GoF 5

[pauraque_bk]

This was supposed to go up yesterday, but I fell asleep! Chapter 6 will be up tomorrow, as scheduled.


GoF 5: Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes

'Did he eat it?' said Fred excitedly, holding out a hand to pull Harry to his feet.

'Yeah,' said Harry, straightening up. 'What was it?'

'Ton-Tongue Toffee,' said Fred brightly. 'George and I invented them, we've been looking for someone to test them on all summer...' (49)

I feel like we covered all the things that are wrong with this pretty thoroughly in Chapter 4, so I won't rehash it all here. Go read all the smart things people said in the last chapter, especially dphearson on the extremes to which revenge is taken in the WW and arclevel on just how dangerous this "prank" really was.

'We didn't give it to him because he was a Muggle!' said Fred indignantly.

'No, we gave it to him because he's a great bullying git,' said George. 'Isn't he, Harry?' (50-51)

sistermagpie articulated very well what's wrong with this argument: "Muggle-baiting refers to playing magical tricks on Muggles, because Muggles can't do and don't understand magic. Doing this to Dudley is Muggle-baiting. It's like, if you knew a blind person who was really obnoxious would you play mean tricks on him by using his lack of sight against him? You could, but it would still cross the line." Well spoke, well spoke.

While both Arthur and Molly get upset about the incident, Arthur is enraged that his children would harm a Muggle, whereas Molly is just pissed off that they want to open a joke shop.

Okay, moving on.

[Charlie] had a broad, good-natured face, which was weather-beaten and so freckly that he looked almost tanned; his arms were muscly, and one of them had a large, shiny burn on it. (49-50)

If I were JKR's editor, I'd have advised her not to use "freckly", "muscly", and "shiny" in the same sentence, but that's not why I pointed to this. The burn scar on Charlie's arm has led some to believe that dragon-related injuries can't be healed by magic, because they themselves are magical creatures. In a lot of folklore, dragons are said to have corrosive bodily fluids that can destroy weaponry and do serious damage to human flesh; perhaps Charlie's burn is from acidic blood or saliva, not fire. If any of this is so, it makes the first task in the tournament look a lot scarier.

Harry knew that [Bill] worked for the wizarding bank, Gringotts, that he had been Head Boy of Hogwarts, and had always imagined Bill to be an older version of Percy; fussy about rule-breaking and fond of bossing everyone around. However, Bill was -- there was no other word for it -- cool. He was tall, with long hair that he had tied back in a ponytail. He was wearing an earring with what looked like a fang dangling from it. His clothes would not have looked out of place at a rock concert, except that Harry recognised his boots to be made, not of leather, but of dragon hide. (50)

'...with a horrible great fang on it, really, Bill, what do they say at the bank?'

'Mum, no one at the bank gives a damn how I dress as long as I bring home plenty of treasure,' said Bill patiently. (59)

Of course Bill's cool -- he isn't a banker, he's a treasure-hunter. I forget who pointed this out in a previous book, but this is indicative of an attitude towards antiquities (or "buried treasure") that is Victorian or pre-Victorian, not modern. Egyptian gold is something to be dug up and put in a bank, not a museum.

So, Bill and Charlie. What are they (narratively) for? There are a few possible reasons for the Weasleys to have seven children -- just to bring home the point about Ron and the hand-me-downs, for there to be a reason that they're hard up for money... As we know, seven is a magic number, and the seventh son of a seventh son is supposed to have magic powers. (We know Arthur didn't have six siblings, but we only know that Molly had at least two siblings, the Prewett twins, am I right?)

None of these are compelling reasons for Charlie and Bill to be introduced and have actual personalities, if you ask me. Bill got a plot thread in HBP, but Charlie's just hanging around. I think one or both of these kids is toast in book seven.

Both of them smiled at Harry, who grinned back, which made Ginny go scarlet -- she had been very taken with Harry ever since his first visit to The Burrow. (51)

Even before that, actually. She seems to already have a little fangirl crush on him -- or the idea of him -- when they're on the platform in PS/SS. (If that's supposed to be indicative of impending True Love, I have to wonder why we didn't get Harry/Colin instead.)

I want to look for signs in GoF that Ginny's personality shift in OotP didn't come from nowhere, but I didn't see any in this chapter. She gets some exposition here, so that Ron doesn't have to explain absolutely everything, but doesn't have a very strong presence. I'll keep my eyes peeled.

'What are Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?' Harry asked, as they climbed.

Ron and Ginny both laughed, although Hermione didn't. (52)

Hermione doesn't say anything, but maybe she's as unhappy about the Muggle-baiting episode as we are! Or is that wishful thinking? I'm not sure what the intended reading is... Why else would she be unhappy about F&G starting a joke shop?

Ron's old rat, Scabbers, was here no more, but instead there was the tiny grey owl that had delivered Ron's letter to Harry in Privet Drive. (53)

Harry knew Ron too well to take him seriously [about his complaining about Pig]. He had moaned continually about his old rat Scabbers, but had been most upset when Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, appeared to have eaten him. (54)

This is a prime opportunity for a little exposition, but JKR doesn't take it! It actually reads weirdly to me that she mentions Scabbers's absence twice but doesn't explain the reason for it.

