GoF Chapter Twenty-One

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

*With a title like that, I’m just raring to re-read this chapter!

*Yeah, if it was Karkakoff who put Harry’s name in the Goblet he’d be feeling pretty stupid by now. Luckily it wasn’t Karkakoff, but a villain far less logical than Karkakoff or Ron. Getting past the dragon was actually what the bad guys wanted! They can’t kill Harry if he gets squished by a dragon!

*Why does Harry think Ron’s only saying he might win the Tournament to make for his behavior last week? Isn’t he in first place now? Why shouldn’t he have a chance at winning? Oh right, because then he wouldn’t be the underdog.

*Btw, I wonder what Harry’s going to say to Ron to make up for HIS behavior last week.

*I wonder if it’s intentionally ironic the way this book has Hermione going all shrill about treating house-elves well, while at the same time the animal abuse is turned up a notch. Here Ron throws Thunderball out the window.

*Harry couldn’t resist a blow-by-blow account of how he got past the dragon. This is nothing like Ron’s blow-by-blow account of how he won the Quidditch Championship, in case you were thinking that. Harry couldn’t resist giving it to Sirius. Ron didn’t even try.

*Nice to see the Gryffindors have specifically targeted Cedric as the enemy with his head on fire.

*Harry won’t have to face the second task for three months and probably a hundred pages. Because everything in the wizarding world is arranged according to a set school calendar. Even spelling bees are stretched to start at Harry’s birthday and end in June.

*What is Hermione supposed to stand for, exactly? Here she’s reminding everyone Harry’s supposed to figure out the puzzle on his own, and when he reminds her cheating just made him win, she grins guiltily. She’s the biggest cheater in the school, yet still likes to impress people by memorizing the rules.

*"Saints and begorrah!" says Seamus. "That egg sounds like a banshee, a traditional Irish spirit!" Then he picked up his bag o’gold, hopped on his magical shamrock and rode off to the kitchens to get a bowl o’ Lucky Charms. They’re magically delicious.

*Neville thinks the egg sounds like someone being tortured and Harry’s going to have to "fight" the Cruciatius (and I hear Cruciatius knows tae kwon doh). This sounds like it was probably considered proof of Witness!Neville at his parents’ torture. I continue to wonder if Barty Crouch didn’t just fill his head with all the details of his parents’ suffering at tea. He has to know!

*Of course, I can also imagine Neville’s Gran telling him this as a bedtime story and doing the screams herself for effect. Somebody should write that fic.

*This is the book that totally builds up Crucio as the worst thing in the world and horribly illegal. In book V it shrinks down to more of a "Oh no you di’n’t" level.

*Neville was the only person to eat the custard creams? I guess he got off easy. I can think of a lot of more disgusting "jokes" someone might do with a custard cream.

*Putting his miniature Hungarian Horntail besides his bed, Harry thinks, Dragons, they were all right, and goes to sleep and dreams of Draco.:-D

*Meanwhile, in the dragon pen, the Hungarian Horntail sets her miniature human on fire and thinks, Humans, they must be destroyed.

*Meanwhile, in the corner, the Chinese Fireball has died of grief over her lost eggs.

*Just to keep everyone up to date, the CoMC has now wasted three months on the same animal, which will never be on the OWLS, and about which even the teacher has no idea. Pure wanking, this class.

*I suspect the fact that Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle are "in the lead" of the students running back to Hagrid’s castle is supposed to suggest they are cowardly, as opposed to the Gryffindors who stay to help Hagrid with his rampaging fire slugs. I can’t be the only person who thinks the boys are merely leading a rebellion far more justified than Hermione’s Elf Front.

*Seriously, why do people even accuse Malfoy of being badly behaved in this class? Every student in there has every right to demand Hagrid be sacked, and it seems that the prospect of trying to force a dangerous, vicious animal into a box and nail it in has only resulted in him being one of the "dispirted" ones of the class.

