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

[elanor-x.livejournal.com]

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.

I still don't see a compelling reason for the utterly different treatment from last year. Did the letter from the ministry in CoS come from ordinary small ministry workers, who didn't notify Fudge and so didn't know Harry should get special treatment? Or does Fudge simply feel too flustered now with Black and all to care about punishing Harry?

When was Sirius's name mentioned in PS/SS? *curious*

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.

I wonder whether he knows the charm to make the trunk feather-light since in DH only Hermione dealt with such matters.

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.

Don't forget it's actually believable since the school is under DD's control and Fudge is still mainly his pawn, the Minister's awakening / Judas-like betrayal / The Lapse [depending on one's pov] to come only at the end of GoF.

I am 100% sure it's a hint. In the movie Harry asks McGonagall for the slip, when everybody else is leaving for the village, and she refuses, looking at him sadly. Imo PoA film too tried to hint at the true motive at keeping Harry at school.

Don’t worry, this Harry hasn’t gone completely insane.

Oh, I didn't. ;) I didn't think about the strangeness of Harry not gleefully dwelling on Marge's punishment, but did notice that to ask the Minister for the slip a minute after being horrified of jail, Harry did have to possess some audacity.

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?

Peter "just" made the asphalt explode, killing 13 Muggles in the process, didn't he? Had the DEs thrown such curses, they would have killed their own.

[sunnyskywalker]

When was Sirius's name mentioned in PS/SS?

When Hagrid showed up on the flying motorcycle, he mentioned that he borrowed it from Sirius. I guess because Sirius was giving away his prized possessions before running off to (he planned) go out in a blaze of glory bringing down Pettigrew. So it's actually a nice touch!

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

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.

But, he betrayed his BFF and BFF's wife to Voldemort, something no other wizard would even consider. And he laughed about it. And he murdered another friend in cold blood, making the Aurors squick over the one remaining finger. And he killed twelve Muggles, just missing a Baker's dozen. And he's... ah, he's... oh, yeah, escaped from Stalag 13! Klink's in an uproar and Burkhalter's on his way to send dear Otto to the Russian Front. The entire WW likes Klink. This is all Sirius's fault.

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.

That's because Mentor!Fudge just gave Harry the secret he will need in order to do increasingly nefarious things and get away with it - he now knows that even the Minister for Magic will overlook any slight in order to get on his good side.

Fudge needs his face washed in, er, fudge.

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

It's...... (drumroll)

Stan Shunpike

[sunnyskywalker]

we now know that Neville is much more heroic.

You know, considering that Neville destroyed the last Horcrux and made it possible for Harry & co. to a) destroy the cup with the fangs and b) find the tiara because his resistance movement helped Harry out, I think he ought to get co-credit for being Prophecy Boy. Harry couldn't have done it without him. Maybe Dumbledore actually did think Neville was the real prophecy boy and set up Harry as a diversion, come to think of it. Marked as an equal? Dumbledore says the scar is that mark, and Voldy went after Harry because he considered him the real threat... but this is Dumbledore. Maybe Voldemort went after the target he could reach first, that being the one who's parents' friend was his spy. Harry got a soul-bit and some powers, but that didn't make him V's equal except maybe in poor planning skills. Neville was left untouched and alive to carry on - which is more than V could say for himself! - because Voldemort avoided him as the harder target. I've almost convinced myself... On the other hand, I like the idea of Neville being all, "Prophecies? I don't need no stinking prophecies to be awesome! I worked for that."

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.

They have no one but themselves to blame for how he turned out. Maybe Dumbledore had a point about not wanting Harry to end up spoiled... not that he couldn't have stashed Harry somewhere other than the Dursleys' if he wanted.

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?

This whole book is a bit weird about people not mentioning James's best friends. That new teacher who's the right age to have been at Hogwarts when James was there? Doesn't mention he even knew James for ages, and no one else does either. You'd think Hagrid would say something, at least. ("Harry, did Professor Lupin tell you about that time your dad turned Professor Snape upside down?") No one mentions poor, heroically dead Pettigrew either until Harry overhears it months later, and Fudge apparently knew almost nothing about it - despite being on the case back then! (Wizards really need to work on their detective skills.) You'd think Harry would at least get a sanitized version about the friend who tried to protect him and his parents and got killed by an unspecified Death Eater.

