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deathtocapslock2005-10-16 11:59 am
pacoman.livejournal.com) wrote in deathtocapslock2005-10-16 11:59 am
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HBP Chapter 8: A Winner Is Snape!
Sorry for being so late, folks; having to split about the previous chapter twice messed with my schedule.
In Which Harry Shows A Marked Lack of Perspective
- Is "lay" present or past tense? Because it seems to flare up among all the other verbs here.
- Harry's hatred for Malfoy is now apparently at an all time high because, as the previous book showed us, there's nothing Harry hates more than being completely outsmarted. You would think he would have gotten used to it by now.
- Also, Draco didn't even give him a kiss; what with all the UST, it's no wonder Harry's beast chose the first available girl out of desperation.
- Harry tries, and fails, to make non-verbal, wandless magic. Maybe next book, old chum.
- Harry despises himself for hoping that people might be worried sick about his absence, thus giving the requisite token "Harry So Humble" moment for the chapter (no tally for this one, though).
- And then, of course, he is saved by a Tonks Ex Machina. Even though it would have made more sense for Moody to find him, but at least now we know Tonks is good at deductive reasoning (which puts her ahead of three quarters of the Wizarding World).
- Was Emo!Tonks put to make us miss Punk!Tonks? Because it's succeeding, even if the cause for the change was getting ditched by her boyfriend who isgay a werewolf.
- Say hello to Snape (again). He hasn't changed at all over the summer, to the relief of many a weary reader.
- Snape notes maliciously (Gah! She's making me do it!) that Tonks' new Patronus looks weak. I think this is his way of saying "Didn't you know he was going to leave you the moment you became an inconvenience to his way of life?"
- Yet another case of Harry's selective memory: he actually didn't start hating Snape until some time after Halloween on his first year. Strange that he doesn't remember this, as it's a fact that unfavorably compares Snape to him.
- I take it Harry doesn't want to believe that Sirius wouldn't have rushed to the DoM to his aid, regardless of any needling from Snape. Also, I'm fairly sure that many among the Order saw Sirius as the emotionally unstable man of the house and, while not glad of his death like Snape no doubt was, aren't exactly going to miss him.
- Here Snape takes away 70 points from Gryffindor because he can. Harry's fury rages a bit more, because it's the trivialities that really make him hate Snape and not the whole "blaming the son for the sins of the father" bit.
In other news, the big picture, like this year's sorting, once again eludes Harry completely.
- Harry's sparkling wit eludes him as well; Snape's "dramatic entrance" taunt should have been countered with "I learned from the master, sir."
- Apparently, Emo!Tonks only fixed Harry's nose without stopping the bleeding. Because she's emo.
- The moment of HSH from earlier in the chapter is now undone, as Harry hopes his housemates will assume he got held back by a couple of Death Eaters and a Dementorand a pony. Meanwhile, Draco's rousing tale of PWNAGE was limited to the Slytherin table; nice to know the other Houses don't give a damn.
- Say hello to Trelawney; since Harry won't be taking Divination anymore, Rowling has resorted to randomly include Sybill in many spots among the book, while she deals with her UST re: Firenze and reads the Tarot Cards of Foreshadowing.
- What he would not give to fight Malfoy one-on-one...
a) HAWT.
b) With a few allies for back-up, right Potter?
- How thoughtful of Dumbledore, making sure everyone gets hit with the Impending Death Mallet before he begins his last welcoming speech.
- Dumbledore: Professor Snape, meanwhile, will be taking over the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
Harry: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Slytherins: WINNAR!!
- Harry savagely hopes Snape will die at the end of the year because of the Curse. And then he wonders why no one takes his suspicions about Snape seriously.
- Ron ignores his Prefect duties (because He So Pathethic). Why didn't any of the other Gryffs get chosen instead? Oh, because then Harry wouldn't have had his pity party. Right.
- It was a mark of the strength of their friendship that Ron didn't laugh.
As many people have noted, it says something about this society that anyone who likes Harry and dislikes Draco might have found that funny.
