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Jan. 29th, 2006 08:08 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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deathtocapslock– In this chapter, Harry is stuck between a rock (Ron) and a hard place (Hermione):
"...I think it's going to be difficult to get the information, Harry, you'll have to be very careful about how you approach Slughorn, think out a strategy..."
"Ron reckons I should just hang back after Potions this afternoon..."
"Oh, well, if Won-Won thinks that, you'd better do it, she said, flaring up at once. "After all, when has Won-Won's judgement ever been faulty?" (pg 374)
That's right, Harry, it's Granger's way or the highway...and you can't drive. Harry & Ron's complete and utter cluelessness in Potions, after six years of studying the subject, is pathetic. Hermione has made those two very dependent on her, giving herself power in the relationship that she won't hesitate to blatantly flaunt in their faces.
– But Harry has the Prince, and the Prince saves Harry's ill-gotten reputation as Potions Whiz. "Just like his mother, she had the same intuitive grasp of potion-making, it's undoubtedly from Lily he gets it..." enthuses Slughorn. Perhaps Lily faked her way through school as well, relying on luck, charm, and the ability to get other people to do things for her? Oh, and her eyes, let's not forget her enchanting eyes. (Excuse me while I roll mine.)
– So a bezoar is a stone found in a goat's stomach that protects against poison. I'm reminded of Aberforth and the goat; I wonder if those "inappropriate charms" had anything to do with the acquisition or making of bezoars. Bartending is potion-mixing of a sort – and drinks can be tampered with.
– Apparition class! Harry can't concentrate on anything but Draco; it's a good thing he didn't get any of his bits splinched inside the poor boy, that would have been rather embarrassing and painful for the both of them. (Also, interesting to note that Susan Bones' splinching was bloodless – you'd think losing a leg would be quite gruesome!)
"Well, I'm keeping an eye on him from now on," he said firmly, And the moment I see him lurking somewhere with Crabbe & Goyle keeping watch outside, it'll be on with the old invisibility cloak and off to find out what he's – "
...Despite his determination to catch Malfoy out, Harry had no luck at all over the next couple of weeks. Although he consulted the map as often as he could, sometimes making unnecessary visits to the bathroom between lessons to search it, he did not once see Malfoy anywhere suspicious. (pg 388)
"Unnecessary visits to the bathroom"? In search of Draco? And following him invisibly? My, isn't Harry the creepy stalker here! It's sad when Romilda Vane obsesses, but when Harry does it's heroic.
– Happy Birthday, Ron! Here, have some love potion that's past its sell-by date and meant for someone else. And while we're at it, have some poison that's past its sell-by date and meant for someone else. Because clearly Rowling doesn't think you deserve a break from being second best. Sheesh! :(
– Common sense would suggest that a bezoar aids against poisoning by means of regurgitation – sort of like sticking two fingers down one's throat – but that doesn't seem to be the case here. Ron just goes limp and passes out.
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Date: 2006-01-30 01:48 am (UTC)And yet, they'd rather go along with it than do their own frigging homework. God forbid our hero has to do the work that everyone else does. A day without special privileges is like a day without sunshine for Harry.
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Date: 2006-01-30 02:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 03:17 pm (UTC)I love the way the Trio is held up as such good friends, the true kind of friends we should all aspire to. Gee, I don't remember ever doing any of my friends homework. Nor did I really just want to marry one of them.
Perhaps Lily faked her way through school as well, relying on luck, charm, and the ability to get other people to do things for her?
Other people, specifically Snape if she's like Harry. It continues to amaze me how many people not only deny that Harry isn't really a Potions whiz but don't ever consider that Slughorn saying his talent is like his mother's maybe means Snape was behind that too.
"Unnecessary visits to the bathroom"? In search of Draco?
LOL! Why would someone have to leave the room to look at a map? It's a piece of paper--you could easily just have it on your desk and be looking at it there. If Harry's having to go to the bathroom he must need some, um, privacy...ew.
Because clearly Rowling doesn't think you deserve a break from being second best. Sheesh! :(
Poor poor Ron. If he didn't stand next to Harry nothing would ever happen to the boy at all. Of course, he's probably less pathetic than Hermione who does all the work for Harry without realizing nobody gives a shit about her either.
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Date: 2006-01-30 05:44 pm (UTC)I know! And I hate to get all "Oi Rowling! What About the KIDS???" but these three...aren't friends, and it's rather weird of her to promote them so heavily as such. They USE each other, and to an extent they NEED each other, but they don't seem to LIKE each other very much. This isn't the sort of relationship to be held up in front of an impressionable audience and called friendship, unless one is being very cynical.
Other people, specifically Snape
Ouch, yes. She could have used him in that way, and I wouldn't put it past Slughorn (consciously or not) to give Lily more props for being manipulative than Severus for being an intellectually gifted sucker. Because suckers are losers, and losers aren't going to get Slughorn anywhere later in life.
Of course, look where he was before Dumbledore found him – running scared, with no help from anyone. And if Slughorn WAS aware of Lily's possible...persuasive talents, what a burn to see Harry (attempt to) approach him in a similar way, and to understand the real reason Dumbledore wanted him back at Hogwarts! Who's the loser now, Sluggy?
But we won't find out the deal with Lily until Book 7, and Slughorn may well have taken Lily's "Potion skills" at face value, so I mustn't jump the gun. ;)
Poor poor Ron. If he didn't stand next to Harry nothing would ever happen to the boy at all.
Ron and his family would probably have been better off without the maelstrom of angst and recklessness that is Harry Potter – sometimes the nice, quiet life is something to aspire to.
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Date: 2006-01-31 12:21 pm (UTC)Harry & Ron's complete and utter cluelessness in Potions, after six years of studying the subject, is pathetic.
