OotP Chapter Twenty-One

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

* God they have a lot of homework, and knowing how incapable Harry and Ron are of doing even a single essay just makes it seem like more.

* If I were Harry I'd be secretly glad to be off Quidditch for a while, but then I'm lazy. And also I, unlike Harry, have figured out that Quidditch is a really dumb game.

* Day Three: Hagrid still totally annoying. Making up for lost time.

* Also Day Three: Hagrid still bruised. If Malfoy is, Harry doesn’t mention it (perhaps Harry purposefully avoided the pretty face while going for everyplace he could reach...).

* Must quote this because I love it:

“…Anyway, they prefer the dark.”
“What prefers the dark?” Harry heard Malfoy say sharply to Crabbe and Goyle, a trace of panic in his voice. “What did he say prefers the dark. Did you hear?”

* First, I love me some Cowardly!Custard!Draco.

* Second, Draco’s history: In his first year he gets detention walking at night into a forest filled with dangerous creatures, his only guide being someone he knows as a savage incapable of most magic even when sober, which he often isn't. He also might be happy to feed Draco to the nearest animal on one word from his good buddy Harry. They get sent off alone and run into a horrible creature drinking blood. Then, first day of Hagrid’s class he gets mauled petting one of the animals. Even he, not knowing he’s a fictional character, must by now have figured out the class is dangerous and if anyone’s going to get attacked, it will be him. If this class were in South Park, Draco would be Kenny.

* I wonder if Dumbledore swore Draco to secrecy about the thing in the forest the way he did with Snape, or if he just assumed--ha ha--that nobody would believe him anyway.

* Draco should get a gold star for applying acquired knowledge to his behavior, though I think Wizards would call that cowardice.

*

Harry remembered the only other occasion on which Malfoy had entered the Forest before now; he had not been very brave then, either.

Once again, Harry confuses "courage" with "wisdom." Draco and Neville were both scared, but went in anyway because they had to go. (Though Draco probably was motivated only by the threat of expulsion unsullied by the stupid of needing to be brave in front of other Gryffindors.)

* Harry, btw, has no patience with those cowardly women who get nervous or avoid walking through deserted parking lots at night either. You should prefer being in dangerous places!

* Technically why would Harry know if that was the last time Draco had been to the forest? More correct to say Harry remembered the last time HE had seen Draco entering the forest. Or else perhaps Draco really does have no life outside of where Harry can see it. ETA: Or at least he did for one book only. I think the Draco of HBP just ran off and escaped to Massachusetts and that's why he didn't appear in DH.

*

He smiled to himself; after the Quidditch match anything that caused Malfoy discomfort was all right with him.

As opposed to, say, last week when anything that caused Malfoy discomfort would have kept him up all night worrying.

* The kind of pleasure that's making Harry smile to himself is sweet and fleeting, though. Like Chinese food, Harry will be hungry for more an hour later.

*After the Quidditch match, probably anything that caused Harry discomfort was all right with Malfoy, but that's because he's a petty, evil bully and Harry has done nothing to deserve such ill-wishing.

*Harry was worried about Malfoy’s behavior in class, but his question about being “sure they’re trained” isn’t strictly bratty. Harry has of course decided to submit to anything Hagrid does without question as a matter of principle, but any other kid is right to make it clear Hagrid has proven himself untrustworthy.

* I like that Draco links it to Hagrid’s face, even if it’s wrong. How sad am I? Any time a bad guy--or a Wizard--shows the slightest bit of reasoning skill I’m unduly impressed since they so rarely do it.

*Hagrid’s reaction is a good flipside to Snape, though I think Snape’s childish moments as a teacher are more actual moments while Hagrid goes through the entire class as a child. A kid's been hurt in his class before, even if Hagrid blames him for it, and when he’s challenged on the safety of what he’s doing he reacts defensively (“Course they’re trained!” “Mind yer own business”), making their point for them. It still doesn’t occur to him that it’s his JOB to make the class safe and take the fears of his students seriously, and that things would go more smoothly if he just did that.

*Not to mention, I thought this was a class in wild animals. Any idiot knows wild animals can only be trained so much. Well, not *any* idiot, apparenly. This one doesn't.

*I wonder if the Hagrid story is ever going to lead to Harry getting angry with him, since this is one subject where Harry’s not in complete denial—understandably. He’s okay with his friends being cruel or having a bad temper, I’d guess, but he’d rather they not be screw-ups.

*ETA: Nope, I shall just be taunted with the possibility of Hagrid's death through his own idiocy while Harry is assured he was always right to pretend he was more capable than he was. Or perhaps to put it more succinctly, "...while Harry is assured he was always right."

* I have always assumed the weedy boy just behind Goyle was Theodore Nott. I hope the fact that he's looking at the Thestrel’s eating habits with distaste means he’s just as snobbish a Pureblood as the rest of the Slytherins.

* Err...not that Slytherins don't also have the worst table manners. They're snobby, fussy *and* animalistic, remember.

