Quidditch games to make them more interesting, and then her editors told her that now the books were famous POVs could not go flying off any which way and she was like, I HAVE TO WRITE THE GAMES? and lay down on the ground and cried. I would've. But then, I would've had Slytherin win in OotP.

[kaskait.livejournal.com]

*Ron cheerfully points out that Dumbledore was apparently right and the Mirror of Erised has driven Harry mad. How can you not love Ron?

When I reread the first 2 books, I'm always amazed at how sensible Ron is portrayed. Where did that everyday kid go? I miss him.

*Harry’s almost given up hope of finding Nicolas Flamel in a library book. Which is really hilarious. A Muggle kid would have found out about three minutes after he wanted to know. No wonder Wizards don’t seem to do fiction—reference books are hard enough for them until someone invents an index spell.

Wizards picking out magic books flying around a "library" = Brill
Muggles finding useful information by dewey decimal system on new computer terminals = STUPID!

*Ooh. Harry sometimes has the horrible feeling that Snape can read minds. And it ends the little section of text and everything. Mwahahaha! He can!

Just think of all those years he listened to the air whistling between Harry's ears. LOL

*It’s a good thing Quidditch is over now, because JKR is really stretching it to find ways that Harry does something amazing nobody’s ever done before. If we had a game in the next book she’d been down to, "No one had ever caught the Snitch when the pollen count was this high! Never!"

Just think in the next book, there could be one last game. Krum breaks his leg and Harry takes his place! Just like in "42nd Street"! But wait! Harry has caught Mono from GinnyJoSue. :O

"No one has ever caught the Snitch when sick with Kissing disease! Never Ever in a thousand years since Quidditch was first played! It won't happen again! Only the Youngest Quidditch Player who lived can do it."

*I’m really embarrassed for Hermione now. Jumping up and down over Gryffindor winning the game. Why must she embarrass herself trying to talk about Quidditch?

Only people who play Quidditch can understand its non-sensical and useless existence. Gee, Hermione studied that Quidditch history book, I bet she knows more than Harry. Bu t of course books don't count. Its the stupid muggle part of her. I'm surprised GinnyJoSue didn't throw that in her face as well. It was left unspoken, hanging in the air.

*I love that Harry is living a fictional drama in his mind where Snape is obsessed with destroying his Quidditch career.

Harry is cracked and not even sunny side up. I don't think he got that from Riddle. And since James was so Fab, Fab, Fab...Harry inherited it from Lily.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I guess the idea is that 'Philosopher's' didn't sound as sparkly and marketable as 'Sorcerer's'.

Well, we all know American kids hate Spinoza, so they didn't want to take the chance of having Philosopher in the title.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Huh?

Whoops. Sorry. Got a little confusing there. Basically, it's hard to believe that these 7 years of Slytherin victory really happened, and I was sort of linking that to JKR's confusing answer about Percy being 2 years younger than Percy when Gryffindor supposedly haven't won since Charlie left Hogwarts, which would have had to have been 7 years before...oh dear, maths.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I forget, what is the thing that Harry always loses at that’s very good for him, again?

Do I have to remind you that Harry's got the hardest life in canon and even winning everything doesn't make up for it?

Come now, there was the time that he purposefully taunted Neville about his parents being hospitalised, after he was told about it by his Aunt Bellatrix that he met for the first time that day, and then cruelly used his awesome subtle acting talent to pretend he didn’t know that he was referring specifically to Neville in order to get Neville in trouble by inserting himself between Neville’s fists!

Especially underhanded of him to do all this without uttering a word to Neville too!

Neville is funny, actually, just in a very Afterschool Special kind of way. So Ron too, here, with his little ‘You go, girl!’ encouragement.)

Hee! It's true!

And this whole seven years thing is completely meaningless, considering it’s Harry’s first year.

It was presumably there to give a weak stab at suspense in PS. Now it's there so that whenever people point out stuff like Dumbledore totally rigging the House Cup winning or saying that it seems really unhealthy to have one house full of students commonly regarded as evil people can say, "If there's a bias against Slytherin how could they have had that massive winning streak in that time we only heard about because it's outside the 7 years of the books?"

Although at least Malfoy’s probably know about the record, as well as always considered himself a Slytherin; Harry only realised the whole concept of houses at all recently.)

He jumped into that one right away. I think Lupin's right and he somehow inherited the hatred from James.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

The problem of course, is that everyone in Gryffindor House is too shy and retiring to offer themselves as a replacement.

Don't ask me how all this works. Can you imagine losing a game because in an entire house full of flyers nobody can catch something?

This is really random, too, since they’ve just started playing and Snape can’t have started off giving them crap since The Almighty Dumbledore is watching

Funny how in a ten minute game they manage to lose points for attacking the ref!

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Of course, people seem to think Harry won a fight against Draco in Book 5. Well, I too will prove my fighting prowess against anyone George Weasley chooses to hold down for me.

That doesn't surprise me. And I'm sure Crabbe and Goyle were there backing Malfoy up at the time too!

Also, he should be more sensible. I mean, theoretically Neville could have hexed him back! He's not helplessly without any magic like a Squib! Harry should give him pointers.

Neville needs to learn "Finate Incantatum."

Also, I have just remembered how much I love the fact that in PoA they REALLY NEED a Gryffindor sub. But of course it doesn't occur to Ginny that she can play. No. The real Ginny couldn't play, of course. This false Ginny learned Quidditch flying on her bat wings in hell!

Funny how that worked. But I'm just glad, because I never wanted to see Super Ginny go up against Malfoy, myself. That was my biggest fear in OotP--which anyone could see the Slytherins should have won for story purposes. I'm surprised the editor didn't call her on that.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

When I reread the first 2 books, I'm always amazed at how sensible Ron is portrayed. Where did that everyday kid go? I miss him.

