CoS Chapter Eleven

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

*Makes sense Hogwarts would have a dueling club, doesn’t it? Funny it gets dropped after this chapter. But then, in general it seems like we get hints of all these school clubs without them ever really being integrated into school life at all, leaving one with the impression that the only people who join clubs are the ones with no friends.

*Harry’s hurt that Ron and Hermione aren’t desperate to hear whether his bones are back are not. It is kind of endearing how bad Harry is at hiding how important it is to him that other people care about him all the time.

*He ought to comfort himself by thinking they’ve gone off to get revenge on Lockhart and the Slytherin Quidditch team in his name.

*Harry runs into Percy, who I’m sure is somehow showing us that he’s terrible by congratulating Harry’s flying for the House Points he got for Gryffindor while Harry demands to know where Ron is and runs off.

*Btw, way to show where everyone’s priorities should lie, Hogwarts—is there anything a non-athlete can do to earn fifty points in the normal course of things?

*Harry finds his friends and they ask how his arm is. He bravely refrains from responding, "Fat lot you care!!"

*Waterproof fires are a specialty of Hermione’s. Because they’re arbitrarily more difficult than other magic stuff, I guess.

*I’m a bit surprised Ron and Hermione were able to just easily overhear McGonagall telling Flitwick a student had been petrified. Well, I’m not so much surprised as recognizing it as a plot cheat.

*The sooner they get a confession out of Malfoy, the better. Yeah, damn that Malfoy for not coughing up that confession!

*Though given his eagerness earlier, you wonder why they think they’d need Polyjuice to get a confession out of him if it were the truth. If they told him he was suspected he’d probably rise to the occasion.

*Ron thinks Malfoy was in such a foul mood after Quidditch he took it out on Colin. Really Ginny just wanted to get rid of her rival. The grapes were her idea!

*The Chamber’s been opened before, which proves it’s Malfoy because Malfoy has a father.

*I love the way the Trio manages to take in the information that Dobby was guilty of the other things without allowing that Malfoy was innocent. Which is important in this case because Malfoy being guilty of those things was part of their case against him.

*Ginny is distraught, but doesn’t speak up to help stop the attacks. I was going to make a crack about that Gryffindor courage failing in the face of detention, but then I remembered she’s just following the Code: helping others who are injured is for pussies.

*Btw, can anyone connect the Ginny in this chapter with Ginny II? I’m sure there are plenty who will explain that you can’t base your understanding of someone’s personality on how they act when they’re under such stress but…it’s really hard for me to believe this is Ginny II (aka "Real Ginny") under stress. Shouldn’t she be snappishly bitching people out? If that’s only the way she behaves when she’s happy she needs to get possessed more often.

*Oh wait, I forgot. She’s just tongue-tied around Harry because it’s her crush. Because even when you think you’re possessed and are murdering people your crush rules your life.

*For contrast, even though Malfoy’s "acting different" in HBP, it’s totally more set up and foreshadowed that he would act the way he’s acting.

*Percy seems to know Ginny’s having nightmares. I wonder if Old!Ginny confided things like that to him because he’s the brother who doesn’t respond to everything with mocking and teasing?

*Is this the first time it’s introduced that Neville’s a pure-blood? Handily correcting that moment in PS when he says his family thought he was "all-Muggle?"

*Neville also for some reason assumes that the Heir went after Filch first, when Filch was not near his cat when she got petrified.

*Btw, Neville is one Wizard who isn’t using the word "squib" as a slur when putting himself down, imo.

*I find it suspicious that Malfoy is staying for Christmas too. Wish we had some explanation for it. You’d think Lucius would have good reason for wanting him away from the school.

*I think I’m going to fanwank this into Lucius and Narcissa having to go away on a second honeymoon over Christmas because they’ve been fighting.

*Harry throws a firecracker in Goyle’s Potion. Funny how you never hear how dreadful Harry is for deliberately sabotaging a class that way. Though I supposed throwing a little firecracker is hardly on par with, say, whispering to your friend for ten seconds.

*Note that Goyle’s Potion makes everything swell, just like it’s supposed to do. Looks like Snape’s got good reason for criticizing the Gryffindors while leaving the Slytherins alone. Well done, Goyle!

