06 HP Philosopher’s Stone
Mar. 30th, 2018 08:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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deathtocapslockCh6 The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters
>Hedwig brings back dead mice. Think that they are still in the room in DH?
>At this point textbooks are still interesting to Harry. Heck he even names his pet after a historical figure from his textbook.
>Harry is waiting until the last moment to secure his ride to IncompetenceVille. Why am I not surprised?
>Vernon shows exactly why he is not protagonist of this book: he asks questions that should be asked.
>By the way it was MONTH since Dudley gained a tail and only now he is going to hospital for removal.
>Jo, I did not forget that in the last chapter you left Durslays pretty much in middle of the sea without any way of getting to land. Please tell us, how they’ve got back home before Harry?
>”“Have a good term,” said Uncle Vernon with an even nastier smile. He left without another word. Harry turned and saw the Dursleys drive away. All three of them were laughing.” Durslays here are mean, but after last few chapters I can understand where they come from.
>You would think that WW puts here a muggle in-know or a squib to direct more ditzy students, who didn’t listen carefully to explanation given by whoever introduces muggleborns to WW, but nope that is too intelligent. +1 to Uncovered
>Molly Weasley, either you are DD’s co-conspirator or are you the most incompetent witch ever. +1 to Uncovered.
>Apparently even twins share my opinion of Molly, because they are ridiculously rude to her.
>”First year at the Hogwarts?-“’No I just wanted to point out that you are making spectacle of yourself.’
>Not stopping and being calm are required to pass through the barrier? So the barrier isn’t illusion, but since we never see again this kind of magic it can’t be some form of transportation... This should have been my first clue that magic system in these books is all over the place. Also +1 to Death Count since Harry was a nervous wreck during his run.
>I recall someone telling me that Ron’s rat was supposed to be a Chekov’s gun since it’s a pet not listed in the letter, but here we have Lee’s tarantula. Was that supposed to be Chekov’s gun for Aragog?
>Our protagonist who bemoaned his friendless status in chapter 2 not only dissed a boy in the last chapter, who without knowing who he was, seemed to be genuinely interested in him, but now picks an empty compartment. Harry, you might want to modify your tactics if you want to catch some fish. Just saying.
>I remember being very confused when I read this book for the first time, because in the uncivilised part of the world where I live, I have yet to find public school that has prefects. After I learnt what a prefect was, I was even more confused why the heck anybody would give so much power to students in boarding school.
>Good on twins, finding celebrity and then sneakily sending younger sibling after the celeb. How they ended up in Gryffindor? They are slier and more ambitious than most Slytherins in the series.
> “I heard you went to live with Muggles,” said Ron. “What are they like?”
Harry: Terrified of me, not sure why. On side note do you know where I can get some fresh blood?
>Ron tries his hand at poor-and-misunderstood-kid role. Harry is quick to squash that by telling him about his Cinderella background. There is only so much space for angsty characters in one book!
>[about saying word ‘Voldemort’]”I just never knew you shouldn’t” Now Harry it is not nice to lie, you know very well that wizards are bunch of cardboard cut-outs who cannot say nickname of the main villain. Also stop fishing for compliments.
>Wizarding sweets seem to be really unappetising to me.
>Ron has 500 trading cards? I’ve been questioning Weasley’s poverty for quite some time, but even now I find gems like this.
>Author of trading cards forgot to mention Albus’ other occupations.
>First real Chekov’s Gun entered the stage.
>Also I have to wonder- did Dumbledore ever manage to create Philosopher’s Stone?
>In muggle world people stay in photos, just like in wizarding photos, that were not treated with special elixir... Consistency?
>Neville: Have you seen a toad?
Harry: Meh, he will turn up someday.
>I get this strange feeling that Ron sees pets as possessions and not companions. Mind you, animals in these books are treated very strangely, but still.
>Ron’s fairytale-like spell fails here, yet Tom’s fairytale-like spells always works.
>Hermione tried a few spells before coming to Hogwarts and nobody came to break her wand? And they even worked, if you wondered! +1 to Crime Count
>Hermione here is both cute and obnoxious. I have to agree with her- in Harry’s position any sane person would check what books say about them and their parent’s murderer. But then again Harry has his author on speed dial.
>Also why authority-figure-loving Hermione doesn’t go to Prefect to find the toad? Or for that matter comments on Ron having a rat as pet?
>If you were put in Slytherin Ron, not only these books would be so much better, but also you would get a character development.
