Deathly Hallows Chapter 30

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

The Sacking of Severus Snape

I expect JKR has been dying to use that title ever since she started writing the series.

The chapter starts with Harry’s scar burning as Alecto Carrow touches her Dark Mark. He gets a vision of Voldemort standing on a big rock with the waves crashing about him. He feels a stab of triumph in Voldemort’s heart as he crows They have the boy.

Okay, so why is it that this time Voldemort’s all triumphant, when his reaction to Bellatrix’s touch was They better not be wasting my time?

Fortunately, while Harry was distracted, Luna was busy stupefying Alecto. The awakens the Ravenclaws, so Harry runs under the Invisibility Cloak to hide with Luna. As a Ravenclaw firstie kicks at Alecto’s body, Harry senses that Voldemort is moving through the Horcrux cave, having decided to check on his locket before going to Hogwarts.

Let’s see how much time Voldemort can spend on this unnecessary task.

In Hogwarts, Amycus starts banging in the Ravenclaw door, which refuses to open until someone answers the riddle it poses. The Ravenclaws creep away, and it goes on so long that Harry considers just opening the door and stunning Amycus to shut him up. Finally, Professor McGonagall shows up, having apparently been roused from her bed by the noise.

So, let’s say ten minutes?

They argue for a bit and then McGonagall gets the door open by answering the riddle. This one is “Where Do Vanished Objects go?” That’s really more of a test question than a riddle, wouldn’t you say?

Having gotten into the room, Amycus finds his sister unconscious and he and McGonagall fight about that for a few minutes. Amycus insists that Harry Potter was there, and McGonagall insists that it’s absurd.

“Why would Harry try to get inside Ravenclaw Tower? Potter belongs to my House!” McGonagall exclaims, evidently forgetting that Harry once had a big crush on a Ravenclaw girl.

They ponder that a moment, then Amycus gets the bright idea to blame the Ravenclaw students for summoning Voldemort. Then McGonagall and Amycus argue about that for a few minutes. And then Amycus spits in her face and Harry casts the spell that launched a thousand fan posts.

The Crucio.

Complete with the Dirty Harry quip: “I see what Bellatrix meant, you need to really mean it.”

On one hand, I’m sure this is a very satisfying moment for many readers. But it’s cheap. Amycus isn’t that important a villain. On Harry’s list of hated Death Eaters, I’m sure he somewhere above Stan Shunpike and far below Snape, Voldemort, and Bellatrix. So, in order to make this an effective moment, JKR has to spend pages making Amycus as disagreeable as possible. She does this by having him threaten the Ravenclaws in order to save his own skin (how cowardly!) and then having him spit in a beloved character’s face.

Frankly, it pisses me off because it reminds me of this stupid moment in A League of their Own where we have a telegram messenger rudely refusing to deliver a message to one of the female baseball players. They all know that the message is that someone’s husband has died in the war, but they won’t know who until it’s delivered. Finally, Tom Hanks beats the guy up, takes the telegram, and gives to one of the women, who breaks down crying as he approaches her. It’s moving, but it’s dependent on the messenger being an asshole, which no messenger would have been in that situation. And it comes off as being manipulated to make Tom Hanks look good.

So, that’s one way that this moment bites. The other is that JKR just destroyed the moral framework of her universe.

Let me repeat that: JKR just destroyed the moral framework of her universe.

From the very first chapter of the series, we’re presented with two aspects of magic.
“Dark Arts” and a mysterious deep, unknowable power connected to love. We’re told that Dark magic is ignoble and Evil. But what Dark magic is, exactly, is never explained. The closest thing we have to an explanation is the three Unforgivable Curses, which are analogous to three real world evils: Imperious (slavery), Cruciatus (torture), and Avada Kadavra (murder).

Then, throughout the series, the connection of Dark magic to innate evil is emphasized. Snape’s love of Dark magic is used as justification for bullying him. James’s hatred of Dark magic is brought up as a point in his favor. Bellatrix effectively tells Harry that he’s too good to cast the Cruciatus Curse. When Snape uses an Avada Kadavra on Dumbledore, that’s the ultimate sign of his allegiance to the Dark Lord.

The introduction of the Unforgivables was in this order: Imperious, Cruciatus, and Avada Kadavra, implying that each is worse than the one before. When Harry cast the Imperious, JKR was having Harry dip into “evil” magic, but in a desperate situation and with limited scope. He only did what was necessary at the time. I’m not happy that she had him use the spell, but it didn’t make me angry. Moreover, Imperious has always been the most undefined spell in the set. It also seems to imply weakness or complicity in its victim. If they were simply stronger, like Harry, then there’d be no problem. The spell simply wouldn’t work.

