PS Chapter Four: "The Keeper of the Keys"
Nov. 18th, 2015 10:44 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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deathtocapslock* I remember how in the good old days before DH came out this chapter title spurred much interesting speculation regarding potential Hagrid-St. Peter parallels.
* I’m surprised Uncle Vernon managed to get a gun at such short notice, given all the checks you have to go through in England.
* “Couldn’t make us a cup o’ tea, could yeh?” says Hagrid, right after battering the door down. Maybe he’s trying to defuse the situation by doing something normal and sociable to set the Dursleys at ease. Then again, this is a wizard I’m talking about, so maybe it’s doing him too much credit to assume he cares about making muggles feel comfortable.
* “Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh’ve got yer mum’s eyes. Probably time you gave them back to her.”
* Somebody once pointed out on this LJ that Harry’s only ever socialised to have a “might makes right” view of the world: at first he’s powerless and pushed around, then he goes to Hogwarts where he/the people who are friendly with him are powerful and get to push others around. Hagrid’s already started to reinforce the lesson, what with breaking into the house and making it plain how much stronger he is than Mr. Dursley.
* Hagrid’s use of illegal magic would have a similar effect, encouraging Harry to think of wizarding law as a joke which can be casually broken whenever one feels like it.
* Part of me suspects that Dumbledore knew this, and chose to send Hagrid for this very reason.
* Why didn’t Dumbles tell Hagrid that Harry didn’t know about Hogwarts? Don’t expect me to believe that a man who knows exactly which room Harry is being kept in doesn’t also know the current state of his magical education.
* “‘I know some things,’ [Harry] said. ‘I can, you know, do maths and stuff.’” Unlike most wizards, who as far as we can tell never bother with anything so prosaic as mathematics. I’m sorry, but if it doesn’t give you an opportunity to make inanimate objects tapdance around the room, it just isn’t worth bothering about.
* “I mean, they’re famous. You’re famous.” So, from abused nobody to pre-teen superstar. I’m sure that won’t turn his head at all. What was it Dumbledore said about wanting Harry to grow up as a normal boy?
* I wonder if there’s any difference between witchcraft and wizardry, or whether the school name’s just using hendiadys.
* “‘A Muggle,’ said Hagrid. ‘It’s what we call non-magic folk like them. An’ it’s your bad luck you grew up in a family o’ the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on.’” You see, Harry, when trying to whip up prejudice against a group of people, it helps to come up with a demeaning and insulting nickname, or “slur”, to call them by.
* One of the common ways in which authors try and cover for bad characters is by having anybody who criticises them be motivated by hatred, jealousy, or some other character flaw. Here, for example, Petunia’s speaking like an envious, closed-minded bigot, when as a matter of fact she’d have perfectly good reasons to dislike being around wizards.
* Oh, how I miss the days when we could hear sentences like “knew yer mum an’ dad, an’ nicer people yeh couldn’t find” without snorting in derision.
* Harry surviving the killing curse is quite a nice mystery, but the resolution is pretty bad. There’s no way Voldemort’s attempted Harrycide is the first occasion somebody’s sacrificed themselves for somebody else. What about any of the other wizards Voldemort murdered? Some of them seem to have been whole families killed at once, and do you mean to tell me that there wasn’t one instance of somebody telling the others to run while they held Voldemort off, or throwing themselves in front of an AK heading for somebody else?
* Not sure why Vernon’s acting so pointlessly obnoxious here. Sure he’s quite a rude man and he doesn’t like wizards, but he must realise the stupidity of mouthing off to someone who’s twice his size, has magical powers, and comes from a society where people like the Dursleys are somewhere between farm animals and dirt on the scale of moral importance.
* Harry thinks there must be some kind of mistake, because he isn’t talented enough to be a wizard. *misses the modest Harry of the earlier books*
* I pity the wizards of other countries if Hagrid is right and Hogwarts really is “the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world”.
* Hagrid’s reaction to Vernon calling Dumbledore a “crackpot old fool” provides us with our first indication of the blatant Dumbledore-worship (Dumbolatry?) that goes on in Hogwarts.
* Instead of attacking Mr. Dursley, Hagrid attacks his son instead. And doesn’t even bother to undo the effects of his curse after he’s calmed down. Yeah, great choice of rôle model to introduce Harry to the wizarding world, Dumbles.
* I’m surprised Uncle Vernon managed to get a gun at such short notice, given all the checks you have to go through in England.
* “Couldn’t make us a cup o’ tea, could yeh?” says Hagrid, right after battering the door down. Maybe he’s trying to defuse the situation by doing something normal and sociable to set the Dursleys at ease. Then again, this is a wizard I’m talking about, so maybe it’s doing him too much credit to assume he cares about making muggles feel comfortable.
* “Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh’ve got yer mum’s eyes. Probably time you gave them back to her.”
* Somebody once pointed out on this LJ that Harry’s only ever socialised to have a “might makes right” view of the world: at first he’s powerless and pushed around, then he goes to Hogwarts where he/the people who are friendly with him are powerful and get to push others around. Hagrid’s already started to reinforce the lesson, what with breaking into the house and making it plain how much stronger he is than Mr. Dursley.