*Snape threatens to expel whoever threw the firecracker. OMG, Snape is so evil! How dare he talk about expelling Harry for no reason at all!

*Snape’s looking right at Harry’s puzzled expression, which unfortunately shouldn’t be enough to block that Legilimancy.

*And once again, Snape’s the villain, even though really the Trio’s gotten away with something and smugly counting on Snape not being able to prove did it.

*Seamus says he wouldn’t mind learning to duel, which just makes his behavior in OotP—where he doesn’t immediately pledge himself to Harry and the DA—even worse!

*Seriously, look at how popular this dueling club is. Why do they not have one with Flitwick, the real dueling champion, teaching? I’ll be the Quidditch union leaned on the faculty to get it disbanded so they wouldn’t have competition.

*There’s something so hilarious about Snape being anybody’s assistant, especially Lockhart’s. I have this vision of him in a sequined leotard and a feather in his hair.

*Malfoy and some of the other Slytherins cheer when Lockhart’s knocked off his feet. Just some of the other Slytherins? Their HoH is a bad ass!

*I don’t even want to think about how the Gryffindors would have reacted if it were their HoH.

*Though I suppose we should blame Snape for the irritating movie convention of every spell just knocking somebody into a wall one way or another.

*Meanwhile, there is a little Gryffindor tutoring going on in the background. Hermione asks if Lockhart might have been hurt and Harry and Ron say "who cares?" Ginny’s picked up on this, at least.

*You know, rock on Snape, for pairing Slytherins and Gryffindors. Yes, I know it’s in a combat situation, but that doesn’t matter in this context. I think that sort of thing should be done all the time.

*We all know that Harry’s been unfairly paired with a slimy Malfoy, but since Millicent has never actually done anything to anyone, we’ll have to linger over how unfeminine and ugly she is. Which is just as bad.

*Malfoy started moving his arm on two. So. Totally. Evil. And also something Fred and George would do.

*I’ve no clue what Malfoy hit Harry with.

*You’d think hitting Malfoy with a tickling charm might crack the ice a bit with Harry and Draco, but no.

*Surprisingly, Malfoy’s just laughing instead of laughing sycophantically or stupidly or sneeringly.

*Harry takes a moment to grab some strange chivalry points for feeling he shouldn’t hit Malfoy when he’s laughing.

*But don’t go thinking that Malfoy deserves any of the same points for doing exactly the same thing for Harry. It was totally different of Malfoy to let Harry recover from his spell. Not sportsmanlike at all. If anything, he was just too cowardly to hit him again!

*All of Malfoy and Harry’s duels in canon are pretty good.

*Millicent kicks ASS in this scene. What, am I supposed to think she’s a bully? Then you shouldn’t have picked on her looks at the beginning of the scene, should you? I love Millicent.

*Btw, my book has a typo here. The sentence "Both their wands lay forgotten on the floor doesn’t begin with a capital.

*Snape’s criticism of Neville’s spells could actually be taken as a compliment. Not by Neville, of course. But people who have some self-esteem.

*What’s that Snape? A matchbox? Leave it to the Slytherins to drop in the Muggle references. I think they all have private lessons and field trips.

*You know, as evil as I’m sure Snape’s supposed to be being here, Malfoy and Potter are a pretty good pair to pick to demonstrate, as they seem to be the two who naturally dueled correctly.

*I actually do like the way that mostly happens through canon, where their dueling is pretty even as they both improve together. (With a slight pause for the years after OotP when it was taken as canon that Harry was so far beyond Malfoy there was no point him even drawing a wand—oops.)

*Okay, lots of fandom theories about why Snape whispered to Malfoy: was he trying to test if Harry was a Parselmouth? Did he teach Malfoy the spell? You know what I think? I think he told him to use Serpensortia because, Lockhart’s supposed to be teaching Harry to block the spell, and there’s nothing to block with that one.

*And also Snape probably just thinks Serpensortia is a cool spell and blackly humorous given the Basilisk.