But Cruciatus is pretty cut and dried. Its only function is to inflict pain. In order to cast it, you have to have that goal in mind. It’s never “gallant” and it’s way beyond “foolish.” To have Harry use it, enjoy it, and to have Professor McGonagall (a model of decorum) endorse its use makes it just another spell. If it's just another spell, then the whole Dark Arts = evil thing goes down the drain.

Thirdly, and least importantly: That badass Dirty Harry quip? Lame.

Harry tells McGonagall that Voldemort is on his way to Hogwarts, and Luna asks brightly, “Oh, are we allowed to say the name now?”

Hmm. I wonder if Harry just broke all the ancient protective wards on Hogwarts. Where are the Snatchers? How come they aren’t Apparating in right about now?

By the way, it’s probably been half an hour since Harry got that vision of Voldemort traveling through the cave. He gets another one now. This time Voldemort is in his little boat, traveling to the island. So… it’s taking more than a little time for Voldemort to check on that Horcrux.

McGonagall tells Harry to flee, but Harry tells her that he needs to find the Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw. He’s pretty sure that’s the last Horcrux. McGonagall repeats that it’s been lost for centuries, so good luck with that.

Amycus starts waking up, so McGonagall uses Imperio to have him fetch his sister’s wand and hand it to McGonagall. Because why use Accio when you can use Imperio? It's not like there's any moral aspect to magic any more.

At this point, Harry senses Voldemort looking in the basin on Horcrux Island.

Again. It took Voldemort forty-five minutes to get through the cave to find this out. By all rights, it should take him as long to get out. Stupidest villain ever.

Harry says the magic words I’m acting on Dumbledore’s orders and McGonagall snaps to attention. She starts planning for a siege to hold off the Death Eaters just so that Harry can do his searching. They decide to evacuate the students through the secret passage to the Hog’s Head.

That done, McGonagall summons a silver net around the Carrows and hoists them up into the air, where they dangle like “large, ugy sea-creatures.” Not at all like the pathetic and dramatic Charity Burbage or Gregorovitch. No. This is entirely different. Because this time the cords are silver.

McGonagall conjures a triple Patronus. Hers are silver cats with eye-glass markings. In other words, they are the same as her Animagus form. So… does that mean that the love of McGonagall’s life is herself? Interesting.

As they run through the castle (Harry and Luna still under that silly Cloak), they become aware of quiet footsteps. McGonagall halts and asks “who is there?” And Severus Snape steps out from behind a suit of armor with the words, “It is I.”

I can’t quite figure out how he was walking behind that suit of armor. Usually, if you are hiding behind a suit of armor, you have limited walking space.

But here we go! At last, the moment we’ve been waiting for for nearly six hundred pages! The moment when Harry meets Severus!

It starts promisingly enough, even though Harry is currently cowering under an Invisibility Cloak. He is noticing how greasy Snape’s hair is, and how his eyes are black and cold.

Both Snape and McGonagall are holding their wands at dueling position. So far, so good.

The tense stand-off continues as Snape mentions an intruder and McGonagall asks how he knew. He flexes his left arm, apparently showing her the Dark Mark? Hmm. I guess he has his famously long black sleeves pushed up?

But, while we’re pausing on that image, this brings up something that has puzzled him since GoF. How exactly does this Dark Mark communication system work? In GoF, Snape said that when a Death Eater felt the Dark Mark burn, it meant they should Apparate immediately to Voldemort. Which isn’t exactly how Apparition is supposed to work. I mean, Apparition is about finding a location, not a person. How do they know where he is?

Also, that seemed like the Mark had only one… note. You touch it, it burns everyone with the Dark Mark. So, how did Snape know who touched the Mark? How did he know it was Alecto and not Voldemort? How did Voldemort, for that matter, know that it was about finding Harry and not something else?

I think it would be cool if, when you touched the Mark, it became like an intercom. So that when you spoke, the serpent on everyone’s arm would “talk” in your voice. That’s kind of based on the movie Dark Marks, which did move around. But the book Dark Marks don’t seem to do that.

Where was I? Oh, yes. Back to the Mexican stand-off between McGonagall and Snape. After a few minutes of tense banter, McGonagall takes a shot and they are off and dueling! This is almost as good as the Voldemort-Dumbledore bout back in OotP, but it’s such a minor moment, I doubt we’ll see much of it in the film.

Harry tries bravely to curse Snape from beneath his Invisibility Cloak, but is forced to dodge as a fiery lasso flies too close. Great. Even without seeing him, Snape can out-duel Harry.

Snape defends himself against McGonagall’s spells (never even trying to touch her) until the other three Heads of House arrive. Flitwick joins in the fight and Snape is forced to flee with three people (McGonagall, Sprout, and Flitwick) running after him. McGonagall is shouting “Coward! Coward!”

