Deathly Hallows, chapter 19
Jun. 15th, 2009 12:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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deathtocapslockThe Silver Doe
* What is it with the Potters and animals of the deer family? James's Animagus form is a stag, and now we find out that Snape associates Lily with a doe. Though according to Dictionary.com, a doe can be the female of, among others, deer, antelope, goat and rabbit. I think I prefer to think Lily is a female rabbit. Or a goat. So that she can be paired with Aberforth's goat.
* A wreath of Christmas roses? What's that? Is it some kind of English custom to have roses on Christmas?
* Harry imagines someone is calling out to him in the distance. It is Ron, of course, who would rather call out to Harry than Hermione, because he is so much more important to Ron than her.
* Why is Hermione reading A History of Magic? Doesn't she remember it by heart already?
* Why is Harry wearing the Horcrux again? Wouldn't it be safer in his pouch? I would have imagined that Harry and Hermione would have realized how stupid it was to wear the Horcrux around your neck. But I need not wonder. Whatever stupid thing Harry can think of doing, he will do it.
* Oh, so it's bitterly cold in the Forest of Dean, is it? As someone who hails from Lapland, I snap my fingers at your bitter coldness. Apparently wizards can manufacture tents that are as spacious as a real house but not tents that are warm.
* Harry feels as though he is recuperating from some brief but serious illness, an impression reinforced by Hermione's solicitousness. That's because he must turn everything into high drama. One would think that after meeting Voldemort so many times, another confrontation would not faze him, but apparently it was enough to make him lose his sleep.
* Harry is wearing all the sweaters he owned, but he is still shivery. Apparently wizards can't make warm clothes either. Or maybe they are Dudley's cast-offs, which makes me wonder why Harry has continued to wear them even after he came to money? Or is it fanon that he wears them? I can't remember.
* Or maybe it's not wizards who can't make warm clothes. Maybe it's the English. At the very least they can't make warm houses. I once read a Finn who had lived in England write that he had never felt so cold in Finland as he had felt in an English house.
* Harry was on the point of taking out the Marauder's Map, so as to watch Ginny's dot for a while. Creepy, or what?
* So Harry follows the deer. Without telling Hermione where he is going. Is the boy stupid, or what? Oh, but he knows this is no Dark Magic. Of course it isn't, it's a Patronus. Doesn't mean a Death Eater couldn't have cast it.
* By the way, how does Snape know where Harry and Hermione are?
* He thinks the doe is going to speak to him. Which she would do only once she had led him deep into the forest.
* Oh, now Harry considers whether the doe has led him into an ambush. Our glorious hero. Stupid as a sock. (And possibly quite as smelly, too, if he has continued to bathe as often as he did at Hogwarts.)
* I'd like to know why the sword must be at the bottom of a pool.
* Harry remembers that "their daring, nerve and chivalry set Gryffindors apart". Well, if you consider foolhardiness to be daring and nerve, then it's true, as far as that goes. But chivalry? Maybe from someone like Neville, but Harry? Our resident drama queen?
* The description of Harry drowning? Well, let's just say that Rowling reveals another kind of scene she can't write to save her soul.
* Even Ron realizes how stupid it was to dive while wearing the Horcrux. You know, the stupider Harry acts, the more Ron grows on me. Not that he is much better, but at least no anvils of how great and noble he is are dropped constantly on me.
* Harry thinks Ron is supposed to be the one to destroy the locket. "Supposed to"? So now Harry wants to abandon being a hero. Of course, JKR only wrote it this way so that we could have the affecting scene of Ron's insecurities being thrown on his face. Puh-leeeze. As if the readers weren't already perfectly aware of what Ron's insecurities are. Must it always be anvils, JKR? They are so heavy.
* Please, no more Harry intuiting (is that a word?) things.
* Harry shouts and bellows and yells at Ron to stab the thing, but Ron does not listen. Yet he still stubbornly insists it's got to Ron who destroys the locket.
* Okay, so I don't really understand why Ron is so fazed with the locket-Harry and Hermione. Surely he has got the two brain cells that are required for him to realize the locket is preying on his fears.
* Now this Hermione I like. Looking demented, putting Harry and Ron in their places. "Don't you tell me what to do, Harry Potter!" Sweet, sweet words. If only she remembered them when Harry was being his usual self. *cheers Hermione on*
* Ah, the magical Deluminator appears. Or rather, Deus Ex Machina, as I prefer to call it. One of many in the series. And of course Dumbledore would know Ron would need it. The man can't stop meddling even after he is dead.