Movies?

Bu t of course books don't count. Its the stupid muggle part of her. I'm surprised GinnyJoSue didn't throw that in her face as well. It was left unspoken, hanging in the air.

Right--even though books are fine if you're just a spectator of the sport. It's not like Hermione's ever claimed she could play. But she can certainly follow the scoring and how it effects her precious house cup.

[merrymelody.livejournal.com]

This is where if JKR is really into promoting Harry above all, she'd have Gryffindor lose when he wasn't present to show his importance to the team, but she just can't quite bring herself to do it. Suddenly Keepers and Chasers (of a certain bloodline and family, of course) become instrumental!

[merrymelody.livejournal.com]

I'm sure Crabbe and Goyle were there backing Malfoy up at the time too!

It occurs to me that if the next book is the Trio and Malfoy having left school, but not Crabbe and Goyle we may never see Crabbe and Goyle again. :(

I'm surprised the editor didn't call her on that.

I swear I've brought this up a million times (it's my new 'You're a woman') but isn't one of the only editors she mentioned the one who asked her why she was making Malfoy good at Occlumency when Harry isn't?
Perhaps all the decent editors left around the huge wait for GoF (not that they ever seemed to help with the maths or whatever, but at least the books were under 900 pages) and now all that's left are like, The Leaky Cauldron staff or Steve Kloves or something. 'Sure, fug sounds like a word! More importantly, are you sure you've made Ginny pretty enough?'

[merrymelody.livejournal.com]

Do I have to remind you that Harry's got the hardest life in canon and even winning everything doesn't make up for it?

LOL. That and I forgot that he's not good at nasty skills like Occlumency that require people to shut off their good qualities and power to love.

It's apparently become my mission in life to rec a Guardian/Observer article to you every week now, but I liked this one, touching on HP with
'And given that Harry Potter now looks around 30, is no longer cute, possesses vast necromantic powers and is the veteran of a fistful of films in which he has completely humiliated his adversaries - isn't it about time the boy stopped pretending to be an underdog?'
http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,1982796,00.html

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

That line alone is enough to consider subscribing...

[(Anonymous)]

Harry counters by pointing out that even if Neville isn’t quite as Gryffindor as Harry, he has still be Sorted into the superior house.

That bit about Neville being worth twelve of Malfoy sounds outrageously hypocritical – when did Harry ever act like he thought Neville was worth anything? – until you realize he probably meant any Gryffindor, even one as lame as Neville, is automatically worth twelve of any Slytherin. Then it just sounds ridiculously prejudiced.

I think it’s only in fanfic where the Slytherins have bias against Gryffindor to match the Gryffindor’s bias against Slytherins. In canon they insult individuals of the House, but respect the house just fine.

I've lost count of the times Snape uses "Gryffindor" as an insult in fic, generally after Harry (Ron, whoever) did something exceptionally brave and kind and selfless. But yeah, in canon the shoe's clearly on the other foot. Cf. Slughorn's "I'maSlytherinpleasedon'tholditagainstmenoblePotter!"

*Ron’s already telling Hermione not to nag. That marriage will be fun.

One of the many oddities about R/Hr is how often we're informed that Hermione rubs Ron the wrong way just by being herself (and vice versa). When they met on the train and he disliked her on sight, it wasn't like Elizabeth seeing Darcy's worst side. Hermione was slightly in overdrive, but basically that's who she is. Which is to say, everything he dislikes about his mother and his least favorite brother Percy in one package. R/Hr/M/P OT4?

-L

[romeoambiences.livejournal.com]

Harry hasn't been an underdog (at least a believable one)from the moment he was introduced to the magical world...way back in the first book. He has so many "inherited" gifts, including flying skill, parseltongue, maurader's map, invisibility cloak, and backup from friends and allies that it's others who are at the disadvantage, not Harry.

[romeoambiences.livejournal.com]

Oh Neville. The sole thing you have going for you is that you are not vicious like the other Gryffindor kids. Stop making me hate you.

Neville might as well have said that he was worth twelve of Malfoy because Harry said so and followed it by sticking out his tongue....it sounded that ridiculous. (Or I'm incapable of coming up with a retort on my own and must borrow one from the bespectacled crusader.)

Neville is at his worst when he mimics the other Gryffindors.

[mmmarcusz.livejournal.com]

I forget, what is the thing that Harry always loses at that’s very good for him, again?

He lost his FAMILY and the PAIN is OVERWHELMING!!!!!

[mmmarcusz.livejournal.com]

It’s hilarious how into the idea of a Stone Harry is, considering it’s specifically brought up in HBP as something he automatically rejected. I mean, right here, his first reaction is ‘No wonder Snape wants it, who wouldn’t want the ability to live forever and tons of gold?’ (it’s also hilarious how he and Ron are discussing the things they’ll buy if they ever got on, like they’re not both aware Harry could buy half of that stuff now.)


Yet another thing that makes no sense: how is a teenager in possession of a considerable fortune not in want of a vast quantity of luxury goods? Harry should be in ermine robes, eating foie gras sandwiches in Charms class, building his own castle to live in ... Over 7 years he buys school supplies and three Omnioculars. And that's it.

[mmmarcusz.livejournal.com]

That bit about Neville being worth twelve of Malfoy sounds outrageously hypocritical – when did Harry ever act like he thought Neville was worth anything? – until you realize he probably meant any Gryffindor, even one as lame as Neville, is automatically worth twelve of any Slytherin. Then it just sounds ridiculously prejudiced.


Well, he is one of our sort, isn't he?