* It continues to be interesting how the magical world, which is full of superstitions come to life, can have superstitions. Parvati has heard that Thestrels bring bad luck to people that see them, but Hagrid says that’s not true. It would make sense people would confuse it—people who have seen death have possibly been unlucky and only they can see Thestrels. But "you can only see them if you've seen death" is no less superstitious-sounding than "They bring bad luck if you see them."

* Not to mention, why would I listen to Hagrid anyway? Not only is he a general idiot, but he's willfully ignorant about dangerous animals when he wants to be. He'd never say anything to intentionally make an animal sound bad.

* Umbridge is obviously obnoxious for speaking to Hagrid as if he’s “slow,” though Hermione started the chapter by saying she talked at him for hours about the situation without his getting it. Perhaps if she’d talked slower…

* Draco looks like Christmas has come early—I’ll bet! Just as Harry is thrilled to find out other people can see Thestrels, Draco is probably thrilled another person can “see” his awful teacher.

* Hermione’s enraged by Umbridge making fun of Hagrid’s...personal quirks.

* Everybody should have to memorize Hagrid’s description of Thestrels as proof of why he shouldn’t be teaching the class:

“Thestrals aren’ dangerous! All righ’, they might take a bite outta yeh if yeh really annoy ‘em...”

Umbridge writes this down as showing Hagrid shows pleasure at idea of physical violence, but it also says a lot about Hagrid’s (and other’s) idea of danger: they’re not dangerous because they only hurt people who deserve it by being “annoying.” (Malfoy, compulsively annoying, has good reason to be afraid.)

*Basilisks, otoh, are dangerous, obviously, because they attack good people.

* Hagrid compares it to a dog biting you if you “bait it” but has shown that he defines “baiting” as “whatever the animal responds to with attack.” Dogs that bite people for annoying them are considered dangerous.

* Pansy is having a silent fit of laughter here—I wonder how she learned to shriek silently.

* ”Assuming they can understand you, of course,” is another one of Draco’s few actually funny lines.

* It’s mean of Umbridge to act like Hagrid is mentally challenged, but I don’t doubt many of the kids DO have trouble understanding him, and we’ve seen he’s not very good at adjusting himself to their needs and prefers to do the opposite. A teacher who tells students they’re asking “stupid questions” when they ask about safety is probably not one students are going to feel comfortable asking to repeat himself because he’s a) got a strange accent; b) sometimes addresses the most important bits of class to only a few students and c) tends to talk as if students know things they don’t know yet d) gets offended when he's got no real right or reason to be.

*Umbridge is probably correct in thinking the Gryffindors don't want to admit that they’re frightened, though it’s really not that Neville is intimidated, exactly. I'm not sure why he's upset and confused--Umbridge's act is pretty standard. If Neville wanted to make Hagrid look good surely he'd know to say, "I find them fascinating, thanks." Neville's not an idiot usually...oh, I guess JKR is just trying to make Harry look good by comparison.

*Heh—I hope nobody happens to mention that yes, they had expressed fear and frustration about Hagrid’s class, but Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron and Ginny Weasley told them to shut their fat mouth or they’d be sorry.

*Thanks to Hermione for explaining to me that Umbridge’s behavior to Hagrid was racist because he’s a half-breed, since her behavior to him was no different than her behavior to anyone else. She seemed to be reacting to Hagrid the individual to me. Even if we know she is racist, I can't imagine her reacting any differently to Hagrid if he was a Pureblood.

* Note that while it's racist to act like being half-giant makes you semi-retarded, there's nothing wrong with actual giants like Grawp seeming, well, fully retarded. Err. So don't talk to Hagrid like you'd talk to his brother. I guess. Um.

* ETA: Also, I find it bizarre that JKR will give Hermione a big "she's racist, I can tell, and so she's using her power in a sinister way!" and then present Slughorn's blatant racism about Muggleborns in a way that makes tons of readers defend him as totally not racist at all because he likes Harry, Hermione and Lily and really what else matters?

* Yay Ron, mentioning that Thestrels are dangerous. Boo Hermione for the fuzzy logic “They just can take care of themselves!” euphemism. One does not discount the other, Hermione. Ask your Muggle parents if you can't follow the logic there.

* ETA: Yes, I love the idea of these guys running the justice system. The murderer killed the witness to cover up his crime, your honor. He just knows how to take care of himself!

* To review, Hagrid didn’t learn anything from the Buckbeak incident besides that Malfoy is a jerk and deserves anything he gets. And that he’s got his job for life because Dumbledore is protecting him even from beyond the grave.

*Harry’s stoic “Would you?” when Hermione says she wishes she could see the Thestrels is just so worthy of eye-roll. Shut up, Harry.

*Do prefects usually do patrols? That’s a standard fanon convention but here we’re only told they have to patrol the halls around Xmas with Filch. Love that Ron thinks the younger kids are cheeky little snot-rags. Wonder if he’s “beastly” to them in return.