* Ron's pyjamas are maroon. Somehow I'm not surprised. Molly must really hate him, only she can't admit it to herself, so she takes it out in this passive-aggressive way. (I think this last piece is the most interesting bit of the chapter.)
* What is it with the Potters and animals of the deer family? James's Animagus form is a stag, and now we find out that Snape associates Lily with a doe. Though according to Dictionary.com, a doe can be the female of, among others, deer, antelope, goat and rabbit. I think I prefer to think Lily is a female rabbit. Or a goat. So that she can be paired with Aberforth's goat.
* A wreath of Christmas roses? What's that? Is it some kind of English custom to have roses on Christmas?
* Harry imagines someone is calling out to him in the distance. It is Ron, of course, who would rather call out to Harry than Hermione, because he is so much more important to Ron than her.
* Why is Hermione reading A History of Magic? Doesn't she remember it by heart already?
* Why is Harry wearing the Horcrux again? Wouldn't it be safer in his pouch? I would have imagined that Harry and Hermione would have realized how stupid it was to wear the Horcrux around your neck. But I need not wonder. Whatever stupid thing Harry can think of doing, he will do it.
* Oh, so it's bitterly cold in the Forest of Dean, is it? As someone who hails from Lapland, I snap my fingers at your bitter coldness. Apparently wizards can manufacture tents that are as spacious as a real house but not tents that are warm.
* Harry feels as though he is recuperating from some brief but serious illness, an impression reinforced by Hermione's solicitousness. That's because he must turn everything into high drama. One would think that after meeting Voldemort so many times, another confrontation would not faze him, but apparently it was enough to make him lose his sleep.
* Harry is wearing all the sweaters he owned, but he is still shivery. Apparently wizards can't make warm clothes either. Or maybe they are Dudley's cast-offs, which makes me wonder why Harry has continued to wear them even after he came to money? Or is it fanon that he wears them? I can't remember.
* Or maybe it's not wizards who can't make warm clothes. Maybe it's the English. At the very least they can't make warm houses. I once read a Finn who had lived in England write that he had never felt so cold in Finland as he had felt in an English house.
* Harry was on the point of taking out the Marauder's Map, so as to watch Ginny's dot for a while. Creepy, or what?
* So Harry follows the deer. Without telling Hermione where he is going. Is the boy stupid, or what? Oh, but he knows this is no Dark Magic. Of course it isn't, it's a Patronus. Doesn't mean a Death Eater couldn't have cast it.
* By the way, how does Snape know where Harry and Hermione are?
* He thinks the doe is going to speak to him. Which she would do only once she had led him deep into the forest.
* Oh, now Harry considers whether the doe has led him into an ambush. Our glorious hero. Stupid as a sock. (And possibly quite as smelly, too, if he has continued to bathe as often as he did at Hogwarts.)
* I'd like to know why the sword must be at the bottom of a pool.
* Harry remembers that "their daring, nerve and chivalry set Gryffindors apart". Well, if you consider foolhardiness to be daring and nerve, then it's true, as far as that goes. But chivalry? Maybe from someone like Neville, but Harry? Our resident drama queen?
* The description of Harry drowning? Well, let's just say that Rowling reveals another kind of scene she can't write to save her soul.
* Even Ron realizes how stupid it was to dive while wearing the Horcrux. You know, the stupider Harry acts, the more Ron grows on me. Not that he is much better, but at least no anvils of how great and noble he is are dropped constantly on me.
* Harry thinks Ron is supposed to be the one to destroy the locket. "Supposed to"? So now Harry wants to abandon being a hero. Of course, JKR only wrote it this way so that we could have the affecting scene of Ron's insecurities being thrown on his face. Puh-leeeze. As if the readers weren't already perfectly aware of what Ron's insecurities are. Must it always be anvils, JKR? They are so heavy.
* Please, no more Harry intuiting (is that a word?) things.
* Harry shouts and bellows and yells at Ron to stab the thing, but Ron does not listen. Yet he still stubbornly insists it's got to Ron who destroys the locket.
* Okay, so I don't really understand why Ron is so fazed with the locket-Harry and Hermione. Surely he has got the two brain cells that are required for him to realize the locket is preying on his fears.
