PoA Chapter Three

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Sure enough, a few streets away Harry collapses, unable to pull his trunk. Soon he’s panicking since he’s got nowhere to go and has just done serious magic that’s against the law. I’m sure by the end of the series Harry will have learned to control these kinds of impulsive outbursts. It’s not like he’ll come close to killing someone or throw any Crucios or be complimented for same.

While he waits for a deus ex machina, Harry indulges in another “life as an outcast” fantasy. These fantasies actually work early in the series, though, because he still believably feels genuinely powerless.

Props to Harry for his plan to bewitch his trunk, tie it to his broom, cover himself with the cloak and fly to London. Try to imagine DH Harry coming up with a plan that practical and proactive. It can’t be done.

This scene where Harry and Sirius first come face to face is surprisingly touching when you know the end. Except shouldn’t Sirius be stalking the Weasleys instead? Maybe he was just pulled in Harry’s direction because everything revolves around him eventually.

The Knight Bus appears, run by a teenaged, pimply Stan Shunpike, future Death Eater.

Stan drops his professional manner and starts talking in a cockney accent. With a delightful speech pattern like that he could never be evil!

Harry gives his name as Neville Longbottom, which is, like, symbolic because Neville could have been the prophecy boy. And also because we now know that Neville is much more heroic.

Let’s think about Stan for a minute here, since he did become kind of a confusing character for people like me who think the good guys are very often nuts. The only thing we know about Stan’s politics is that he once “bragged” to a girl that he was a DE. Which would indicate he thinks that’s something impressive. But everyone on the good side seemed to dismiss the idea he could be straight off—why? Because Stan’s stupid and bumbling? Aren’t many DEs the same? Because he has an accent and speaks in slang? Like Crabbe and Goyle? Why are people like Harry so convinced he couldn’t join Voldemort based on a few conversations as he drove a bus? Harry’s offended anyone would even investigate him.

Stan refers to the Muggles contemptuously as “Them.” Nope, no possible bigotry there.

Okay, to be fair, being contemptuous of people for not having magic isn’t considered bigotry in this universe. After all, Muggles really are inferior. And they really don’t notice nuffink, they don’—especially when it’s magically invisible. And if they do notice, they don’t remember they did once they’ve been memory charmed. Idiots.

Harry recognizes Sirius from the Muggle news. Again—who is this boy? He saw that news report a week ago. DH Harry can’t place a picture of Grindelwald from one chapter to the next.

Sirius is the most infamous prisoner ever? Is that just because everyone Harry knows must be described in exaggerated terms? Given what we see Wizards do it doesn’t seem like he should be that big a deal.

I love the little dig at Muggle guns here: “a kind of metal wand that Muggles use to kill each other”—as if Wizards don’t use wooden wands to do everything but kill each other several times a day. Muggles are just so violent.

Harry thinks Sirius looks like a vampire. Must be because he’s the sexiest of the Marauders.

Sirius allegedly murdered 13 people with one curse. Kind of puts Avada Kedavra to shame, doesn’t he? How come the DEs weren’t throwing those around in the final battle? Or at the MoM?

Come on, nobody mentions that Sirius was James Potter’s best friend? Wouldn’t that be part of the story any time it was told? Given how interested people allegedly are in the minutia of Harry’s life you’d think all the stories would include that. But it’s like everyone’s interested in Harry and not at all interested in anybody with any relationship to him except briefly Hermione. (And even she gets forgotten soon enough.)

Harry refers to Hagrid as one of the bravest people he knows. Hmmm. He’s also the stupidest. I think the two are related.

Of course Hagrid’s braveness will be outstripped by Snape, the bravest man Harry ever knew blah blah blah.

Harry worries on the bus about whether he’ll be put in jail for what he did. In a shocking twist, no one immediately appears to take the focus off his own wrongdoing and put it on someone wronging him. He actually sits there thinking that he’s in trouble without drowning it in thoughts of how justified he was and the pleasure he feels at Aunt Marge’s suffering. Who is this kid?

I guess part of growing up is growing out of that childish notion that everyone might not validate your rightness all the time.

Don’t worry, this Harry hasn’t gone completely insane. He’s not, like, worried about Aunt Marge or feeling disturbed by the loss of control, whatever the cause. He’s not disturbed by the kind of violence his rage wrought or planning to control himself in the future. But just the fact that he’s expecting punishment without getting all the more angry and therefore getting even angrier at Aunt Marge herself is, well, strange for Harry.

Fudge assures Harry Marge’s memory has been modified. For some reason they don’t modify the Dursleys’ memories. As badly as the Dursleys behave, they do somehow get themselves better treatment than most Muggles. Maybe constantly lobotomizing the Dursleys would be too creepy even for JKR.

