Whew! I haven't been able to keep up with the discussions here for a while, but this chapter annoys me so much that I just had to comment, even belatedly.
*Non-verbal spells are now expected everywhere, so I guess it’s not really a Dark Arts thing
This sounds like another fandom theory that I wasn't around for. Was non-verbal magic once speculated to be Dark?
...they haven’t been able to visit Hagrid. Damn you school work! Damn you to hell!
...aka "The author doesn't know what to do with the character any more." Really, she should have just had him move to France to pursue Madame Maxime--unsuccessfully, if she was bent on showing that he wasn't worthy to marry and reproduce, but anything to get him out of the way.
*Ron describes Hagrid’s teaching in realistic and unflattering terms.
*shakes head* And I remember when I thought "Hagrid learns to teach after a rocky start and becomes a respected member of the Hogwarts faculty, thereby erasing the disgrace of his expulsion" was going to be a subplot of the series.
*ETA: I'm just going to pause and laugh here at Remus. Just in general. I mean, think back at his role in PoA. Who knew his fictional destiny was to be made of fail for Harry?
"Dost thou not laugh?"
"No, coz, I rather weep."
Why did JKR have to bring back my favorite character only to ruin him?!
*The Owls arrive bearing new Potions books and defying all laws of physics, not that anyone cares. Magic totally pwns gravity.
I can't say this bothers me. If you're going to have a fictional universe, then magic can pwn gravity. And it was hinted in PoA that wizarding pets are not quite the same as their mundane equivalents.
*Btw, in American schools (at least in mine) we generally cover our books in brown paper so Harry wouldn’t have had to switch covers.
They did?? I went completely through the American school system in the 1970s and 80s, and we never once covered any of our books in anything, to the best of my remembrance.
This year the rest of the world will suffer through the war while the Trio sits around worrying about who they're dating. Next year the Trio will fight the war by themselves and everyone else will be ordered to sit around worrying about who they're dating.
I don't know whether to ROFL or cry. It's just too, too horribly true.
*The real winner at try-outs, of course, is Hermione, who is assured that Ron owes her for his place on the Quidditch team even though Ron performed just fine on his own. You’re nothing without her, Ron! This is going to be one heck of a marriage!
And this is the moment when I stopped liking Hermione. I know, I know. Nobody on this group will understand why I didn't turn against her in righteous indignation during OotP. I can only say that I think I managed, through sheer luck rather than skill, to read OotP in the way JKR intended--to take seriously the things she wanted me to and to laugh off the things she wanted me to. HBP is where JKR's opinion and mine diverge. I always thought Hermione would save her cheating for occasions when something important was at stake. I do not think that getting Ron a place on the quidditch team qualifies as "something important." It makes me feel rather ill to realize that JKR probably saw this as a cute example of Hermione taking care of Ron by stealth, like Col. Brandon handing Marianne bowling balls in the Emma Thompson S&S movie.
Also: I simply can't feel sorry for Ron over Hermione doing things for him. I might if he ever showed any signs of wanting to accomplish things on his own, but the fact is, he loves being able to get Hermione (or sometimes Felix Felicis) to make him look good with no effort on his own part.
This is just how Harry mourns. Next year he'll barely ever think about Dumbledore.
Would that it were so.
What do Shrunken Heads do?
Offer unfunny running commentary in broad accents, according to Cuaron.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2008-12-02 01:29 am (UTC)*Non-verbal spells are now expected everywhere, so I guess it’s not really a Dark Arts thing
This sounds like another fandom theory that I wasn't around for. Was non-verbal magic once speculated to be Dark?
...they haven’t been able to visit Hagrid. Damn you school work! Damn you to hell!
...aka "The author doesn't know what to do with the character any more." Really, she should have just had him move to France to pursue Madame Maxime--unsuccessfully, if she was bent on showing that he wasn't worthy to marry and reproduce, but anything to get him out of the way.
*Ron describes Hagrid’s teaching in realistic and unflattering terms.
*shakes head* And I remember when I thought "Hagrid learns to teach after a rocky start and becomes a respected member of the Hogwarts faculty, thereby erasing the disgrace of his expulsion" was going to be a subplot of the series.
*ETA: I'm just going to pause and laugh here at Remus. Just in general. I mean, think back at his role in PoA. Who knew his fictional destiny was to be made of fail for Harry?
"Dost thou not laugh?"
"No, coz, I rather weep."
Why did JKR have to bring back my favorite character only to ruin him?!
*The Owls arrive bearing new Potions books and defying all laws of physics, not that anyone cares. Magic totally pwns gravity.
I can't say this bothers me. If you're going to have a fictional universe, then magic can pwn gravity. And it was hinted in PoA that wizarding pets are not quite the same as their mundane equivalents.
*Btw, in American schools (at least in mine) we generally cover our books in brown paper so Harry wouldn’t have had to switch covers.
They did?? I went completely through the American school system in the 1970s and 80s, and we never once covered any of our books in anything, to the best of my remembrance.
This year the rest of the world will suffer through the war while the Trio sits around worrying about who they're dating. Next year the Trio will fight the war by themselves and everyone else will be ordered to sit around worrying about who they're dating.
I don't know whether to ROFL or cry. It's just too, too horribly true.
*The real winner at try-outs, of course, is Hermione, who is assured that Ron owes her for his place on the Quidditch team even though Ron performed just fine on his own. You’re nothing without her, Ron! This is going to be one heck of a marriage!
And this is the moment when I stopped liking Hermione. I know, I know. Nobody on this group will understand why I didn't turn against her in righteous indignation during OotP. I can only say that I think I managed, through sheer luck rather than skill, to read OotP in the way JKR intended--to take seriously the things she wanted me to and to laugh off the things she wanted me to. HBP is where JKR's opinion and mine diverge. I always thought Hermione would save her cheating for occasions when something important was at stake. I do not think that getting Ron a place on the quidditch team qualifies as "something important." It makes me feel rather ill to realize that JKR probably saw this as a cute example of Hermione taking care of Ron by stealth, like Col. Brandon handing Marianne bowling balls in the Emma Thompson S&S movie.
Also: I simply can't feel sorry for Ron over Hermione doing things for him. I might if he ever showed any signs of wanting to accomplish things on his own, but the fact is, he loves being able to get Hermione (or sometimes Felix Felicis) to make him look good with no effort on his own part.
This is just how Harry mourns. Next year he'll barely ever think about Dumbledore.
Would that it were so.
What do Shrunken Heads do?
Offer unfunny running commentary in broad accents, according to Cuaron.