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– 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.

Comments

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I love the way the Trio is held up as such good friends, the true kind of friends we should all aspire to.

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.