*Hermione’s fretting about the poor elves who want to be free for Xmas but can’t be because she hasn’t been making hats. Hasn’t it been made clear that any elf who wants to be free can just go to Dumbledore so they don't need the stupid hats that weren't given by their master anyway? I know it wouldn't be ooc at this stage for Hermione to create a little oppression to worry about where she could, but isn't this the kind of thing she would know?

* ETA: I can't wait until Hermione matures into a good slave-owner!

* Harry imagines Sirius alone in his house at Christmas pulling a lonely cracker with Kreacher. Okay, that really is pathetically sad. :sniff: ETA: Give him hell for me, Sirius!

* Note that Harry doesn’t think of Remus at all. Nor does he imagine him and Sirius spending Christmas Eve exchanging handmade commitment rings in front of the fire.

* The new beaters are nothing special, but new Seeker Ginny is pretty good! Wow! What a shock!

* ETA: "Pretty good" on your intramural high school team in this universe of course means "star athlete as soon as you graduate."

* Everybody still dislikes Zacharias. Think he’s the traitor yet? Good.

* Neville has improved beyond all recognition. Beyond all recognition. So feel free to put away those 4 books of relentless “Neville isn’t very good at stuff” and forget about them.

* Since there's nothing about Harry's teaching style that's so great (except his mere presence being inspiring). I imagine Neville the character getting a note before the Xmas DA meeting: “You’re good now. Have fun. –Signed, Your Creator.” Hope I get one of those soon.

* Cho’s never been able to Stun anything. Why? That's ridiculous. It seems like these hexes got much harder just in time to get much easier so that Harry could teach them when actual teachers couldn’t.

* Phew! *fans self* That kissing scene just knocked me out. I haven’t seen that kind of hormone-crazy teenage lust since Tom Sawyer gave Becky Thatcher a doorknob!;-)

* Hermione’s already all over the Harry/Cho. She predicted the kiss, she knows all about it, she’ll advise on what to do next, it’s no big deal, she’s got it under control. Cho may think she’s having a relationship with a boy, but she's just part of Hermione’s fifth year plan.

* In fact, Hermione will now happily lay out Cho’s motivations because they’re so simple. You know the funny thing? This storyline was far more interesting before Hermione jumped in with the exposition. Harry says Hermione’s explanation makes things more complicated, but it does the opposite by reducing it to an easy character breakdown. Show don’t tell, JKR Hermione. Why not use Cho for this? There's like no need to read anything else about Harry/Cho now.

* Hermione scolds Ron that not all of us have the emotional range of a teaspoon. A stinging rebuke coming from an Exposition Android. ETA: Next book Hermione will show her "emotional depth" by forgetting she likes mysteries, especially Voldemort-related ones.

* Interesting JKR makes Hermione one of those “boys are so dumb!” girls. Harry’s feelings are just as understandable as Cho’s, and expecting him to turn into Joe Soap Character who manfully comforts Cho is a little silly.

* Although Harry’s interaction with other boys is quite limited, the girls always seem to know everything about each other. It’s like Hermione has tons more contact with Cho than Harry and Ron, despite her still being in a different year and house. Do the girls spend an inordinate amount of time in the bathrooms or what? Should we assume Ginny’s Hermione’s connection to the gossip mill? Hermione seems to have more hours in her day than the boys, so that she has time to interact with all these other people and do tons of homework when we don't see her, leaving her to do her own stuff when the boys are around.

* Ron wonders what Hermione sees in Krum—well, first, Hermione doesn’t always form relationships like regular people do. A lot of people can't figure out what she sees in Ron.

* Second, one might just as well ask what Viktor sees in Hermione. He’s not that much older than she is, and I almost have an easier time imagining her with an adult (one she had a crush on because of his brains) than just a senior student. ETA: It's even odder to imagine what he sees in her once we see his new personality in DH.

* That’s a pretty badass dream Harry has. And let’s face it, who doesn’t love some hero-vomit-inducing angst?



Hero’s Death Battle Exemption
Harry brings this one up himself, so it should be mentioned: If Voldemort wants to kill you, you don’t stand a chance. Err...unless you’re Harry. Then it’s all, “Let’s duel! I lose!”

Informed Attributes
These hexes are really hard, even if they don’t seem that way.

Umbridge was being specifically racist against Hagrid in his class, even though she appeared to treat him the way she treated every other teacher she’s dealt with so far.

Also, although it’s not quite the same thing, surely Cho is now made entirely of informed attributes since Hermione went to the trouble of observing her for us.

POV Shots
Actual POV shot alert! This one’s even the chapter title—the eye of the tiger snake!

Final Jabootu score: 3.75

Comments

[kaskait.livejournal.com]

* Phew! *fans self* That kissing scene just knocked me out. I haven’t seen that kind of hormone-crazy teenage lust since Tom Sawyer gave Becky Thatcher a doorknob!;-)

I love how she juxtaposes grievous bodily harm/violent incidents with her "love" scenes. First Mr Weasely's attack in OOTP paired with Cho's kiss. Then Harry eviscerating Draco with Ginny's kiss as reward. Where did this writer learn her craft? How can she not understand the crazy messages a plot construction such as that causes?