Harry actually reminds Fudge he ought to be punished. Just think about that for a second. Harry’s reminded someone he *ought to be punished.*

Fudge explains that justice in the Wizarding World is completely based on who you know and what they need from you at the moment, and right now Fudge wants to suck up to him. Harry’s fragile sense of accountability gives up the ghost, never to be seen again.

The shocks just keep coming. Harry thinks it’s unusual that the Minister of Magic would get involved in a matter of underage magic. By DH he’d find it odd if the Minister of Magic wasn’t involved in anything Harry did.

Fudge refuses to sign Harry’s permission slip for Hogsmeade, though, because he’s not his parent or guardian and rules are rules even if laws are suggestions. W.T.F.?

I’m assuming his refusal is really a hint that he’s trying to keep him at school because of Sirius, but I love that it can be hidden because this is actually believable in this world, that the MoM would have powers that extend to arbitrarily applying laws to suit himself, but not so far as to signing school permission slips.

Hedwig’s waiting for Harry. She’s a very smart owl. Just not smart enough to ditch Harry before she gets killed.


Things that happen twice:

We hear again about Hedwig being an awesome pet who loves Harry because of the animal theme—a theme that also applies to Sirius the animagus too.

Harry dreams of a life of woe after his mistake, much like he did in PS/SS after he went after Neville’s Rememberall.

This is the second time Harry gets hauled in for underaged magic so that we can see that Fudge is giving him special treatment.

The first of many false name scenes. This time Harry gives his name as Neville Longbottom, the other boy born at the end of July to people who thrice defied Voldemort.

By the end of this chapter Harry has already worried far more about getting in trouble for accidentally blowing up Aunt Marge than he worried about accidentally eviscerating Malfoy. For those who think he shows no development.

It’s a gun. No it isn’t! It’s Chekov! No it isn’t!

Stan Shunpike
Status: If you think it was fired you're probably a bad guy. He's so obviously innocent!
Stan winds up some sort of poster child for unfair arrests, but might also be one of the few people in Potter history arrested while actually being guilty.

Sirius Black
Status: Fired.
Remember when his name was mentioned in PS/SS? Bang!

Ripper
Status: Fired.
When Snape sees this memory in Harry’s head we can totally say, OMG, I remember that story about Ripper from back in PoA!





Atomic Grenade
Invented by Peter Pettigrew, apparently.

"Fruit Cart, Fruit Cart!"
I’m sure plenty of fruit went rolling when the carts jumped out of the way of the Knight Bus.

Idiot World
Seriously, the Minister of Magic shouldn’t be getting involved in cases of underage magic. Yes, even if the kid was involved with some weirdness involving Voldemort or is possibly being stalked by the prisoner you’re trying to capture only for some reason you don’t just tell him that.

IITS
I guess maybe Peter just never taught the other DEs how to easily take out a dozen people with one spell without even aiming at them.

Nut o’ Fun
If Harry’s got to sit and stew about his problems, he might as well do it in a purple bus with magical powers.

Jabutoo Score: 5

Comments

[horridporrid.livejournal.com]

What South Park does, though, is let the kids keep their values and recognize that the adults are doing something crazy. Well, really what South Park does differently is grasp the points they're making. ;P

But I'd been thinking about what JKR could have done differently to keep the series on track (thinking the issue began after PoA, a vague idea of Harry going to live with either Sirius or Lupin at the end of PoA began forming), and really, what was needed here (or in the next chapter) is a responsible voice. (Arthur Weasley?) Just, someone to reinforce what Harry's thinking at this moment: letting his anger get the best of him, using his superior power to hurt someone weaker than him, is a bad thing.

I read the Left Behind discussions on slacktavist and it just kind of got into this, how they basically take the view that unchecked power is okay, as long as the right person is holding it.

Oh, hah! I actually have one of those books (father-in-law knew I was in to fantasy type stories, went to the bookstore, asked for a recommendation -- sometimes that can be dangerous, depending on where you are *g*) but just could not make myself read it. ;)

Honestly, I almost doubt JKR put much thought into how power should be treated. I mean, a vague sense that it was dangerous (ambition is bad) but never really defined (witness: the Elder Wand) and a sort of unexamined idea that the best thing to do is avoid it all as much as possible. (We never do see Harry use his power to do anything, do we? I mean, outside of interviews where JKR handwaves her "they fix it!" wand.)

And grabbing from above...

We hear about these trappings that are supposed to signal Nazi but really it's a personal rivalry between two special wizards.

It really is all personal isn't it? Which, the entire thing with WW2 is how the personal got set aside to fight a bigger foe, face down a bigger cause. And that's usually how these stories turn out. Personal gets put aside so that actual evil gets faced down. Harry should have had to work with Draco and Snape because sometimes things are bigger than school issues. Only here, school issues are the only ones worth facing. (Who cares about this house-elf slavery thing... what house grabbed the House Cup?!?)