deathtocapslock | HBP Chapter 7 (cont)

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HBP Chapter 7 (cont)

I had updated my original post back on Sunday, but LJ didn't recognize it. So here's the second (and most important) half, coming a bit late:

- Meet Romilda Vane. Her name can be construed as an anagram for either "A Random Evil" or "I'm A Dan Lover". She's what I like to call a Mary Satire (or Parody Sue): you know you've seen characters like her in many a fic, so an author places them in a reality where they don't have the odds stacked in their favor. Unfortunately, Romilda isn't randomly attacked by large animals, and so isn't as entertaning a Mary Satire as Nanami Kiryuu from Utena.

- Romilda's introductory scene was intended by Rowling to show how much Harry had grown since his dark, year-long night of the soul, now considering Neville and Luna as his friends and not feeling ashamed of them. Never mind that last year, his first crush had caught him at the business end of Neville's phallic plant, while now some girl he had never seen before was distracting him from ogling that part of Neville's anatomy that gives meaning to his surname.

- And now, of course, comes the part we've been dreading since Rowling mentioned it on her homepage. No, Ginny doesn't appear, backed by an Elven chorus, to make out with Harry on the train seats. I mean the part where he wonders if Alice would have given her life for Neville as Lily did for him. Now granted, maybe JKR meant that, since Lily was an ace at charms, it was a combination of Motherly Love and Charms Proficiency that summoned the ancient magic, and so Alice wouldn't have been able to cut it with Motherly Love alone. Of course, had Voldemort simply killed Lily without giving her a chance to stand aside, no Pure Love would have protected Harry, so maybe Harry means that V only spares hot redheads.

- Hee, Draco gave Ron the finger. Or the two-fingered British salute, whichever is more appropriate.

- Neville timidly wonders what the new teacher would want with him. Harry feigns ignorance, fully aware that Slughorn wants to sample the Longbottom Family Derriere.

- Cho makes a cameo to reminds us that Harry can fancy women too. She backs away from him, though, because she's ~~still convinced that he's a self-centered, self-entitled little psycho~~ ashamed that she's not dating the One Who Will Bring Balance to the Force.

- Marietta is there too, still not recovered from Hermione's Counter-Hex of Spite. "Good", thinks Harry, as he enters the adyacent cabin full of first years and slaughters them all. They would have ended up in Slytherin, anyway.

- Taking a quick look at the other students in Slughorn's train cabin, Harry sees that Sluggy has already collected the Requisite Gryffindor A-hole, the Soon-to-be Discarded Fool, the Controversial Minor Character and the Second Coming of Lily.

- Seriously, I don't get the huge deal about the Zabini wank. Blaise has a femme fatale for a mother, is friendly in his way with Draco and seems relatively uninvolved with the Death Eaters. Admittedly, my planned Future!HP fic was going to feature Blaise's son, so I naturally like what I'm seeing, but really, who cares if he's black and not albino?

- Why is Ginny here? Because Slughorn saw her cast the Bat Bogey hex. Why was she casting the Bat Bogey No-Show? Because Zacharias Smith was asking too many questions about what happened at the DoM.

...

Why won't anyone hex her for asking too much/getting too involved/making stupid names/breathing loudly? Oh, because she's the Designate Heroine? All right, then.

- Blaise scoffs at the whole Chosen One nonsense; after all, anyone with enough training and knowledge of the occult can take on the Forces of Darkness. He's also not too impressed with the Bat Bogey No-Show, as well he shouldn't.

- Watching Blaise walk back to his compartment, Harry gets the wonderful awful idea of engaging in some Tactical Espionage Action so he can get his Hogwarts Express trip-required dose of Draco (no visit to Harry's cabin? What is it, his breath?). Unfortunately, he takes his Invisibility Cloak with him and not a cleverly inconspicuous cardboard box, thus ensuring his eventual capture.

- Embarrassing confession time: when I first read the book, I thought "trainers" meant underwear and not tennis shoes. This led to a line near the end of the chapter seeming a bit more suggestive. Anyway, Draco goes "?" at the sudden flashing of tighty-whiteys, but lets it go for now.

- Goyle/Zabini OTP? Or is Blaise trying to break Crabbe and Goyle's one true love?