She may think she is contrasting something horrible with something joyous. But that isn't the way it works.

[(Anonymous)]

Where did this writer learn her craft?

That's basically the problem. JKR "learned her craft" writing the single best selling series of books in the history of literature. Nobody is going to tell her that she's doing it wrong when she's single handedly accounting for sixty percent of the income of her publishing house.

I genuinely feel sorry for her actually. Like Orson Welles and Joss Whedon I think she wasted her very real talent glorifying her imaginary genius.

- Dan Hemmens

[kaskait.livejournal.com]

Yes, no publishing house would dare to question Rowling's skill while her series was hauling in the cash. They know that even if the books failed they would still pull in big sales. In a more cynical light, they let her succeed or fail on her own. Probably more than a few people are waiting for the fall from a great height as well.

I think Orson Welles had more talent than either Joss Whedon or JK Rowling. His deal was that he never wanted anyone to control him, fought for his autonomy and made enemies. However Whedon and Rowling did their derivative work, gained success, listened to everyone calling them bigger than life itself and believed it.

[(Anonymous)]

Sorry, the Orson Welles thing is a quote, originally about Welles, which I tend to apply to anybody whose work I've gone off: "His tragedy was that he put his very real talent to the task of glorifying his imaginary genius".

It always struck me as indicative of what goes wrong with folk like JKR and Whedon.

Changed the way women think about themselves, I ask you.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

It seems like it's got to be intentional--I mean, not in an intellectual way, but it seems right in some way. I sometimes wonder if it's sort of a reward. Like in HBP poor Harry has to suffer by being forced to carve up Draco, and then get detention and have his ability to skate through class getting praise he doesn't deserve threatened...so the least she could do was give him the Quidditch cup and the girl.

[ellecain.livejournal.com]

IMO the juxtaposition is her way of getting out of a situation that raises questions she cannot answer. Her "love" scenes are shallow, they can only take place in or around Situations Of Great Tension - note the R/Hr kiss in DH as a prime example. You end up asking, "Huh, this pairing has no romantic logic at all!?" The violent incidents are there to drag our minds away from the questions that would otherwise need to be dealt with.

Want to deflect attention from Harry's lack of punishment for almost killing Draco? Make him kiss Ginny with a Hollywood style OTT scene! The violent backdrop also allows a good backdrop for proving the faux credentials of the H/G ship! Is the reader asking why these two are meant to be? Well, she defended his act of violence didn't she, and that shows she's his Twoo Luv!

And this is not restricted to romance either. The painful Percy reconciliation was juxtaposed with Fred's death for the same reason.

[aasaylva.livejournal.com]

Wow, clever point! In OotP, I really thought her idea was to shock the reader (just when everything seems to be bunnies and roses - wham, there comes Nagini). But the HBP juxtaposition doesn't work like that, on the contrary. It serves to brush dirt under the carpet, to make forget what just happened. So yes, one more example of her writing going down towards cheap Hollywood B-movies...

[ellecain.livejournal.com]

Ha, you do know some people say that the books contained more Hollywood style imagery since WB began making the movies? :-)

[aasaylva.livejournal.com]

I didn't, actually. Although I have to say it is not so much the imagery (hold on - there was that High school kiss in HBP - starts backpedalling), but the awfully flat psychology, like Dudley suddenly apologizing and turning considerate and humble after about 16 years. It is SO Hollywood! Or the reconciliation with Percy! Or - you name it. Sometimes I suspect the same people who decided the American audience was too stupid to understand "philosopher's stone" asked her to dumb down the books that were still to come. Would explain a lot...

[(Anonymous)]

Umbridge was being specifically racist against Hagrid in his class, even though she appeared to treat him the way she treated every other teacher she’s dealt with so far.

I've ranted about JKR's portrayal of "racism" before, and it still hacks me off. She just renders the term completely meaningless by using it to mean "being horrible to somebody who could be considered a minority".

There's also the problem that real racism is scary and dangerous because large numbers of people actually believe it's true. JKR's sanitized racism is just something evil people use to show how evil they are.

[(Anonymous)]

(Dan Hemmens again, by the way)

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

It's a book that wants to be all about racism without actually looking at racism at all, even using fake races for stand-ins.

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

*I wonder if the Hagrid story is ever going to lead to Harry getting angry with him, since this is one subject where Harry’s not in complete denial—understandably. He’s okay with his friends being cruel or having a bad temper, I’d guess, but he’d rather they not be screw-ups.

*ETA: Nope, I shall just be taunted with the possibility of Hagrid's death through his own idiocy while Harry is assured he was always right to pretend he was more capable than he was. Or perhaps to put it more succinctly, "...while Harry is assured he was always right."

