GoF Chapter Six--Out of order, sorry!

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

*Mr. Weasley is checking his sheaf of tickets. A sheaf. How many muggles did that enchanted lawnmower chew up, exactly?

*I wonder if Apparating being difficult is going to come up at some point or whether it’s just there to justify needing the license.

*Sometimes I wish every Magical Word Didn’t Have To Be Capitalized.

*Despite what Molly says later, Percy, like the twins, Apparates all over the house just because he can. *scratches Percy behind th ears*

*Who were Fred and George hoping to give those toffees to, I wonder?

*I have to say, I think most mothers would react the same way as Molly does to her kids spending six months on joke candy and failing their exams. Don’t take it personally, guys.

*I know this is total nitpick, but I suddenly found myself thinking why do Ron’s friends get special treatment? The tickets to the World Cup are hard to come by and a big deal. I can see why Harry would be invited, as they think of him like family and as an orphan with Muggles they’d think it was a nice treat. Plus he’s Seeker and wins games for Gryffindor. But why’s Hermione here? She doesn’t even like Quidditch—wouldn’t the twins’ friend Lee have appreciated it more? And Ginny’s wildly popular we’ll find out later—don’t her friends ever get to stay at the house?

*Yes, I realize that thought was completely silly and it’s not intended as a real criticism. It’s just damn, Hermione’s place in both boys’ lives is so unrealistic sometimes I can’t help but notice it.

*Mr. Weasley performs some wizarding exposition about how people get to the World Cup. Cheaper tickets have to arrive two weeks an advance? That’s not very fair. Who can take 2 weeks off work to go to a game?

*Heh. Could it be at all significant plot-wise that Harry is showing an interest in Porkeys and that Mr. Weasley is explaining them? Why the sudden curiosity about the way things work Harry, hmmm? Must be those Seeker powers instinctively glimpsing a plot development in the distance...

*Uh, Arthur? If you make a Porkey look like litter some of us Muggles might actually pick it up to throw it away. Keep Muggle Britain Tidy you slobs!

*So where the Weasleys live it gets cold enough in August at night that it makes your hands and feet freezing? Are they in the mountains?

*Stoatshead Hill—just pointing out the Mustelid reference.

*I know Cedric’s a Hufflepuff, but he’s wearing a big red shirt.

*To prove that fighting against evil doesn’t prevent you from being idiots, the twins snub Cedric for catching a gold ball before Harry did ten months earlier. With that kind of grudge holding, Snape makes a lot more sense, doesn’t he?

*Oh dear. I feel sad for Cedric in this scene when his father calls him Ced and looks forward to him getting his Apparation license. And jokes about his telling his grandchildren about beating Harry Potter. Ack. No grandchildern for Cedric.:-(

*Seriously, I really love the way the relationship between Amos and Cedric is set up here so quickly and clearly—it’s even better than Neville and his Gran in the hospital. Cedric’s death is going to destroy this man.

*I’m sorry, I shouldn’t make comments like that. As I learned from the hate thread, whenever you pick apart canon, a rabbi goes up in smoke.

*I like how Amos sees Cedric not fainting on his broom as proof he’s a better flier, because so often in canon people are just as quick to brush off any outside circumstances that might suggest Harry had an advantage when proving nobody can compete with him.

*The Lovegoods have been there for a week already. Hee. It’s sad how fun it is looking at old canon and finding hints for the later stuff. And people wonder why people spin theories about Mark Evans.





This chapter was pretty short so it’s probably a low score.

The Cricket Rule and Day-for-Night
To make sure we get at least one, I’m going to give it these two, since Amos doesn’t sound anything like Ernest Borgnine.

Misdirected Answering
I’m afraid that now that I know all about wizard transporation to the QWC and how Portkeys work I’m afraid I’m even more puzzled as to why Faux!Moody didn’t just toss Harry a quill Portkey a few weeks into the term.

Final score: 2

Comments

[t0ra-chan.livejournal.com]

Psst, you skipped a chapter, this is chapter 5. I was wondering where the tongue-toffee stuff went.

*Mr. Weasley is checking his sheaf of tickets. A sheaf. How many muggles did that enchanted lawnmower chew up, exactly?

Since Lucius had to give tons of money to the only hospital they have and only got three tickets, I suspect that this thing wiped out some small villages here and there.

*Yes, I realize that thought was completely silly and it’s not intended as a real criticism. It’s just damn, Hermione’s place in both boys’ lives is so unrealistic sometimes I can’t help but notice it.

It's like Rowling is trying to hammer it home what good friends they are, but it never feels real, which is a shame since the Harry/Ron friendship certainly does. Not to mention that she probably couldn't stand it to not write Hermione.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

OMG, what is wrong with me???? Why am I having so much trouble getting these right--they should be easier! I'm going to quietly remove this one and replace it with the right one.

[pacoman.livejournal.com]

Actually, this is chapter 6; 5 is the one where Harry meets Bill and Charlie.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

AAAAAGHHHH! Did I put up four in the next chapter right?

I'm so confusing myself.

[pacoman.livejournal.com]

No, it's more like:

4. Arthur shows how much he sucks at diplomacy.
5. Obligatory Weasley chapter.
6. This one.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Okay, no idea how I did that. But I mean, the one I posted after this was four, right? I would actually just like to delete these post altogether, but I don't want to delete the comments, so next week chapter five!

[anehan]

It's like Rowling is trying to hammer it home what good friends they are, but it never feels real, which is a shame since the Harry/Ron friendship certainly does.