- The debate of the book: which comic is Crabbe reading?

mike_smith believes that to be New Thunderbolts, but 1996 is a bit early even for Not-so-new Thunderbolts (oh Jo, maths). My guess, going by year, would be that Crabbe is reading the then-latest issue of Preacher, chuckling at Garth Ennis' portrayal of Americans and wishing he had the Word of God and actual lines so as to tell Harry to go fuck himself... and watch him do just that.

- Aww, Pansy is stroking Draco's hair. The "as though anyone would have loved to be in her place" part could be construed as projection in Harry's denial-filled mind, or literally saying that everyone in the room would love to have Draco in their lap. Feel the HoYay.

- At Draco's wondering of why Slughorn would invite Ginny, Pansy suggests that it might be because She So Pretty (GSPC: 2) ~~and He So Pedo~~. Not that Draco would care how a Weasley looks, let alone a female Weasley (and the D/G shippers begin fanwanking). Blaise denies any interest, as he has standards, and Harry is all "Ginny Who?"

- Man, Draco can actually sound halfway impressive when he's not falling on the "My Father" crutch.

- Pansy was gazing down at Draco as though she had never seen anything so awe-inspiring.

And neither had Harry, apparently, as he doesn't notice Goyle standing from his seat. The gasp of pain makes Draco go "!", but as he's not a genetically-enhanced, VR-trained soldier, he chooses to give his quarry a false sense of security instead of sounding the alarm.

- Aww, Pansy wants to hold Draco's hand.

- Now Harry and Malfoy were alone in the compartment. People were filing past, descending onto the dark platform. Malfoy moved over to the compartment door and let down the blinds, so that people in the corridor beyond could not peer in. He then bent down over his trunk and opened it again.

The sexual tension is so thick, you could cut it with a chainsaw.

Needless to say, Harry stiffens in anticipation, wondering what Draco might pull out of his trunk. And then he literally stiffens, for what Draco pulls out is his wand... to paralyze him. What?

- For what it's worth, Draco would never have noticed Harry had he entered the compartment under the cleverly inconspicuous cardboard box. Never underestimate the importance of the cardboard box, young Potter; it has aided grizzled spies and girly wannabes alike on many a mission.

- "You didn't hear anything I care about, Potter. But while I've got you here..."

Here the American Edition exhorts you to turn the page. H/D slashers are therefore invited to imagine any number of things Draco does to a paralyzed Harry before stomping his nose.

- As Harry is left alone, paralyzed, with a broken and bloody nose, covered by his own Invisibility Cloak, he comes to the grim realization that karma is truly a bitch. And that somewhere, someone is laughing at his predicament.

Next week: Snape declares Bictoly!

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My guess, going by year, would be that Crabbe is reading the then-latest issue of Preacher, chuckling at Garth Ennis' portrayal of Americans and wishing he had the Word of God and actual lines so as to tell Harry to go fuck himself... and watch him do just that.

Woooooooo, Garth Ennis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis)! :D Excellent choice. Hellblazer is another possibility; although Ennis stopped writing for the comic in '94, it was still wildly popular throughout the mid-late '90's.

Of course, had Voldemort simply killed Lily without giving her a chance to stand aside, no Pure Love would have protected Harry, so maybe Harry means that V only spares hot redheads.

Voldy does seem to go for the redheads, eh? He's already messed about (psychologically, anyway) with Ginny in CoS; while JKR has publicly stated that Ginny is definitely not possessed by Voldemort, I'm not convinced that means she's not somehow involved in Voldemort's plans to destroy Harry. It's fair to note that later in HPB, it's Harry who shows signs of possible possession (the "monster in the chest/stomach") and not Ginny. She's not a victim so much as a trigger or activator for these urges that come from within Harry but don't seem to belong to him.

I think that was touched on earlier...

Voldemort possessed Ginny. He knew her intimately... all her hopes, fears, dreams, etc because of the diary/horcrux. Voldemort shared for awhile his brainpan with Harry... who some have argued might be a horcrux also. Could Voldemort and not Twu Wuv be the link between Ginny and Voldemort?

I think that would be awesome.

Think about it.

