POA - Chapter 4

[kaskait.livejournal.com]

The Leaky Cauldron

*Harry is running wild in Diagon Alley, living it up at The Leaky Cauldron, with nary an adult to supervise him in sight.

*Is a 13 year old really mature enough to spend a month alone in a big city without an adult?

*Maybe the writer was inspired by "Home Alone 2". Now THATS good cinema. :P

*Hey Harry, just who is paying for all this luxurious livin?

*The MOM is probably spending a small fortune on undercover aurors to tail Harry. Or maybe...not.

*Don't you just love Dumpeldore allowing a child to run free without guidance? It sure as hell worked the last time. But oh, I forgot, Harry is filled with pure love unlike Riddle who was filled with pure hate.

*Harry spends a lot of time eating outdoors on verandahs filled with colorful, umbrella covered tables.

*Hey Harry, I wonder who is paying for all this? Or is it your "the one who lived" rep giving it to you for free?

*Harry finishes his homework without Hermione! Wow. Don't worry, Florian Fortescue, the ice cream man, was there to do it for him. He gave Harry all the information he needed about witch burning. Is that the reason why Fortescue was abducted in 6?

*Riddle to Fortescue: "Damn you for helping Potter with his history homework. Damn you to HELL!"

*Harry refills his money sack with lots of booty and then reminds himself to be frugal. He doesn't want to ask the Dursleys for monetary assistance.

*So I guess the Potter vault wasn't that big or packed with that much gold afterall, huh Harry? Or maybe, you are paying for all that fine living at Hogwarts and this sojourn alone at Diagon alley afterall. Hmmmm? You know, I would speak to a Goblin accountant and request just who has access to your vault. Obviously there was an executor who had your vault key all these years while you were being begrudged for every crust of bread that went into your mouth. Dumbledope? Any answers while you still breathe?

*Harry is seriously tempted to spend all his gold on the Firebolt. You know, fandom has yet to write essays on the aerodynamics of brooms as opposed to planes. I would like to read that.

*It has just struck me that all this dependance on brooms means that many wizards/witches can't or are not allowed to apparate wherever they want. Apparition being the only useful tool that the WW has over the non-magical world.

*Hagrid's monster books are ripping each other apart. I'm sure the bookstore owner loves him for it. Its not like he had to lay out the cash to buy these books and isn't losing money every time one of these things eats another.

*Harry is intrigued by Death Omen books at the book store. One has a picture of a dog that reminds him of the one he saw at Magnolia Crescent.

*Wow. Harry is actually putting two and two together without the help of Hermione.

*Harry meets up with Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan where they all ogled The Firebolt. Harry sees Neville but avoids him and doesn't speak to him. Good friend, that Harry, what would Neville do without him?

*Harry is waved down by Ron and Hermione at Fortescue's. Hermione scolds Harry on his use of magic. Ron, very sensibly, points out that Harry can get away with it because he is Harry. If Ron did it, they would throw the book at him. As always, Ron knows which side his bread is buttered on. I'm not surprised he exploded in book 4.

*Hermione's parents have dropped her off to spend the night alone in a strange inn in the middle of a big city. Hold on, I think the WW stoopid is rubbing off on the Grangers.

*Molly and Arthur did Ron a small favor and purchased him a wand. Lucky there was still money left over from the big win, hey Ron.

*Hermione is taking double classes. She is also taking "Muggle Studies" because she wants to know the wizard POV. As if the inherent prejudice wasn't encoded into the title of the class itself, you still need to know their POV Hermione?

*Hermione states that her parents have given her money to buy an early birthday present. But neither Ron or Harry are interested enough to ask her when her birthday is or what she wants for it.

*Ron notes that Scabbers isn't feeling all that well.

*Hermione decides that she wants an owl like Harry and Ron.

*They go to the pet store and Ron has Scabbers examined by the owner. Who informs him that *gasp* most rodents don't live past three years. Dum de dum, HINT...Plotpoint.

*A huge orange cat decides to put Scabbers out of his misery. Of course that is the animal Hermione decides to buy.

*Its love, pure old fashioned love between Ron and Hermione. Real Life Lesson: To show your love, always be sure to buy animals that attack your loved one's animals. Its an anvil that shows how much you care.

*They meet up with the Weaselys at The Leaky Cauldron.

*Ginny says "Hello". Get it? Its a hint for sun-filled love. Harry go on, you could have YEARS.

*However Harry doesn't answer Ginny. He says hello to Percy instead and shakes his hand.

*The Twins shove Percy out of the way and say hello to Harry. But neither Molly or Harry note or try to correct this horrible behavior.

*Ginny giggles. Get it? Its a HINT! Put the clues together, Blue!

*The MOM has given cars to the Weaselys in order to escort Harry to the Hogwarts Express. But what about apparition? Oops, noone uses that until book 5 at least. Its a plot point excuse.

*Later on, Harry catches an argument between Molly and Arthur. Molly wants to keep Harry ignorant of the Sirius Black danger and Arthur wants to tell him all about the danger. Harry also learns that Dumbledore is not happy that the MOM has sent him Dementor guards to search for Black.

