Odds and ends :: CoS 5

[pauraque_bk]

-Happy birthday, robkaiote!

-In case anyone hasn't seen, there's a new election animation up at JibJab. And yes, it's slashy. John/John otp!!

-The "unpopular fandom opinions" meme seems to be going around again. I don't know if this is an unpopular enough opinion to count, but I'll tell you something that bugs me: I don't like it when writers complain in public about certain kinds of feedback. Maybe some folks get enough reader response that they feel they can afford to be picky, but not everyone is so fortunate. I think seeing that sort of complaint can put readers off feedbacking anyone, ever, for fear that what they say won't be adequate or appreciated. Comes under the category of "ruining it for the rest of us", in my book.

*

For me, the highlight of Chapter 4 was the suggestion by eponis that Lucius was also being manipulated by the diary. Fic, please?


CoS 5: The Whomping Willow

Harry gave a hollow laugh. 'The Dursleys haven't given me pocket money for about six years.' (55)

What does a six-year-old need with an allowance?

Also, the Grangers are shown in Chapter 4 changing Muggle money for wizard. You'd think Harry would get wise to the fact that he can do the opposite next time he's in Diagon Alley.

'Aaargh!' said Ron[...] (60)

This got a bad laugh from me. The onomatopoeia is bad enough, but "said"? She can do better, and she will, but it'll take a few more books. (She also attributes to Ron a gratuitous "AAAAAAAAAAARGH NOOOOOOOOOOO!" in PoA.)

'Can you believe our luck?' said Ron miserably, bending down to pick up Scabbers the rat. (60)

Scabbers has nothing to do in this book, but has been mentioned several times already. JKR doesn't want us to forget about him. Also, this entire chapter exists the way it does to introduce the Willow for PoA.

For a few horrible seconds he had feared the hat was going to put him in Slytherin, the house which had turned out more dark witches and wizards than any other -- but he had ended up in Gryffindor, along with Ron, Hermione and the rest of the Weasleys. Last term, Harry and Ron had helped Gryffindor win the House Championship, beating Slytherin for the first time in seven years. (61)

And what's Hermione, chopped liver? Leaving her out after mentioning her just a sentence before seems strange... if it means anything, perhaps it's that Harry doesn't have as strong a sense of them as a group of three as he will later, but is more focused on Ron, with whom he's been friends longer.

This bit of exposition also corrects Hagrid's assertion from PS/SS that *all* dark wizards come from Slytherin.

'Silence!' said Snape coldly. 'What have you done with the car?'
Ron gulped. This wasn't the first time Snape had given Harry the impression of being able to read minds. (62)

Which he isn't, here, but of course we now know he can. Perceptiveness on Harry's part, clever foreshadowing on JKR's.

'[...]I believe your father works in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office?' [Snape] said, looking up at Ron and smiling still more nastily. 'Dear, dear ... his own son ...' (62-63)

Another scene that plays startlingly differently in the movie. Movie!Snape seems genuinely agonized that the boys have posed a security risk. Book!Snape is "cold", but also smirkingly delighted at the prospect of getting them into trouble (in the film, that role is transferred to Filch). When Dumbledore refuses to expel them, Snape looks "as though Christmas had been cancelled" (64).

There was a long silence. Then Dumbledore said, 'Please explain why you did this.'
It would have been better if he had shouted. Harry hated the disappointment in his voice. (64)

What's going through Dumbledore's mind here? Why is he so gravely disappointed by this incident? What the boys did was stupid, but certainly innocently-intentioned... Or does Dumbledore believe they were showing off, as Snape does (62), and as it's suggested that McGonagall does (65)? Doesn't want to see Harry's fame going to his head?

[Dumbledore:] 'I must go back to the feast, Minerva, I've got to give out a few notices. Come, Severus, there's a delicious-looking custard tart I want to sample.'
Snape shot a look of pure venom at Harry and Ron as he allowed himself to be swept out of his office, leaving them alone with Professor McGonagall, who was still eyeing them like a wrathful eagle. (64-65)

She then leaves them alone in Snape's office to eat, which seems somewhat presumptuous. Snape is very definitely treated as the other teachers' junior in this scene, which of course he is.


Past re-read posts are here.

Comments

[arwencordelia.livejournal.com]

I just wish authors would say exactly what they mean when they put "I want feedback" messages on their sites

Yes! I usually try to leave a reason why I liked something, or at least say what I liked the most, and have still managed to offend someone (it turned out, the aspect of a story I liked was not an "important" aspect of the story). On the other hand, some authors feel that minimal feedback is meaningless, and that's certainly the kind of thing I would like to know about ahead of time; I mean, if I know that the reaction to an "I liked this" will be "you shouldn't have bothered", then I'll know not to bother, y'know?

I wholeheartedly agree with pauraque's opinion that this sort of thing ruins it for the rest of us.

[pauraque]

Yeah, that was actually what I was thinking of when I mentioned it. A negative reaction to con-crit is frustrating, but understandable -- a negative reaction to positive feedback that just doesn't meet the writer's ideal of what positive feedback should be... whew. I'd just give up at that point.

The problem is that I know for a fact that some readers don't just give up on the particular writer who smacked them down, but give up on sending feedback altogether. It's not just puzzling behavior, but actually destructive.

[trobadora]

And then there are those of us who never even start giving feedback because they've seen too many feedback debates and author complaints, and figure that chances are the author will be offended anyway, no matter how hard you try to tell them you really liked their work.

[Erm. You don't know me from Adam (or Eve), but I've been lurking on your journal since the last re-read - the discussions are endlessly fascinating. Hope you don't mind my butting in.]