Harry kills Voldemort, turns to Ginny, and feels... nothing. All of hsi obsessive, jealous, raging towards her is gone. She trips Ron or makes a retarded joke comparing someone's name to a body fluid, and Harry doesn't laugh. I'd really like to see that.

The only flaw in that theory is that Voldemort didn't know one of his horcruxes (the diary) had been destroyed until someone told him, so anything Memory!Riddle did would not be remembered by Voldemort. But other than that, if we simply assume that Voldemort shares Wolverine's predilection for feisty redheads...

Voldemort didn't know one of his horcruxes (the diary) had been destroyed until someone told him, so anything Memory!Riddle did would not be remembered by Voldemort...

Does he have to consciously remember what the Diary did in order for whatever the Diary did to Ginny to work? I'm not so sure about that.

Besides...just because he's royally pissed off about Lucius fucking up regarding the Diary and seems surprised about it, doesn't mean he wasn't aware that a bit of his soul went pfffffffffft back in '92. He may have felt the Diary's destruction in some way when it happened – and perhaps even figured out that he lost a horcrux – but might not have connected that sensation of loss with the Diary per se until later when the issue of Lucius' mishandling came up.

Problem is, if Voldemort is capable in some way of sensing whenever a horcrux is destroyed, then he could make another to take its place, thus rendering the whole Horcrux Quest thing moot.

Oh, I'm sure everyone in these books have a thing for red-heads. At least if they're female. And slim.

Do you think this is because JK is a natural red-head herself?

She is? I had no idea!

I think so. I remember reading about it. But, of course, what I read might be wrong.

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journalpics/880758.jpg
http://www.nls.uk/writestuff/img/wee-rowling.jpg

Well, she definitely has the skin for it...

I also just found her on a list of famous redheads. And there's that quote where she talks about her fondness for freckled little girls, because she was one herself.

Do you think it's a bit... weird, knowing that she's a redhead and then thinking about H/G, L/J and Lily and Ginny in light of that?

People say all the time that Hermione is her Sue, but, I'm not so sure. :)

How I wish a had an appropriate redhead icon.

I've always thought JKR seems rather fond of making fun of Hermione, and even criticise her to a certain extent, which is the one thing which protects her from being a Mary Sue. Niether Lily or Ginny have such a protection, so yeah, as a result I think they both are much more Suish. And yeah, it IS weird thinking about J/L and H/G in that light. Or actually, not so weird, because there's no doubt she really loves the characters and think they both make for perfect boyfriends (0.o), what with certain interview answers ("Did she really? You're a woman you know what I'm talking about.") Oh God, how this woman has the nerve to "worry" about girls taste in men, I'll never know...

I wish I had a Tom Cruise=Harry/Katie Holmes=Ginny-icon...

Is that last bit a hint? lol :)

*spreads hands generously*

I apologise for the crappy red hair manip and the even crappier glasses/scar manip.

I don't know what made you think of this, and I don't know whether you wanted any text or some sort of more obvious message to go with the picture, so I'll give you these now, and if you want me to add something, feel free to ask.

I felt bad doing this because I like Katie. :(

I also tried to add a sparkly shine to Katie/Ginny's teeth, but it looked retarded.

...yeah... red hair doesn't suit tanned people.

she looks like a boiled pink-grapefruit skin.

It's weird that, isn't it, because we live in a society where we're told tanned people always are prettier, but no, it really doesn't suit red-heads. It was so typical, because the one time I actually managed to get tan since I was a small child (my complexion is almost as sensistive as a red-head's), just so happened to be the same summer as I went and dyed my hair red. And I have this truly awful picture that really does prove the two don't go together.

Oh wow, Igot no email notification on these for some reason, so I just discovered them! They're totally AWESOME, I'm going to snack the second one, because the reference is more clear. :D The reason I was thinking about icons like these, was because Slinkhard (or was it paradox? I don't remember.) said something about Harry and Ginny being totally like Tom and Katie in their habit of totally famewhoring their romance at the same time as telling journalists to leave them alone, and so on. I thought that point could be made in an icon. :D

Comment notification seems totally screwed up at the moment. *kicks lj*

OT but, I've been reading this awesome book on mutants and there's a section on red hair--are they actually mutants? A mutation (as opposed to a polymorphism) is something that is rare and harmful. There are different ways to get red hair (lacking malenocyte makes you red-headed and fat--it also takes away the ability to know when you're full), but many red-heads have melenocyte but lack the receptors to use it. Malenocyte makes eumalanin make dark coloring in most people have--brown, black, etc. In red-heads instead you get phaeomalanin--you get that in red-headed people and also foxes, Irish setters and red-haired Highland cattle. There are at least thirty different versions of what you'd call the "red-headed gene," and many of them are in Ireland. They're much more common in Europe than elsewhere. Globally they are very rare.