Well, it did in a way. In HBP, Harry got mad that Hagrid got mad that no one wanted to take his class. Luckily, as in all good-guy conflicts, they got over it because of a death. Doesn't it seem like that's the why every good-guy conflict works out in this series? Because of a death or near-death? Ron begs Harry for forgiveness when Harry faces the possibility of death in the dragon. Fleur and Molly get over their fight when Bill nearly dies. Ron and Hermione get over their conflict when Ron nearly dies. Harry makes up with Dumbledore for hiring the person who targeted his parents when Dumbledore dies... Heck, Sirius and Remus make up their estrangement through the prospect of killing Peter.

*Harry’s stoic “Would you?” when Hermione says she wishes she could see the Thestrels is just so worthy of eye-roll. Shut up, Harry.
It's definitely not as good as Ginny's, "Lucky you." Which I actually liked because Harry was being such a prat throughout this book. It was nice to have Harry for once actually remember that other people have sucky experiences with Voldemort, thank you very much.

* Hermione seems to have more hours in her day than the boys, so that she has time to interact with all these other people and do tons of homework when we don't see her, leaving her to do her own stuff when the boys are around.
When Harry was on the Quidditch team, then it made sense that Hermione might have time on her hands. Ron, too, come to think of it. But now Hermione's got all her mounds of homework to do, Ron's got Quidditch practice and Harry has... what? What is Harry doing? Putting together lesson plans for the D.A.? Sitting around seething because Dumbledore is treating him like any other student in the school?

[aasaylva.livejournal.com]

Excellent point concerning the make-up-policy of the good-guys. It's as cheap as a soap opera and went like this right till the end in DH: Harry "making up" with Snape if you could call it that (Snape's death) and Harry with dumbledore when the latter was dead..

[violaswamp.livejournal.com]

On a related note, I consider it somewhat cheap that Harry never found out about Dumbledore's dastardly side until after D. was dead, and so H. was unable to fight with him about it.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Thanks for reminding me of one of my favorite things about HBP, the way nobody wanted to take Hagrid's class!

Ginny's "lucky you" is definitely better. It comes out of the situation--Harry truly is being insensitive to her, blatantly saying that he forgot what happened to her. With this it's like obviously Hermione isn't being insensitive at all, she's just saying she wishes she could see the animals they're studying. Not that she wishes she'd seen someone die. So Harry trying to get her on that is just really imo grandstanding.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Oh, and yes about the make-ups. Some of my least favorite moments in the series is where JKR creates a believable conflict and then sweeps it under the carpet with something that doesn't address any of the issues. Starting with Hermione becoming friends with Harry and Ron because they fought a troll together. Fine if that's the catalyst, but it only "solves" things in outline form.

[horridporrid.livejournal.com]

I think that's really the tragedy of the series. JKR sets up some beautiful stuff, but then "sweeps it under the carpet". I mean, she really could have dealt with racism and closed societies faced with an influx of new people in an incredibly interesting way. Or with "good guys" getting too invested in their own PR. She asked some interesting questions, but then...either no answer at all or an answer so pat as to almost be offensive in and of itself.

[mmmarcusz.livejournal.com]

Well, it did in a way. In HBP, Harry got mad that Hagrid got mad that no one wanted to take his class. Luckily, as in all good-guy conflicts, they got over it because of a death. Doesn't it seem like that's the why every good-guy conflict works out in this series? Because of a death or near-death? Ron begs Harry for forgiveness when Harry faces the possibility of death in the dragon. Fleur and Molly get over their fight when Bill nearly dies. Ron and Hermione get over their conflict when Ron nearly dies. Harry makes up with Dumbledore for hiring the person who targeted his parents when Dumbledore dies... Heck, Sirius and Remus make up their estrangement through the prospect of killing Peter.

Similarly, in many stories saving a girl's life is a good way to get a submissive girlfriend. Much easier than just talking to her and actually developing a proper relationship not based on awkward guilt.

[r-ganymede.livejournal.com]

Everybody should have to memorize Hagrid’s description of Thestrels as proof of why he shouldn’t be teaching the class:

“Thestrals aren’ dangerous! All righ’, they might take a bite outta yeh if yeh really annoy ‘em...”

Also why Dumbledore shouldn't be Headmaster - haven't those things been pulling the carriages every year?? You have a bunch of kids milling around, the vast majority of whom can't see these things, and they bite when annoyed? I'm surprised nobody's been bitten any of those times! Though for all we know they have been, but were outside the ten people Harry can recognize.

Hermione seems to have more hours in her day than the boys, so that she has time to interact with all these other people and do tons of homework when we don't see her, leaving her to do her own stuff when the boys are around.

Maybe she never actually gave up the time turner :)

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

LOL! I hadn't thought of that but whoa, how's that supposed to work? You couldn't get regular horses to pull the things? You got things that eat raw meat and are known to bite for little reason? But are invisible? (Of course, being invisible doesn't mean you wouldn't be able to feel/smell/hear them, but for some reason nobody ever does.) What pulled the carriages before Hagrid became the only person to ever train any?

[r-ganymede.livejournal.com]

What pulled the carriages before Hagrid became the only person to ever train any?