*I get that the point of the scene is the Parselmouth thing, but it’s really bad how Malfoy just dissolves away like a ghost. He created the snake, he’s an important character in the scene, he’s connected to the Basilisk storyline, yet we don’t see his reaction to Harry being a Parselmouth at all. I know the scene isn’t about him, but by not mentioning him at all it’s like he just disappeared.

*Especially since we know he’d be wearing a really funny Eric Cartman-esque, "No WAY he’s a Parselmouth too. I am SO OVER THIS SCHOOL!" expression.

*Harry doesn’t know how he can speak a language without knowing he can speak it? Oh, I don’t know, Harry. How can you fly without ever having flown? How can you have visions of the future? How can you throw off Imperius without ever trying it? Explaining your many rare and superior gifts would take a whole other series!

*Harry thinks how he doesn’t know anything about his father because the Dursleys forbade questions about his Wizard relatives. Um, Harry? They don’t know anything about your Wizard relatives. On account of not being related to them. And now that you do know people who know them, you’ve never been interested!

*A nasty little voice in his brain tells Harry the Sorting Hat wanted to put him in Slytherin. That nasty little voice must be somebody in fandom mis-remembering Harry’s Sorting again.

*Hermione tells Harry to go find Justin if he wants to talk to him. Harry’s understandably confused. "Hermione, Justin doesn’t exist when I’m not in class with him!"

*Ernie is stout. Who knew? *Makes note*

*Ernie also apparently knows what it means to be "down for Eton" even though he’s a pure-blood. I guess blue blood trumps pure-blood.

*Hannah claims Harry is always so nice. Has anyone checked out the possibility of Hannah being a DE in disguise? Because Harry isn’t really that nice.

*I wonder if Ernie’s story about how Harry survived Voldemort’s attack is the one we were supposed to hear from Theo and Draco. Or at least something like it?

*Harry is furious to hear people deciding he’s guilty using the same sort of logic he and his friends have already used to decide Malfoy is guilty!

*I guess roosters aren’t one of Hagrid’s favorite animals, which is why he can walk around carrying dead ones without sniveling.

*So Ginny has been killing roosters. Now *that* I can certainly imagine Ginny II doing for fun.

*Harry unfortunately discovers Justin. Sometimes it’s not easy having your universe revolve entirely around you.

*Okay, wafting Nick upstairs is pretty funny.

*Harry tries to tell McGonagall he didn’t do it, but it’s out of her hands. Once everybody thinks you’re guilty Harry, you go to jail. That’s the Wizard Way. The mob has spoken.





IITS
Hey, what are the chances of Harry finding 2 out of 3 victims? IITS!

Informed Attributes
Harry’s really too sportsmanlike for duelling.

Spring-Loaded CatSuperfluous Racking
Superfluous racking is rather gay when Lockhart does it.

Final score: 4

Signs of things to come: True to form, Harry manages to protest his own innocence to the Hufflepuffs in a way that makes him seem unpleasant and defensive and doesn’t explain their mistake. Harry feels totally in danger from Snape—which is why he goofs off and causes trouble in his class. Being a Gryffindor means never having to say your sorry or wrong! Why look, Potter’s got some sort of rare, admirable gift!

Comments

[elanor-x.livejournal.com]

* leaving one with the impression that the only people who join clubs are the ones with no friends
I too got such impression. Wasn't Snape's mother a president of one? And she was ugly too. And married the wrong man- abusive and a Muggle at once! What a born loser! No wonder her son turned out to be one too.

*… Which is important in this case because Malfoy being guilty of those things was part of their case against him.
He is probably guilty of other things, which they don't know about. When somebody you dislike turns out innocent, the key to happy life is not to give in to despair, but start searching for other things he did wrong. The kids just heard the old saying that knowing your enemy is the key to success and practice Moody's motto CONSTANT VIGILANCE. Thus, the polijuice portion. What is the problem exactly? ;-)

*I think I’m going to fanwank this into Lucius and Narcissa having to go away on a second honeymoon over Christmas because they’ve been fighting.
I thought about Lucius's father, who died from dragon pox at some unspecified point in the past. Has Draco ever stayed for Christmas except the second year? If not, my theory is that his grandfather was dying then & his parents preferred him to stay at school.

