OotP Chapter Ten

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Sorry I forgot to post this yesterday!

*I hope we're not supposed to assume Voldemort is making Harry be jealous of Ron and Hermione in his dream. I'd also hope Mrs. Weasley crying over Kreacher was some hint that everyone has family, but it may just be there to create a jumble of images.

*ETA: Yup, turns out anything that looks like Harry being a natural jerk really was Voldemort as per recent interviews which just keep coming.

*In the continuing study of pain management in the Potterverse, the twins knocking Ginny down a flight of stairs with a flying trunk gets them yelled at because they could have caused her Serious Injury. Harry even asks how Ginny is, although of course she's not as hurt as a real girl would have been if knocked down the stairs. This should almost be a Jabootu category, whatever the opposite of the "Hero's battle death" category is. Heroes are more physically vulnerable than bad guys.

*Molly is described as looking like Petunia watching Sirius gambol about, but her advice would have actually protected him. Is there a parallel between Molly/Petunia and Sirius/Harry? Hmmm. Neither women like the person they're protecting, but Molly was right. Sirius makes sure everybody sees him at the station, doing everything but standing up on his hind legs and reciting the Gettysburg address over a megaphone.

*Poor Ron has to make it clear he's not like Percy. This whole thing has been so ruined for him, partly unintentionally, by Harry. He spends so much time feeling unworthy and hiding his pride he can't enjoy it. Hermione, of course, has no such problems. She deserves it and she is proud of it.

*Ginny introduces Luna as "Loony." She then gets into being the Great!Girl by sharply telling Neville he's not "nobody" compared to Harry--which is kind of interesting since we later find out actually, he's right. By a whim of fate he luckily got to be "nobody" instead of Harry.

*ETA: Btw, Harry and Ginny will totally be bffs with Neville and Luna as adults even though it's hard to imagine them ever going out of their way to have contact with them any more than they do in school.

*Harry says Neville must have skipped Luna's compartment because she looked dotty, but I doubt that's true. I think Neville just didn't want to disturb a solitary girl he didn't know in a compartment.

*Neville's family is usually described negatively, but in the all-important present competition they are winning hands down. They always give thoughtful, personal presents Neville really needs and likes. This plant just has to be significant, I think. Either Sirius was somehow affected by it or maybe Neville himself was/will be?

*ETA:Err...nope. Didn't go anyplace.

*Neville tells us he LOST the Rememberall that was the cause of so much fuss first year. Neville is careless with presents people went to a lot of trouble to get for him and Harry's big heroics were pointless in the long run. It was Harry's fight on his own behalf, not Neville's. In fact, it's kind of funny that at 15 that's still the main memory Harry has of Neville so it's all he can come up with to guess at Neville's present.

*ETA: Ultimately I'm not sure where JKR was always going with Harry's obviously not having the time of day for Neville. In the end he never had to feel like he underestimated him and it was like he was a great friend all along.

*Harry is more upset over being seen with Luna and Neville than even being covered in Stinksap because he would rather be with Cool People and he knows these kids aren't it. Please shut up all the people who think Harry's is either a) a big nerd/outcast or b) doesn't notice these things or c) prefers outcasts. He hates to see them bullied. He still thinks they're nerds. I think he takes after his father this way. (James had something against Snape; I don't think he picked on him because he thought he was a weak nerd.)

*Luna comes across as really affected to me.

*The Quibbler once again shows us that in the WW truth and lies are so mixed up the only way you know the difference is if you are the one doing the mixing up.

*Luna loses her dreamy voice when she tells Hermione off, which makes it seem more affected to me.

* Hermione "viciously" calls Pansy "that complete cow" who is "thicker than a concussed troll." (Second negative description--she criticized the Quibbler "scathingly" and made Luna, who's generally friendly, angry.) Apparently Hermione's Pansy-hate is very personal and passionate-suddenly?

*Ron follows suit with his plans to make Goyle write lines, like he hates/knows him personally-I'm not sure why. Did Goyle struggle too much when Ron knocked him out and stole his clothes? Not grunt loudly enough when Ron threw a firecracker in his caldron?

*Hermione claims Ron wanting to do that is "stooping" to Draco's level, though really Ron and Draco both live at this same level regularly, along with most of the school.

*Draco arrives and the scene comes to life.:-D He repeats the same idea Ron just said, reminding Harry he can give punishments, but he does not actually give Harry any punishment, even after Harry calls him a git and everyone laughs on cue, which is nothing like Malfoy making jokes that his friends laugh at loudly. Hermione is furious, I think because she's angry Dumbledore gave Draco a prefect badge like hers, thus sullying it.