Sigh. Funny how people keep shouting that at Snape when he’s trying his hardest not to kill them.

Harry and Luna catch up as the professors are staring out a broken window. At first, Harry thinks Snape jumped to his death, but McGonagall points out (unlike poor Dumbledore!) Snape still had his wand and must have learned a few tricks from his master. Harry sees a huge, batlike shape in the distance.

So, is Snape flying and his robes make him look like a bat? Or, is he yet another Animagus and his form is a bat? (Or, perhaps a thestral or dragon?) Or, (and this is my favorite theory), was there a thestral waiting below the window for Snape to jump on his back—like in a western?

As I consider those theories, Professor Slughorn waddles up, out of breath. All fat, the way he is. He’s horrified to learn that Snape has left—through the Snape-shaped hole in the window.

Yes, Snape is Daffy Duck.

Come to think of it, Daffy Duck would make a great Snape, wouldn’t he? Bugs would probably be Dumbledore. For Harry, I’d cast Elmer Fudd. And Yosemite Sam could be Voldemort.

Speaking of Voldemort, he’s just now getting off his little boat in the Horcrux cave.

The professors prepare to defend the castle. For Sprout, this means gathering up a bunch of lethal plants (employing Earth Power!). For Flitwick, this means casting wind spells (employing Air Power!). For McGonagall, this means animating the suits of armor throughout the castle. Which is impressive and vaguely relates to fire as an animating source…. I guess.

For Slughorn, this means spluttering and sweating (Water Power!).

Two important exchanges occur here. Well, one and a half. Harry asks Flitwick about the Diadem and gets nothing. McGonagall tells Slughorn that he’s free to leave with his students, but if he tries to sabotage the castle’s resistance, she’ll kill him.

Slughorn is naturally aghast, but McGonagall tells him that it’s time to choose a side. She’s making it pretty easy, if you ask me. But then, that’s the way heroes usually treat those who are just trying to survive. Because nothing is more contemptible than neutrality. Damn those Swiss!

Filch arrives to amuse us with his squib ways for a moment, then leaves on McGonagall’s order to fetch Peeves.

It’s at this point that McGonagall animates the suits of armor—and this is a wonderful image. I can’t wait for this in the film.

Harry and Luna run back to fetch the D.A., while students cry out excitedly at the sight of Harry. This seems like an echo back to PS/SS, then Harry first arrived at school. I suppose the dramatic import is that, back then, Harry created excitement without having done anything notable except survive. Here, as far as the kids know, it’s much the same, but this time he did it with a dragon!

Also, showing Harry’s maturity, he doesn’t fret about his fame. He accepts it with only the merest acknowledgement.

Back in the RoR, the place is now packed with D.A. and Order of the Phoenix members. And Oliver Wood.

Harry tells them that Voldemort is coming and they are going to all fight him. At this, there is a great roar and rushing out by everyone. Dean/Luna shippers swoon as he offers her his hand to help her out the door. Might as well, though. It’s not like he can do anything else without a wand.

This next bit annoys me greatly. The Weasleys remain behind in the room to argue about Ginny. Molly wants her to go home, Ginny wants to fight. I don’t give a damn what she does.

But it does give Harry yet another opportunity to be the worst boyfriend in the world as he refuses to support Ginny’s (understandable) reluctance to go home and wait to hear that her whole family just died in battle.

Just then Percy literally tumbles through the passage. Apparently, he lost all physical coordination when he chose the Ministry over his family. But, now the prodigal returns! To stony silence!

The only good part of this scene is Fleur and Lupin trying to distract everyone by waving baby pictures around. It’s silly, but it makes me laugh.

So, Percy now abases himself and apologizes… to Fred, which makes no sense whatsoever. And the Weasleys go off to fight, except Ginny, who tries to follow them, but gets caught by her mother.

Lupin as voice of reason makes a brief re-appearance as he suggests Ginny stay in the room. This compromise is acceptable to Molly and Ginny agrees and I hate that I even had to describe this stupid argument at all.

Just then Harry notices that Ron and Hermione have disappeared. Notice that the Weasleys are quite adamant that Ginny stay safe, but the disappearance of their youngest son worries them not a whit.

Ginny tells Harry that they went off to a bathroom together and there’s a silly little moment where Harry strides over to the bathroom to look inside for them. Um… you know, if they were in that tiny little bathroom together, Harry, they probably wouldn’t want to be disturbed if you know what I mean.

And then, Harry gets a final vision of Voldemort, who is now standing right outside the gates to Hogwarts.

Dun-dun-DUNNNNN!

Fan Service:
Percy returns to the bosom of his family!
Oliver Wood returns! (What do we want? Wood! When do we want him? Now!)
Dean and Luna are holding hands!

