LJ-versary :: PoA 7

[pauraque_bk]

On May 6, 2003, I made my first post to LJ. I joined at the urging of the good people at haremxf, and soon discovered the infinite carnival midway that is LJ HP fandom. Since then I've met hundreds of fans, befriended many, quarrelled with a few, and admired many more from afar.

Sometimes I feel like a naive farmboy coming to New York City. This fandom is bigger and louder and brighter than anything I've ever seen online. Sometimes it's too much. But most of the time, I just plain feel lucky to be a part of it. If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere. ;)

*hugs fandom*


Eeew... sticky. *brushes himself off*

*

PoA 7: The Boggart in the Wardrobe

Ron had spent the last quarter of an hour carefully shredding his own roots into exactly equal pieces. (95)

It's struck me before that Ron doesn't seem to do too badly in Potions or particularly incite Snape's wrath (except as a Gryffindor in general), and here he's being more careful than I would have expected. He does hate Snape on behalf of Harry, but he still tries hard in his class.

'Of course, if it was me,' he said quietly, '[...]I'd be out there looking for [Black].'
'What are you talking about, Malfoy?' said Ron roughly. (96)

'What did Malfoy mean?' [...]
'He's making it up,' said Ron, savagely, 'he's trying to make you do something stupid...' (97)

How much does Ron know, here? I can't remember if he seems surprised when Harry finds out what Sirius did, but it reads here like he's trying to protect Harry from the truth.

This is a well-done scene. We keep up on other plot threads while the Snape-Neville interaction is set up so that the Boggart scene will be effective without any need for exposition.

'Good afternoon,' he said. 'Would you please put all your books back in your bags. [...]' (99)

From the moment he enters the classroom, Lupin is nothing but collected and competent. Another possible suggestion that he's taught before.

'Possibly no one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear.' (100)

In case anyone still had doubts on whether Snape picks on Neville above the other kids. Lupin, of course, perceives this immediately and comes up with a way for Neville to take back control of the situation. It doesn't seem likely that he planned the Drag!Boggart!Snape in advance.

This is an important turning point for Neville's character, but the real conflict is the power struggle between Snape and Lupin. We already know Snape hates Lupin (72), and now we see him trying to exert power over Lupin's class. Lupin fights back in kind, undermining the power Snape has over his own students, and does it in such a way that Snape has no real recourse. As usual, Lupin is calm and polite -- the same defense he used to show his students he wasn't shaken by Peeves's taunting (99), a potentially rattling reminder of his school days.

'He seems a very good teacher,' said Hermione approvingly. 'But I wish I could have had a turn with the Boggart--' (106)

Why didn't he let her, I wonder?


Previous re-read posts are saved in memories here.

Comments

[marinarusalka.livejournal.com]

See, and you accuse me of being harsh on Remus.

True, you're not half as harsh on him as Dumbledore is. :-P

Remus decided to resign because he felt he was a danger to the children. pauraque felt that Remus resigned before he would have to forced out of the position by an not so accepting public.

I think both of these things are true. But as the situation with Hagrid shows, neither one of those things would've been a deal-breaker if Dumbledore had really wanted him around.

But I say that because Dumbledore tried (according to Remus) to say that Remus tried to save the children's lives- and out and out lie- Remus was there to kill somebody for vegence sirius or Peter, doesn't matter which- and make nice with the Ministry.

Remus wanting vengeance doesn't preclude Remus wanting to save the children's lives. Just as Snape can often have multiple motives for what he does, some admirable and some deeply nasty, so can Remus. They're both extremely complex characters and extremely fucked up in the head, so assigning a single simplistic motive to anything they do is a mistake, IMO.

As for Dumbledore trying to put Remus in a positive light and making nice with the Ministry -- he's got his own ass to cover, being the guy who hired Remus in the first place.

[dphearson.livejournal.com]

Actually, you would never know to hear harsh on Remus, but I doadmire the character. There is nothing enobling about poverty. It is wearying and tiring. Not having quality food or drink, and ripping apart your body once a month takes a toll. And Remus is determined to be the best teacher he can be.

As for Dumbledore trying to put Remus in a positive light and making nice with the Ministry -- he's got his own ass to cover, being the guy who hired Remus in the first place.

Damn good point- I thought of that when I first sent that reply. Dumbledore is in really deep shit at hat point on in PoA, and it continues to build to the point in OOTP where he has to flee or wind in jail.