*The Twins have stolen Percy's badge and are now defacing it. Get it? This is FUNNY! The next time your child or sibling gets a big school honor, make sure you LAUGH in their face, tease them and deface their award. It shows caring family love.

*Damn Sirius Black. This means that Harry won't be able to go to Hogsmeade!

*Harry always has his priorities straight. Good kid, Harry Potter.

Comments

[galaxianomiko.livejournal.com]

Obviously there was an executor who had your vault key all these years while you were being begrudged for every crust of bread that went into your mouth.

Forget Harry seeing any of his parents' dough during that time, I'm still wondering why the Dursleys never saw any. DD can't have predicted that they'd treat him like crap...so was he really just expecting them to be able to handle the financial burden of another child?

Apparition being the only useful tool that the WW has over the non-magical world.

That and Portkeys (which also seem to be regulated) and Flooing (which I can't figure out how it's not totally unsafe. That's like leaving a door open in your house for anybody connected to the system, no?)

Hermione's parents have dropped her off to spend the night alone in a strange inn in the middle of a big city. Hold on, I think the WW stoopid is rubbing off on the Grangers.

I don't have the book on me at the moment, but I remember last time wondering HOW exactly it was safer for Harry to stay alone in DA while a convicted murderer was after him. Am I remembering wrong, or didn't someone say something about how the random adults on the street would probably help him out?

most rodents don't live past three years.

O_O *has a mouse going on four now*

[kaskait.livejournal.com]

That and Portkeys (which also seem to be regulated) and Flooing (which I can't figure out how it's not totally unsafe. That's like leaving a door open in your house for anybody connected to the system, no?)

That is right. Whoever controls the person who runs the Floo network has access to almost anyone's home. Heh, stupid Wizards.

[q-spade.livejournal.com]

*Harry refills his money sack with lots of booty and then reminds himself to be frugal. He doesn't want to ask the Dursleys for monetary assistance.

That is a bit strange, isn't it? The initial assumption in PS/SS is that Harry's quite rich in Wizarding terms, but here there's a sense that there's only enough money to last until his studies at Hogwarts are done:

Once Harry had refilled his money bag with gold Galleons, silver Sickles, and bronze Knuts from his vault at Gringotts, he had to exercise a lot of self-control not to spend the whole lot at once. He had to keep reminding himself that he had five years to go at Hogwarts, and how it would feel to ask the Dursleys for money for spellbooks...
--POA (Scholastic Press), pg 50

How paradoxical the idea of him asking Vernon & Petunia for money seems: Had V&P been given some financial assistance from the vault's executor -- most likley Dumbles -- for the care of Harry, would they have been more inclined to be nicer to him? Considering that their mistreatment of Harry makes him that much more putty in Dumbledore's hands...

Yet if there's only enough in the vault to get Harry through seven years of school, that explains why the Dursleys weren't recompensed for taking Harry in.

Intriguingly, Gobstones (Eileen Prince's claim to fame) are mentioned as a financial temptation, along with the "perfect, moving model of the galaxy in a large glass ball, which would have meant he never had to take another Astronomy lesson." Both references to HBP, as well as the fact that Harry (like Tom in HBP) is left unsupervised in Diagon Alley. Dumbledore has clearly learned his lessons: He's allowed Harry to grow 2 years older, be indoctrinated into Dumbles' POV via Hogwarts, AND made sure Harry is completely & utterly loyal to him before letting him wander about Diagon Alley on his own!

*Harry is intrigued by Death Omen books at the book store. One has a picture of a dog that reminds him of the one he saw at Magnolia Crescent.

Meanwhile, I'm more intrigued by Unfogging the Future by Cassandra (http://www.loggia.com/myth/cassandra.html) Vablatsky (http://blavatskyarchives.com/longseal.htm), oh dear. ;) A very interesting way to prepare the reader for Sybill Trelawney!

Harry catches an argument between Molly and Arthur. Molly wants to keep Harry ignorant of the Sirius Black danger and Arthur wants to tell him all about the danger.

In hindsight, their obsequious fawning & fussing over Harry is kind of pathetic; Harry wasn't the one Sirius was after at all.

Percy really gets shat on in this chapter, doesn't he? :( Interesting that the rat tonic was used to deface his badge, since Scabbers was originally his pet. Also interesting that he sets himself up as an alternate "example" for Ginny to look up to, what with his ambition, doggedness and desire for power. While Ginny's goals seem rather narrower in focus than Percy's (at this point, as of HBP), it seems as if his influence did come through in certain ways.

[kaskait.livejournal.com]

Yet if there's only enough in the vault to get Harry through seven years of school, that explains why the Dursleys weren't recompensed for taking Harry in.

Yeah, lucky enough for Harry that Black kicked the bucket. Now he has his hands on the Black dough. I'm sure the Malfoys are cursing Harry's existence every chance they get.

Percy really gets shat on in this chapter, doesn't he? :( Interesting that the rat tonic was used to deface his badge, since Scabbers was originally his pet.

Percy is only trying to be as different from the rest of the family as possible. Considering most of them are big screw-ups. You know, I'm surprised Bill allowed that kind of behavior from the fam during Christmas in 6. He of all people could have controlled the Twins and Ginny, but he let them goad Percy. It makes me think less of him.