>Apparently everybody knows that Voldy was Slytherin student, yet nobody tries to figure out his real name. Nor discovers that there is no student with ‘Voldemort’ as last name? And his followers think that he is pureblood?? +1 to Leap of Logic
>Chekov’s gun numero dos was just introduced. What do you think goblins would do if some helpful soul would tell them just who exactly tried to rob them?
>Ron claims that people are scared, because supposedly dead Dark Lord might be behind the robbery. I start to think that this is just what members of Order of Babysitting believe.
>Chapter ago Draco made really strong impression on Harry. Fast-forward a few years and Harry won’t be able to name his classmates.
>Foreign names are funny. Got it!
>“You’ll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter” Some of them even care enough to remember their kid’s preferences!
>”“I’d be careful if I were you, Potter,” he said slowly. “Unless you’re a bit politer you’ll go the same way as your parents. They didn’t know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it’ll rub off on you.”” Now some people claim that Draco threatens Harry here, but the way I see it he simply gives him a very good advice. After all, wizards do not seem to have any laws about assaulting each other. Especially with magic.
>I wonder what Ron was wearing under his jacket.
>+1 to Death Count for potential head trauma followed by drowning in the Lake.
>One would think that Augusta would get Neville a terrarium for his Escape Artist Toad.
Crime Count: 1
Death Count: 2
Freud Would Be Proud: 0
Leap of Logic: 1
Uncovered: 2
Spell Count: 0
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Date: 2018-03-30 12:26 pm (UTC)LOOOOL
but i also laughed at your ron points because he really did not get a character on his own did he... it is kinda sad
i also find it amusing that apparently ppl attribute way more chekov's guns to jkr then there are.
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Date: 2018-03-31 06:40 am (UTC)I might not be Ron's fan, but I could never understand how author can hate her characters so much... Even most grotesque and monstrous characters can be beautiful and interesting to watch, be it from authors perspective or readers.
Heh, recently I watched a certain youtuber who compares movies to books they are based on. While he was fangirling about amount of foreshadowing Jo does in her books, I just sat there and compared my mental notes about the first book. I kind of pity the guy.
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Date: 2018-04-02 01:35 pm (UTC)I might not be Ron's fan, but I could never understand how author can hate her characters so much/
Ron isn't my favorite character, but I try to make allowances for him from time to time because of how he tends to be treated not only by the fandom, but by the narrative itself. At least we're supposed to think that HBP!Ginny's awesome, even though a lot of HP fans dislike her. The way that Ron's constantly put down by the other characters and the narrative later on in the series just makes me feel sorry for him. And I really don't know why that's the case. He's not a villain; he's not even meant to be a petty antagonist like Draco or Zacharias are. He's supposed to be Harry's best friend and yet he's so often made to be the butt of jokes.
I've heard other people in this community speculate that it's because he was once in danger of becoming more popular than Harry or Hermione. I don't know if that's true. But whatever the reason is, I'm disappointed with how his character turned out. And it says something that despite being the butt of jokes and sometimes spouting bigoted views, Ron ended up being the most decent of the Trio by the end of the series.
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Date: 2018-03-30 01:54 pm (UTC)Or put someone like that to watch over Muggle-borns before they go to Hogwarts, so that the wizarding authorities can keep tabs on them just in case things like strangling rabbits happen.
/Molly Weasley, either you are DD’s co-conspirator or are you the most incompetent witch ever./
And she's dumb enough to complain that King's Cross is packed with Muggles. Molly, you're in a major train station built by Muggles, for Muggles, in a major metropolitan Muggle city. What the heck did you expect?
/Our protagonist who bemoaned his friendless status in chapter 2 not only dissed a boy in the last chapter, who without knowing who he was, seemed to be genuinely interested in him, but now picks an empty compartment. Harry, you might want to modify your tactics if you want to catch some fish./
It'd be one thing if the reason why Harry didn't do that was because he was shy, awkward, or afraid of being around people, due to his background. But it does seem like the narrative is trying to have it both ways: Harry wants friends, but doesn't go out of his way to try to make any.
/I get this strange feeling that Ron sees pets as possessions and not companions./
I know that other people have complained about Ron being insensitive and ungrateful when it comes to his pets, but maybe it's part of a larger problem with the narrative itself. Because which character really has an affectionate relationship with their pet that's portrayed positively? Hermione's adoration of Crookshanks is ridiculed and he's dropped after he stops being important to the plot. Lavender's grief over her rabbit is ridiculed by Hermione and we're not supposed to feel heartbroken for Lavender. Hagrid's romanticization of dangerous monsters is treated as an amusing quirk of his. Voldemort is fond of Nagini, but he's a psychopath who sets her on people, so we're not meant to think theirs is an ideal relationship.