Fan Slappage:
Were you relying on some kind of moral framework in this series? Forget it. It's gone. God is dead. So is Dumbledore, but unfortunately, that doesn't mean anything.
Wow. That moment when Harry finally encounters Snape? Did that actually happen? I think I blinked and missed it.
Sadly, the Percy Weasley reunion does not take place after some heroic action on his part and he’s not tragically injured. Also? It was lame.

DVD Extras:

INT: DAY – THE ROOM OF REQUIREMENT

With a magical chime, a door appears. It is flung open by Neville Longbottom, who runs in and slams it behind him. Panting, he braces his back against the door and then looks around in wonder.

The room is empty except for a single hammock and a Gryffindor banner.

HARRY (v.o.)
Dobby called it the Room of Requirement. What you need, it will provide for you. As long as you really need it.

Neville gets a very thoughtful look on his face.

CUT TO:

The same room, several days later. Neville sits at a small desk, working on a list. A dark tunnel is visible behind him, and there is a carton of take-out beside him. His face has the beginnings of a beard on it.

He reads over the list, which has many items. Some of them have been crossed out.

Intact items:

Wireless
Spare wands
Weapons
Owl

Crossed-Out Items:

Razor
Mimbulous Mimbletona
Hannah Abbott in her nightie

He nods and, list in hand, runs out the door.

CUT TO:

The room is now filled with hammocks. A wireless sits in the corner and the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw banners have joined the Gryffindor one. A few kids are scattered throughout the room, playing chess or reading.

Neville is at his desk, busily writing, while Lavender Brown and Seamus Finnigan bicker behind him.

LAVENDER
I don’t see why, if you get a car, we can’t get a unicorn.

SEAMUS
Because we need a car. The room gives you stuff you need, not stuff you asked your parents for when you were six!

LAVENDER
Okay. Then how about a bathroom. Can we get a bathroom?

Seamus and Neville exchange a shrug.

NEVILLE
I am tired of going in the corner.

He writes down “bathroom” on his list.

CUT TO:

The room bustles with activity. Neville is still at the desk, Lavender has one right beside him. Seamus brings messages over from a small owlery by the window.

SEAMUS
That family we smuggled out just arrived in Paris.

NEVILLE
Excellent.

SEAMUS
And we have reports from London. There’s been some kind of explosion at Gringott’s. A dragon escaped.

NEVILLE
Weird. Do you think it was the Death Eaters?

SEAMUS
I thought they were controlling the bank. Why would they attack it?

LAVENDER
Hold on! I just got a message from Luna by coin.

Neville and Seamus both pull out their fake galleons.

NEVILLE
She thinks it’s Harry?

SEAMUS
He broke into Gringott’s?

LAVENDER
With a dragon? I told you we needed unicorns!

SEAMUS
This is fantastic!

He runs to the door.

NEVILLE
Where do you think you’re going?

SEAMUS
To tell everyone! They’ll be at dinner!

He runs out. Neville shakes his head.

NEVILLE
Idiot. Lavender, let’s get hold of Kingsley. See if he can send Mundungus down there to check things out.

LAVENDER
Got it, chief.

Neville rubs his chin.

NEVILLE
If this Gringott’s thing is real, then it’s going to be one hell of a distraction. Let’s see if we can use it to sneak out a couple more families. Who’s next on the list?

FADE OUT

Comments

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Didn't JKR say she wanted people to see that Harry *could* cast Crucio, he just didn't choose to? Because it would be terrible if people suspected Harry just wasn't badass enough. Oh, he can cast a Crucio--with a quip, even. He just doesn't choose to unless the situation's really cliche.

I haven't seen League of the Their Own. What possible reason does a messenger have for not delivering a message?

Anyway, this one's just so strange because apparently JKR didn't realize she herself seemed to be imbuing the whole Crucio thing with moral weight. Little did we know it was supposed to be impressive rather than evil. (Except when Draco does it--though I remained confused how anyone can cast what's basically a pussy Crucio. If you have to mean it, how can you be forced to do it? Because I always assumed in that scene in the bathroom that Draco's Crucio there would have been like Harry's in OotP--cast with the wrong emotion.)

Then, throughout the series, the connection of Dark magic to innate evil is emphasized. Snape’s love of Dark magic is used as justification for bullying him. James’s hatred of Dark magic is brought up as a point in his favor. Bellatrix effectively tells Harry that he’s too good to cast the Cruciatus Curse. When Snape uses an Avada Kadavra on Dumbledore, that’s the ultimate sign of his allegiance to the Dark Lord.

And McGonagall way back in PS/SS says Dumbledore is too good to use the Dark Magic the Dark Lord uses.