* Now this Hermione I like. Looking demented, putting Harry and Ron in their places. "Don't you tell me what to do, Harry Potter!" Sweet, sweet words. If only she remembered them when Harry was being his usual self. *cheers Hermione on*
* Ah, the magical Deluminator appears. Or rather, Deus Ex Machina, as I prefer to call it. One of many in the series. And of course Dumbledore would know Ron would need it. The man can't stop meddling even after he is dead.
* Ron's pyjamas are maroon. Somehow I'm not surprised. Molly must really hate him, only she can't admit it to herself, so she takes it out in this passive-aggressive way. (I think this last piece is the most interesting bit of the chapter.)
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Part One
Date: 2009-06-15 01:39 pm (UTC)He’s still wearing it after Ron stormed out because of it? Sigh.(Though Harry, who wasn’t wearing it at the time, told him to go – don’t put all the blame on Ron) If Ron hadn’t turned up in this chapter, I can just imagine Harry, still brooding on how Hermione failed to save his wand whilst saving his life, kills her in her sleep, spurred on by the Horcrux. “At last, you and Ron can be together!!”
- “Apparently wizards can manufacture tents that are as spacious as a real house but not tents that are warm.”
Hermione can cure Harry from Nagini inflicted wounds, unlike the finest MediWizards St Mungos have to offer, but she can’t produce a Warming Charm? On the one hand, I might have read too much fan-fiction, on the other, JKR changes people’s abilities from chapter to chapter to fit her plot. Not that this is essential to the plot, she probably thought it was atmospheric writing. Still it’s her fault – if she was more realistic about Hermione’s abilities in the first place, then it would be easier to swallow when she couldn’t do something.
- “So Harry follows the deer. Without telling Hermione where he is going. Is the boy stupid, or what? Oh, but he knows this is no Dark Magic.”
Arrrrggghhh!! He leaves Hermione asleep with NO WAND. I know they have protections around the tent, but if he’s hurt/delayed, she’ll have to leave the tent and wander round the forest looking for him with nothing to protect her. I’ve heard some apologists say that these badly paced camping chapters were essential for the Hero’s development. What? He’s already been out there for an epoch. Yet he’s blaming her for his broken wand as opposed to thanking her for saving his worthless carcass, taking her for granted (even more than usual) and now is prepared to abandon her with no warning/explanation. Plus how does the whole camping sequence end? With Harry being careless and Hermione almost dying because of it - great development. He’s as crap a friend to her as he is a protagonist.
Harry KNEW it was no Dark Magic, just as he KNEW Stan Shunpike was no willing Death Eater - I’m still not convinced. Remind me, did he think of Lily, like he thought of James when he saw the stag in Book 3? If he’s going to make a stupid mistake, I’d rather it was because he thought Lily was somehow trying to help him, then he just KNEW.
- “By the way, how does Snape know where Harry and Hermione are?”
Didn’t Hermione have a painting of Phineus Nigellus Black in her bottomless pit of a bag? I think he went back and forth between that and his portrait in Snape’s office, waiting for one of them to mention their location. Ropey, I know, but I’m always pathetically grateful when JKR actually tries to fill in a plot hole, instead of Snape just happening by on the off chance.
Re: Part One
Date: 2009-06-15 09:18 pm (UTC)Yes! Either she is super-Hermione or she isn't. Or maybe it's just that Rowling is so inconsistent with what magic can or cannot do that it leads to this kind of stupidities.
I’ve heard some apologists say that these badly paced camping chapters were essential for the Hero’s development
Development? What development? I haven't seen any development here.
just as he KNEW Stan Shunpike was no willing Death Eater - I’m still not convinced
I'm convinced Stan was a real Death Eater, though I think Rowling wants us to believe he wasn't.
Re: Part One
Date: 2009-06-15 09:26 pm (UTC)Why would LV send an Imperius'd puppet on the Seven Potters mission? That seems like a mission strictly for the faithful. If one of them nabs HP, he or she would likely get a reward. Now, relaying info he learned on the Knight Bus, or getting in good with HP so he could send info, that's what a puppet does. What if he somehow becomes un-Imperius'd or is captured and un-Imperius'd? Nope, not a puppet's job. They don't get sent on the big time missions.
Re: Part One
Date: 2009-06-15 09:59 pm (UTC)Re: Part One
Date: 2009-06-16 02:49 am (UTC)*thinks of better excuse that sounds Gryffindor heroic-ish*
It's a dirty job but somebody has to do it!.. 'Tis a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done before!
Re: Part One
Date: 2009-06-16 08:09 pm (UTC)