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deathtocapslock* This week, we get to see the beginning of the fine HP tradition of Hagrid doing stupid, illegal things with animals and roping the kids in to help.
* “‘Jus’ lookin’,’ he said, in a shifty voice that got their interest at once.” Yeah, I can see why Dumbledore trusted Hagrid to remove the Philosopher’s Stone from Gringott’s. That man’s the best at hiding secrets of anyone I’ve ever seen.
* Although the Trio are pretty indiscrete as well, casually chatting about the Stone in the middle of the library where anybody could overhear them.
* Wait, so Hagrid took the dragon egg with him into the library?! Wow, I knew he was an idiot, but I never realised he was this bad.
* “Dragon-breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks’ Convention of 1709, everyone knows that.” Man, I miss knowledgeable!Ron. If this were one of the later books, it would be Hermione telling us about the Warlocks’ Convention. And about dragons too, no doubt, because Ron would never have heard of them and wouldn’t have a clue what they were.
* I highly doubt that the existence of large, dangerous animals like dragons could be kept secret in a densely-populated country like the UK. To be honest I doubt they could be kept secret in Romania either.
* Wales and the Hebrides seem like they’d be too small to support viable dragon breeding populations. Judging by the creatures’ size they’d need a lot of food, and barren areas like the Welsh mountains and Scottish islands would be insufficient to feed them.
* As if to prove his unsuitability for sensitive missions yet again, Hagrid falls for a blatantly obvious piece of flattery from Hermione.
* So, if dragon-breeding was outlawed in 1709, does that mean that the copy of Dragon-Breeding for Pleasure and Profit Hagrid got out of the library is three hundred years old? Man, Hogwarts has no idea how to treat valuable antique books.
* I’m struggling to think what natural dragon food might reasonably be replaced with brandy.
* Hagrid’s getting all misty-eyed cooing over his baby dragon. Yeah, that man sure has a good understanding of animals, alright. I’ve no idea why people thought he might plausibly have let a giant spider run loose throughout the castle.
* I wonder why nobody’s noticed Hagrid not doing his gamekeeper duties. Maybe they’ve also noticed that he’s been buying a lot of brandy recently, and just assume that he’s been getting too pissed. They don’t say anything in the hopes that he’ll drink himself to death and Hogwarts can get a better gamekeeper to replace him. (Callous, yes, but if any society would think like this, it would be the Potterverse wizarding world.)
* “Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any moment.” Probably not, IMHO: either he’d go immediately, or not at all. There’s no reason for him not to tell and then suddenly change his mind a few days later.
* Hagrid’s been dragooning the children into his dangerous-animal-raising scheme and blaming them when they get injured, foreshadowing his later behaviour as COMC teacher.
* Trying to sneak Norbert through the castle sounds like a spectacularly bad idea. Even if the Invisibility Cloak is big enough to cover his crate and two children, which I doubt, there’s no guarantee he wouldn’t start making noises and give them away. It would be much better to just get Charlie to come direct to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, next to Hagrid’s hut.
* So why do neither Harry nor Hermione think of using Wingardium Leviosa to lift the crate?
* I hope Slytherin got those twenty points back when it turned out that Malfoy was telling the truth and Harry was in fact wandering around at night. Sadly, though, I doubt it.
* “Malfoy’s got detention! I could sing!” says Hermione, showing off her vindictive streak that will only get stronger as the series progresses.
* Considerately, Norbert waits until they’re at the top of the tower and well away from any wandering teachers before starting to thrash around.
* Harry and Hermione leave the Cloak behind, like the pair of bloody idiots they are. D’oh!
* “‘Jus’ lookin’,’ he said, in a shifty voice that got their interest at once.” Yeah, I can see why Dumbledore trusted Hagrid to remove the Philosopher’s Stone from Gringott’s. That man’s the best at hiding secrets of anyone I’ve ever seen.
* Although the Trio are pretty indiscrete as well, casually chatting about the Stone in the middle of the library where anybody could overhear them.
* Wait, so Hagrid took the dragon egg with him into the library?! Wow, I knew he was an idiot, but I never realised he was this bad.
* “Dragon-breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks’ Convention of 1709, everyone knows that.” Man, I miss knowledgeable!Ron. If this were one of the later books, it would be Hermione telling us about the Warlocks’ Convention. And about dragons too, no doubt, because Ron would never have heard of them and wouldn’t have a clue what they were.
* I highly doubt that the existence of large, dangerous animals like dragons could be kept secret in a densely-populated country like the UK. To be honest I doubt they could be kept secret in Romania either.
* Wales and the Hebrides seem like they’d be too small to support viable dragon breeding populations. Judging by the creatures’ size they’d need a lot of food, and barren areas like the Welsh mountains and Scottish islands would be insufficient to feed them.
* As if to prove his unsuitability for sensitive missions yet again, Hagrid falls for a blatantly obvious piece of flattery from Hermione.