So it really counts as a mutation, being so rare, unless there's some advantage to it. Unfortunately, besides many people finding it pretty (like JKR), it's actually pretty useless in terms of survival. Natural red-heads are very sensitive to the sun, as we know. So besides being pretty to look at, red hair isn't good for any particular thing. The essay concludes "MC1R in northern Europeans may simply be a gene that is decaying because it is no longer needed [due to the weaker sun making it okay not to have the kind of dark pigmentation needed in other places], rather as eyes decay in blind cave-fish." You'd think that lacking the ability to produce the darker colors of human skin would make you blond, but no.

Naturally, I couldn't but think of all the red-heads in HP reading this section, given the way that in that series red-hair seems like such a plus. Genetics in HP are so weird to begin with, with blood being so important except when it's not, I found myself thinking why wouldn't you attach magical importance to what amounts to a straightforward genetic mutation? One that, although very rare in the world, somehow is incredibly proiminent in this one?

I probably didn't explain this well as I can't always follow the specific genetic explanations, but the book is awesome.

Heh, interesting. What might support the theory, is that it's usually not only the colour of the hair that make natural red-heads stick out, but they often (not always) have a particular type of looks to go with it.

But otoh, isn't blond an unusual hair colour too, if we look at the whole planet? As for blond not being sensitive to the sun, that depends. I've noticed there tends to be two types of blonds; those who are very sensitive to the sun (sort of like red-heads) and those who really tan a lot. It's true that the latter group appears to be more comon though, I always get frustrated at how many people seem to tan so well here; you'd think being Swedish, it wouldn't be so damn unusual to have little skin-pigmentation. (Of course, many Swedes are completely obsessed with getting a tan, so they make use of every hour of sun in the summer and spend their winters in solariums.)

Yeah, I'm fairly blond and don't tan either. I hear ya!

Blondes may be a fairly small number compared to brunettes (you've got practically all of the Asian countries and African ones having black hair a dominant color, plus so many other countries where that's the dominant hair color), but they are not rare enough to make them a mutation. Skin color, especially, is really unique to humans in that it comes in so many colors. So you can get a blond person who burns easily, definitely. But red hair specifically requires a mutation while blond doesn't--that makes it a bit unique as far as hair colors go.

Of course, red hair has also often been associated with witches so it's not completely crazy to have them in HP.

But is it proved that it takes a mutation for red hair?

Yes (at least, that's what the book seemed to say). Hormones called melanotropins affect cells called malanocytes. When they bind to those cells they produce eumalanin, the pigment that gives us the dark shades we have. Children who have no melanotropins are red-haired (and fat). But most redheads don't lack the hormone, just the receptors on their cells to bind with the hormone. So instead they make phaeomalanin, that makes red pigment. But each redhead is unusual in his or her own way. There's at least thirty different versions of the melanocyte-stimulating hormone receptor, and many of those versions in different combinations produce different kinds of red hair (auburn, deep red, orange, strawberry blond.) Any single variation on this gene is so rare it's a mutation--though not all red heads have the same mutation. So they're not all the same--they don't all have the exact same skin, for instance, or the same shade of hair color. Ginny Weasley is a red head with brown eyes, so she must be producing eulamanin somewhere or else I don't think her eyes could be brown. She may just lack the receptors when it comes to the cells in her skin and hair. (I'm assuming Ginny isn't some kind of impossibility and that there are brown-eyed people with her hair and skin.)