I've got to agree with that. It's probably why I've got no problems believing those post-Hogwarts fics that have Hermione estranged from Harry and Ron. What exactly do they have in common besides school?

It's possible that their common experiences with battling Voldie would make them bond so strongly that their apparent differences wouldn't matter, but it doesn't seem like that. I think probably the Ron/Hermione drama is part of the reason the trio's friendship doesn't really work, but I don't think it's the whole reason.

[courtaud.livejournal.com]

I’m afraid that now that I know all about wizard transporation to the QWC and how Portkeys work I’m afraid I’m even more puzzled as to why Faux!Moody didn’t just toss Harry a quill Portkey a few weeks into the term.
Because Voldemort wanted to resurrect in Saint John's Night, and come back with a dead Potter in front of many international witnesses at the Triwizard Tournament.
Voldemort's plans may be flimsy, but this one made sense to me.

[pacoman.livejournal.com]

Except that, according to OotP, Voldemort wanted to keep his return a secret until he had gathered his forces.

[courtaud.livejournal.com]

Did he say so, or is one of Dumbledore's explanations? Anyway after the fiasco in the graveyard he had better to wait until he gathered his forces...

Anyway I'm sure that he intended to wait the traditional shortest night of the year for his resurrection. He is the same fellow who waited until Halloween to kill baby Harry.

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

*Sirius Black* tells us so. Like he knew.

The way he tells us that Voldemort first wants to build up his army again.

In the year since his return became public knowlege have we been given the *slightest* indication that he is recruiting new followers? No. Not even a hint in passing. Even the named members of the awkward squad that was sent in at the end of HBP was all names that Snape mentions in Spinner's End as DEs from the first war.

Apart from the *posibility* that Voldemort made an exception in Draco's case (which I doubt) we haven't heard of one new DE that Voldemort has added to his army since people have known he was back.

The theory that Tom intended to ride the cup back with Harry's body and the rest of his troops portkeying after, and strike terror into the TriWizard tournement was mine, btw. I still think it makes more sense than anything Sirius Black tells us.

[courtaud.livejournal.com]

Ops. I did not meant to steal your theory, I'm sorry I did not remember it was yours and did not quote it as such.

Voldemort nowadays seems more focused in recruiting whole species: giants, werewolves, dementors, goblins... The theory that his final goal is the destruction of the wizarding world is yours, that I remember. I think he want to destroy the Pureblood first, because their knowledge is dangerous to him. He surely caused the end of more old wizarding houses than anything else.

My pet theory is that Voldemort has an amazingly Muggle view of Magic: Halloween, St. John night, the power of the number seven, alchemical rituals of resurrection with black, red and white Works...

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

Actually, I may not be the only person with that theory. But I don't know of anyone else who posted it before I did. You and others may have arrived at it independently. It *does* make sense as to why that portkey of Crouch/Moody's was created to be good for a round-trip.

I mean, Tom certainly didn't intend for *Harry* to be riding it back...

Oh yes. Tom certainly has a Muggle outlook. Possibly one reason why the ww doesn't know what to do about him.

And yes it does certainly look like his whole intention is to simply be not merely the *greatest* sorcerer, but the *only* one.

Although I may be giving him either too much or too little credit. He seems to have been determined to collect the whole set of pureblood families (or to wipe them out for refusing to join him), mainly because by wizarding standards they were the ones regarded as being the most "collectable". He has to know that they certainly aren't the most powerful.

[lorannah.livejournal.com]

* I’m afraid that now that I know all about wizard transporation to the QWC and how Portkeys work I’m afraid I’m even more puzzled as to why Faux!Moody didn’t just toss Harry a quill Portkey a few weeks into the term.

I finally came to terms with this in my own head (to get away from the idea that everything that happened in Goblet of Fire was a massive waste of time), by deciding the elaborate ruse was intended to keep Faux!Moody in his teaching position after Harry's death - which I guess simply tossing him something would have made impossible. Even then it's still ridiculously elaborate with a million and one ways it could have gone wrong. There were definitely simpler ways of doing it, like luring Harry somewhere quiet with candy...

[papier.livejournal.com]

I’m afraid that now that I know all about wizard transporation to the QWC and how Portkeys work I’m afraid I’m even more puzzled as to why Faux!Moody didn’t just toss Harry a quill Portkey a few weeks into the term.

I guess I'm echoing other commenters, and an earlier comment of my own when I agree about how little the whole plot makes sense when you realise how easier it could have been to pull off. But the stuff about Saint John's Night above is intriguing - pretty coincidental that the Triwizard final occured on that same night, though.

[violaswamp.livejournal.com]

Yes, I realize that thought was completely silly and it’s not intended as a real criticism. It’s just damn, Hermione’s place in both boys’ lives is so unrealistic sometimes I can’t help but notice it.

I don't think it's silly. It's a basic plot-logic question. If we're to look at the Weasley kids as real characters and not just plot devices, then it's valid to ask about their friends. I guess you could fanwank that Harry and Hermione both living with Muggles, and maybe all of Fred and George and Ginny's friends have at least one wizarding guardian who could get them access to the QWC independently?

[indongcho.livejournal.com]

Now I'm wondering why the wizards couldn't just Portkey to the grounds on the day of the match, hang out for a while buying souvenirs, watch the match, and then Portkey or Apparate home.

I guess there's a need for secrecy with that amount of people, but the ones who don't want to camp out should have the option to stop by and then go home. What's the use of instant transportation if it doesn't save you time?

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

This series kind of specializes in amazingly helpful things that are never there when you need them!