* So, if dragon-breeding was outlawed in 1709, does that mean that the copy of Dragon-Breeding for Pleasure and Profit Hagrid got out of the library is three hundred years old? Man, Hogwarts has no idea how to treat valuable antique books.
* I’m struggling to think what natural dragon food might reasonably be replaced with brandy.
* Hagrid’s getting all misty-eyed cooing over his baby dragon. Yeah, that man sure has a good understanding of animals, alright. I’ve no idea why people thought he might plausibly have let a giant spider run loose throughout the castle.
* I wonder why nobody’s noticed Hagrid not doing his gamekeeper duties. Maybe they’ve also noticed that he’s been buying a lot of brandy recently, and just assume that he’s been getting too pissed. They don’t say anything in the hopes that he’ll drink himself to death and Hogwarts can get a better gamekeeper to replace him. (Callous, yes, but if any society would think like this, it would be the Potterverse wizarding world.)
* “Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any moment.” Probably not, IMHO: either he’d go immediately, or not at all. There’s no reason for him not to tell and then suddenly change his mind a few days later.
* Hagrid’s been dragooning the children into his dangerous-animal-raising scheme and blaming them when they get injured, foreshadowing his later behaviour as COMC teacher.
* Trying to sneak Norbert through the castle sounds like a spectacularly bad idea. Even if the Invisibility Cloak is big enough to cover his crate and two children, which I doubt, there’s no guarantee he wouldn’t start making noises and give them away. It would be much better to just get Charlie to come direct to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, next to Hagrid’s hut.
* So why do neither Harry nor Hermione think of using Wingardium Leviosa to lift the crate?
* I hope Slytherin got those twenty points back when it turned out that Malfoy was telling the truth and Harry was in fact wandering around at night. Sadly, though, I doubt it.
* “Malfoy’s got detention! I could sing!” says Hermione, showing off her vindictive streak that will only get stronger as the series progresses.
* Considerately, Norbert waits until they’re at the top of the tower and well away from any wandering teachers before starting to thrash around.
* Harry and Hermione leave the Cloak behind, like the pair of bloody idiots they are. D’oh!
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no subject
Date: 2016-09-09 04:40 pm (UTC)In the early books, Hagrid wasn’t gamekeeper; he was groundskeeper. Which means while Hagrid is busy raising a dragon, the lawns aren’t being mowed, the hedges aren’t being trimmed, the weeds are running wild, and the Quidditch pitch isn’t being kept up (though what difference the surface of the Quidditch pitch makes I’ll never know). Does anyone remember the time of year this is taking place? Even in the middle of winter, the groundskeeper must have outbuildings to look after and storm damage to clear up.
no subject
Date: 2016-09-09 05:08 pm (UTC)According to the Lexicon, Charlie picks Norbert up in early May, when he (actually SHE we find out later) is a few weeks old. So Hagrid might only have neglected his duties for a few weeks.
no subject
Date: 2016-09-09 06:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-09-09 04:57 pm (UTC)I do think it a shame that she made the Welsh 'green' when their flag clearly portrays a RED dragon, but I suppose she felt 'red' was more appropriate for a Chinese dragon and did not want two reds. And 'green' works well with "How Green was My Valley"
Are you sure Hagrid had the egg with him in the library? I also did not realize that. I suppose it was 'hidden; in some way (under his coat or in his pockets?
As for what natural food brandy might replace? Perhaps dragons like the occasional fermented fruit? Not sure how they managed that without the fruit actually rotting...
I will say that, JKR continues the idea of animals that must have alcohol GoF with Beauxbatons flying horses and their 'single malt whiskey'. I must admit, my first thought was aren't the horses raised in France? Shouldn't they want wine? or an eau de vivre?
About Hagrid and secret-keeping and retrieving the Stone - I tend to think that Albus chose Hagrid for the task specifically because he CANNOT keep a secret. What good is the entire gauntlet to the Stone if the bait is not placed? And it would hardly do Albus any benefit if Hagrid keeps mum later, when he needs Harry to run off to take his 'training' test below the third floor corridor.
As for the night that Charlie picks up Norbert and Hermione not thinking of Wingarium Leviosa - it's also part of the idea that Hermione doesn't think well in practical applications - right up there with Ron having to remind her she's a witch when she wants wood for fire against the Devil's Snare. Harry, of course didn't think of it because he has Hermione to do his thinking for him. Harry really doesn't think. He has his luck for that. And as Snape has pointed out, his smarter friends.
Face palm - the cloak. And it isn't the last time Harry does this either. I admit that in PoA, JKR needed Snape to find it and wear it so he could sneak up on everyone. But the only reason for it to be left behind here is so they can each lose 50 points and Slytherin will think they have won the House Cup at the end of the year.
no subject
Date: 2016-09-10 01:03 am (UTC)The relevant passages are (p. 168 of the Bloomsbury 1997 edition):
Hagrid shuffled into view, hiding something behind his back. He looked very out of place in his moleskin overcoat.