At least that's what it says in the book that I'm reading--I am obviously no expert on genetics so can't really explain or defend what it says beyond what I read. It's not that all red-heads are the product of one mutation, but that having red hair means you are lacking the normal eumalanin that produces other hair colors (and I guess often lacking it in the skin as well, so you don't tan). I presumably lack a lot of the stuff in my skin as well, since I burn very easily, but I don't have much red in my hair that I can see (my sister's hair has more red in it, and it's a lot darker than mine.) Each single variation is rare enough to be a mutation, and since there doesn't seem to be a specific physical advantage to red hair (beyond it being pretty) the author suggests that that word fits more than polymorphism.

Interesting. But you're only talking about people who have actual red hair, right, not those of us who may have a little red in our hair?

I guess that's the way it works. He doesn't say anything about, say, red highlights, which a lot of brunettes have. He seems to really being talking about true redheads--definitely the Weasleys, given the way they're described.

Her name can be construed as an anagram for either "A Random Evil" or "I'm A Dan Lover"

Wonder if Rowling's heard of Paul the Deacon's ~~laughably misogynist fiction~~ famous story (http://www.memoriapress.com/marshill/westciv2reading07c.html) in his History of the Lombards, starring one Duchess Romilda as a Woman Undone by Lust. When her city was besieged by the Avars in 611, the Avar khan got this "evil whore" so hot and bothered that she opened the gates after making him promise to marry her. Of course the Avars sacked the city. Paul is happy to report that after one night with Romilda, the khan handed her over to twelve of his followers and then had her impaled. /history geek All in all, I hope this is not who we're supposed to be thinking of.

who cares if he's black and not albino?

It's hard to decide which attitude is wankier: wha-whaaing that he's not hot (when ~~Harry~~ JKR described him as sex on legs, too), or being disappointed that he's not the mythical Good Slytherin, like it's his duty as a black kid to speak up against prejudice everywhere despite never having been a victim of Muggle-type racism.

-L

When her city was besieged by the Avars in 611, the Avar khan got this "evil whore" so hot and bothered that she opened the gates after making him promise to marry her. Of course the Avars sacked the city. Paul is happy to report that after one night with Romilda, the khan handed her over to twelve of his followers and then had her impaled.

Eww! Coincidence? I hope so, but I wouldn't be too sure.

Me neither. In fact, the more I think about it the more it seems probable... After all it would be too much of a give away to name her "Jezebel" or "Delilah", wouldn`t it? Man, along with this I`m starting to feel some serious issues going on with JK regarding her own gender - and it´s not such a rare case in women as you´d think, either.

I`m starting to feel some serious issues going on with JK regarding her own gender

I've been feeling that for a loooong time...

who cares if he's black and not albino?

I didn't realize that Blaise was black until I got online and read it. I read "dark skinned" (I think that's the way it was phrased) as tan. I figured since Zabini is an Italian name (it's what fandom taught me) he was just tan and dark haired.

She's what I like to call a Mary Satire (or Parody Sue)

Now, see, I don't get this. Other people said that she was supposed to be a parody of a Mary Sue too, and I simply don't see how. It seems to me that she's more likely to be there to make Ginny look sane in comparison, and I don't see what that has to do with Sue-ism. Sorry :(

I mean the part where he wonders if Alice would have given her life for Neville as Lily did for him.

I think he concludes that she would have done - unless she somehow couldn't. Like, if Voldemort had toppled a wardrobe on top of her and knocked her out. This is slightly more charitable than Rowling was on her website, if I recall. I personally like to think that Voldemort would have killed Neville if he had suceeded with Harry, just to make sure. You don't get to be a Dark Lord by cutting corners, you know.

Seriously, I don't get the huge deal about the Zabini wank.

Nor do I - he's a lot better than he could have been, considering he's a smelly Slytherin and all. Of course, all those RPG icons that used Brian Molko for Blaise are going to have to be scrapped, but that's only the work of a moment, and it's not as if they were OH SO CANON anyway. And Blaise could have albino relatives - it's not unknown :)

I think he concludes that she would have done - unless she somehow couldn't. Like, if Voldemort had toppled a wardrobe on top of her and knocked her out. This is slightly more charitable than Rowling was on her website

It is, but it sort of makes me cringe that Harry even has to ask the question.

That's what I thought about Romilda too. It's like JKR had to produce a grotesque version of a fangirl so maybe we'd think that this wasn't exactly what was going on with Ginny in the first 3 books only we were supposed to think it was cute because she was shy about it.

