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pauraque_bkPoA 21: Hermione's Secret
Okay, that just sounds like a dirty mail-order catalog.
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neotoma has pointed out, if Snape really thinks they were Confunded, he's being very charitable. However, given that he goes right on to blame them after saying they aren't to blame, I doubt that what he says here is entirely sincere. He's making himself appear charitable to the Minister.
I was puzzled at first why he gagged Sirius, but it makes sense: He didn't want him to be capable of an incantation.
The time travel device is troublesome for a couple of reasons. One is that it's a deus ex machina -- groundwork is laid for it, in Hermione's exhaustion and odd class schedule, but... what does it have to do with the rest of the book?
Another is that it calls into question one of the primary themes of the series, that our choices make us who we are. Dumbledore warns them seriously that they must not be seen, they must not change anything but what he tells them, etc., but once they actually go back, there's no indication that they can change anything -- they're merely fulfilling the course that's already set for them. If they'd made any small accidental change -- any at all -- I'd have less of a problem with the whole thing.
Narratively, it's a stumbling block. The emotional climax is clearly the Shrieking Shack, and on first reading, I thought the book took a bit too long to end after that. After that catharsis, introducing a major plot point was somewhat exhausting.
My assumption is that the time travel element will be very important later on in the series -- the Knight2King theory, or something equally huge -- or else JKR wouldn't have bothered introducing it at all. But considering PoA as a stand-alone novel, this chapter just doesn't feel as tightly woven-in as the rest of the book.
Past re-read posts are here.
Okay, that just sounds like a dirty mail-order catalog.
'Black had bewitched them, I saw it immediately. A Confundus Charm, to judge by their behaviour. [...] They weren't responsible for their actions. On the other hand, their interference might have permitted Black to escape [...] They've got away with a great deal before now ... I'm afraid it's given them a rather high opinion of themselves [...]' (283)As
neotoma has pointed out, if Snape really thinks they were Confunded, he's being very charitable. However, given that he goes right on to blame them after saying they aren't to blame, I doubt that what he says here is entirely sincere. He's making himself appear charitable to the Minister.'And yet -- is it good for [Harry] to be given so much special treatment? Personally I try to treat him like any other student[...]' (283)Of course, this isn't entirely sincere either (or if it is, Snape is very unaware of his own behavior). However, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a kernel of truth in it: Failing to teach Harry self-control could prove extremely dangerous, not just to Harry, but to the world in general.
'[...]I bound and gagged Black, naturally, conjured stretchers and brought them all straight back to the castle.' (284)While our heroes had no problem dragging Snape along with his head knocking against the ceiling (277), he gave them the consideration of stretchers. Admittedly, he wants to make a good impression on the authorities, but still.
I was puzzled at first why he gagged Sirius, but it makes sense: He didn't want him to be capable of an incantation.
'You surely don't believe a word of Black's story?' Snape whispered, his eyes fixed on Dumbledore's face.Ouch. Snape's desire for Dumbledore's support and approval is very much palpable here -- Snape is asking Dumbledore to choose between him and prodigal-son Sirius, and Dumbledore's choice is very clear.
'I wish to speak to Harry and Hermione alone,' Dumbledore repeated.
Snape took a step towards Dumbledore.
'Sirius Black showed he was capable of murder at the age of sixteen,' he breathed. 'You haven't forgotten that, Headmaster? You haven't forgotten that he once tried to kill me?'
'My memory is as good as it ever was, Severus,' said Dumbledore quietly. (286-287)
Harry moved his head a few inches to get a clear view of the distant front doors. Dumbledore, Fudge, the old Committee member and Macnair the executioner were coming down the steps. (292)We're pretty evidently supposed to think that this Dumbledore, Chapter16!Dumbledore, knows that it's Harry and Hermione who have made off with Buckbeak. If he doesn't, his reaction is very strange.
'It was tied here!' said the executioner furiously. 'I saw it! Just here!'
'How extraordinary,' said Dumbledore. There was a note of amusement in his voice.
[...]
'Macnair, if Buckbeak has indeed been stolen, do you really think the thief will have led him away on foot?' said Dumbledore, still sounding amused. 'Search the skies, if you will ... Hagrid, I could do with a cup of tea. Or a large brandy.' (294)
There was a swishing noise, and the thud of an axe. The executioner seemed to have swung it into the fence in anger. And then came the howling, and this time they could hear Hagrid's words through his sobs. (294)This is around where I start to get a tachyon headache. It seems that even in Chapter 16, Buckbeak was never really executed, which is consistent with the way the time travel device is presented throughout the chapter.
