Blondes Have More Fun In Chapter 19!
Feb. 22nd, 2006 10:59 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
q-spade.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
deathtocapslockThis chapter is the shizzle. Why? Mostly because of Draco and Luna – but there's other great moments as well.
– One of the first things I noticed about this chapter is that the Weasleys were called into Hogwarts due to Ron's poisoning. IIRC, the Grangers were NOT called in when Hermione was petrified in COS. Yet Montague's parents were called in when he was found after the whole vanishing cabinet scenario...so Hogwarts does at times inform parents if a student is ill or hurt.
– "Half our family does seem to owe you their lives, now I stop and think about it," Mr. Weasley said in a constricted voice. "Well, all I can say is that it was a lucky day for the Weasleys when Ron decided to sit in your compartment on the Hogwarts Express, Harry." (pg 404)
Yet Harry's the main reason this family often finds itself endangered, isn't he? Hmmm...
– I don't think I've ever been so goddamn happy to see Hagrid. Not only does he suggest that The Board of Governors will finally shut down Hogwarts for failing to keep the students safe:
Gotta see it from their point o' view," said Hagrid heavily. "I mean, it's always bin a bit of a risk sendin' a kid ter Hogwarts, hasn' it? Yer expect accidents, don' yeh, with hundreds of underage wizards all locked up tergether, but attempted murder, that's different. 'S'no wonder Dumbledore's angry with Sn—" (pgs 404-5)
But he also informs Harry that things are not at all rosy between Dumbles & Snape, who wants out. Like Don Corleone, Dumbles makes offers one cannot refuse:
"Well – I jus' heard Snape sayin' Dumbledore took too much fer granted an' maybe he – Snape – didn' wan' ter do it anymore —"
"Do what?"
"I dunno, Harry, it sounded like Snape was feelin' a bit overworked, tha's all – anyway, Dumbedore told him flat out he'd agreed ter do it an' that was all there was to it. Pretty firm with him..." (pgs 405-6)
Finally, he gets delightfully dissed by Filch, who forgets Hagrid is a professor these days. :D
– Cormac McLaggen is completely unintimidated by Harry, which is interesting. He's a highly competitive bloke: he's keen to take Ron's place in the match, and impresses upon Harry (much to his dismay & aggravation) that he's far more interested in – and aware of – the ins & outs of his team than the captain is. He's definitely one to watch in Book 7.
– Nobody in Gryffindor seems to care much about Ron being poisoned. WHAT A SURPRISE. The kid just can't get a break, can he? Yeah, he was real lucky he met up with Potter on the Hogwarts Express first year! *rolleyes*
– Well, Lavender cares about Ron (much to Harry's dismay and aggravation). But Ron is taking his immense frustrations at being Perpetual Second Best out on her in a rather passive-aggressive way: by pretending to be asleep whenever she comes to visit him. Harry comes over all "If you don't want to go out with her anymore just tell her!", forgetting what happened to Ron last time he pissed a girl off. :o
– The classic line "Harry, however, had never been less interested in Quidditch; he was rapidly becoming obsessed with Draco Malfoy" is found in this chapter, of course, on page 409. And when Harry DOES come across the object of his intense preoccupations, he's kicking back with two underage girlies – we soon find out just how kinky this whole scenario is! – and a snappy comeback for his opponent:
"You'd better hurry up, they'll be waiting for 'the Chosen Captain' – 'the Boy Who Scored' – whatever they call you these days." (pg 412)
Dissed & dismissed, Potter! ;)
– A lot of people take Luna's initial Quidditch match commentary as an indication that she genuinely likes Ginny, or at least feels the need to kiss her arse by saying "She's nice, I like her". But look at the whole paragraph:
"And that's Smith of Hufflepuff with the Quaffle," said a dreamy voice, echoing over the grounds. "He did the commentary last time, of course, and Ginny Weasley flew into him, I think probably on purpose, it looked like it. Smith was being quite rude about Gryffindor, I expect he regrets that now he's playing them – oh, look, he's lost the Quaffle, Ginny took it from him, I do like her, she's very nice..." (pgs 413-4)
Far from sucking up to Ginny, Luna states plainly and for the record that Ginny purposefully attacked the last Quidditch commentator, Zacharias Smith, and that he may have cause to regret speaking his mind now that he's playing a particularly brutal sport against her and her team! Luna has no desire to to share Zach's fate, but she still intends to freely express her opinion (and therefore fulfill her role as commentator). This is best done through sly, careful humour; Luna handles Ginny in this scene the way Pallas Athena treats The Eumenides in Aeschylus' play of the same name:
I'll not tire of telling you your gifts,
so you can never lodge complaints that I,
a newer god, or men who guard this land
failed to revere such ancient goddesses
and cast you out in exile from our city.
No. But if you respect Persuasion,
holding in reverence that sacred power
whose soothing spell sits on my tongue,
then you should stay. If that's not your wish,
it would be unjust to vent your anger
on this city, injuring its people,
enraged at them from spite. It's up to you—
take your allotted portion of this land,
justly entitled to your share of honour.