Every other pet is there to serve a useful function or be threatened to hurt their owner. Neville's relationship with Trevor mainly consists of him losing Trevor and fearing for Trevor's life after Snape threatens to test a potion on him and Flitwick zooms him around the classroom. Tom kills Billy Stubbs's rabbit to show how evil he is. Buckbeak is put on trial to hurt Hagrid. Hedwig is mostly annoyed with Harry while not delivering his mail and then is killed in the last book. So, honestly, if Ron is guilty of treating animals like objects that he takes for granted, then so is the narrative.
/Hermione tried a few spells before coming to Hogwarts and nobody came to break her wand?/
Unless, like Tom and Lily, she tried wandless magic.
/If you were put in Slytherin Ron, not only these books would be so much better, but also you would get a character development./
As would Hermione and/or Harry, which is why there are fanfics where they're Sorted differently. Others have remarked on how it would be a better fulfillment of the Sorting Hat's plea for House Unity if Harry's best friends were all from different Houses. Kind of like how the Gaang in "Avatar the Last Airbender" were all from different nations. Luna doesn't show up until the fifth book and she's not a main character, and Ernie Macmillan from Hufflepuff is even more of a minor character. It could have been Hermione in Ravenclaw, Harry in Gryffindor, Ron in Hufflepuff, and another friend from Slytherin.
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Date: 2018-03-31 05:24 am (UTC)In Arsinoe de Blassenville's "The Best Revenge," the four friends are Harry in Hufflepuff, Draco in Slytherin, Hermione in Ravenclaw, and Neville in Gryffindor. Harry's personality had to be changed almost completely to make him a Hufflepuff, but he turned out to be a genuinely likable kid, unlike Harry in canon.
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Date: 2018-03-31 06:34 am (UTC)Hmm I might sit down and read "The Best Revenge" after I'm done with my current project :D
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Date: 2018-03-31 06:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-03-31 07:01 am (UTC)I'm not giving them that much credit nor at this point expect them to do something so intelligent, but honestly the least they could do is make sure that all students find the station.
/But it does seem like the narrative is trying to have it both ways: Harry wants friends, but doesn't go out of his way to try to make any./
Heh, Harry sometimes reminds me of those edgy teenagers who think that they are gift to humanity and as such other people should make all effort in befriending/being friends while they graciously suffer around them.
/So, honestly, if Ron is guilty of treating animals like objects that he takes for granted, then so is the narrative./
I'm not claiming that Ron is some super insensitive character, I just make observations as I go through chapters. If anything I would say that either Ron's family or WW society is at fault (from Watsonian perspective). After all in following books his mischievous brothers feed salamander fireworks and his mother send bomb letter with poor old owl. Not to mention all those transfiguration lessons.
On Doylist level almost everybody in these books have unhealthy attitude towards animals. We have Marge who lets her dog chase Harry up a tree, Arabella who keeps way too many cats, and Dudley who as I mentioned in one of previous chapters has even worse attitude towards animals than Ron.
Honestly, sometimes I cannot stop myself form wondering if Rowling has something against animals.
It would be also interesting if Harry could be friends with somebody without that person becoming part of his group. We could have have some interesting drama between let's say Draco and Ron. Not to mention all this potential for character development!
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Date: 2018-04-01 04:49 am (UTC)I'd thought that Ron was more of a 'country kid' who views animals utilitarianly and that his pet rat was a barn rat. I was wrong, but that was my impression once I found out that the Weasleys kept chickens.
By the way it was MONTH since Dudley gained a tail and only now he is going to hospital for removal.
At this point I thought the story was more one of those ridiculous kids' stories that have completely over-the-top antagonists, more like cartoon villains than actual literary antagonists. The WW does nothing about Dudley's tail, leaving the Dursleys to try and explain it, which would expose the WW, or get the Dursleys stuck in therapy or even an institution. In later books the WW would have sent someone around to take care of things or Dumbledore would have done it, to maintain the Statute of Secrecy.
no subject
Date: 2018-04-03 12:50 pm (UTC)Huh, I never thought about it this way. The idea has merit (as long as you ignore rampant animal abuse in these books), but would 'country kid' keep rat as pet? I would expect cat or dog or in case of WW owl.
/At this point I thought the story was more one of those ridiculous kids' stories/
These books (especially first 3) suffer a lot from upgrading series to YA books.
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Date: 2018-04-03 04:13 pm (UTC)I agree they suffered from the upgrade, but also from the later books wanting to be more realistic while still leaving in the comically over-the-top elements from those types of children's stories.