- I don't know if JKR intended the last lines of the chapter to be humorous, but I found them very funny. "Well shit, guess there's no stopping anyone from complaining about Hagrid's teaching now, huh?"
In Which Harry Shows A Marked Lack of Perspective
- Is "lay" present or past tense? Because it seems to flare up among all the other verbs here.
- Harry's hatred for Malfoy is now apparently at an all time high because, as the previous book showed us, there's nothing Harry hates more than being completely outsmarted. You would think he would have gotten used to it by now.
- Also, Draco didn't even give him a kiss; what with all the UST, it's no wonder Harry's beast chose the first available girl out of desperation.
- Harry tries, and fails, to make non-verbal, wandless magic. Maybe next book, old chum.
- Harry despises himself for hoping that people might be worried sick about his absence, thus giving the requisite token "Harry So Humble" moment for the chapter (no tally for this one, though).
- And then, of course, he is saved by a Tonks Ex Machina. Even though it would have made more sense for Moody to find him, but at least now we know Tonks is good at deductive reasoning (which puts her ahead of three quarters of the Wizarding World).
- Was Emo!Tonks put to make us miss Punk!Tonks? Because it's succeeding, even if the cause for the change was getting ditched by her boyfriend who is
- Say hello to Snape (again). He hasn't changed at all over the summer, to the relief of many a weary reader.
- Snape notes maliciously (Gah! She's making me do it!) that Tonks' new Patronus looks weak. I think this is his way of saying "Didn't you know he was going to leave you the moment you became an inconvenience to his way of life?"
- Yet another case of Harry's selective memory: he actually didn't start hating Snape until some time after Halloween on his first year. Strange that he doesn't remember this, as it's a fact that unfavorably compares Snape to him.
- I take it Harry doesn't want to believe that Sirius wouldn't have rushed to the DoM to his aid, regardless of any needling from Snape. Also, I'm fairly sure that many among the Order saw Sirius as the emotionally unstable man of the house and, while not glad of his death like Snape no doubt was, aren't exactly going to miss him.
- Here Snape takes away 70 points from Gryffindor because he can. Harry's fury rages a bit more, because it's the trivialities that really make him hate Snape and not the whole "blaming the son for the sins of the father" bit.
In other news, the big picture, like this year's sorting, once again eludes Harry completely.
- Harry's sparkling wit eludes him as well; Snape's "dramatic entrance" taunt should have been countered with "I learned from the master, sir."
- Apparently, Emo!Tonks only fixed Harry's nose without stopping the bleeding. Because she's emo.
- The moment of HSH from earlier in the chapter is now undone, as Harry hopes his housemates will assume he got held back by a couple of Death Eaters and a Dementor
- Say hello to Trelawney; since Harry won't be taking Divination anymore, Rowling has resorted to randomly include Sybill in many spots among the book, while she deals with her UST re: Firenze and reads the Tarot Cards of Foreshadowing.
- What he would not give to fight Malfoy one-on-one...
a) HAWT.
b) With a few allies for back-up, right Potter?
- How thoughtful of Dumbledore, making sure everyone gets hit with the Impending Death Mallet before he begins his last welcoming speech.
- Dumbledore: Professor Snape, meanwhile, will be taking over the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
Harry: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Slytherins: WINNAR!!
- Harry savagely hopes Snape will die at the end of the year because of the Curse. And then he wonders why no one takes his suspicions about Snape seriously.
- Ron ignores his Prefect duties (because He So Pathethic). Why didn't any of the other Gryffs get chosen instead? Oh, because then Harry wouldn't have had his pity party. Right.
- It was a mark of the strength of their friendship that Ron didn't laugh.
As many people have noted, it says something about this society that anyone who likes Harry and dislikes Draco might have found that funny.
