Deathly Hallows, chapter 8

[anehan]

The Wedding

* I must take a moment off from my readthrough to draw you attention to the cover art of the British children's edition. To me, Harry looks like a determined hero, Ron like an idiotish sidekick (see his expression--doesn't he look like a blundering idiot), and Hermione like a damsel in distress. I shouldn't be surprised at that, especially not Ron's depiction, seeing how it's been firmly established that he is as stupid as they get. Yet I can't help but be slightly offended by the art. Now, tell me, do you agree with my interpretation or am I only seeing what I expect to see?

* We are on page 115 (British edition), and so far next to nothing has happened in the book. Over a hundred pages of faffing around.

* The good thing about this wedding business is that Harry is probably forced to take a shower.

* At first, I read Harry's new name to be "Cousin Barmy". Alas, it was not to be.

* The wedding seems like quite a grand do. I wonder, who is paying for it? The Weasleys? If so, does this mean that the Weasleys' credentials as a Poor Family are now officially a thing of the past?

* Wizards wear cravats. I wonder, are they like modern neckties or lacy cloths à la 17th century?

* I wouldn't have thought one could wear a cravat with a robe. Or maybe Rowling has been a bit too much influenced by the films.

* Lupin is miserable, again. I would have thought that he would have had the decency to pretend to be happy when he's a guest at a wedding.

* Hagrid's being a blundering idiot. Why couldn't he have died when he had the chance? It would have made the hundred pages of nothing more palatable.

* Yes, Rowling, we get that the Lovegoods are excentric. Now please stop bludgeoning us with the anvils.

* That said, I rather like Xenophilius's belief that one ought to wear sun colours to a wedding for luck. It sounds... authentic.

* *giggles* Auntie Muriel, I can safely say that Harry is just as, if not more, gormless as he looks in press photographs.

* I have to ask, why are there seating plans for the seats under the marquee? What does it matter where people sit during the ceremony? Or is Molly just being a control freak?

* Ron's jealousy over Krum is getting old.

* Mrs Weasley is wearing amethyst-coloured robes with a matching hat. Does anyone know what Mrs Weasley's hair colour is? Because if it's red, I don't want to imagine the effect that creates.

* Bill and Charlie wear roses in the buttonholes of their dress robes. Tell me, where exactly does a robe have a buttonhole?

* Oh my god, Harry is waxing poetic over the "afternoons spent alone with Ginny in lonely parts of the school grounds. They seemed so long ago; they had always seemed too good to be true, as though he had been stealing shining hours from a normal person's life, a person without a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead ..." *gags*

* I'm rather disappointed that Bill's real name isn't Bilius.

* Oh dear, bonding is now canon. Why couldn't they have had a nice, traditional Christian ceremony? Or am I supposed to believe wizards are anti-religious? Then what does the Fat Friar do at Hogwarts?

* The waiters serve Firewhisky. You know, I've never been to a wedding where the first thing people are offered is hard liquor.

* Krum is getting violent over the sign Xenophilius is wearing. A sign that Grindelwald carved into a Durmstrang wall when he was a student there. So Krum is getting shirty over a schoolboy graffiti, so much so that he has beaten his schoolfellows over it, or at least that's what's being implied.

* The verbal match between Doge and Muriel is the first interesting thing that happens in the book. I'm not overly fond of the Dumbledore storyline (there were other, worthier storylines (*cough*Draco*cough*) to develop), but beggars can't be choosers and it definitely beats wedding preparations and sitting in a tent for three hundred pages.

* So Dumbledore's mother is a Muggle-born. One would have thought that Dumbledore's attitude towards Muggles would have been less condescending given his ancestry. Then again, the book's token Muggle-born, our beloved Hermione, mind-rapes her parents for their own good, so Muggle ancestry clearly guarantees nothing.

* Still, the Dumbledore storyline contributes to the scattered feeling this book has. There are so many things that are conmpletely disconnected from the previous books, plus almost no storyline, except the Horcruxes, have survived from the previous books. The effect is a collection of random things happening without any overarching theme.

* That was a nice little infodump about Dumbledore, the treatment of Squibs in late 19th century, etc.

* I just noticed that Harry hasn't been drinking Polyjuice during the reception. I thought Polyjuice only lasted an hour.

* I don't see how the Ministry having fallen must mean that the DE are about to attack the Burrow. The Ministry's protections aren't the only ones the Burrow has, and if the DE were going to attack it, they could have done it whether the Ministry had fallen or not.

* Still, at least something is finally happening.



Atomic Grenade:
Doge vs. Muriel

Idiot Picture:
The Weasleys have organized a grand do. Didn't I tell you in an earlier post that it was like a come hither look for the Death Eaters? Well, I was right.

Selling Wood:
Harry is emoting.

Final score: 3.