But don't worry, it inspired a lot of defense of torture as "self-defense." Or a complete re-writing of the spell into just being not so bad, where did you get that idea? Tis but a moment of discomfort that you use to incapacitate the person. (Though I have seen the same people who argue that *also* argue that Harry was acting in self-defense of his life when Draco appeared to cast one on him, because Crucio is as bad as murder, see Longbottom, Alice and Frank. Iow, it's not torture when Harry does it.)

Nice to know that Minerva still recognizes her master even when he's dead. The scary thing is I've no doubt these people would all be just as loyal even if they knew DD's plan.

Amycus starts waking up, so McGonagall uses Imperio to have him fetch his sister’s wand and hand it to McGonagall. Because why use Accio when you can use Imperio? It's not like there's any moral aspect to magic any more.

That's because it's war. In war people have to do bad things. That's what shows it's serious. If McGonagall had just picked up her wand herself it would mean she's not understanding war or something.

Even without seeing him, Snape can out-duel Harry.

LOL! But at least he actually got to say, "It is I" before he had to do it. Btw, isn't that what Lupin says too? I guess another aspect of war is you have to start declaiming in formal language you wouldn't use in 1998.

I love him leaving on a Thestral, western-style.

So, Percy now abases himself and apologizes… to Fred, which makes no sense whatsoever.

I guess since Fred's the person who's treated him the worst throughout his life, he's the most humiliating to apologize too and thus the most appropriate.

Oh, who am I kidding. He apologizes to Fred because Fred's about to buy the farm. Now he can remember him as the guy nice enough to forgive him for daring to be not like him in the first place.

[lissa2.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that link! and some HP fanatics have the nerve to accuse the author of the "Percy Jackson" series for ripping off HP.

[merrymelody.livejournal.com]

Then, throughout the series, the connection of Dark magic to innate evil is emphasized.

Hilariously, isn't it the very next chapter when we're supposed to cheer on Crabbe dying since he and Goyle 'love' casting Cruciatus?

But it does give Harry yet another opportunity to be the worst boyfriend in the world as he refuses to support Ginny’s (understandable) reluctance to go home and wait to hear that her whole family just died in battle.

He can't allow the walking womb to risk jostling those precious eggs!

[violaswamp.livejournal.com]

Re: your comments on the moral framework, you know what *I* find amusing? People who adore the HP books, bristle in resentment against those who snub the books as un-intellectual and JKR as a hack writer, write long emotive meta posts about the books' symbolism and characters and shipping and plot and themes, write angry posts defending JKR against allegations of hating Slytherins or fat people or whatever...and then say those who criticize the books' moral framework are taking the books "too seriously."

Not to mention, Rowling herself has said she wants the HP books to be "moral" (unlike Roald Dahl, IIRC). So it's totally fair game to critique her success in achieving her own stated goal.

I *heart* your deleted scene.

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

That was fun! I never saw Bedknobs and Broomsticks, although I remember wanting to as a kid. Even better than the suits animating is the part where they all de-animate. She isn't dead, is she?

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That was fun! I never saw <i>Bedknobs and Broomsticks</i>, although I remember wanting to as a kid. Even better than the suits animating is the part where they all de-animate. She isn't dead, is she? <sob!>

I don't think JKR is exactly ripping off the sequence, and I still think it's going to be a cool moment in the film. But I wonder if she saw the movie when she was young and subconsciously remembered it. I mean, Angela Lansbury seems so much like McGonagall. She even has a Quidditch broom!

[lissa2.livejournal.com]

YAY! DTCL is going to make a gourmet meal out of this chapter...

"Snape defends himself agaisnt McGonagall (never even trying to toutch her"
Which begs the question: hey, how come McGonagall hadn't figured out yet Snape is really on her side? she was around him for a whole year to witness his behavior as the headmaster.
He was reluctant to give a serious punishment to Ginny, Neville and Luna and probably to the other students too. So why wasn't she smart enough to put two and two together and realize he's not a true DE?
Why didn't Dumbledore let her know that Snape was his man? why didn't Snape himself tell her? it's so bloody stupid!
And I'm sorry but if Snape played his role as a DE in such a convincing way that even Macgonagall could'nt tell he was really trying to protect the students- his redempion at the end of the book is worthless,pointless and dumb.

"...but if he tries to sabotage the resistance, she'll kill him"
OMG is Harry's stupidity infectious? Minerva you know the man for at least two years. You worked with him for the past two years. So you should to have noticed he isn't pro-Voldemort.
Oh silly me...I forgot- he's a slytherin.
MacGonagall comes out as truly nauseating in this chapter, doesn't she?

Oh and that Harry/Ginny scene that caused some of the most rabid H/G shippers to turn into ARGHers. Nothing says "equals" more than Harry treating her like a fragile china doll, while having no problem fighting side by side with other girls.

