deathtocapslock | Deathly Hallows, chapter 14

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Deathly Hallows, chapter 14

The Thief

* So Ron splinched. But Ron didn't actually Apparate. First, it was Harry who Side-Along Apparated Hermione and Ron, then Hermione Side-Along Apparated Harry and Ron. So, it was either Harry or Hermione who screw up, and my money is on Harry.

* Hermione has time to cast the Revulsion Jinx at Yaxley to force him to let go, but she doesn't have time to Stun him. In some parallel universe this makes sense.

* Hermione talks about "protective enchantments"; fandom insists they are wards. I wonder if the term "ward" has ever been used in canon, or is it completely a fandom invention.

* And the camping begins. I've never been an outdoorsy person.

* Salvion hexia, protego totalum, repello Muggletum, etc. You know, the names of these "protective enchantments" are kind of obvious. Maybe Rowling has run out of imagination.

* "Dumbledore said fear of a name..." Whatever Dumbledore said must be true. Never mind that Snape was right and saying Voldemort is actually dangerous. You know, it seems to me Dumbledore didn't really care about the safety of others (or do you expect me to believe that he didn't know that saying someone's name can enable them to find you).

* Hahahaa, I like snarky Ron! "Calling You-Know-Who by his name didn't do Dumbledore much good in the end." *giggles*

* Ron is worried that the Cattermoles could end up in Azkaban because of the Trio. I'm not surprised it's Ron, and not Hermione or Harry, who displays the existence of a conscience.

* Hermione looks at Ron tenderly. Helkamaria silently vomits.

* Emo!Harry. Yuck. Am I supposed to believe it's the Horcrux making Harry think all these dark thoughts? Because really, that boy doesn't need any help to become a martyr.

* Any sensible person would assume that the Trio would summon Kreacher or Dobby to get some food. Instead, we get some pretty lame justifications for them not doing it.

* "Why hadn't Dumbledore explained more?" Why indeed, Harry. I would very much like to have the answer to that mystery, since his conduct makes Dumbledore look rather bad.

* They really should have taken Remus with them. Maybe then there'd have been sensible plans instead of this stumbling aimlessly around.

* Hermione is right that Harry should have learned to apply Occlumency, but her insistence at berating Harry for it, when Dumbledore himself had decided it was not that important for Harry to learn, annoys me. She'd much better learn to make the best of it as a way of getting information rather than nagging about it, since it's not like her nagging is of any use. I like Hermione, but sometimes she's a really annoying know-it-all.

* Harry wishes to avoid a fight. Please contain your astonishment.

* JKR's description of Grindelwald reminds me of a Trickster god.

* I'd really like to know more about Grindelwald. He is a supremacist who apparently repented while he was in prison. Are there any good Grindelwald fics around?

* Another short chapter where nothing happens.

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* Hermione has time to cast the Revulsion Jinx at Yaxley to force him to let go, but she doesn't have time to Stun him. In some parallel universe this makes sense.
* Any sensible person would assume that the Trio would summon Kreacher or Dobby to get some food. Instead, we get some pretty lame justifications for them not doing it.
***Plot Point always wins over logic.

* "Why hadn't Dumbledore explained more?" Why indeed, Harry. I would very much like to have the answer to that mystery, since his conduct makes Dumbledore look rather bad.
***RATHER bad? Understatement of the week, that

RATHER bad? Understatement of the week, that

Hahahaa, was I really being lenient with Dumbledore? How unusual of me. :-)

- Hermione uses the wrong spells on Yaxley. Hmm. I think the last re-cap/set of comments made our opinions clear on this mangling of what's left of Hermione's character to get them out of Grimmauld Place. All the better to start the edgy and exciting camping session. What will happen to them next! Oh, that's right, nothing.

- If the Taboo is an established, if rare thing, then maybe Pure Bloods have been right to protect their small children by preventing them saying a word that might one day put them in danger. After all, if anyone was going to invoke it in their lifetime, it would be Voldemort. The children might end up a little scared of it, but that's better than being slowly tortured to death by a raving lunatic in Malfoy Manor. You're right, all the magical parents have been sensible, and Dumbles has been arrogantly uncaring. Colour me suprised!

- Snape, as so often, had it right. I always appreciated his no-nonsense, realistic approach. But then, I hadn't read The Prince's Tale yet.

- Hermione looks at Ron tenderly while he's half dead on the floor. No chance of being upfront face to face in Book 5 and saving us a lot of tiresome 'romantic tension'. Though rather 20 pages of Ron/Hermione going around in circles than 1 paragraph of a blazing Ginny.