She is still a parody of a fangirl, though, as I think is Myrtle a little in the scenes about Draco. I don't know if this is JKR saying anything about fans of the movie actors so much as her usual judgment of how stupid women are. We're all always haring off after celebrities or cute guys, making stupid judgments, throwing ourselves at people. The good people in her universe are sort of the exception to the rule.

It's like JKR had to produce a grotesque version of a fangirl
I bet she took the thirteen year olds who idolize her and her books, love the movies and have the hots for either Dan or Tom as an inspiration for Ever So Evil Romilda. Niice.

Naw, people having the hots for Dan is only natural, since he plays such a Heroic Character.

But yeah, thankfully there'll never be a fanboy pisstake (Emerson being a walking talking one; if JKR's struck for inspiration) since males are so much smarter/more dignified/less easily fooled by appearances.

Well, Colin is a fanboy, isn't he? But we haven't heard much of him in latter books, maybe he grew up and became a man. Or maybe he's gay. That might make you as stupid as a woman, you know. ;-)

He's in the DA, isn't he?...

Oh well, yeah, good point.
Still, when I eventually do some chapters myself again, I was gonna count up every time in the books that an anonymous group of girls were portrayed as being giggling bitchy morons; but like trying to count up the 'snarls' in OotP (I stopped at thirty - for real) or the pretty counts in HBP (since pacoman has bravely taken on the mantle *salutes*), I just don't have the spirit! ;)

It's true, CColin is sort of an exception, whereas you have giggling groups of girls everywhere. I remember in GoF, when Harry was all "why do girls always have to come in groups, and giggling should be forbidden", when he asks out Cho, but is completely oblivious to him and his friends certainly being no better when a third-year-girl asks him (to which he says "no" without even thinking about it. Harry has the best social skills.) "She walked away with a rather hurt expression (ya think???), and Harry had to endure his classmates teasing him about him for the rest of the day." So, yeah, why is it that only girls are described as giggling, catty and gossiping, when we have proof right there, that the boys are just the same?

Harry has the best social skills.

Especially since we get chapter and verse on the OMG PAIN of Cho turning him down. (And naturally it has to be because she has a date already, rather than a no motivated by someone not loving Harry 100% - blasphemy!
Much like how Cedric's allowed to beat him at Quidditch, but only because it was an accident and not down to any skill on his part.)
I know JKR's very into having all her characterisation motivated by plot, so there's no sign of say, any Quidditch loving in Ginny until she needs to put it in (and much as I loved Draco getting a larger role in HBP, and thought that for once, she'd done a great job of laying the hints throughout the book so that nothing was OOC; the sudden 'Ok, you're suddenly allowed to be competent' was a tad unrealistic and must be kinda shocking to some); and I suppose it must cut down the books considerably, which is a boon considering how flabby the last three were; but it doesn't do her characterisation, which is always kind of a weak spot; any favours.
Like how she'd presumably never write someone actually having an unrequited crush (except of course, Those Type of Girls, who probably aren't even intended to have actual feelings, but are just chasing after people for looks/fame) because it would be a waste of time and purposeless to the plot, which I get; but it might actually a) be something audiences could identify with (unlike H/G: Meeting of the Mary Sues) and following from that b) increase audience sympathy, which is something she clearly has issues with, since apparently having ninety zillion fans of her 'favourites' isn't enough - why doesn't everybody love them?

And naturally it has to be because she has a date already, rather than a no motivated by someone not loving Harry 100% - blasphemy!

Yeah, how could anyone not love Harry? *cough*

and much as I loved Draco getting a larger role in HBP, and thought that for once, she'd done a great job of laying the hints throughout the book so that nothing was OOC; the sudden 'Ok, you're suddenly allowed to be competent' was a tad unrealistic and must be kinda shocking to some

Much as I can understand that, I have to make a point of Draco having been shown as capable before. Remember in CoS, the duel, in which he threw the Sectumsempra? Snape just whispers it to Draco, and he pulls it off at the first attempt. Which must be interpreted as Draco either being incredibly good at throwing hexes at the first time, or him knowing a lot more hexes then the second-years have learnt in school. Both options implies that Draco indeed can be competent. Though, I agree that he's usually shown as incompetent. ;-)