- I don't know if JKR intended the last lines of the chapter to be humorous, but I found them very funny. "Well shit, guess there's no stopping anyone from complaining about Hagrid's teaching now, huh?"
no subject
It's not part of his character to be worse at stuff he cares about than other people!! Like, in a fight with Draco, he wants to be the best. Mind you, when it comes to stuff like predicting the future or Occlumency, he couldn't give a shit if everyone on earth is better than him. Which seems a bit odd to me, but perhaps it makes more sense to people who have enemies.
Say hello to Snape (again). He hasn't changed at all over the summer
I just had an odd vision of Professor Snape having "really changed over the summer", with his hair "now tumbling to his shoulders in thick glossy waves" etc etc. But yeah, he's an odd ocean of calm in that respect. Let us pray that he keeps his magnificent ugliness and asexuality :)
I think this is his way of saying "Didn't you know he was going to leave you the moment you became an inconvenience to his way of life?"
I think he is subconsciously criticising the rubbishness of the Remus/Tonks plot point. Your patronus is weak because your feelings for Remus are weak because that whole damn part of the book is weak!
Also, I'm fairly sure that many among the Order saw Sirius as the emotionally unstable man of the house
I think if there were any sensible people in the order
they were probably hiding, they would have seen something like that coming a mile away and decided it was a case of "when" not "if".while she deals with her UST re: Firenze
Hahahahahaha YES. There needs to be more Sybil/Firenze fic. Oh goodness, I'll get ideas now :(
Oh, because then Harry wouldn't have had his pity party. Right.
While it mightn't have been the precise same pity party, there's nothing that could have stopped OotP Harry from a pity party. He probably would have had said party if he'd actually got the position.
no subject
Probably? It'd been a certainty. I mean, how much could one MARKED MAN be expected to take on? WOE! Having the weight of the world on his shoulders, dead parents and having to spend all his free evenings not listening to Snape--and be a prefect too?
It's all too much, really!
no subject
I have to hope he really is commenting on the lameness of this subplot. Tonks, desperate to prove she exists in the book for a reason, has changed her Patronus so somebody notices her.
Weird, btw, that her Patronus is a wolf if that's the thing keeping her and Remus apart. Why not a glowing ragged cardigan?
Yet another case of Harry's selective memory: he actually didn't start hating Snape until some time after Halloween on his first year. Strange that he doesn't remember this, as it's a fact that unfavorably compares Snape to him.
No, he started hating him on that very first day, right after Hermione punched Malfoy in the face!
I take it Harry doesn't want to believe that Sirius wouldn't have rushed to the DoM to his aid, regardless of any needling from Snape. Also, I'm fairly sure that many among the Order saw Sirius as the emotionally unstable man of the house and, while not glad of his death like Snape no doubt was, aren't exactly going to miss him.
It really is funny watching Harry desperately trying to pin this on Snape for calling Sirius a coward (as Fred had done earlier). Sirius didn't run away from the house because he was trying to be brave, he ran from the house because SOMEBODY ran away from school to save HIM.
With a few allies for back-up, right Potter?
Just enough allies to make Harry slightly outnumbered in retrospect. Remember it's *Malfoy* who only attacks with his two goons.
Ron ignores his Prefect duties (because He So Pathethic). Why didn't any of the other Gryffs get chosen instead? Oh, because then Harry wouldn't have had his pity party. Right.
People are always wondering who the sixth year Prefects are. Now we see the whole point is that no one is interested in it except for fifth year. It's never mentioned--and we don't even hear whether Ginny the Great is a Prefect! Surely no one would dare to keep her out of the special bathroom?
no subject
(dons grammar nazi swastika)
It's both, but they have entirely different meanings -- 'lay' is the past tense of 'lie' and a present tense in itself. 'Lie' means 'to recline,' whereas 'lay' means to set something down.
Ex:
Present: Go lie down.
Past: She went and lay down.
Present: Lay those shingles down, please.
Past: He laid the shingles down.
Looks screwy, but it's English. When isn't it screwy? ;)
no subject
Lying in Bed: A Grammar Lesson in Four Gasps: http://members.aol.com/brumblepop/fics/lib.htm