*Snape’s criticism of Neville’s spells could actually be taken as a compliment. Not by Neville, of course. But people who have some self-esteem.
Do you mean Snape kindly suggests "we'll be sending what's left of Finch-F. up to the hospital wing in a matchbox" [implying Neville's ability to aim & cast spells right] instead of saying "Neville can't aim and won't be able to cast Accio right"?

*So Ginny has been killing roosters. Now *that* I can certainly imagine Ginny II doing for fun.
Mrs. Weasley has hens. I think Ginny has seen her mother killing them since childhood and probably even helped her as a real country!girl.

* [To sistermagpie: I had troubles with my internet & only now replied to your comment in my lj.]

[courtaud.livejournal.com]

* leaving one with the impression that the only people who join clubs are the ones with no friends
I too got such impression. Wasn't Snape's mother a president of one? And she was ugly too. And married the wrong man- abusive and a Muggle at once! What a born loser! No wonder her son turned out to be one too.
Fun, I was left with the impression that the Trio were the ones with no friends nor social activities, and that they weren't even aware of it...

*Snape’s criticism of Neville’s spells could actually be taken as a compliment. Not by Neville, of course. But people who have some self-esteem.
Do you mean Snape kindly suggests "we'll be sending what's left of Finch-F. up to the hospital wing in a matchbox" [implying Neville's ability to aim & cast spells right] instead of saying "Neville can't aim and won't be able to cast Accio right"?
It sounds like he was suggesting that Neville is very powerful but unable to control himself.

[kaskait.livejournal.com]

*Waterproof fires are a specialty of Hermione’s. Because they’re arbitrarily more difficult than other magic stuff, I guess.

Or she is satisfying secret pyromaniac desires. Darn, why doesn't Snape need to be set on fire in every book?

*Ron thinks Malfoy was in such a foul mood after Quidditch he took it out on Colin. Really Ginny just wanted to get rid of her rival. The grapes were her idea!

How very Jack the Ripper-ish. Ahhh, Ginny, the love imagery surrounding you is sooooo romantic.

*Oh wait, I forgot. She’s just tongue-tied around Harry because it’s her crush. Because even when you think you’re possessed and are murdering people your crush rules your life.

Her love for Harry was just too strong. Their connection was so fated. They are equals to trump all equals. How can the safety of the school compare to THAT?

*Especially since we know he’d be wearing a really funny Eric Cartman-esque, "No WAY he’s a Parselmouth too. I am SO OVER THIS SCHOOL!"

Win! LOL, I can just hear Cartman's voice yelling "Dude!"

*Harry doesn’t know how he can speak a language without knowing he can speak it? Oh, I don’t know, Harry. How can you fly without ever having flown? How can you have visions of the future? How can you throw off Imperius without ever trying it? Explaining your many rare and superior gifts would take a whole other series!

Nah, after it is all over, Harry will barely remember the reasons why he had to fight Riddle much less research his amazing gifts. Besides he'll be to busy making a joint bank account with the Weaselys after the amazing triple Weasely wedding that ends 7.

[arcanetrivia]

*Especially since we know he’d be wearing a really funny Eric Cartman-esque, "No WAY he’s a Parselmouth too. I am SO OVER THIS SCHOOL!"

Win! LOL, I can just hear Cartman's voice yelling "Dude!"

I'm just digging through history of this comm here and have been restraining myself from making late comments -- but did you know there are a bunch of videos on YouTube rather like this, where South Park dialogue is matched up to Harry Potter clips? and yes, Cartman is Draco!

[saylee.livejournal.com]

*Harry is furious to hear people deciding he’s guilty using the same sort of logic he and his friends have already used to decide Malfoy is guilty!

Just imagine if someone drugged Ron and Hermione and stuffed them in a closet while they stole their identities in order to prove Harry was guilty.

[mmmarcusz.livejournal.com]

*I love the way the Trio manages to take in the information that Dobby was guilty of the other things without allowing that Malfoy was innocent. Which is important in this case because Malfoy being guilty of those things was part of their case against him.

Logic is for cowards.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Well spoken.