[sunnyskywalker]

I wonder why no one ever considered Sirius being under Imperius? Wasn't that causing the Ministry tons of trouble, no one knew whom to trust, etc.? It's not like everyone was personally Imperiused by Voldemort, so they wouldn't all have just snapped out of it when he died - that's just what the DEs said in court. Or Sirius could have had some "modifications" done to his mind, a la the Grangers. He could have been an unfortunate pawn who had his personality re-written by Bellatrix, for all anyone knows. Maybe it's supposed to be another sign of Crouch's corruption?

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure about the change in attitude either, tbh. I do think it may just be that last year's case was business as usual while now Fudge was interested in Harry already because of Sirius.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

LOL! Just adding Klink in an uproar seriously improves the chapter.

[oryx_leucoryx]

Every line in this spork is made of so much win I would have had to quote it in its entirety, just inserting a laugh track. I loved the contrast between Harry's personality here and in HBP/DH. Thanks for reminding me what there was ever to like about the boy.

Flagging down the Knight Bus requires a wand. Are underage wizards allowed to do so?

Stan Shunpike - his age is given as 21 in HBP (around September) so he is 18 now. And he does not recognize Harry, so either he managed to not see him in the last 2 years or he left school at 16. (Which House was he in? That should solve the DE-or-not dilemma. Hey, the two other canon characters with the initials SS were Slytherins.)

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.

That's because he was a traitor, the only true unforgivable offense in Rowling's world.

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

No, that's because he must be as evil as Severus.

BTW Ernie mentions the Azkaban guards give him the collywobbles. Harry gets some foreshadowing without learning the guards are soul-sucking monsters.

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.

But Severus is a Slytherin, so he is brave but not stupid. :)

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.

There is no need to Obliviate the Dursleys because they know Harry is magical. And remembering what he can do might scare them into behaving. (Or provoke them further. Whichever suits the plot.)

Fudge will bring the Aunt-blowing-up incident again in Harry's trial in OOTP. Also, in HBP we will see the Muggle Prime Minister's side of the Sirius Black story.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Harry couldn't have done it without Neville...I'm not at all sure Neville couldn't have done it all without Harry. In fact, I think he would have done it a lot better. And it's not like Neville couldn't be counted on to walk to his death to save others any less than Harry could.

Maybe Voldemort are both equals because Neville would pwn both of them?

Love that Dumbledore basically gave him to the Dursleys so that Wizards could spoil him later without responsibility.

Seriously, the story about the Marauders ought to have been front page news for months--maybe people would be writing about it for years. But then, nobody even gives Sirius a trial they were so uninterested in his possible motives. It's like once Harry was born they lost interest in anyone who had anything to do with him, even though those were the people far more responsible for what happened.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Which House was he in? That should solve the DE-or-not dilemma. Hey, the two other canon characters with the initials SS were Slytherins.)

Interesting question. On one hand it seems like he must have gone, but otoh I feel like he didn't just because it seems like one of those times where the cockney bus driver didn't go to the boarding school.

Fudge will bring the Aunt-blowing-up incident again in Harry's trial in OOTP. Also, in HBP we will see the Muggle Prime Minister's side of the Sirius Black story.

Ah yes--thanks! It is satisfying when these things refer to each other, even if it's not actually adding up to anything.

[oryx_leucoryx]

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.

Well, they do collapse that bridge in HBP (and a different one in the movie).

But IMO Peter's status was for the most part a bit like Fenrir's - he was an outside associate, with a single task. I believe he only got his Dark Mark after becoming the Potters' Secret Keeper because being seen with a tattoo that resembled the sign DEs sent up on sites of attack would have raised suspicions. But then I try desperately to hold on to a smart!Voldemort because stupid enemies are lame.

[oryx_leucoryx]

Interesting question. On one hand it seems like he must have gone, but otoh I feel like he didn't just because it seems like one of those times where the cockney bus driver didn't go to the boarding school.

He does have a wand in DH, and we know that even penniless orphans can attend Hogwarts. But he may have been homeschooled, as the Gaunts may have been in their time.

[sunnyskywalker]

Neville would have mobilized the DA and the Order to track down the Horcruxes and destroy them efficiently from day one. He doesn't have Harry's problem of thinking he has to do everything alone. Plus, he had the courage to stand up to his only friends (well, sorta friends) when he was eleven, so he might have at least been able to ask Dumbledore more questions back in HBP. ("Sir, would it be possible to go through all these memories in a weekend? I'd like more time to practice methods for destroying them once we find them. How do you destroy a Horcrux, by the way?") Trusting someone without blindly following orders - what a concept! And yeah, if he spent the year getting beaten up to take the heat off other kids, I think we could count on him to do the death march if necessary. (He might try to see if a Dementor could suck the fragment out first, though. Or ask Luna about sneaking into the Ministry while no one's there during the battle and sticking his head through the Veil.)