'Here comes Lupin!' said Harry, as they saw another figure sprinting down the stone steps and haring towards the Willow. Harry looked up at the sky. Clouds were obscuring the moon completely. (296)Again, this is nonsense. JKR's editor should have gotten this one.
'What happened to the other boy? Ron?' said Sirius urgently. (303)As soon as Sirius is set to escape, his mind clears enough to think of Ron's safety. However, I suspect he's wondering if Peter's curse killed him, not whether he's all right after being dragged off and having his leg broken by Padfoot.
The time travel device is troublesome for a couple of reasons. One is that it's a deus ex machina -- groundwork is laid for it, in Hermione's exhaustion and odd class schedule, but... what does it have to do with the rest of the book?
Another is that it calls into question one of the primary themes of the series, that our choices make us who we are. Dumbledore warns them seriously that they must not be seen, they must not change anything but what he tells them, etc., but once they actually go back, there's no indication that they can change anything -- they're merely fulfilling the course that's already set for them. If they'd made any small accidental change -- any at all -- I'd have less of a problem with the whole thing.
Narratively, it's a stumbling block. The emotional climax is clearly the Shrieking Shack, and on first reading, I thought the book took a bit too long to end after that. After that catharsis, introducing a major plot point was somewhat exhausting.
My assumption is that the time travel element will be very important later on in the series -- the Knight2King theory, or something equally huge -- or else JKR wouldn't have bothered introducing it at all. But considering PoA as a stand-alone novel, this chapter just doesn't feel as tightly woven-in as the rest of the book.
Past re-read posts are here.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-28 01:00 pm (UTC)The question is, of course, how will it show up, and to what purpose? And what, if anything, was it's greater purpose in the earlier parts of the book?
I think the answer to the second question has to do with Hermione. Because of her sleepiness, she did out-of-character things that we later see as very much a part of what Hermione is willing and capable of. Slapping Draco, yelling at Trelawney and walking out of class - these things are not what 11- or 12- year old Hermione would have done in those situations, but 14- and especially 15- year old Hermione would have. Draco's lucky that she lost her cool at this point and not later on - she would have toasted him.
Her unwillingness to test the limits of what she could do with the Time-Turner is evidence, however, of her restraint at this point. She could get more sleep, for instance, if she turned back time in the mornings. But she doesn't. She could have "saved" Scabbers, she could have found out how Sirius was getting into the castle, and any number of other things. The importance of *not* doing those things wasn't really impressed on her - it was just the idea that changing time could be dangerous that stopped her. The idea of breaking the law. Dumbledore might have given McGonagall the idea to let her have the Time-Turner as a way of seeing what she would do with that kind of power in her hands every day. And at the end, showing her that sometimes breaking the law and bending the rules can be necessary to save people or otherwise do good is a way of letting Hermione loosen up a bit, and ultimately unleash the more "brilliant but scary" side of herself.
Overall, the Time-Turner as the major plot device in this book (other than the Map, and Animagus tranfiguration) serves as a clue to the major theme of this book - looking into the past. In order for the series to move forward, for Voldemort to return and for war to break out in OotP, the past has to be dealt with. Sirius' return and eventual death are what distinguish this war from the first. Harry is not James - from this point on, that has to be stressed again and again, and with book 6, he gets to move past that part. The Time-Turner is a metaphor for the way time changes things and evens the playing field.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-28 02:02 pm (UTC)And I do think that the time-turner events here are an important part of that progression. Harry has spent the past three years being told by other people that he's just like his father. Sometimes it embarrasses him, but he's begun to believe it himself.
Only by seeing his time-displaced self does he get the opportunity to see that similarity as an outside observer might. And he mistakes himself for James. And then he gets to put his feet in the other guy's shoes, when he discovers it's him. Ultimately it allows him to get over the Harry-is-James-reborn thing and get back to making the best possible job of being Harry. It allows him to find Sirius's harking on about the past and mistaking him for his father in OotP disturbing and unsettling, rather than a compliment.
Also, it gives him the confidence to finally pull off the Patronus spell properly, because he now knows he can and there's no room for self-doubt, even if the spell is supposed to be too advanced for his current level of magical proficiency. That's important for later books, because Harry is not the world's best student, so the things he's going to excel in and pursue obsessively are going to be the things that he has a proven knack for.
(I have more to say on the subject of time travel as espoused by PoA, but am somewhat sleep deprived so will try to get around to it tomorrow when I'm feeling more coherent.)