- I love snarky Ron too! I also like horcrux-infested Ron who disses Harry big time! The only light in the darkness about to engulf us.

- Hermione underlines the 'duh', by saying Harry should have learnt occlumency. I mean, even Dumbles wanted him to, and he never told him anything.

- Don't get me started on the House Elf thing. DON'T GET ME STARTED.I whine on about this too much, but I can't let it go. JKR spent *books* developing Dobby's character. Why? If they'd taken advantage of the fact that he works in the Hogwarts KITCHEN, no-one would have blinked an eyelid. He needn't stay with them, but he could visit once a week with supplies. Hermione could warn him of the dangers (as opposed to not giving a toss about House Elves anymore) and he could proudly CHOOSE to take part in the struggle, the only House Elf with that priviledge, making his death more meaningful and poignant.

- Kreacher's turnaround was totally unconvincing, but meh, it happened, now he's another Harry Groupie. They could have used him too. Harry could have FREED him, and he refused and insisted on serving him. (Did Harry free Kreacher? If not, what's the point of having a slave and not making full use of him?)

- How could Ron splinch, if he wasn't apparating himself? Wouldn't the Apparator have to be splinched as well? My mind's putting up some serious memory blocks now, to protect me from the nadir of the Harry Potter series, but from what you're saying, it doesn't make sense. Not an error from JKR, surely?

Snape, as so often, had it right. I always appreciated his no-nonsense, realistic approach. But then, I hadn't read The Prince's Tale yet.

And then Rowling destroyed all. She has a rare talent for fucking characters over: Snape, Draco, Percy...

Did Harry free Kreacher?

Harry? Free Kreacher? Fat chance. He enjoys having his own little sandwich-making slave a little too much for that.

- The thing is Harry should have TRIED. Even better, Hermione should have prompted him to. Unlike Dobby with the Malfoys, it's highly likely that Kreacher would have stayed on as an employee. I vaguely remember something about it not being safe in Book 6 because he'd run straight to Bellatrix which was fair enough (is that canon, or fanon?)

- However when Kreacher became his greatest fan, Harry could have set the cringing little wimp free with his locket. After all, we never saw him again until the end, so might as well show some integrity Harry. Or consistency Hermione. Don't worry, he'd still make your sandwich as an employee rather than a slave.

- Best of all, Kreacher could have faked his conversion, got his freedom, run to Bellatrix and DEs could have raided Grimamuld Place. That'd have been better than the nonsense with Yaxley as the reason why they had to flee, and I'd rather see a fight in Grimmauld Place, then that uber-nonsense at the Ministry.

Best of all, Kreacher could have faked his conversion, got his freedom, run to Bellatrix and DEs could have raided Grimamuld Place.

I like that.

Oh yes. Kreacher's turnaround. Silly Sirius, who didn't realise that if he'd only given Kreacher a trinket he'd forgive Sirius for hurting his beloved mistress and been his devoted slave instead. All those years of purebloods enslaving elfs without noticing them being so fickle?

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Oh yes, don't let me start on why Dumbledore didn't expose Voldie as the half-blood upstart that he was. It would have made so much sense to debunk the Voldemort myth, but noooo, our Dumbledore will do nothing of the sort.

- A friend of mine is *convinced* that Dumbledore worried that if Voldemort was revealed as a Half-Blood, the Death Eaters would simply replace him with someone more suitable. Someone with no complicated blood links to Harry, and no prophecy tying them together to worry about. Then Harry would have been irrelevant (well, even more so). I don't know why in-fighting amongst the DEs would be a bad thing. Plus he never said anything along those lines, and he's always so transparent in his dealings. However her idea is better than JKR's silence.

- If she'd dressed it up with some fancy Dumbledorisims, it could have come across as a valid reason. The wrong one really, but fair enough. As it is, silence about Voldemort's muggle blood jostles for position in the Top Five of WTF things in Harry Potter. The Death Eaters all hid away the minute Voldemort disappeared, apart from nutters like Bellatrix and Crouch Jnr who ended up in Azkaban. There's no way they'd show any loyalty to someone who embodied what they genuinely despised.

- It could even have been used midway through Book 7 and caused some civil war in the ranks, explaining why Voldemort was distracted during that book, and less of an opponent for Harry. Better than the 'he suddenly became an idiot' thing. But that might have taken the shine of Harry's glorious acheivement. Snort.

