Deathly Hallows, chapter 15

[anehan]

Here's one last recap before Chrismas break. Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it! See you in January.

The Goblin's Revenge

* Poor widdle Harry, not being able to cast a Patronus. Feel for his pain and humiliation.

* And once again there's the stuff about not remembering anything when being possessed. Ginny couldn't remember anything, true, but Harry was fully conscious while Voldemort possessed in OotP. Tsk, tsk, Harry. Use your brain.

* Hermione is worried about stealing food. Actually, I for once think that their hero status entitles the Trio to take food. Weird, huh, me giving them a pass on something.

* Ron's being an asshole. I'm not sure what to make of it. On one hand, previously, he has seemed like the most easy-going of the Trio. On the other hand, I like nasty!Ron. Gives me a good reason to hate him, which is always a bonus.

* I would imagine the Trio would be grateful to have Lupin's help now, what with their having no ideas for where to find the Horcruxes.

* Really, all this sitting in a tent with no ideas for what to do makes the Trio look rather stupid. I've read fanfics that make the hunt for the Horcruxes well-planned and intelligent. Here, the Trio just relies on luck.

* I recant; sarcastic!Ron is kind of adorable.

* The Trio goes to London to search for the orphanage where Voldemort grew up. Um, how do they know which orphanage is the right one? Did Dumbledore ever tell it to Harry?

* And they sit ins the tent. And sit. And sit and sit and sit. Ron is in a bad mood, Hermione and Ron expect Harry to have a secret plan, and Harry is morose. Help! Save me from the eternal camping trip!

* I wonder, why can no one produce food out of thin air? Yeah, yeah, it's the first Principal Exception to Gamp's law of whatever, but if you can make somthing else out of thin air, why not food? What makes food special? Oh dear, logic.

* Go you, Hermione! I think you're right that you end up doing the cooking because you're a girl. It's just what one might expect from Ron and Harry, who have grown up having stay-at-home moms (or aunts) who place a lot of importance on food. No disrespect to stay-at-home moms (I had one), but it's a very traditional gender role.

* How convenient of them to run across some fugitives. And a nice exposition dump. Though I kind of like the goblins here. "I am not a house-elf." Teehee!

* Oh, Dean, don't. "I know Harry Potter, and I reckon he's the real thing -- the Chosen One, or whatever you want to call it." What makes yoiu think that, Dean? His mellow temper? His excellent leadership skills? What?

* And more of the exposition dump, this time with Phineas Nigellus, whom Hermione insists calling Professor Black. BTW, why is his name Nigellus, if he is a Black? Did he want a fancier name than "Black" and changed it into its Latinate form?

* Ooh, ooh, a confrontation with Ron is approaching. Finally something happens.

* I feel a bit sorry for Harry, actually. His hero status is a real handicap for him right now. Even Hermione and Ron have bought into it, what with their hope that Harry has some secret plan to find and destroy the Horcruxes. It can't be very pleasant having friends who think you're some kind of super-human.

* Aww, Ron's acting like a bratty teenager, Harry's mild temper makes an appearance, and Hermione acts like a watering-pot. Makes one remember that they are, indeed, typical teenagers.

Comments

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

The *subversive* eternal camping trip. It's supposed to be an adventure, and it's *boring*, that means we're Subverting the Genre, here...

No, I don't really buy it, either.

I swear this section reads like an old D&D game. Nothing happens unless someone arbitrarily rolls a random number on the 20-sided dice. And then you get an infodump.

As to the Gamp's law nonsense. I cannot see why they cannot transfigure raw food into cooked food. Or food that an animal could and would happily eat, into something that a human could eat.

And clearly Gamp's law doesn't apply to fluidds. Aquamente, anyone? And I'm pretty sure that someone has conjured tea over the course of the series, let alone Olivander's fountain of wine.

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

Even if you can't conjure food out of thin air, what's wrong with a good old "Accio food?" (As the other fugitives do...)

Or, if that's a big problem.. why not have had Bill withdraw funds from Harry's account and exchange it for Muggle money? He did it before. Why couldn't he have done it prior to (or after) the 7 Potters? Even if they didn't get it exchanged... it's gold, innit? Transfigure it into a necklace and pawn it.

Or, take a piece of wood or stone, transfigure that into gold, transfigure that into a necklace and pawn it.

Or, show up at Fred and George's one night and ask them for some cash. It's not like they aren't rich.

JKR must have really wanted this section in the story, because the way things are set up, it's harder to have this happen than to have almost any other scenario.

Although... if we had had the Trio lose their wands early on (maybe in the Ministry adventure), then this would make a lot more sense. And it would be truly exciting and frightening. It should be terrifying to a wizard not to have a wand after relying on it for six years. But when Harry does lose his wand later on, he just comes off as whiny. Maybe because Hermione simply continued doing everything for him like she'd been doing earlier, so what was the difference?

[violaswamp.livejournal.com]

I really like sarcastic!Ron, because it seems like a throwback to early!Ron (of PS through PoA, and maybe GoF as well). I stopped enjoying Ron much around OotP. He just became too pathetic at that point.


* Oh, Dean, don't. "I know Harry Potter, and I reckon he's the real thing -- the Chosen One, or whatever you want to call it." What makes yoiu think that, Dean? His mellow temper? His excellent leadership skills? What?

Yeah, this I don't get. Why should anyone believe in Harry? He's had adventures, sure. He's also temperamental, moody and insular. All of this could add up to "future dark lord" as easily as it could add up to 'hero.'

Btw, I don't think Harry was *possessed* by Voldie in Book 5, was he? I thought he was just "influenced"--e.g., most of his bad impulses came from Voldemort, so he has no real responsibility for them, but he was fully conscious and remembered what he did.