*When they get off the train, Hermione comes up "panting" to tell us Malfoy's already using his badge to "bully people worse than ever" because he was "beastly" to first years. (Harry has just noticed that Draco and his friends just pushed by some "timid-looking" second years, timid for more villainy on the Slytherins' part-I wonder if Hermione just had a confrontation with them and they're angry about it.) Now, I've no doubt Malfoy would be generally obnoxious as a prefect as he is everywhere, but I can't see Hermione as objective, especially since she later scolds Ron for calling first years "midgets" and eventually seems to crush any confidence Ron has for asserting authority. To me it honestly seems like just as Malfoy encorporates his prefect badge into the bad parts of his personality, so too does Hermione, using hers to boss and nag and judge everyone worse than ever, telling other prefects they're doing it wrong and reporting them.

*The thestrels are cool, though of course Harry would have seen them last year. I like them being reflected in Luna's eyes. She goes back to the dreamy-quality to tell Harry's he's "as sane as she is." Yes, Luna, you are sane. You don't come across as crazy to me at all, so you can drop the "I'm so different" act.



IITS
Why does Neville, a character known for trying to fade into the background and not start trouble, do something so blatantly stupid as poking that plant to show everyone how it protects itself? He knew it sprayed sap even if he didn't know how much. Why would he think anybody would want to see that? Why would he want to release dung-smelling stuff into the air? Oh yeah--so that Cho could walk in and Harry could be covered in shit. IITS.

Also, the Slytherins seem quite jaunty and friendly for people last seen unconcious at the hands of just these people. IITS.

Nut o’ Fun
That plant--I wasn't sure whether it was a Nut or a Maguffin, actually, because it seems SO IMPORTANT but we never learned if it's affected anybody badly.ETA: just a nut. And a badly chosen one too, because it makes it seem like somebody was drugging Sirius.

Final score: 2.5

Comments

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Hermione's Pansy-hate suddenly makes more sense after JKR going off on how she "loathes" that girl in an interview. She probably thinks it's obvious why anyone and everyone should personally hate Pansy. Though what will always make me laugh is that she's based Pansy on the girls who were most mean to her at school...but unfortunately seems to have based Ginny on the girls who were most mean to *me* at school.

[horridporrid.livejournal.com]

Her real problem with Pansy is that she never shared with her readers why we should loath her. Pansy never really threatened Hermione: she was so beneath Hermione I can't see any of her "teasing" hitting home. When she tries to call Hermione ugly (who'd date her!) Hermione already knows she's going to the ball with the international sports star.

I think this goes towards JKR writing a private book full of in-jokes she never explains. I suspect we were supposed to pick up on Pansy's vileness by her pug-nose and gold watch. But that wasn't enough for me.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I think that's why we're never really clear on the difference between James and Draco. I mean, obviously there are clear differences, but I think it's supposed to be apparent that when James and Draco use very similar words to put people down we're supposed to be smiling at James' affectionately and scowling at Draco. I guess because she assumes everybody shares her preference for arrogant jocks over arrogant snobs.

[merrymelody.livejournal.com]

I think that's why we're never really clear on the difference between James and Draco.

I've never seen any evidence that it doesn't just come down to houses. James was in Gryffindor, therefore his bigotry and arrogance was channeled towards good and was endearing; Draco's is evil because he's in Slytherin. Or maybe it's down to Quidditch skills, lol. (It's so sad that I'm not even being sarcastic here, this is really how shallow the morality and reasoning behind these books is.)

Especially since JKR has so thoughtfully clarified that Harry was in fact only considered for Slytherin because of Voldie's influence - speaking of, how hilarious is that the only person suggesting getting rid of the house systems, albeit by having just one house (a good try if you made it Gryffindor, although then of course, how could they be the elite?!) is of course Teh Evil!1!! and who's suggestion is immediately followed by Gryffindor's symbol destroying Slytherin's (I'm surprised JKR didn't include an Aslan-esque lion eating Nagini, although she might have considered that too subtle.)
Naturally, totally undermining the actual books again. All that bumf Dumbledore said about how Harry possessed (of course) positive qualities from Slytherin and how it was down to choices? Rubbish! Harry didn't need to make an actual choice, he just passively happened to have a misleading signifer of Slytherin (ie. an EVIL!1!! infectious wound!) that distracted from his inner heroism (ie. Gryffindorism!); as if it wasn't already one-sided enough that he gets patted on the back for 'choosing' the 'best' house that everyone he's ever liked or known went to as opposed to the 'dark' house of his parents killers.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

For extra credit, try to make any of this fit with JKR's recent words about how she "agrees with Dumbledore" about Sorting too soon because it's harsh to judge a kid like that at 11. (Of course remember what Dumbledore was saying was that Snape was perhaps Sorted too soon and so better than Slytherin, which is truly the bad house.)