* Ron is worried that the Cattermoles could end up in Azkaban because of the Trio. I'm not surprised it's Ron, and not Hermione or Harry, who displays the existence of a conscience.

Again! It's almost always Ron who expresses or demonstrates genuine concern for other people. (Maybe that's why healer!Ron is a fan trope--oddly enough, existing side-by-side with wife beater!Ron...)

Sorry, but I must rant once more time about the stupid kiss. Ron always sympathized with house-elves. Moreover, he got house elves way better than Hermione ever did. I can't stand her crocodile tears whenever she deals with them. (Actually, this would have been a great characterization if it hadn't morphed from Hermione the Jane Austenish Comic Stereotype of the Charitable Crusader into Hermione the Amazingly Right About House Elves All the Time, Even Though She Upholds Slavery and Only Cares About Freedom if They Don't Belong to Her Friends.... person.

Yes! Hermione's Lady Bountiful act is really annoying, but, like you said, it would have been great characterisation if it had ever been shown that Hermione was wrong.

No, the term "ward" never comes up in canon.

Of course it has only been standard usage in fantasy fiction since at least 1971. (Imported from Real World occultism.) But then, Rowling says she doesn't read fantasy.

But then, Rowling says she doesn't read fantasy.

Which explains why she managed to write as fantasy-ish a series as possible while at the same time saying that she was trying to subvert the genre. Of course, she also said that she didn't realise she was writing a fantasy novel. Logic and Rowling, they do not go together.

Subverting the genre? Who does she thinks she is? Diana Wynne Jones?

No, they sure don't. (Never mind that in the Grossman interview - I think - she claimed her objection to fantasy was that it wasn't logical.)

Of course it *does* raise the possibility that she deliberately made the camping trip from hell as boring (and *stupid*) as possible because she thought that was being "subversive".

Yeah, that pose of "I only realized that I was writing fantasy when I added a unicorn" was definitely striking "attitudes" for the media.

But then, until about PoA came out she persistenly denied that she was writing children's books, too. And in the end she was proved right. What she was writing was grief therapy. And those of us not in need of grief therapy didn't need to be dragged along for the ride. WE just wanted an entertaining story, that was entertaining as a *story*.

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In fairness, the one interview I've seen where there was talk about her "subverting the fantasy genre" was one where it was impossible to see which were Rowling's worlds or the journalists. But that was probably not the interview you mention.

The HP world is basically a children's book world - she certainly didn't do any "serious" world-building. That's not a fault as long as you are writing, wait for it - children's books. But what JKR, as a newbie writer realised when planning the series, was that having Harry growing up through it, the world had to "grow up" as well. As in, Goblins supervising the wizarding bank is one thing in a kid's book, because that's what Goblins do, more or less, in fairy tales. But then the books go into YA territory, and you start thinking what, the Goblins have control over the whole wizarding economy? Just as the classes at Hogwarts are more for fun than a serious take on what magic children might need to learn before entering the adult world.

I've been wondering since PoA how she would manage, and I'm sorry to say she did badly at many accounts. I do like the books in many ways, but there are so many WTF moments. And her characters deserved better. :-)

As I've perhaps mentioned in passing ( :-P, yes, it's one of my Pet Peeves), I put a lot of blame on her editors. Yes, she had them, but I can't see they did their job. What other writer gets this kind of free rein, being allowed to leave their MS only to have it published ASAP? Or keeping all the plots and plannings for the series as a whole to herself? Probably because the books became a phenomenon, and it's a shame. With some real editorial input, perhaps we'd get some more show-don't-tell instead of the other way round. I think many things, like Ginny's transformation from shy mouse to hex-throwing champion, was so clear to JKR she didn't realise it wasn't to the reader. Just as an example.

The Grossman interview was a fine example of putting words into the interviewee's mouth, But the; "I wanted to subvert the genre" was a direct quote from Rowling and I can believe she actually said it.

She may have been playing back what the interviewer all to obviously wanted to hear, of course. Grosman is a snot who all too clearly holds fantasy in bottomless contempt. And Rowling is bright enough to figure it out and parrot back what seems to be wanted. But she clearly thought that she was being impressive with the statement.

The quote about not considering herself a fantasy writer because she isn't a fantasy fan I think was from an earlier interview. Probably back during the 3-year summer. But I have no idea which one.

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Have some wine. *hands a glass* I've heard that alcohol makes the experience of reading this slightly more palatable.

Are there any good Grindelwald fics around?

This is one of my favourites:
http://community.livejournal.com/grindeldore/834.html

:-)

Thank you!

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Deathly Hallows, chapter 14

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