PS Chapter Nine: "The Midnight Duel"
May. 11th, 2016 03:44 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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deathtocapslock* Sorry for the recent posting hiatus, I was travelling abroad and unable to get to a computer.
* “Harry had never believed he would meet a boy he hated more than Dudley,” who had mercilessly bullied and abused him for an entire decade, “but that was before he met Draco Malfoy,” who’d talked about quidditch once and been a bit snobbish to one of Harry’s friends.
* Interesting that the Malfoys know what helicopters are. Maybe they’re not as anti-muggle as Harry thinks. Or else Malfoy’s flying stories are actually true.
* “Ron couldn’t see what was exciting about a game [football] with only one ball where no one was allowed to fly.” I, meanwhile, can’t see what’s exciting about a game where only one player really matters, and success or failure is often as not determined by who has the better broomstick.
* I love the way Malfoy’s been opening his care packages in such a way as to try and make Harry jealous. It’s horrible, but it’s also such a kid thing to do.
* Also, the fact that Malfoy receives regular care packages from home is pretty good evidence against the abusive!Lucius found in certain sections of fandom.
* Hogwarts really ought to get better brooms for its pupils to learn on. An institution where people eat off of golden plates has no excuse to skimp on buying important educational equipment.
* Riding a broomstick must be pretty uncomfortable. I think I preferred the film idea of giving them little seats and stirrups.
* Neville’s accident is a perfect illustration of how Hogwarts completely neglects the safety of its pupils. It would have been quite easy to set up a net or spell to catch pupils when they fall, or else they could have used special training brooms that don’t go too far above the ground.
* I’m surprised Neville didn’t just bounce when he hit the ground.
* I doubt anybody would actually be able to fly perfectly on their first try. Even if you had a natural aptitude for it, you’d still need to know, e.g., how hard to pull up your broom when you want to stop, how far to lean forwards to accelerate at the speed you want, and so on.
* Coming up next: Harry gets into a car for the very first time and “knows, somehow” how to win a race against somebody who’s been driving for years.
* If McGonagall saw Harry flying, she’d surely have seen Malfoy too, so why doesn’t he get into trouble? Oh, right, quidditch > discipline and student safety.
* “I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can’t bend the first-year rule.” Oh, Minerva, don’t be so coy. We all know that there’s no rule on earth which can’t be bent for the Boy Who Lived.
* Gryffindor hasn’t won the Quidditch Cup since Charlie left, which when you work out the timeline turns out to be... last year. Oh dear,maths worldbuilding maths and worldbuilding.
* I’m half-surprised Malfoy doesn’t slap Harry over the face with a glove when he challenges him to a duel.
* Hee, I love Hermione sitting there in her pink dressing-gown, ready to tell the boys off.
* “Harry couldn’t believe anyone could be so interfering.” Just you wait, Harry – by the end of the series you (or at least the readers) will be longing to have the old Hermione back.
* Bloody stupid of Gryffindor to have an entry system that makes it literally impossible to get in when the portrait decides to go walkabout.
* Is that “Curse of the Bogies” Ron mentions the same as the Bat-Bogey Hex for which Ginny will later be famous?
* Malfoy’s tricking Harry like this, whilst dishonourable, is nevertheless a suitably Slytherin-ish thing to do.
* It’s rather reckless of Dumbledore to make the forbidden corridor enterable with a simple Alohomora spell. It seems like pretty much anyone could just wander in.
* “Harry had never believed he would meet a boy he hated more than Dudley,” who had mercilessly bullied and abused him for an entire decade, “but that was before he met Draco Malfoy,” who’d talked about quidditch once and been a bit snobbish to one of Harry’s friends.
* Interesting that the Malfoys know what helicopters are. Maybe they’re not as anti-muggle as Harry thinks. Or else Malfoy’s flying stories are actually true.
* “Ron couldn’t see what was exciting about a game [football] with only one ball where no one was allowed to fly.” I, meanwhile, can’t see what’s exciting about a game where only one player really matters, and success or failure is often as not determined by who has the better broomstick.
* I love the way Malfoy’s been opening his care packages in such a way as to try and make Harry jealous. It’s horrible, but it’s also such a kid thing to do.
* Also, the fact that Malfoy receives regular care packages from home is pretty good evidence against the abusive!Lucius found in certain sections of fandom.
* Hogwarts really ought to get better brooms for its pupils to learn on. An institution where people eat off of golden plates has no excuse to skimp on buying important educational equipment.
* Riding a broomstick must be pretty uncomfortable. I think I preferred the film idea of giving them little seats and stirrups.
* Neville’s accident is a perfect illustration of how Hogwarts completely neglects the safety of its pupils. It would have been quite easy to set up a net or spell to catch pupils when they fall, or else they could have used special training brooms that don’t go too far above the ground.
* I’m surprised Neville didn’t just bounce when he hit the ground.
* I doubt anybody would actually be able to fly perfectly on their first try. Even if you had a natural aptitude for it, you’d still need to know, e.g., how hard to pull up your broom when you want to stop, how far to lean forwards to accelerate at the speed you want, and so on.
* Coming up next: Harry gets into a car for the very first time and “knows, somehow” how to win a race against somebody who’s been driving for years.
* If McGonagall saw Harry flying, she’d surely have seen Malfoy too, so why doesn’t he get into trouble? Oh, right, quidditch > discipline and student safety.
* “I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can’t bend the first-year rule.” Oh, Minerva, don’t be so coy. We all know that there’s no rule on earth which can’t be bent for the Boy Who Lived.
* Gryffindor hasn’t won the Quidditch Cup since Charlie left, which when you work out the timeline turns out to be... last year. Oh dear,
* I’m half-surprised Malfoy doesn’t slap Harry over the face with a glove when he challenges him to a duel.
* Hee, I love Hermione sitting there in her pink dressing-gown, ready to tell the boys off.
* “Harry couldn’t believe anyone could be so interfering.” Just you wait, Harry – by the end of the series you (or at least the readers) will be longing to have the old Hermione back.
* Bloody stupid of Gryffindor to have an entry system that makes it literally impossible to get in when the portrait decides to go walkabout.
* Is that “Curse of the Bogies” Ron mentions the same as the Bat-Bogey Hex for which Ginny will later be famous?
* Malfoy’s tricking Harry like this, whilst dishonourable, is nevertheless a suitably Slytherin-ish thing to do.
* It’s rather reckless of Dumbledore to make the forbidden corridor enterable with a simple Alohomora spell. It seems like pretty much anyone could just wander in.
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