* Hagrid’s use of illegal magic would have a similar effect, encouraging Harry to think of wizarding law as a joke which can be casually broken whenever one feels like it.
* Part of me suspects that Dumbledore knew this, and chose to send Hagrid for this very reason.
* Why didn’t Dumbles tell Hagrid that Harry didn’t know about Hogwarts? Don’t expect me to believe that a man who knows exactly which room Harry is being kept in doesn’t also know the current state of his magical education.
* “‘I know some things,’ [Harry] said. ‘I can, you know, do maths and stuff.’” Unlike most wizards, who as far as we can tell never bother with anything so prosaic as mathematics. I’m sorry, but if it doesn’t give you an opportunity to make inanimate objects tapdance around the room, it just isn’t worth bothering about.
* “I mean, they’re famous. You’re famous.” So, from abused nobody to pre-teen superstar. I’m sure that won’t turn his head at all. What was it Dumbledore said about wanting Harry to grow up as a normal boy?
* I wonder if there’s any difference between witchcraft and wizardry, or whether the school name’s just using hendiadys.
* “‘A Muggle,’ said Hagrid. ‘It’s what we call non-magic folk like them. An’ it’s your bad luck you grew up in a family o’ the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on.’” You see, Harry, when trying to whip up prejudice against a group of people, it helps to come up with a demeaning and insulting nickname, or “slur”, to call them by.
* One of the common ways in which authors try and cover for bad characters is by having anybody who criticises them be motivated by hatred, jealousy, or some other character flaw. Here, for example, Petunia’s speaking like an envious, closed-minded bigot, when as a matter of fact she’d have perfectly good reasons to dislike being around wizards.
* Oh, how I miss the days when we could hear sentences like “knew yer mum an’ dad, an’ nicer people yeh couldn’t find” without snorting in derision.
* Harry surviving the killing curse is quite a nice mystery, but the resolution is pretty bad. There’s no way Voldemort’s attempted Harrycide is the first occasion somebody’s sacrificed themselves for somebody else. What about any of the other wizards Voldemort murdered? Some of them seem to have been whole families killed at once, and do you mean to tell me that there wasn’t one instance of somebody telling the others to run while they held Voldemort off, or throwing themselves in front of an AK heading for somebody else?
* Not sure why Vernon’s acting so pointlessly obnoxious here. Sure he’s quite a rude man and he doesn’t like wizards, but he must realise the stupidity of mouthing off to someone who’s twice his size, has magical powers, and comes from a society where people like the Dursleys are somewhere between farm animals and dirt on the scale of moral importance.
* Harry thinks there must be some kind of mistake, because he isn’t talented enough to be a wizard. *misses the modest Harry of the earlier books*
* I pity the wizards of other countries if Hagrid is right and Hogwarts really is “the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world”.
* Hagrid’s reaction to Vernon calling Dumbledore a “crackpot old fool” provides us with our first indication of the blatant Dumbledore-worship (Dumbolatry?) that goes on in Hogwarts.
* Instead of attacking Mr. Dursley, Hagrid attacks his son instead. And doesn’t even bother to undo the effects of his curse after he’s calmed down. Yeah, great choice of rôle model to introduce Harry to the wizarding world, Dumbles.
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no subject
Date: 2015-11-23 12:27 pm (UTC)Maybe Lily warned the Dursleys (and her parents) about Voldemort and Death Eaters. Lily is a hot target, as she's a muggleborn and a member of the resistance; her non-magical family is at very high risk. Vernon and Petunia have a young son, I could see Vernon acquiring a gun while the war is going on. Especially if something happened to Petunia's parents (I always thought I was odd that all Harry's grandparents were dead, and they died awfully young for it to be of natural causes).
Vernon puts his gun away after the the threat of the Voldemort goes away, but then when the magical folk start pestering his family, he brings out his old gun from before.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-23 03:53 pm (UTC)I've probably read too many stories about that type of weekend in murder mysteries. I have no idea if that's the implication for those raised in the UK, but I doubt their first thoughts of 'hunting' is 'redneck' (not that all hunters in the USA are rednecks, but many associate hunting as such).
no subject
Date: 2015-11-23 04:17 pm (UTC)I'd wondered if the shotgun was for hunting, or for posturing to be a hunter for clients who were. It might even help if he doesn't practice except while with clients, so the clients can do better than he does, so he can compliment them.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-24 11:36 am (UTC)I must say that I'd hate the idea of someone hunting the animals in a large city park - although some of the deer in those parks probably could use culling. Still, too much chance of bagging a cross-country runner.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-25 07:25 am (UTC)How many points for a cross-country runner? Would it be more for someone training for a marathon?
The hunters that I knew were cooks. They'd make their own sausage from their take - one even made himself a smokehouse - then they'd give any excess for gifts. After hunting season, in the dead of winter, they'd all sit around the store's eating area and trade recipes for home-made goodies, like chocolate cake (from scratch!) and variations on the sourdough starter, 'herman.'
no subject
Date: 2015-11-23 04:10 pm (UTC)