Athena is the victor, sweetening a raw deal with honeyed words in dealing with three extremely pissed off, dangerous Furies. (The Eumenides in e-text, if anyone's interested.)
Also, notice that Luna's commentary confuses the Gryffindor players; Harry and Cormac in particular are incapable of paying attention (we know Potter's got Draco on his mind, but what's McLaggen's excuse?). Luna barely mentions the game play-by-play, but does persist on mentioning Zacharias and his "Loser's Lurgy". Despite his inability to keep his hands on the Quaffle, Hufflepuff keep scoring and end up winning the game, 320 to 60.
No friend of Ginny Weasley would ever allow Gryffindor to lose a game! ;)
– "I want to catch him at it!" cries Harry (oo-ee!). But as he can't quite follow Draco about while laid up at Madam Pomfrey's suffering from a cracked skull, he decides to have Kreacher & Dobby do it for him. Funny how it's the free elf who's all obsequious and fawning, while the elf in thrall to Harry manages to retain some small dignity in his utter disgust with his new "Master".
– One of the first things I noticed about this chapter is that the Weasleys were called into Hogwarts due to Ron's poisoning. IIRC, the Grangers were NOT called in when Hermione was petrified in COS. Yet Montague's parents were called in when he was found after the whole vanishing cabinet scenario...so Hogwarts does at times inform parents if a student is ill or hurt.
– "Half our family does seem to owe you their lives, now I stop and think about it," Mr. Weasley said in a constricted voice. "Well, all I can say is that it was a lucky day for the Weasleys when Ron decided to sit in your compartment on the Hogwarts Express, Harry." (pg 404)
Yet Harry's the main reason this family often finds itself endangered, isn't he? Hmmm...
– I don't think I've ever been so goddamn happy to see Hagrid. Not only does he suggest that The Board of Governors will finally shut down Hogwarts for failing to keep the students safe:
Gotta see it from their point o' view," said Hagrid heavily. "I mean, it's always bin a bit of a risk sendin' a kid ter Hogwarts, hasn' it? Yer expect accidents, don' yeh, with hundreds of underage wizards all locked up tergether, but attempted murder, that's different. 'S'no wonder Dumbledore's angry with Sn—" (pgs 404-5)
But he also informs Harry that things are not at all rosy between Dumbles & Snape, who wants out. Like Don Corleone, Dumbles makes offers one cannot refuse:
"Well – I jus' heard Snape sayin' Dumbledore took too much fer granted an' maybe he – Snape – didn' wan' ter do it anymore —"
"Do what?"
"I dunno, Harry, it sounded like Snape was feelin' a bit overworked, tha's all – anyway, Dumbedore told him flat out he'd agreed ter do it an' that was all there was to it. Pretty firm with him..." (pgs 405-6)
Finally, he gets delightfully dissed by Filch, who forgets Hagrid is a professor these days. :D
– Cormac McLaggen is completely unintimidated by Harry, which is interesting. He's a highly competitive bloke: he's keen to take Ron's place in the match, and impresses upon Harry (much to his dismay & aggravation) that he's far more interested in – and aware of – the ins & outs of his team than the captain is. He's definitely one to watch in Book 7.
– Nobody in Gryffindor seems to care much about Ron being poisoned. WHAT A SURPRISE. The kid just can't get a break, can he? Yeah, he was real lucky he met up with Potter on the Hogwarts Express first year! *rolleyes*
– Well, Lavender cares about Ron (much to Harry's dismay and aggravation). But Ron is taking his immense frustrations at being Perpetual Second Best out on her in a rather passive-aggressive way: by pretending to be asleep whenever she comes to visit him. Harry comes over all "If you don't want to go out with her anymore just tell her!", forgetting what happened to Ron last time he pissed a girl off. :o
– The classic line "Harry, however, had never been less interested in Quidditch; he was rapidly becoming obsessed with Draco Malfoy" is found in this chapter, of course, on page 409. And when Harry DOES come across the object of his intense preoccupations, he's kicking back with two underage girlies – we soon find out just how kinky this whole scenario is! – and a snappy comeback for his opponent:
"You'd better hurry up, they'll be waiting for 'the Chosen Captain' – 'the Boy Who Scored' – whatever they call you these days." (pg 412)
Dissed & dismissed, Potter! ;)
– A lot of people take Luna's initial Quidditch match commentary as an indication that she genuinely likes Ginny, or at least feels the need to kiss her arse by saying "She's nice, I like her". But look at the whole paragraph:
"And that's Smith of Hufflepuff with the Quaffle," said a dreamy voice, echoing over the grounds. "He did the commentary last time, of course, and Ginny Weasley flew into him, I think probably on purpose, it looked like it. Smith was being quite rude about Gryffindor, I expect he regrets that now he's playing them – oh, look, he's lost the Quaffle, Ginny took it from him, I do like her, she's very nice..." (pgs 413-4)
Far from sucking up to Ginny, Luna states plainly and for the record that Ginny purposefully attacked the last Quidditch commentator, Zacharias Smith, and that he may have cause to regret speaking his mind now that he's playing a particularly brutal sport against her and her team! Luna has no desire to to share Zach's fate, but she still intends to freely express her opinion (and therefore fulfill her role as commentator). This is best done through sly, careful humour; Luna handles Ginny in this scene the way Pallas Athena treats The Eumenides in Aeschylus' play of the same name:
I'll not tire of telling you your gifts,
so you can never lodge complaints that I,
a newer god, or men who guard this land
failed to revere such ancient goddesses
and cast you out in exile from our city.