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen League of the Their Own. What possible reason does a messenger have for not delivering a message?

I found the clip! Check it out: A League of Their Own (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m888nlVxZu8&feature=PlayList&p=09D6573DD1FABDBC&index=11).

What's funny is that the messenger's lines are all about explaining how this contrived moment comes about. See, the army should be sending a personal messenger, but they're sending a telegram instead. So, he's all pissed off about that and won't just hand the thing over.

I don't buy it. Nobody was going to be surly about that kind of a telegram--or use excuses to leave an entire room full of women wondering which of them is now a widow. Oh, and bonus: If you watch through the rest of the clip, you get to see nice-guy actor Bill Pullman in his short role in the film.

But don't worry, it inspired a lot of defense of torture as "self-defense.".... Iow, it's not torture when Harry does it.)

Right. Which isn't an attitude unique to JKR, but I think the last part of DH really emphasizes how little JKR considered her world view. It does all come down to "it's okay when Harry does it, because he's a good guy." That's the moral philosophy of just about every action movie ever made. But it generally doesn't fly in the basic Campbell hero saga, because the hero is supposed to actually learn something in his journey.

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

Hilariously, isn't it the very next chapter when we're supposed to cheer on Crabbe dying since he and Goyle 'love' casting Cruciatus?

We certainly aren't supposed to feel too bad about it.

He can't allow the walking womb to risk jostling those precious eggs!

I really can't figure why JKR includes that moment. All it does is add to the Harry=jerk pile. Okay, so you don't want your girlfriend to get killed. Fair enough. But I can't figure out how Ginny would ever marry someone who did that to her. I mean, she broke up with Dean just because she thought he was helping her up a high step. On the Perceived Scale of Sexism, Dean's action rates a 2 and Harry's action rates a 98.6.

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

Wow. Dahl's books are much more moral--at least as I see it. At least, the poetic justice that gets metered out to his nasty characters scans a lot better than Rowling's.

I'm glad you like the scene. This was a hard chapter to do an extra for, because these chapters are so close in time. There's not a lot of space to fill in. If anyone has any suggestions for upcoming topics, just sing out!

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

MacGonagall comes out as truly nauseating in this chapter, doesn't she?

You know, I didn't see it before, but she really does. I think Snape might have been able to fool her, since she's looking at him with the prejudice of thinking he murdered Dumbledore. And since he'd need to come up with "evil" reasons to justify his behavior to the Carrows for any good he did.

And because McGonagall isn't all that bright.

But her behavior toward Slughorn is completely uncalled for. He was running up to help her just like the other teachers. And if she didn't think he was on her side, why send him a Patronus in the first place?

I'm glad to hear that even Harry/Ginny shippers were appalled by his attitude. Well, they'd have to be, woudn't they? If you're going to ship Harry/Ginny, then you'd want your heroine to be fierce and spunky--and you'd want your hero to appreciate that. Harry never seems to appreciate anything about Ginny except her fiery hair and flower scent. And that she doesn't cry.

Yeah, it would be real fun to see her not-cry at the funeral when her family's dead because she was three months shy of her 17th birthday and couldn't help them out.

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

Um... Sorry. I don't have editing comments privileges, so I can't fix the tags.

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

And before Percy ever insulted anyone, it was Fred and George sending him feces in the mail.

[mctabby.livejournal.com]

JKR just destroyed the moral framework of her universe.

Yes. And jarred countless readers out of the story for a WTF-moment. Oh, the gratuitous Unforgivables scene... the head-desking goes on and on.

Thought experiment: Say you haven't read DH yet. Some spoilery person tells you: "A Death Eater spits at McGonagall - and Harry uses an Unforgivable on the Death Eater!" And invites you to guess McGonagall's reaction - based on what you know of her from the first six books.

a) McGonagall delivers a pithy, scathing lecture about the difference between Right and Wrong; makes Harry squirm in shame; takes 500 points from Gryffindor.
b) McGonagall assumes that Harry is an impostor or under Imperius; demands proof of identity, checks for Polyjuice.
c) McGonagall clutches at her chest in a panic; tells Harry that his Unforgivable was foolish, but very gallant; turns around and casts an Unforgivable herself.
d) McGonagall Transfigures Harry into a newt and hands him over to Voldemort.

Rather a relief to see McGonagall snap back into character for the duel with Snape; though this only made it more obvious that she was neither disarmed nor incapacitated, and didn't need Harry to defend her.

The whole gratuitous Unforgivables incident seemed disconnected from any plot or characterization. Purely a device to boost the reader's (presumed) nail-biting suspense about how Harry will dispose of Voldemort. Harry has to cast Imperius, then Cruciatus: deliberately-misleading foreshadowing, nudging the reader to expect AK next.