[moonspinner.livejournal.com]

* Oh, Dean, don't. "I know Harry Potter, and I reckon he's the real thing -- the Chosen One, or whatever you want to call it." What makes yoiu think that, Dean? His mellow temper? His excellent leadership skills? What?

Look at this way: if your girl had to ditch you for someone else, it's better she ditched for the Chosen One than, say, Neville Longbottom.

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

* Hermione is worried about stealing food. Actually, I for once think that their hero status entitles the Trio to take food. Weird, huh, me giving them a pass on something.

It's annoying because it's misplaced conscience. There are a lot of things she has to be ashamed of and worried about, but stealing food is not one of them.

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

Oh! Forgot to add, Best Wishes of the season to you, too! Have a good holiday.

[lisping-elf.livejournal.com]

*delurks*
"I wonder, why can no one produce food out of thin air?"
Didn't Dumbledore produce cakes out of thin air in Goblet of Fire?
*goes back to lurking*

[tdotm.livejournal.com]

- I have no strong feelings about whether or not they should be be able to create food out of nothing. Though anything created out of thin air, or transfigured should have a time limit which would be a possible explanation.

- I rather think that Hermione should stfu about stealing food when they're starving whilst trying to thwart Voldemort. Exactly what does she think would happen to the muggles if the Death Eaters cast their eyes on them? Nothing, because JKR can no longer write, but common sense indicates that they'd eventually become target practice. It's not as if they were stealing money from the tills, and risking the cashiers jobs. A big supermarket chain loses vast amounts from shoplifting and still makes profits. I agree it's wrong to steal, but come on! Also, I won't be preached to by Hermione who lost the moral high ground with Scargate and by apparently dropping SPEW. Being nice to slaves is NOT the same as fighting against slavery. She wasn't bought up in this world, where it's always been ok, so had no excuse. B*tch.

- Anyway this would all be irrelevant if they'd just do the storyline and my blood pressure a favour and call a b*stard House Elf for crying out loud!

- I agree that this makes them seem like typical teenagers, but we've watched them grow up over 10 years. We didn't need (so much) more of the same. We need action!

- Ron was especially tiresome here, though the Horcrux was making him (and us) suffer. He's one of the babies of his family, and treated as such, unlike only child Hermione and human house elf Harry, so it's not suprising he's less mature, but enough already. That said, I do like snarky Ron - reminds me of the good old days.

- I don't feel in the slightest bit sorry for Harry. I don't think he needed to be a hero or superhuman to have sorted something out. The first night in Grimmauld Place, he should have sat them down and explained that Dumbledore's death left him completely clueless - that Dumbles had died before completing (or starting) his education. Hermione would surely have come up with something, maybe taking advantage of the large dark library that's bound to be at Grimmauld Place - home of the Blacks.

- They could also have changed their appearance and snuck into Hogwarts to research the Founders for clues. Better still, sent a House Elf to retrieve the locket from Umbridge then snuck into the Chamber of Secrets to destroy the locket and save us a lot of trouble. In fact, there should have been a Horcrux in the chamber - if you needed parseltongue to get in, what better protection? (Before Harry was on the scene). Better than under the floorboards of the orphanage.

- The school would be practically empty in August, except a few teachers. If Filch was still employed they could avoid him - or better still he could catch them then let them continue, he'd be no fan of Voldemort. The thing is, why does it have to dawn on Ron and Hermione over endless dull weeks that Harry didn't know what he was doing? Why not be honest? Why not be a *leader*, and delegate tasks according to strengths. Thinking? Hmmmm, Hermione, over here!

[night-axe.livejournal.com]

* Go you, Hermione! I think you're right that you end up doing the cooking because you're a girl.

Ron's assumption that Hermione is automatically better at household charms, something she wouldn't have learned at school, is pure sexism. Also dumb, because they've got Harry who can cook the Muggle way. Not that he would, of course. Beneath his dignity, and it might look like he learned something useful from the Dursleys.

BTW, why is his name Nigellus, if he is a Black? Did he want a fancier name than "Black" and changed it into its Latinate form?

It seems before they got into astronomy the Blacks used to go for showy double-barrelled names. Phineas is Phineas Nigellus Black, the woman who wanted to hunt Muggles for sport was Araminta Melliflua Black and etc. As to why use a name that already means "black", either purebloods like to overdetermine or the author likes to mock them. In support of the latter theory I give you Brutus Malfoy.

[sunlit-music.livejournal.com]

Though I kind of like the goblins here. "I am not a house-elf." Teehee!

Heh. I like how the Goblins have a lot more dignity than the house elves and insist on being treated with respect. The way Harry views Goblins and treats their feelings and beliefs is horrible and disrespectful (not to mention racist - he didn't seem to care about Goblin's views on ownership. Nor did he care about how Goblins felt about his taking the Sword of Gryffindor).

Harry seems to care about rescuing racial minorities, but he doesn't seem to care about respecting them as equals (or respecting Goblins' beliefs, for that matter).

Although... if we had had the Trio lose their wands early on (maybe in the Ministry adventure), then this would make a lot more sense. And it would be truly exciting and frightening. It should be terrifying to a wizard not to have a wand after relying on it for six years.

Oh, definitely. The camping scene could have been harrowing and full of suspense if the Trio *had* lost their wands. Unfortunately, it ended up sounding unsuspenseful and boring, as Hermione could do everything, including most of the thinking. It reminds me of how baeraad asked on his blog why *Hermione* isn't the Chosen One, as opposed to Harry.

Yeah, this I don't get. Why should anyone believe in Harry? He's had adventures, sure. He's also temperamental, moody and insular. All of this could add up to "future dark lord" as easily as it could add up to 'hero.'

Hehe...now I want to read a fanfic where Harry becomes a Dark Lord.