Deathly Hallows, chapter 4

[anehan]

The Seven Potters

* Hedwig is sulking. Even she understands how stupid it is of Harry to lock her in her cage.

* Lupin is "greyer, more lined". In every book, Lupin looks worse and worse. I swear, he should have wasted away years ago.

* According to Kingsley, Harry is more important than the Muggle Prime Minister. Too bad we haven't seen Harry do anything to demonstrate this to us. As it is, I remain sceptical.

* Harry can't be Flooed, Portkey'd or Apparated out of 4 Privet Drive. So take him to Mrs Figg's and Apparate him away.

* The Trace. I think I've said all there is to say about it in the previous cap. The bloody thing makes no sense.

* "With You-Know-Who out there and half the Ministry on his side?" My, Voldemort has been busy. He's done more during this summer than in the previous two years together.

* According to Moody, Voldemort is bound to have a Death Eater or two on the lookout. Tell me again, why didn't he do that in the previous two years? Kidnap Harry in OotP and save us the tedium of reading through HBP and DH.

* Harry's Polyjuice Potion is a clear, bright gold. Remember the muddiness of Crabbe's and Goyle's? They were evil already at the age of 12. Remember, it's your choices that... Wait a minute, what am I saying? Some people are born good and some people evil.

* Good thing we have the Polyjuice Potion tell us about Harry's goodness. Otherwise we might have had some doubts, what we the Unforgivables an all that.

* Notice that Fleur doesn't change size when she drinks Harry!Juice. Just observing.

* "Bill, don't look at me -- I'm 'ideous." Ahahahahaaaa!

* Six naked Potters. *leers*

* Fleur give Bill a soppy, slavish look. It's the same look that's glued on Ginny's face when she looks at Harry.

* Moody won't lock the back door, since it won't keep the Death Eaters away. Maybe not, but at least it'll keep the neighbourhood children from ransacking the house while the Dursleys are away. Dear me, what am I talking about? No one cares about the Dursleys' property. They're just dirty Muggles.

* Why aren't the Potters and their guards Disillusioned? Quite aside from the fact that Muggles can now see them flying, why are they making the Death Eaters' job easier? Logic, what Logic.

* Hedwig died. Cheap, Rowling, cheap.

* Harry is doing magic willy-nilly. Whatever happened to the Trace?

* What is dragon fire and why haven't we hear of it before?

* Stan Shunpike's face is strangely blank. Maybe it's supposed to tell us that Stan is Imperio'd, but why would the Death Eaters take an Imperio'd person with them to such a delicate mission? I much prefer to think that Stan really is a DE.

* I don't get why the DE would think Harry's the only one who'd use Expelliarmus against them. Surely it's not that obscure a charm, considering that it was the first charm the students were taught in the Duelling Club in CoS. It doesn't make sense.

* Oh dear, here we have the incident of Harry's wand acting of its own accord. More things that don't make sense.

* Well, that was boring.



Designated Hero:
Harry's Polyjuice Potion reveals his essential goodness.

Hero's Death Battle Exemption:
The Killing Curses miss Harry by millimetres.

IITS:
Why can't Harry be Apparated away? IITS!

Final score: 3

Comments

[tdotm.livejournal.com]

I ran out of space! Here‘s Part Two: Why mention that Harry is more important than the Prime Minister? Why not just say that Kingsley took a couple of days holiday and thereby not antagonise large numbers of muggle readers?

I understand that maybe she wanted a big action scene (so did I by this point) but why such a rubbish one? jodel_from_aol, I’ve also read the DH Sporking Community’s version and it was such a relief to hear my questions from other people, and know I wasn't going mad!

Why did they make such a fuss and noise when mounting their transport? I presume the DEs had no magnifying equipment and so couldn’t see Bill and Remus helping ‘Harry’ as if he was a delicate girl. If they could, that was two Harrys they could immediately discount. Can the flying creatures really begin to outfly brooms? Dragons I can believe, but Thestrals? Why weren’t they all on brooms? Or was this an attempt by the Order to take out the by now totally tiresome Hermione? Or did the DEs only use some old crap brooms and save their best for a special occasion?

Sorry to repeat myself, but why was Hedwig there? Talk about a big beacon! Either it’s Harry Potter, or a fool prepared to stick out like a sore thumb, far more than the other 5 decoys. Why not make them all carry large cages? Better still, why not put Hedwig to sleep (not in the muggle way) and put her in a bag (with air holes) so she didn’t attract attention? Why not do anything else but what they did?

I agree that it makes no sense to use the Imperius on Stan. If he was willing, that’s fine, but why would they be so keen to take a bus conductor on this mission that they’d have to coerce him? Did their plan involve issuing tickets? Wouldn’t Voldemort prefer to send hardened killers? Was Lucius there? He might not be trusted to run the operation, but he could (and would) happily be used to attack this rubbish bunch of idiots.

I actually didn't mind 'Accio Hagrid' - it was an accurate piece of characterisation. That's exactly the desperate sort of idiocy that Our Hero would try. I'd only have objected if it'd actually worked.

So many unanswered questions in a chapter that doesn’t even mention wand lore. (Apart from that piece of crap with the self-determining wand which is even worse than Sirius’ mirror in adding nothing to the story except confusion and stupidity)

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

Oh it got better, the 6 decoys were *all* carrying stuffed owls -- in cages.

Like no one would notice that one of the owls was alive...

Lucius wasn't there, but his wand was.

[(Anonymous)]

Sorry, my bad. I'm anxious to never re-read any of DH if I don't have to, so my memory will fail me from time to time. It's one hell of a bullet Helka Maria is taking for us...

I forgot about Lucius' wand being there. Heh. Of course, some meglomaniacs would imperius the unreliable, but brilliant Lucius to start killing random Order Members and take the Bus Conductor's wand. Or better still, leave all my followers armed and take the wand of the Muggle Studies Teacher. As a prisoner she would already have been disarmed, plus she won't miss it seeing as she's dead. What did they do - throw it away?

[tdotm.livejournal.com]

Sorry, my bad. I'm anxious to never re-read any of DH if I don't have to, so my memory will fail me from time to time. It's one hell of a bullet Helka Maria is taking for us...

I forgot about Lucius' wand being there. Heh. Of course, some meglomaniacs would imperius the unreliable, but brilliant Lucius to start killing random Order Members and take the Bus Conductor's wand. Or better still, leave all my followers armed and take the wand of the Muggle Studies Teacher. As a prisoner she would already have been disarmed, plus she won't miss it seeing as she's dead. What did they do - throw it away?

[aasaylva.livejournal.com]

and thereby not antagonise large numbers of muggle readers?
Actually, this is one of the mysteries of this series: That the readers don't seem to remember they ARE members of that ridiculed group.

Did their plan involve issuing tickets?
Again LOL! I mean, it's obvious Stan is just there to provide us with another deep characterization of Harry's defensive loving attitude and deep insight into the soul of a person he had met once when he was 13 - but it's as clumsy as Moody in a ballet dance...

[ellecain.livejournal.com]

I mean, it's obvious Stan is just there to provide us with another deep characterization of Harry's defensive loving attitude and deep insight...

Y'know, Harry's amazing abilities are like the Dark Mark - so useful to identify members on the Dark Side, but never used. Except when Harry's mistaken, of course. And except when Snape and Draco do decent things. But otherwise? Faultless indicators, I tell ya!