A costly writing move - I mean, what with the moral-framework-destruction, flagrant McGonagall-OOCness, making the hero look bad (compared to Neville, who refused to cast Cruciatus and still has an unhealed wound from the punishment), etc. Was the intended suspense-building effect worth the cost? Er, um...

Some consequences might have helped. Suggestions for canon-compatible fallout:

1. Luna innocently tells the whole gang about Harry's Cruciatus. Harry has to deal with reactions of shock, disappointment, disgust - from people who matter to him. Should include a very painful conversation with Neville, referring to Frank and Alice.

2. Harry's post-victory sandwich is interrupted by the arrival of Aurors who drag him off to Azkaban for using Unforgivables. Acting Minister Shacklebolt says: "Sorry, Potter - but we're serious about reforming the Ministry, and we're starting with the principle that nobody is above the law. Not even you."

3. On arrival at King's Cross, Harry discovers two patches of "raw and rough, flayed-looking" skin on his otherwise pristine soul-body. Dumbledore has a serious talk with him about the corrupting effect of using Dark Arts, then holds his hand as Harry heals himself by feeling remorse and swearing never to cast those curses again.

Anything along these lines would have made me feel better about Harry's Unforgivables. But no - never mentioned again. No remorse.

Yes, Snape is Daffy Duck.

LOL, he must be. Note to fandom: all Snape/Harry fics to be rewritten as Daffy/Harry, forthwith.

And I still can't believe she really wrote "Snape-shaped hole" - um, what?

[eir-de-scania.livejournal.com]

You mean she copied-and-pasted big chunks from the MS and changed a few words? Because that was the reason for her suing Steve Vander Asperger...sorry Ark. Too much copying, not enough original writing.

Ripping off? No. Using the same stuff as many other writers have done? Certainly. Have you seen the site "tvtropes.com"? (Can't link, it's down for the moment.)

[eir-de-scania.livejournal.com]

I have to admit I suspected I would disagree with JKR's morals when I found out she was a christian. I was wrong. I was going "morals? What morals?".

[duniazade.livejournal.com]

McGonagall should have noticed that Snape didn't denounce her as a member of the Order of the Phoenix. That's pretty obvious!

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

The whole gratuitous Unforgivables incident seemed disconnected from any plot or characterization. Purely a device to boost the reader's (presumed) nail-biting suspense about how Harry will dispose of Voldemort. Harry has to cast Imperius, then Cruciatus: deliberately-misleading foreshadowing, nudging the reader to expect AK next.

Yes. I see this in retrospect--and after it was pointed out by other fans. But I never saw it in time to even worry whether or not Harry was going to cast it at Voldemort. And, honestly, it never once occurred to me that he would. Just like it never occurred to me that Snape wasn't Dumbledore's man.

Very rarely does the hero actually murder his nemesis. Either he sends him to jail, or he turns away from the murder, only to have the villain crushed by a falling building (or fall off the building ala Diehard), or the hero turns away, the villain starts to attack him, and the hero is forced to shoot him in self-defense.

Whether or not you like the Draco Trilogy, Cassandra Claire came up with a nice solution in having Voldemort cast the AK at Harry, who deflected it with a mirror. See? Nice and simple and Harry remains pure at heart.

In DH, the casting of Imperius was so inconsequential and frivolous that I forgot it happened two pages later. The Crucio was such a seriously screwed up moment that casting an AK would have been anti-climactic.

I like your three consequences. The first wouldn't be likely because of the time pressure. Neville doesn't have the luxury of sitting Harry down to straighten him out. But I would have loved that.

Harry getting dragged off to Azkaban would be fun--except then the entire wizarding world would need to be incarcerated. More fun would be if Lucius managed to get off by threatening to expose Harry's use of the curse (cause he found out by.... I don't know). Hehe.

I like the third option very much. I think that would have created some real suspense--since Harry would be returning to the conscious plane thinking that he would have to sacrifice his soul (just like Snape did!) in order to finish Voldemort off.

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

I don't mind a Christian morality as long as there's a good story behind it. Unfortunately....

[horridporrid.livejournal.com]

But don't worry, it inspired a lot of defense of torture as "self-defense."

This, right there, encapsulates why I'd never recommend this series to anyone, let alone kids. I mean, I'm not going to rip the books out of a small child's hands, but I'm not going to recommend them.

[horridporrid.livejournal.com]

I don't buy it. Nobody was going to be surly about that kind of a telegram...

This is totally off-topic, but yeah, that scene hit me wrong as well. There's a similar scene in We Were Soldiers (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0277434/), but it's handled a lot better. (The mailman knows what he's doing sucks, he does his best to fix it knowing his fix isn't great, and it goes towards the Army being vastly unprepared for the Vietnam war.)