That's why it actually made more sense to me when they were just self-moving carriages. Though I suppose that makes them too similar to cars, and thereby too modern for the Wizarding World. Of course, I've also wondered how students got to Hogwarts before the train was invented, or is this the one thing they managed to invent hundreds of years before Muggles? Probably not.

When you think about it, the really dangerous everyday stuff (as opposed to take-over-the-world, Voldemort type stuff) always seems to center around our Gryffindors - Dumbledore, Hagrid, Harry, etc. It makes me wonder if it's really only the Gryffindor families coming up with dangerous stuff like the Triwizard Cup and using Thestrals for pulling carriages. It seems like the Wizarding World is very dangerous over all, but then you also have stuff like Lucius complaining about the classes not being safe. You'd think it would be the Muggleborns complaining because they would be used to having safety standards (their parents, of course, are just cut off from knowing what's going on).

So I'm wondering if all the Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff families do use dangerous and possibly dark magic, do have animals around, but maybe actually try to take precautions about them. So in the first ever CoMC class, Draco was expecting the adult in charge to have taken any necessary precautions / not be exposing them to anything overly dangerous. And it's just the Gryffindors who go around not caring, because they're the moronically reckless brave ones - the current situation at Hogwarts is a result of Dumbledore's leadership.

Now I'm imagining all the non-Gryffindor Pureblood families (and Percy) uniting with the Muggleborns under the common cause of getting actual safety standards at Hogwarts.

[aasaylva.livejournal.com]

Harry remembered the only other occasion on which Malfoy had entered the Forest before now; he had not been very brave then, either.
This is outrageous. First, for all the reasons you gave already (it would have been a sign of utter stupidity or overestimation of self not to be scared), second because it wasn't as if Harry had been braver. First off, he didn't know anything concrete about the Forbidden Forest, secondly he felt confident (however mistakenly) that Hagrid would look after him (in POA, IIRC, he imagined Hagrid to crouch behind when attempting his Patronus)and thirdly, when they encountered Quirrelmort, he didn't run because he was too scared to do it! What a hypocrit.

Note that while it's racist to act like being half-giant makes you semi-retarded, there's nothing wrong with actual giants like Grawp seeming, well, fully retarded. Err. So don't talk to Hagrid like you'd talk to his brother. I guess. Um.
In fact, this seems to be a pattern: It is racist to look down on muggleborns as if they were somehow inferior to other wizards, but it is totally alright (because the good guys do so from page 1) to see muggles as inferior to wizards. In a way, Hermione is like Hagrid: they are mongrels and need to be spared the indignity to be treated like their relations are.

"Pretty good" on your intramural high school team in this universe of course means "star athlete as soon as you graduate."
Of course - leading a study group qualifies you as head of an elite department, after all!

[merrymelody.livejournal.com]

he didn't run because he was too scared to do it!

If anything, he was more scared than Draco surely, since clearly Draco wasn't too scared to run.
But in the Gryffindors' heads everything they do is heroic. Harry probably remembers making the forest his bitch and then getting crowned Mayor of it or something; just like when he forgets Ginny's possession by Voldemort but remembers going into the CoS to rescue her.
In his head, she's just a blurry squealing female shape and he's a sharp-focus Schwartzenegger-esque 12 year old, abandoned by his peers but going it alone, to the strains of a power-rock montage of him fist-fighting rocks and Riddle's diary and Fawkes.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

ROTFL!

Harry probably remembers making the forest his bitch and then getting crowned Mayor of it or something;

Isn't there some place where this type of thing happens someplace else? Like where everybody seems to remember something as far more heroic than it was? I may be thinking of this, mixed with that moment where Harry somehow remembers the trailers for the PoA movie more than the scene he was actually in.

[r-ganymede.livejournal.com]

I bet he's totally forgotten that Ron was there too.

[merrymelody.livejournal.com]

Like in OotP when he berates his friends because he had to fight everything alone, forgetting that the only reason they weren't there (apparently from narrative demands) was because they'd usually been injured doing his scutwork.

[(Anonymous)]

In fact, this seems to be a pattern: It is racist to look down on muggleborns as if they were somehow inferior to other wizards, but it is totally alright (because the good guys do so from page 1) to see muggles as inferior to wizards. In a way, Hermione is like Hagrid: they are mongrels and need to be spared the indignity to be treated like their relations are.

Again it's that patronizing, colonial India attitude JKR is so good at. It's not that the other races aren't inferior, it's that it's bad form to remind them of it. And if somebody happens to have a bit of giant blood in them, well the poor thing can't help its ancestry, and really Hagrid does very well - for a Half-Giant - and it would be simply unfair not to encourage him to try his very best despite his rather sad disability.

- Dan Hemmens

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Like I said above, one of the first racial ideas that made me pause in the series was the way you never actually had to respect any of these other groups. Sure the good guys had a roster of "other" friends, but they all passed as Wizards until you knew their secret and were properly ashamed (or in Hermione's case efficiently dismissive) of their non-Wizard side.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

In a way, Hermione is like Hagrid: they are mongrels and need to be spared the indignity to be treated like their relations are.