*Again, we can’t make this more clear. Hagrid is even ordering the kids not to "hurt" the Skrewts or scare them by defending themselves, unconcerned at their own burns and cuts. Yet people will insist he’s a responsible teacher. The Trio are just part of the problem with Hagrid. Stop enabling him or he’ll never learn.

*Rita has gold teeth?

*Hagrid is described as "grunting" a line, so Pansy isn’t lying when she describes him as doing that.

*Why am I sure Rita, too, will be blamed for making Hagrid look bad as if she hasn’t just walked in on a demonstration of his uselessness as a teacher?

*Oh, and to cap it all off there’s something illegal about where Hagrid got the Skrewts. Color me shocked.

*Um, guys? Rita doesn’t have to twist anything Hagrid says. Just like Malfoy didn’t have to lie in PoA.

*It’s nice that Ron can comfort the others about Hagrid’s upcoming interview with the usual line: sure somebody we like is in trouble, but our people always get off!

*Speaking of students being disrespectful in class—which I was above—has Malfoy ever actually said anything so mean as Ron’s comment that Trelawney sees an "ugly old bat in outsized specs" in her crystal ball when she looks at it? I realize he mutters it under his breath so she might not hear him, and I know students say this kind of thing all the time. It’s just funny how people often act like Malfoy is this incredibly disrespectful student and so cruel, when this line is far more unkind than anything he’s said to Hagrid or Lupin, and Trelawney is more vulnerable. Not to mention Harry making a point of yawning in her face.

*I love Ron’s little fanboy moment with Krum. It’s enough to make me ignore the ridiculous Krum/Hermione storyline, though that has been a bit saved for me by someone telling me about the excellent theory that Krum is drawn to Hermione because he knows she’s Muggleborn and is fascinated with that because of the tight rein Karkakoff has over him.

*So…Hermione is happy and excited and just has to pull Harry down to the kitchen because the best thing has happened, and the best thing turns out to be that Winky the house elf is clinically depressed. That’s why Hermione is considered the compassionate one.

*I love the way Hermione has to try to muscle in on Dobby’s freedom, since it had nothing to do with her, and convince him he’s not being paid enough.

*Well, Mr. Crouch did have a reason to let Winky go (if Winky was a normal person and this wouldn’t kill her), but he wasn’t right to let her go as maybe stupid to let her go.

*I’m sorry, but I continue to be creeped out by the fact that Dobby, the "good" house-elf, is the biggest sycophant.

*And Dobby has also adopted Hermione’s view that a house-elf can’t honestly disagree with you. So when Freed!Winky says Mr. Crouch is a good man, he immediately claims she means the opposite and it’s only her enslavement that makes her say that. Even though she’s obviously speaking honestly and passionately about both Crouch and Bagman.

*Of course Ron’s taken a great liking to Dobby. He’s fawning all over him.

*Hermione’s sure the other elves will want to be free seeing how happy Dobby is. This is sort of like the people who think spending time with Evangelical Christians will make you want to convert because they’re so happy, while really you just find them irritating and scary. Personally, I imagine in the eyes of a house-elf Dobby’s freedom just means being three times as obsequious with none of the status. I like Harry’s, "Let’s hope they don’t look too closely at Winky."

*Percy wouldn’t recognize a joke if it danced in front of him wearing Dobby’s tea cosy. Well, that’s what happens when you most of the jokes played on you in the past two years have been chock full of malice.



Designated Hero
The one gearing up to cheat in the next part of the contest, yes, and picking on one bad teacher while lying to protect another and considering himself righteous.

Exploitation Filmmakers’ Credo
House elves don’t want to be freed. We get it. Too bad Hermione doesn’t, and won’t in a thousand pages either.

IITS (n)
Why can’t Winky just be owned by Hogwarts now? Do I even want to know?

Idiot World
Poor Ron is just too logical to figure out the evil plot.

Informed Attributes
Oh Ron, you’re just being nice in saying Harry could actually win the tournament! Why, how could Harry win when he’s so disadvantaged? His being in first place now is just a fluke. He’s hopelessly outmatched! Like David with three Goliaths! Only he’s in first place and team!Harry is already gearing up to make sure he stays that way.