[cressida0201.livejournal.com]

All that bumf Dumbledore said about how Harry possessed (of course) positive qualities from Slytherin and how it was down to choices? Rubbish!

You've just reminded me that this isn't all in our minds; the books really have changed since the early part of the series. We weren't just reading in things that we wanted to see...well, not about everything. JKR's opinions on certain things seem to have changed as well, which is probably why the books changed.

[merrymelody.livejournal.com]

I seem to remember her saying before DH that she'd have Harry getting revenge on Dudley once he was of age and that it irritated her to have people suggest that he wouldn't or that this was wrong...

Pansy

[(Anonymous)]

"Her real problem with Pansy is that she never shared with her readers why we should loath her."

Indeed. She seemed a somewhat mean girl, but not nearly on the same level as Draco and his goons (or some Wealseys in their bad moments, really) and much of her behaviour seemed aimed at pleasing Draco, too. She seemed frightened and unsure when Draco hinted at his incipient DE career in HBP. She may have suggested giving Harry up in DH, but we never saw her actually trying to kill or seriously hurt somebody, nor did she actively join Voldy. I am at loss as to why she is supposed to be so horrible, frankly. And why is she "anti-Hermione"? The books don't show her as particularly anti-intellectual, mode-obsessed or flirtatious.

And that's one of those funny things, too. For all that Hermione is supposed to be a somewhat unkempt and anti-social bookworm, those "girly" girls can't even trump her in the matter of desirable boyfriends or dates. Lavender had to go to the Ball with the boy-next-door Seamus and later pathetically tried to steal Ron. Parvati and Padma weren't even asked by anybody until Harry snagged them for himself and Ron in the last minute. Nor did they seem to have any admirers in the later books. Pansy just stuck with Draco, whom she probably knew from toddlerhood, from the get-go. One just can't beat the trio in anything that matters to them.

Re: Pansy

[mmmarcusz.livejournal.com]

She may have suggested giving Harry up in DH

I loved her for this. Logical thought! She doesn't know she's in a book with "HARRY POTTER" on the cover. As far as she knows, Voldy is by far the most powerful person in the world. He can either kill hundreds to get to Potter, or he can kill Potter first and then we can try and survive as best we can.

[merrymelody.livejournal.com]

Her real problem with Pansy is that she never shared with her readers why we should loath her.

LOL, she's probably baffled. Look people, she's ugly, she's rich, she's a Slytherin, she's a sexually aggressive female, she has girl friends! What more evidence do you need? Just like you can assume people who think critically are useless and fat people are pathetic, you don't need to see Pansy behaving particularly stupidly or vainly to know that she is - you can just look at the signifiers! She's every girl we all went to school who was prettier than Jo us and made Jo us feel bad!

Me, I've always seen Pansy as a reflection of Ginny more than Hermione (although JKR seems to have shut up defending Ginny, probably because she then gets into defending her own poor writing of the character) - they're both defensive of their menfolk, they're both competitive with other women, they're both written as having an interest in appearances and with a very appearance-based focus (Ginny by being fascinated by Harry's celebrity; Pansy by commenting on people like Harry or Hermione's looks; and the focus being how Hawt!1! Ginny became as opposed to how puggish Pansy is), and they're both 'tough but compassionate' (it's just that Ginny's compassion is expressed in tired cliche ways like comforting some kid on a battlefield - she'll make such a wonderful mommy! - whereas Pansy doesn't get 'blazing' when someone she likes is hurt, she goes to visit them or whatever.) I'd find Pansy more sympathetic since she has vulnerabilities (like liking the unicorns in GoF or her dress being so princess-y at the Yule Ball) where Ginny is more the stereotypical Mean Girl, being pretty bullet-proof (having discarded her more likeable persona in OotP) but JKR loves winners, so she probably can't even see the similarities.

[mmmarcusz.livejournal.com]

I suspect we were supposed to pick up on Pansy's vileness by her pug-nose and gold watch.

A gold watch! Bitch. Harry doesn't need a watch, the world revolves around him anyway.