No. But if you respect Persuasion,
holding in reverence that sacred power
whose soothing spell sits on my tongue,
then you should stay. If that's not your wish,
it would be unjust to vent your anger
on this city, injuring its people,
enraged at them from spite. It's up to you—
take your allotted portion of this land,
justly entitled to your share of honour.
Athena is the victor, sweetening a raw deal with honeyed words in dealing with three extremely pissed off, dangerous Furies. (The Eumenides in e-text, if anyone's interested.)
Also, notice that Luna's commentary confuses the Gryffindor players; Harry and Cormac in particular are incapable of paying attention (we know Potter's got Draco on his mind, but what's McLaggen's excuse?). Luna barely mentions the game play-by-play, but does persist on mentioning Zacharias and his "Loser's Lurgy". Despite his inability to keep his hands on the Quaffle, Hufflepuff keep scoring and end up winning the game, 320 to 60.
No friend of Ginny Weasley would ever allow Gryffindor to lose a game! ;)
– "I want to catch him at it!" cries Harry (oo-ee!). But as he can't quite follow Draco about while laid up at Madam Pomfrey's suffering from a cracked skull, he decides to have Kreacher & Dobby do it for him. Funny how it's the free elf who's all obsequious and fawning, while the elf in thrall to Harry manages to retain some small dignity in his utter disgust with his new "Master".
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-02-23 05:11 pm (UTC)Naturally Hagrid sees kids ending up in the hospital as serious when it's Malfoy who's doing it. If Ron had been poisoned by one of his stupid animals he'd expect an apology from Ron as soon as he stopped dying.
Also yeah, I do love that the Weasleys note that Harry has saved everyone's life without noting that usually he's the reason they're in danger to begin with. I think that's because they're all such shameless star-fuckers it would never occur to them to do that.
I love hearing Harry lecture on active dating when Cho practically had to knock him out and drag him by the hair during their own romance. But then, that was back in OotP; their romance seems to have been slightly re-written since then.
The Kreacher/Dobby thing always amazes me. Dobby is far more offensive an idea. Kreacher is the house elf with the most dignity. So what is it supposed to mean?
no subject
Date: 2006-02-23 05:37 pm (UTC)They also don't get informed by the school when someone dies during school events, as we learnt in OotP.
I think that's because they're all such shameless star-fuckers it would never occur to them to do that.
This part of the chapter is really creepy. Is it supposed to be romantic or something that Harry will undoubtedly marry into a family who feels they owe him gratitude for life? Besides which, didn't he save
ThunderballOld!Ginny? I'm surprised she doesn't look sassy here and roll her eyes at the very idea of needing to be rescued. Except she knows her place.Dobby is far more offensive an idea.
Love that Dobby, the good elf, is the one getting violent. If there were elf houses, he'd be a Gryffindor.
But yeah, Dobby's like the old slavery myth about how it wouldn't be fair to free the slaves because their innately submissive natures would mean they'd miss their masters, and want to serve them even if they weren't forced to.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-22 01:41 am (UTC)Is that really not supposed to count as discrimination? Muggle parents don't get told anything about their kids?
It's rather blatant, isn't it, how the muggleborn students are treated at Hogwarts (which reflects how muggleborns are seen by the Wizarding World at large). Which is why I find it so amusing that so many fans pillory Draco for his hateful comments towards Hermione; there's nothing particularly wrong-headed with his perspective as it relates to the world he lives in. We in the real world might consider his digs at Hermione to be narrow-minded and bigoted, but in his world he's only guilty of being obvious.
Bringing it back to this chapter, Hermione's white-faced quietude in the face of Ron's convalescence is telling. She depends on the Weasleys as a surrogate family as much as Harry, if not more. Since we know she is "meant" to hook up with Ron (as per the insistence of the author outside the text), Ron's death would be a serious blow to her chances of staying close to the Weasleys – and thereby utilizing any protection their Purebloodedness could provide her. That frightened look in her eyes may well say "There goes my meal ticket."
no subject
Date: 2006-03-25 05:39 pm (UTC)Exactly! I mean, not that it's still bad of him to use words like "Mudblood," but I continue to find it amazing that everyone gets all shocked over that when the entire society seems based on the idea that Muggles are little better than animals, and the most respectful thing you can do for a Muggleborn is to get them away from their embarassing roots. That's also why in weird ways Draco sometimes winds up actually seeming like the least prejudiced against Muggle characters. He treats them less condescendingly or doesn't mention them at all.
That frightened look in her eyes may well say "There goes my meal ticket."
Oh yeah--and I can't get over the fact that she seems to be right. Harry is always welcome in the Weasley house, but Hermione is a guest. She's not family.