Ken and Andrew’s Rule of Plot Holes
Ron pointing out the villain should be disappointed the dragon didn’t kill Harry is like having him map the plot hole and give it to Harry in a frame.

McGuffin
So who is trying to kill Harry by having him die in the contest? Oh wait…

Final score: 7

Comments

[anehan]

*I suspect the fact that Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle are "in the lead" of the students running back to Hagrid’s castle is supposed to suggest they are cowardly, as opposed to the Gryffindors who stay to help Hagrid with his rampaging fire slugs.

Who's the bigger coward: the one who runs away from dangerous animals or the one who'd face dragons rather than appear a coward?

[splintercat.livejournal.com]

*This is the book that totally builds up Crucio as the worst thing in the world and horribly illegal. In book V it shrinks down to more of a "Oh no you di'n't" level.

And in Book 6, it's once again serious enough that Malfoy's attempted crucio justifies Harry's nearly skinning him alive.

*Rita has gold teeth?

Hermione's parents were completely right to tell her not to mix teeth and magic.

I like Harry's, "Let's hope they don't look too closely at Winky."

Again, I ask myself: What is Rowling trying to do with the House Elf plot? I bet we'll see more of it in DH, but what is she trying to say with it now? Slavery is bad? Slavery is okay when the slaves are happy with it? Or slavery is bad even when the slaves are happy with it? But then why is Hermione's crusade to free them written as a joke? I don't know what I'm supposed to think about it. Maybe I would care if I could read a page of house-elf dialogue without wanting to tear my hair out.

Poor Ron is just too logical to figure out the evil plot.

Exactly. This must be the logic of Ron's inner brilliant chess player! Too bad the villains work beyond logic as much as they possibly can.

[(Anonymous)]

*Of course, I can also imagine Neville’s Gran telling him this as a bedtime story and doing the screams herself for effect. Somebody should write that fic.

Neville's Gran is underrated as a force of emotional destruction. Imagine growing up with a woman who regularly makes you visit your near-imbecilic parents and informs you she'd rather have Harry Potter for a grandson.

*Again, we can’t make this more clear. Hagrid is even ordering the kids not to "hurt" the Skrewts or scare them by defending themselves, unconcerned at their own burns and cuts. Yet people will insist he’s a responsible teacher.

It's odd how sometimes people who'd probably call themselves canon purists just don't see what the text is telling them. This is the rare instance where we're clearly supposed to notice and disagree with the Harry filter. The narrator even kids Harry about his pro-Hagrid bias in OotP. That all the adults who criticize Hagrid are more or less evil doesn't mean he's unjustly persecuted, it means they've chosen to attack Dumbledore where he's vulnerable: through his least defensible choice of a teacher.

My take on the house-elf situation:

JKR says house-elves=brownies. The Dictionary of Fairies tells us that brownies are helpful fairy-type beings that assist the servants and always refuse payment. They'll accept milk and a "tidbit" left in a secluded place as a sign of goodwill, but offer them clothes and they'll leave in a huff. If you talk smack about them you'll regret it.

Now, the brownies' service is completely on their terms. They have their own nonhuman standards (work for free, refuse to wear clothes). If their conditions aren't met they'll leave or turn on you like that. They aren't bound to serve, still less to put up with insults or bad treatment. My guess would be that that's the sense in which wizards have enslaved house-elves, and that's the part Hermione should be focusing on instead of persisting with her human definition of slavery.

-L

[j-lunatic.livejournal.com]

*Rita has gold teeth?

Very blinged out of her. As if the jeweled eyeglasses hadn't already established her as vulgar and materialistic. J.K. Rowling: overegged puddings ya us!

*Um, guys? Rita doesn’t have to twist anything Hagrid says. Just like Malfoy didn’t have to lie in PoA.