[horridporrid.livejournal.com]

JKR just destroyed the moral framework of her universe.

Well, she's been merrily destroying all the characters in her universe, and what little world-building rules she'd created for her universe. May as well go for lovely number three! :D

So, Percy now abases himself and apologizes… to Fred, which makes no sense whatsoever.

God, this part hurt me. So much. There is such a cringe factor involved in Percy's abasement. It's horribly non-character destroying in that this is how the family has always treated the boy, but... Oh, Percy... (When the Malfoy's flee the British Wizarding world, I hope they take Percy with them.)

I do adore your DVD Extra. Of course Neville would think about getting the threatened families out. Also, seeing someone come up with, and execute, a well thought out plan is remarkably refreshing. :D

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

As a Christian, I do not recognize anything like morality in DH at all. My two cents-

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

Two years my arse. Sluggy probably taught her. Minerva isn't that much older than Riddle. What's more, she worked with Slughorn on staff from about 1958 to 1981. Snape wasn't hired until the Summer of '81, and it was Sluggy who taught Potions until then.

[tdotm.livejournal.com]

--- "Didn't JKR say she wanted people to see that Harry *could* cast Crucio, he just didn't choose to?"

But he *did* choose to - for the most indefensible reason. He did it to teach someone a lesson. It's always wrong, but Draco using it on the spur of the moment out of anger/frustration and months of pressure, is a different matter to Harry, safely hidden under the bestest invisibility cloak of all time, CHOOSING to use that particular curse. He could have frozen him or disarmed him, but no, inflicting unbearable pain was what he chose. Git.

Worst Chapter Ever Part One

[tdotm.livejournal.com]

JKR is right – the chapter title is cool. The chapter itself, however is a true low point of the entire series.

--- “...it goes on so long that Harry considers just opening the door and stunning Amycus to shut him up. Finally, Professor McGonagall shows up, having apparently been roused from her bed by the noise.”

So call Kreacher and get him to apparate you out of there and straight to the next plot point and stop wasting my F*UCKING time you F*CKER! If it had happened all at once, the next scene would be feasible, if tasteless, but this is nonsense! Plus 10 minutes is being generous. McGonagall has to wake up, pull on her tartan patterned dressing gown (though in the current films she probably sleeps in an old Juicy Couture tracksuit) then get to a different house – and she’s not getting any younger.

How could she hear the kerfuffle from Gryffindor anyway? With those thick stone walls it would be impossible. I always thought she was on rounds or something, heard him knocking (that’s still pushing it) and got involved. That’s what you get for skim reading. I’ll just tell myself that Neville sent a message to her and she went looking for them. Also, why didn’t Luna and Harry sneak out of the door the minute the teachers opened it?

--- “The Crucio"

The silver lining to this dark cloud is that Harry no longer had any integrity to lose. That said, I was really shocked at both Harry and JKR, even after all the rubbish that came before. I had no problems with the early Imperio because of the intention behind it/ situation they were in. I would even have accepted Harry using Avadra Kedrava on Voldemort – compared to Dementors, it’s humane. Crucio is the one Unforgiveable which has no relatively benign use. Dark Magic is often ordinary magic used for evil purposes. Crucio doesn’t fall into that category – it’s always 100% wrong. It wasn’t even as if Harry was desperate to get some vital info, had run out of time and cracked. The wrong thing for the right reason is still the wrong thing, but his thinking that the ends justify the means would be more acceptable then what happened. He cooly used torture to teach Carrow a lesson and was no better than a Death Eater and I’m not being flippant.

Also, way to destroy one of the last noble characters left standing JKR - gallant, my arse. McGonagall is 100 times more capable than he is – she can look after herself and her firm but fair persona was rightly held up as an example in earlier books. Especially when compared with Snape who (ignoring his dislike of Harry, which I shared) was unfairly biased towards Slytherin. Now look at her. Hey JKR, instead of tearing down everyone around Harry to make him look good, why not just write him as a better person?

--- “It took Voldemort forty-five minutes to get through the cave to find this out. By all rights, it should take him as long to get out. Stupidest villain ever.”

Aaaarrrrgggghhhh! Voldie, you fool – or should we be addressing JKR? All this crap should have been cut or changed. Harry should have remembered the tiara without the back-story, or discussed it with Luna at Shell Cottage. When he arrived he could send a message to McGonagall saying that Hogwarts was in danger. The two of them could bump into Snape, and then Harry could go straight to the RoR cutting out the time consuming faffing about.

In fact, if Harry simply went about his business in this section as written, but without conveniently witnessing Voldie’s every action, that would have been far better. We’d have just assumed (or we could have been told) that Voldie was organising his army – I’ll bet dementors and acromantulas take some handling. Instead we were *forced* to witness his idiocy. WTF JKR?!