Yes. It's the only race relations issue that the books are pretty consistent on--and it makes things easy on the Wizards. You just praise people who overcome being different. As long as they pass as full Wizards they should just be praised.

Of course - leading a study group qualifies you as head of an elite department, after all!

LOL! Wizards would be like, "Well, yes. Of course."

[horridporrid.livejournal.com]

Hermione scolds Ron that not all of us have the emotional range of a teaspoon. A stinging rebuke coming from an Exposition Android.

I thought it interesting how the movie handled this scene. (I often find it interesting how the movies tone down the ugliness of the books, actually.) But (IIRC) the trio all laugh when Hermione says this, and she and Ron sort of exchange a wry glance like Hermione was being slightly ridiculous, but you know, she's tired, or something. It was a lot gentler, and did a lot more to lay the groundwork of Ron and Hermione crushing on each other. And being friends.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I'm not surprised the movies try to show them actually having fun with each other, because they rarely do in the books. HBP is probably the most fun they have. Though this is not justification for making the whole movie about the filler sections, which is what they seem to be doing.

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

>It's not like referring to a centaur as a 'horse' could possibly be seen as racist, so I might reasonably have forgotten Umbridge was supposed to be bad for her supposed views, while Hermione is the bright beacon of hope for the WW.<

Or Trelawney referring to him as "Dobbin."

Does that mean that Trelawney is our requisite racist asshole who manages to do something useful for the "good side" by the end of the series?

[j-lunatic.livejournal.com]

Does that mean that Trelawney is our requisite racist asshole who manages to do something useful for the "good side" by the end of the series?

Well, at some other points Hagrid calls the centaurs a bunch of "mules," so at least she's got company.

In Deathly Hallows it was either amusing or depressing how many sentient nonhumans (centaurs, goblins, house elves, etc.) came in on the Officially Designated Good side, even though Harry and company never did that much to earn their support.

[(Anonymous)]

Well, at some other points Hagrid calls the centaurs a bunch of "mules," so at least she's got company.

No no no, you still don't understand. When Umbridge says bad things about the non-human races, it's because she's racist. When Hagrid does it it's because he understands what they're really like.

You're making the mistake of assuming that "racism" is based on somebody's attitudes and opinions. "Racist" like "good" or "evil" or of course "a bully", is just something you are or you aren't. How you act, think, or treat other people doesn't factor into it.

In Deathly Hallows it was either amusing or depressing how many sentient nonhumans (centaurs, goblins, house elves, etc.) came in on the Officially Designated Good side, even though Harry and company never did that much to earn their support.

I think it's just that the sentient nonhumans, unlike half the Wizarding World, were smart enough to see that Voldemort was not only an evil psychopath but also a great big pansy who couldn't even deal with one bratty kid. Given the choice between siding with the morons who mostly leave you alone and the maniac who will get you all killed, they sided with the morons.

- Dan Hemmens

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

It's funny (as in sad), but if our resident Exposition Android wasn't here to explain, I might have forgotten this whole informed attribute. It's not like referring to a centaur as a 'horse' could possibly be seen as racist, so I might reasonably have forgotten Umbridge was supposed to be bad for her supposed views, while Hermione is the bright beacon of hope for the WW. o_0 I was almost on the verge of returning to Muggle "common-sense," and thought that Umbridge was targeting Hagrid for being a lame-ass teacher who was dangerous stupid for even his own good, much less the kids'. We should all thank Merlin for Hermione!

Dan nails this below, but yes, this is why we need Hermione to point it out to us. As Muggles we might be used to describing *behavior* as racist rather than just picking out which people are racists and then knowing to interpret all their behavior that way. This is also why Hagrid's calling centaurs 'mules' or insulting Filch by calling him a "Sneakin' Squib" or putting down the Dursleys for being Muggles is just Hagrid being all wonderfully down-to-earth and honest while Umbridge pointing out Hagrid's shortcomings as a teacher is obviously her being racist because that's what she is.

It's funny because I'm not somebody who's probably the best at noticing holes in world-building but JKR's are sometimes so blatant even I can't help but say, "Hmm...maybe you should have actually worked out a real system of magic if you wanted the whole series based on a school of it?"

[merrymelody.livejournal.com]

(Though Draco probably was motivated only by the threat of expulsion.)

God knows why. Transfer to Beauxbatons, Draco, it's not too late! (I was sad he doomed little Scorpius to Hogwarts too.)

I think the Draco of HBP just ran off and escaped to Massachusetts and that's why he didn't appear in DH.

He was probably too traumatized to be in DH after he found Ginny V.1 and the Original Krum's mouldering corpses rotting in the forest.

Hagrid compares it to a dog biting you if you “bait it” but has shown that he defines “baiting” as “whatever the animal responds to with attack.” Dogs that bite people for annoying them are considered dangerous.

Doesn't Aunt Marge's dog bite Harry for accidentally treading on it's tail or something? Bless it! Clearly a proud breed that knows how to take care of itself.