[Hagrid and the Trio have a brief conversation about the Philosopher's Stone; then--]
Hagrid shuffled off.
"What was he hiding behind his back?" said Hermione thoughtfully.
"Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?"
"I'm going to see what section he was in," said Ron, who'd had enough of working. He came back a minute later with a pile of books in his arms and slammed them down on the table.
"Dragons!" he whispered...
I'm not really sure what the "something" Hagrid was hiding could be, other than the dragon egg. In which case, not only is he bringing it into the library, he's not even bothering to conceal it properly.
no subject
Date: 2016-09-10 12:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-09-10 09:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-09-11 10:25 am (UTC)But holding it behind his back? Too easy to drop and break it. Of course, with the size of his hands, he would have a better hold than most people, so it is a possibility.
no subject
Date: 2016-09-13 04:01 am (UTC)Red is indeed a very Chinese-affiliated color, both in the traditional sense and in the more recent Socialist/Communist sense, but in the traditional mythology dragons come in all sorts of colors (so long as it's bright and festive/regal looking), but if you want to go all shorthand-stereotypical on this, then Golden Yellow is actually a better choice than red. Or blue even, since it's a popular design for porcelain. :P
no subject
Date: 2016-09-09 08:11 pm (UTC)So do I. So many times I've seen people call Ron useless and unneeded, but it would've been great if he'd be allowed to remain the insider into the wizarding world. I've seen arguments that Ron is supposed to represent the older, prejudiced view on the wizarding world while Hermione represents the enlightened view (ex. their arguments about house elves and giants), but what purpose does that dichotomy have? Why does Ron need to have the older, prejudiced view? Shouldn't Draco be the one who parrots the wizarding world's bigotry? And if Ron is supposed to be the face of the 'nicer' form of prejudice, then why doesn't he grow out of it? Why doesn't he learn that such beliefs are wrong? Why is he still hexing Muggles in the epilogue? Why does Hermione never call him out on it and why does she drop her stance on house elves if she's supposed to be the enlightened one?
It just seems like the classic setup: Hermione is the outsider who's new to everything magical and Ron is the insider who's ignorant of everything Muggle, and both of them teach each other about their worlds while becoming friends and slowly falling in love. Harry and Hermione, being Muggle-raised, bring skills from the Muggle world while Ron brings knowledge and insight from the wizarding world. But instead it all comes to nothing.
/Hagrid’s getting all misty-eyed cooing over his baby dragon. Yeah, that man sure has a good understanding of animals, alright. I’ve no idea why people thought he might plausibly have let a giant spider run loose throughout the castle./
I wonder if the real reason why Tom didn't tell Hagrid about the basilisk was because he knew that Hagrid would tell everyone and their mother about it. Aside from that, it seems like Hagrid would've been quite happy to help Tom keep the basilisk hidden.
/“Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any moment.”/
But he didn't. Thus leading Draco fans to speculate that all he really wanted was to see the baby dragon. :)
/Hagrid’s been dragooning the children into his dangerous-animal-raising scheme and blaming them when they get injured/
As many a Snape fan would say: how is what Snape's done in this book worse than what Hagrid's doing? And, of course, if Snape had been the one who'd illegally kept a dragon, blamed Ron for being injured, and forced the Trio to help him sneak it out of Hogwarts (through the threat of expulsion or what have you), the entire HP fandom would've called him evil incarnate. *Especially* if after they'd been caught, he'd raised not a word in Harry and Hermione's defense and had gladly supervised their detention for it.
/It would be much better to just get Charlie to come direct to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, next to Hagrid’s hut./
Or it would've been better for *Hagrid* to do this. It's his dragon (and therefore his problem) and he's allowed to wander around at night. Why isn't *he* doing this, instead of getting his friends into trouble?
/“Malfoy’s got detention! I could sing!” says Hermione/
Umm, why? You've had no direct interaction with Draco at all in this book. He hasn't given you any grief yet. In fact, he hasn't even talked to you (at least on-page). So, why are you so happy that he's in trouble? Just because he doesn't like Harry? Or because you think that he was going to tell on you about the dragon?
no subject
Date: 2016-09-10 01:08 am (UTC)Even if Rowling does use Ron to present the prejudiced wizarding view, that isn't incompatible with him helping the others to navigate the wizarding world. In fact, the two would realistically go hand-in-hand: having spent all his life among wizards, Ron would both know the subtle ins and outs of wizarding society, and also share his fellow wizards' blind spots because he has nothing to compare his society's outlook to.
And if Ron is supposed to be the face of the 'nicer' form of prejudice, then why doesn't he grow out of it? Why doesn't he learn that such beliefs are wrong?
Because in the Potterverse, prejudice isn't wrong after all. D:
no subject
Date: 2016-09-13 01:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-09-13 02:31 am (UTC)