Like how she'd presumably never write someone actually having an unrequited crush (except of course, Those Type of Girls, who probably aren't even intended to have actual feelings, but are just chasing after people for looks/fame

I really hope you're right about that, because it would spare us both from unrequited Snape->Lily and Draco->Ginny. *prays*

Oh, yes. I mean more that while it was fairly clear Draco had the basis for competence - imagination, social skills, etc. - but ~~authorial intervention~~ bad luck meant the plans always failed; but even that is kind of a shock to the system after five books - like, why is he now allowed to be a person rather than a kicking bag? I mean, this fairly obvious from his first introduction - he's even allowed to be 'tall' which as we all know, makes you morally superior to shorties (much like being thin over being fat) and have 'handsome' robes rather than ridiculous ones Harry mocks in his head.

Ew, I hadn't thought of that! I was thinking in terms of the Gryffindors! And now I can totally see how The Slytherins Jealousy Over Such Perfect Women could occur. Especially Snape's. *makes sign of the cross at JKR and backs away*

Well, the Giggling Greek Chorus Count (G2C2) is currently at three: one in the previous chapter, and two on this one. Maybe I should start counting that one, since so far only the cases of Ron So Pathethic seem too numerous to count (hard to believe that Ron was many people´s favorite once upon a time).

and Harry is all "Ginny Who?"

That's pretty funny, isn't it? The normal reaction from someone about to fall in love tends to be to pay extra attention to anything about that person. Maybe the development of Harry's monster later in the books is simply because he, after the train scene, associates Ginny with Draco? ;D

Why won't anyone hex her for asking too much/getting too involved/making stupid names/breathing loudly?

I'd do it, but I'm hindered by my not being in the books.

That's pretty funny, isn't it? The normal reaction from someone about to fall in love tends to be to pay extra attention to anything about that person.

And this is why I don't buy it when Hermione claims that Ginny and Dean have been rocky for ages when they break up. As far as Harry knows they had one fight off-screen when he was unconscious and the break-up fight was started by him. If they have been fighting otherwise, wouldn't he have noticed? Wouldn't that be the thing he would be looking/hoping for? But there is nothing of that sort, so I think that Hermione only said it because she knows that Ginny would sound shallow otherwise.

It's just that we NEVER see anything about Ginny (except when she makes the most crappy jokes in the history of HP), we ALWAYS hear it from someone else (very often Hermione). So I'm not sure what to believe.

Especially since we know that we can't trust what Hermione tells us about Ginny. After all Hermione said that Ginny had "given up on Harry" and "used to fancy him", and now we know that this isn't true right out of Ginny's own mouth.

Did Ginny and Dean really have a fight while Harry was knocked out? Did Ginny really steal her brothers broomsticks since she was 6? Did Ginny really date Michael Corner?

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HBP Chapter 7 (cont)

Slytherins + Vertigo = Love.

Re: Slytherins + Vertigo = Love.

Re: Slytherins + Vertigo = Love.

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Re: Slytherins + Vertigo = Love.

Re: Slytherins + Vertigo = Love.

Re: Slytherins + Vertigo = Love.

Re: Slytherins + Vertigo = Love.

Re: Slytherins + Vertigo = Love.

Re: Slytherins + Vertigo = Love.

Re: Slytherins + Vertigo = Love.

Re: Slytherins + Vertigo = Love.

Re: Slytherins + Vertigo = Love.

Re: Slytherins + Vertigo = Love.

Re: Slytherins + Vertigo = Love.

*squees*

Re: *squees*

Re: Slytherins + Vertigo = Love.

Re: Slytherins + Vertigo = Love.

Re: Slytherins + Vertigo = Love.

Re: Slytherins + Vertigo = Love.

Re: Slytherins + Vertigo = Love.

Re: Slytherins + Vertigo = Love.

Re: Slytherins + Vertigo = Love.

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More later...

Re: More later...

Re: More later...

Re: More later...

Re: More later...

Re: More later...

Re: More later...

Re: More later...

Re: More later...

Re: More later...

Re: More later...

Re: More later...

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squees

Re: squees