It’s like Hermione has tons more contact with Cho than Harry and Ron

Bite your tongue, Magpie, girls don't hang out together unless it's to plot man-getting. Although perhaps Hermione was nice to Cho to further her Machiavellian plan to get Harry kissed so he can marry his first proper girlfriend as a teenager content in the knowledge he has Life Experience.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I was sad he doomed little Scorpius to Hogwarts too.

Maybe one of the improvements of the Trio's reign is they just get to order him to have his kid there on September 1 or else they all go to jail. Also, they'll be coralled into the Slytherin car at the back of the train--for their own good.

Doesn't Aunt Marge's dog bite Harry for accidentally treading on it's tail or something? Bless it! Clearly a proud breed that knows how to take care of itself.

He was only really biting him for being so good and pure!

Although perhaps Hermione was nice to Cho to further her Machiavellian plan to get Harry kissed so he can marry his first proper girlfriend as a teenager content in the knowledge he has Life Experience.

Finally, an explanation. Or else maybe Hermione got the idea in GoF to make the magical equivalent of bugs to eavesdrop on all conversations in the girls' room.

[lachlanm.livejournal.com]

slinkhard: God knows why. Transfer to Beauxbatons, Draco, it's not too late!

I can actually see Draco at Beauxbatons so much better than at Durmstrang.

[aasaylva.livejournal.com]

OMG - somehow this gave me the idea of what would have happened if Draco had married ginny for some ungodly reason. Can you imagine christmas at the burrow with him AND Fleur there to drive Molly up the wall? I'd pay to see the carnage...

[(Anonymous)]

* I wonder if Dumbledore swore Draco to secrecy about the thing in the forest the way he did with Snape, or if he just assumed--ha ha--that nobody would believe him anyway.

My guess is he did nothing. Swearing Snape to secrecy was a special case of damage control, being as Dumbledore's own ass was on the line. His bright idea to educate a werewolf at Hogwarts blew up in his face. I used to think he let the Marauders off lightly out of favoritism, but of course they had him over a barrel.

* ”Assuming they can understand you, of course,” is another one of Draco’s few actually funny lines.

According to statistics that I just now pulled out of my rear end, Draco averages one genuinely funny line per book, which puts him squarely among the top five wittiest HP characters. The twins have a way with words, but their humor is often puerile. Snape and Harry are hit and miss. Ginny's mainly just spiteful. Fans keep ranting that Canon Draco isn't all that funny, and no more he is compared to characters in other fandoms. But among HP characters he's lord of the zinger.

*Thanks to Hermione for explaining to me that Umbridge’s behavior to Hagrid was racist because he’s a half-breed, since her behavior to him was no different than her behavior to anyone else.

Umbridge had no problem with Flitwick, who's part goblin and a good teacher. She picks on Trelawney, who as far as we know is fully human and a bad teacher. Could there be some sort of logic underlying her beef with Hagrid? Nah.

-L

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Yes, you're right--with MWPP it was his ass on the line. Why's there a werewolf at the school in secret? Dumbledore's plan. (And were there really never any other werewolves who could have been students openly? Sad. Though maybe it's rare to have a child.) Nobody would have believe Draco anyone. Imagine if that got out--Voldemort was actually living at the school all year.

That's weird--why doesn't she have a problem with Flitwick when he seems just as physically different as Hagrid. It's just really weird. I guess because in order to really make the point of racism, it'd be more obvious to just take a good teacher and have her act like they don't measure up. With Hagrid you unfortunately wind up with her only seeing things that are valid concerns. She could have used Flitwick, but Harry wouldn't care. It would just be unbelievable for him to care on principle too much. His character is more based on personal.

[aasaylva.livejournal.com]

it'd be more obvious to just take a good teacher and have her act like they don't measure up
And conversely, letting someone stay just because of his/ her allegiance to the ministry in spite of being a bad teacher. You are right, Rowling's choices in these cases are weird. At first reading, I thought the idea was to show how easy it is to find "reasonable reasons" to do what you want whereas your true motives may be quite different. But the Flitwick thing really is strange.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Heh--I think the one consistancy is in the inconsistancy. I mean, when you say this: "And conversely, letting someone stay just because of his/ her allegiance to the ministry in spite of being a bad teacher." I of course think this is already the way things work with Hagrid and Trelawney. There isn't really a push here for good teachers, it's just that same kind of "you know who the good people are because they're with Dumbledore" feeling. Favoritism to a point is perfectly okay. It's always more about knowing who the good guys are and making sure they're free to thrive than any intellectual plan.

[violaswamp.livejournal.com]

There isn't really a push here for good teachers, it's just that same kind of "you know who the good people are because they're with Dumbledore" feeling.

Heh, that's really the creepy part: if Dumbledore is such a good guy, or even if he's flawed but basically on the right side, then why can't he convince actual competent people to go along with his schemes and ally themselves with him? Why are so many of his allies either stupid or in his debt or both? It rather suggests he's afraid of having too many smart and independent people around because they'll see how he's full of it.