Surely they feel depressed that they can't do anything for themselves? I think of this when I hear of such people who live off the fortunes of very rich parents or spouses - don't they feel crappy for not being able to generate their own money? Don't Harry and Ron feel crappy for not being able to do their own damn work? They might earn good marks, but it's bullshit. I don't understand some people.
Hermione has made those two very dependent on her, giving herself power in the relationship that she won't hesitate to blatantly flaunt in their faces.
I remember reading about a woman who pretty much did everything for her husband, up to and including cutting his toenails for him. It occured to me then that this was a sort of power-play with her, because she could be certain that this man would be utterly lost without her. Even as she was crouching at his feet to cut his toenails, she knew he was helpless. Likewise, Hermione's relationship with Ron and Harry seems to be all about being this mother-support thing, rather than someone they actually like for her own fine qualities.
Perhaps Lily faked her way through school as well, relying on luck, charm, and the ability to get other people to do things for her?
I would love to find out in book seven that Lily was a nasty piece of work or at the very least less than the sparkling paragon we've been presented with. This is another one of my Things What Will Not Happen, though, as Lily was clearly the most perfect of human beings, perhaps descended from the heavens to cast her divine goodness across our filthsome world. I hope those enchanting eyes of hers exploded when she died. *is bitter*
Common sense would suggest that a bezoar aids against poisoning by means of regurgitation
Fun fact: bezoars were once quite actually thought to be an antidote to poison. The French king Charles IX was apparently so convinced of the effectiveness of said stones that when an experiment had a convicted thief die of poisoning even after swallowing a bezoar, he was convinced the stone used was a fake. I imagine that the instances in which the stones appeared to work were, as you say, instances in which the body expelled the poison naturally. Or perhaps instances of a virus or something that were mistaken for a poisoning in which the patient just got better naturally.
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Date: 2006-02-01 07:36 am (UTC)And how on earth did Harry manage Exceeds Expectations in his OWL without Hermione? Either the Potions OWL is a total walk in the park, in which case Slughorn should rethink his policy of accepting E students, or Harry breezed through on the strength of his Famous Harry Potter bonus points. Wonder what Ron got.
OT, but I love Harry's and Ron's cunning plan to make Slughorn spill his guts. Just march up and ask him, "What about those Horcruxes, eh?" Of course he's going to say, "Why yes, I told the Dark Lord how to make them. It's my deepest, darkest shame and if it ever got out I'd be lynched. Now let me tell you all about it, my sweet little Potions Prince." Didn't Harry's experience with Snape give him a clue as to how people are likely to react when you pry into their worst memories?
I would love to find out in book seven that Lily was a nasty piece of work
OMG yes. Way back when seeing the first movie, I naively assumed Harry's parents were nice, normal, ordinary people. Instead we got Mr. and Mrs. Teflon Sue. Look, for instance, how the fandom tends to define "bully" as something 15-yo Draco is, but with 15-yo James it's something he did, a brief aberration before his true greatness was revealed.
To be fair, JKR herself hasn't claimed that James ever became a nice guy. But Lily – hoo boy. It's not even that she's remembered with awe as the great and powerful witch who defeated Voldemort, it's that whatever she did is somehow more awesome than when someone else does the exact same thing. Her love for Harry was more special than the love of any other mother who died defending her baby. Her above-average Potions performance was superior to anyone else's above-average Potions performance. Her green eyes were more special than any green eyes in the history of the world. In a classic detective novel she'd be on the shortlist of suspects, because anyone who inspires so much doubtfully deserved admiration is probably a bad guy. :)
-L
Hello, Anonymous L! :)
Date: 2006-02-01 01:45 pm (UTC)I strongly suspect it was the latter, or Dumbledore "exerting influence" over the proceedings. If Potions is supposed to be like Chemistry, there is no fucking way anyone can pass a test without knowing the subject. You can't bullshit your way through a Chem test like you can an English essay.
Look, for instance, how the fandom tends to define "bully" as something 15-yo Draco is, but with 15-yo James it's something he did, a brief aberration before his true greatness was revealed.
Or indeed 15-yo Harry – "Oh, but Harry's JUST HAVING A HARD TIME RIGHT NOW! IT'S NOT EASY BEING A TEENAGER!" Well guess what, peeps? Draco's a teenager too. So why make excuses for one and not the other?
But Lily – hoo boy. It's not even that she's remembered with awe as the great and powerful witch who defeated Voldemort, it's that whatever she did is somehow more awesome than when someone else does the exact same thing...In a classic detective novel she'd be on the shortlist of suspects, because anyone who inspires so much doubtfully deserved admiration is probably a bad guy. :)
I agree completely – she's being built up into something that no one can live up to, even in death. Harry may be in for some major maternal disappointment in Book 7.
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Date: 2006-02-01 01:22 pm (UTC)But we were initially presented with James as a "sparkling paragon" until book 5, right? Then we saw another side of him. And all joshing aside, it's fairly obvious that Harry is not the perfect hero the Wizarding World wants/needs him to be at this point – He's the only hero they've got, basically, and he's a bit shit at it. Sure, there are lots of fans who love Harry, but if they've read all six books they know he's not a "sparkling paragon" either.
So I wouldn't be surprised if Lily's shine gets tarnished in Book 7. Don't give up hope yet,
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Date: 2006-02-01 10:30 pm (UTC)I can now imagine a scenario in which someone who worked with Lily in that ultra-amazing job what she done (at which she was, no rly, better than all others) tells Harry that, actually, your mother was a bitch who was unpleasant to all the other women. Or something.
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Date: 2006-01-31 06:51 pm (UTC)On some level I hope this is supposed to set the Trio up for catastrophe in Book 7 -- Hermione is captured/petrified/otherwise incapacitated, and without her Harry and Ron aren't nearly so capable or fortunate.