Going from a house where he can't do anything right to a school where he can't do anything wrong would mess with any kid's head.

You know, given how Hermione read up on who's who in the wizarding world before starting Hogwarts, it's odd she didn't check the Prophet archives for more background on Famous Harry and Voldemort. Since they weren't in hiding yet, wouldn't there be a notice on Lily and James's marriage (since Eileen and Tobias got one!) with a mention of their best man Sirius? An article about the shocking event when the notable old pureblooded Black family disowned their Gryffindor son, who moved in wtih his cousins the Potters? And like you said, stories about the whole Halloween incident for months? When something like that happens, people always start trying to figure out why. Maybe Crouch Obliviated everyone so they wouldn't question the lack of a trial.

[sunnyskywalker]

I think you're probably right about Peter being Voldemort's secret weapon, so to speak. The DEs didn't even know who all the DEs and DE associates were, to minimize the chance of getting everyone caught, and that tattoo would be suspicious. (But maybe they hide it with cosmetic spells at the office?)

At least Pettigrew is a reasonably smart villain, for all his cringing and whining (which may be partly an act). I mean, he actually accomplishes his goals half the time! He successfully keeps his double agent status hidden for a year, frames Sirius and escapes, convinces Harry to spare him and escapes, finds Voldemort and delivers Bertha Jorkins with her intel to him, resurrects Voldemort... he isn't able to get himself a comfy life, and it ends badly, but compared to the others he has a great track record. Maybe Voldemort appreciated him more before that final soul-split and death incident, because it seems like he was more effective back then.

[eir-de-scania.livejournal.com]

"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?"

The wizworld just doesn't make sense. A few thousand that are intermarried, interrelated, goes to the same school, have dealings with each other... Still, no-one remember Remus Lupin as the old school friend to the famous James Potter? No-one remember James and Severus being enemies at school, while Lily and Severus being friends until late in their fifth year?

[sunnyskywalker]

Must be because Rita Skeeter wasn't writing yet. No one else in the whole wizarding world notices who's associating with whom, but she knows Harry spends a lot of time with Hermione and Dumbledore. If she'd been on the job fifteen years ago, we'd be hearing all about the Lily/James/Severus triangle, the mysterious cover-up regarding the Shack, and the shocking tale of Sirius Black. (She'd probably attribute it to Sirius's supposed unrequited crush on James or something, but at least we'd hear about it!)

Wizards have the weirdest tunnel vision.

[oryx_leucoryx]

But we do see Rita in Bagman's trial. Maybe she was just a beginner then. Maybe she was still getting edited. (ducks and runs)

[sunnyskywalker]

That must be it! The editors didn't see what Dumbledore's teen associations had to do with anything, or care what Bagman did off the Quidditch field. So she kept notes, learned to turn into a beetle, and waited XD

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

I think he ought to get co-credit for being Prophecy Boy. Harry couldn't have done it without him.

Nah, Harry owes the most to Draco Malfoy. Seriously. It was Draco who became master of the biggest deus ex machina of them all Elder Wand and who then allowed Harry to slap his wands out of his hands after almost getting killed by Dobby's freeing the chandelier at Malfoy Manor, after all.

Harry's crossed-fingers-hope-I'm-master-of-the-Elder-Wand ploy would have failed miserably without Draco. (And Dobby.)

[sunnyskywalker]

Good point! They'll have to share the credit three ways.

I bet Draco knows his wandlore, too...

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

I just love the snark in these reviews; you're taking such wonderful advantage of knowing what's to come and contrasting this novel with the huge fall in quality as the series progressed. It's great fun to read! :-)

While he waits for a deus ex machina ...

Hee. :-)

Why, though, did we enjoy the first few books of the series, when they, too, were riddled with one-shot wonders? (Is the Knight Bus ever used again (much)?).

I know our hatred for DH is justified in how Rowling just dropped any pretence at quality or common sense and went to town on the use of the dei ex machinis, saturating DH with them, but even the early books fit the pattern of at least one never-seen-before gimmick being hauled out at the very end to finish the story and save Harry. Why weren't we screaming back then?

Try to imagine DH Harry coming up with a plan that practical and proactive. It can’t be done.

Good God, no. No, DH!Harry would sit in a tent and wait months until one day he makes a horribly huge and stupid mistake, like saying that Taboo word.

Harry’s offended anyone would even investigate him.