Bear in mind that here and in the previous book Draco is a sneak--a cardinal sin in the school story genre--for talking to outsiders about this. The truth, that Hagrid is a dangerously bad teacher, is no defense. I don't like this aspect of the Potterverse, but Rowling is being consistent.

theory that Krum is drawn to Hermione because he knows she’s Muggleborn and is fascinated with that because of the tight rein Karkakoff has over him.

This theory is not completely invalid. But I suspect it has a lot more to do with Hermione-Sue getting the guy by just being her own, studious, elect (in the Calvinist sense) self.

[aasaylva.livejournal.com]

Neville thinks the egg sounds like someone being tortured and Harry’s going to have to "fight" the Cruciatius (and I hear Cruciatius knows tae kwon doh).
I love how even ungryffindorish Neville can't stop thinking in terms of fighting here: From everything we know (and Neville is bound to know about Cruciatus), you can't do anything against cruciatus, you pretty much have to passively suffer through it. But I suppose a real Gryffindor girl would also call it fighting rape when she was subjected to it...

*Nice to see the Gryffindors have specifically targeted Cedric as the enemy with his head on fire.
Of course! Anyone taking away anything from Gryffindor, especially in the realm of glory and fame, must be punished! Honestly - at the beginning of this series, I thought Slytherin was blamed for being egotistical, putting their own group above everybody else. Um - and Gryffindor is different how?

*Meanwhile, in the dragon pen, the Hungarian Horntail sets her miniature human on fire and thinks, Humans, they must be destroyed.
That's what I found upsetting in the GoF-movie. I mean, JKR took points off for causing (unintentionally!) the dragon to break her eggs - in the movie, the dragon had to be destroyed...

As to your very just observation concerning the difference between Trelawney's and Hagdrid's treatment by the Trio - I really don't understand it. They are both inadequate teachers, although one might argue Hagrid understands how to treat animals per se, he just disregards their impact on other human beings, whereas Trelawny seems like a complete fraud if you discount her two prophecies).

I’m sorry, but I continue to be creeped out by the fact that Dobby, the "good" house-elf, is the biggest sycophant.
I think the point JKR is trying to make is the difference between heartfelt devotion out of your own free will (Dobby towards Harry) and being forced into service and - what is worse - loyalty (Dobby towards the Malfoys). Which I think is right. There is a difference between doing things out of love or because you are forced to.

And Dobby has also adopted Hermione’s view that a house-elf can’t honestly disagree with you. So when Freed!Winky says Mr. Crouch is a good man, he immediately claims she means the opposite and it’s only her enslavement that makes her say that.
Still trying to defend the story here: I think the point is that it IS difficult to distinguish between what anyone just says because he has been brainwashed into believing it and a sound opinion. I quite get the outrage on this board at Hermione's arrogance thinking she knows best what's good for the elves and MAYBE this is right, because MAYBE the twins are right in stating it IS the nature of elves to work and care for others without ever thinking of themselves. But, honestly, who would believe the twins concerning other creatures' feelings? Fact is, the same argument has been used for keeping black people as slaves ("they are like children. They don't want to take care of themselves, they like being told what to do!")or keeping women at home ("It's the female nature to care for their familiy asking nothing in return!"). In fact, when I first read about the house-elves I thought it was a spiff on the condition of house-wives.

*Percy wouldn’t recognize a joke if it danced in front of him wearing Dobby’s tea cosy.
Woohoo, I think you just hit on the real reason why Percy is so unpopular with his own family. He is much too trim and proper to really enjoy the incredible humour of toilet seats and snot!

[papier.livejournal.com]

Seriously, why do people even accuse Malfoy of being badly behaved in this class? Every student in there has every right to demand Hagrid be sacked, and it seems that the prospect of trying to force a dangerous, vicious animal into a box and nail it in has only resulted in him being one of the "dispirted" ones of the class.

It's disappointing that Hagrid's only call to step down comes after it's revealed he's half-giant. I see the parents have great priorities there.
It is comforting, though, that the trio and Dumbledore are Hagrid's only visitors after the article comes out. No other students cared enough to come.