Given how he's NEVER taken to task for that - not even Hermione suggests that the Ministry might be correct, or at least that due process could be followed in investigating claims that Stan's a DE - I guess we're supposed to assume that Stan is innocent. Since the series - and its moral centre - revolves around Harry.

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.

HA HA HA!!! *applause*

These reviews carry two separate payloads ... criticism of PoA but also condemnation of the desperate measures Rowling took in trying to jury-rig the ending of the series.

It's so sad that she felt forced to write Harry as being so dumb in DH just so she could get her plot to go where she wanted it to go.

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?

Magic really got frozen - or regressed - after book 5, didn't it? In HBP they kids all start learning how to do non-verbal spells (Harry's fairly incompetent in this new skill) but in DH the magic is all pedestrian, 4th year stuff. Polyjuice and invisibility cloak and polyjuice and invisibility cloak and Expelliarmus and polyjuice and ...

In a 'real' book - or fanfic - magic wouldn't be frozen at fourth year level. The Trio would have come across some post-seventh-year magic that completely outclassed them, end of story.

Come on, nobody mentions that Sirius was James Potter’s best friend?

That's interesting, because I *do* think that Rowling knew the story arc of her first few books back at the start; they hang together so much more than the last two or three (which are quite detached and have no real foreshadowing). I guess her huge drive to keep her secrets until the last chapter might have interfered with laying down some more talk of Sirius before PoA?

[oryx_leucoryx]

He had Ollivander in the dungeon of his own home since before leaving for school in HBP. Maybe he managed to chat him up a bit? Maybe he threw that Expelliarmus on the tower expressly in hope of gaining mastery of Dumbledore's wand (even without knowing it was the Elder Wand that was a smart move). And then gave Harry the mastery over a bunch of wands.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

It is kind of interesting to realize how the magic shifts--mostly I guess because of course it was never planned out in a way to get everybody more adept at magic. Like, in many fantasy books you'd have a progression going somewhere. Here it's just kind of mimicking a school year with everybody learning...stuff. The closest we get to a class that actually seems harder or more advanced is the NEWT Potions, but even there they're pretty much doing the same things.

My favorite is always the Patronus, which of course gets introduced in this book, because sometimes it's supposed to be way hard to the point where people are impressed Harry can produce a corporal one in OotP (oddly not so much in PoA when he does it in front of a crowd...), at the same time Harry himself is teaching a roomful of students to do them, and most of the students are pretty average. Meanwhile according to JKR the Patronus is "so advanced" they don't even teach it at Hogwarts, the only school. So why do most characters have one? I think on her website somebody asked what Draco's was and she said he'd have no idea how to produce one--maybe even wouldn't know what one was? But Aberforth and Umbridge and Ernie are zapping them around no problem? Why is it so advanced?

Re: Sirius I do think it's definitely about keeping the secret. I mean, the whole book really turns on it. First he's just a crazy murderer. Then Harry learns he's after him. Then he learns he killed his parents/was his dad's best friend. But it's only in that one conversation that McGonagall suddenly starts talking about them as people she knew well as students. She's all "they were never apart!" Wouldn't that have been in all the papers?

[oryx_leucoryx]

You'd think Hagrid would say something, at least. ("Harry, did Professor Lupin tell you about that time your dad turned Professor Snape upside down?")

I think Hagrid is supposed to be uncomfortable about the James/Severus history. In PS when Harry says Snape hates him Hagrid is quick to deny it but Harry thinks Hagrid is avoiding his eyes. The other teachers of course avoid the issue - they aren't that close with Harry, Severus is both a former student and a colleague. Maybe they gossip privately about Severus' interactions with Harry and whether they are related to his memories of James but never in front of Harry (not even accidentally).

[oryx_leucoryx]

The Patronus was used originally to repel dementors and since 1782 also Lethifolds. Up until POA the only people exposed to dementors were Azkaban prisoners, jailers and some Ministry workers dealing with dangerous prisoners. So perhaps it was a spell normally learned and used only by people in those Ministry positions (Umbridge's Patronus protects other courtroom staff but they don't conjure their own ones). Dumbledore adapted the spell to serve for sending messages and taught the modified spell to the Order members. Most people have no idea what a Patronus is when they see Harry's in the Quidditch game (or Dumbledore's in the previous game, for that matter). Later Harry teaches the DA (and maybe in DH they practiced it when Hogsmeade got swarmed with them). Casting a Patronus isn't actually that hard but being able to cast it under adverse conditions, such as while being attacked by dementors, is.