'However,' Percy heaved an impressive sigh, and took a deep swig of elderflower wine, 'we've got quite enough on our plates at the Department of International Magical Co-operation without trying to find members of other departments too. As you know, we've got another big event to organise right after the World Cup.'

He cleared his throat significantly and looked down towards the end of the table where Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting. 'You know the one I'm talking about, Father.' He raised his voice slightly. 'The top-secret one.'

Ron rolled his eyes and muttered to Harry and Hermione, 'He's been trying to get us to ask what that event is ever since he started work. Probably an exhibition of thick-bottomed cauldrons.' (58-59)

A friendly anonymouse suggested that the twins resent Percy because Molly so often compares them negatively to him, and I have to agree. Molly goes on and on in this chapter about how the twins have no future compared to Percy (which I found a little inappropriate, her ranting on to Harry and Ron about that). As soon as Percy becomes a family outcast, they're thrilled to express overt hostility towards him.

On the other hand, although Percy's behavior in this chapter is kind of obnoxious, I don't think he's trying to rub it in his siblings' faces that he's successful. It reads to me like a clumsy attempt to get them to notice that he has a successful and (to him) interesting life. The detail of him wanting his brothers to ask him about the Tournament, and them refusing, is telling.

'What happened?' said Harry eagerly, regretting more than ever his isolation from the wizarding world when he was stuck in Privet Drive. Harry was passionate about Quidditch. (59)

He is? He loves to play the game, but we never see him take an interest in how things are going in the professional league(s), do we?

The other thing that goes on in this chapter is the introduction of Bertha Jorkins's disappearance. She's been gone for a month. I don't have anything particular to say about it; how about you?


Previous GoF re-read posts are saved in memories here.

Comments

[pinkfinity.livejournal.com]

Just food for thought - a ginny-fan wrote a post this summer looking through the QWC chapters in GoF for any evidence of an interest by Ginny in Quidditch and found none - you might want to give that school of thought some, er, thought as you read the next chapters.

[pauraque]

Not a bad idea, thanks. I find Ginny a perplexing character; she barely seems human. Her character points in OotP and HBP apparently come from nowhere, which is unusual for JKR, whose characterizations I think are usually pretty well thought out.

[gmth.livejournal.com]

Charlie plays an expositionary role later in this book, when Hagrid drags Maxime and Harry to see the dragons. He gives Harry some information he needs to be able to plan for the task. Other than that, I got nothin'.

[pauraque]

Charlie also exists for the Norbert plotline in PS/SS, but he isn't introduced at length until GoF.

[starpaint.livejournal.com]

I'd swear that "muscly" isn't in the US edition of the book.

*checks*

No, it's not. They changed it to muscular. This isn't the only change that the US editors changed for aesthetic reasons - there's also the bit in PoA where Sirius is staring at Hermione, and they played down a sledgehammer-like metaphor. Does the fact that I preferred the change in both make me some kind of heretic?

[pauraque]

This isn't the only change that the US editors changed for aesthetic reasons - there's also the bit in PoA where Sirius is staring at Hermione, and they played down a sledgehammer-like metaphor.

Can you tell me exactly where? I don't remember it, and it isn't in the Lexicon list of differences for PoA.

Muscly/muscular isn't in the list for GoF either. I can't get the US edition at the moment (someone's sleeping in the room where it is), but I believe you. :D And yeah, I'd say it's an aesthetic improvement.

[caesia390.livejournal.com]

Nothing really to add here - just saying that you sucked me in! I wasn't going to read these. 'I'm through over-thinking them!' I told myself. Rowling is not as deep as her fans. HBP has proven that. Re-reads will just make me sad.

And they do. Damn you. :}

[pauraque]

Well, even if things aren't "really" in the books (in the sense of being authorially intended), they can still be in them for the purposes of fanwork. :D

[i-smile.livejournal.com]

The idea of Ginny's crush becoming something more worried me before, for that reason--it's like she had this crush on a legendary figure in WW myth, and then Harry came along as the embodiment of this myth, and she jumped right into it. It can't be in any way healthy to turn that into a relationship. (I'm still not sure if Ginny really has got over Harry, or if she was just pretending, so I couldn't comment on recent developments.)

[pauraque]

Yeah, that was exactly my thought. Since when is a fannish crush a good basis for a romantic relationship?

[dphearson.livejournal.com]

Of course Bill's cool -- he isn't a banker, he's a treasure-hunter. I forget who pointed this out in a previous book, but this is indicative of an attitude towards antiquities (or "buried treasure") that is Victorian or pre-Victorian, not modern. Egyptian gold is something to be dug up and put in a bank, not a museum.

Am I just being sensitive, or doesn't that strike anyone as being...just plain wrong somehow? In some way? a treasure hnter is someone who find mines, veins, rivers with mineral wealth. Bill, ladies and germs, is a grave-robber. From Britian. In a developing world country. Feel the Imperialism.

(If that's supposed to be indicative of impending True Love, I have to wonder why we didn't get Harry/Colin instead.)

Now, had that been the case....

But seriously, Harry does notice that Ginny has pretty brown eyes, that she is kind to him, that she brings him candy - an Easter egg- and he is very touched. maybe it's the combinatin of tthings that makes him start to notice her later on in the series.

[arclevel.livejournal.com]

Bill, ladies and germs, is a grave-robber.

Yes, and he's incredibly cool for it. One more shining example of JKR's complete disregard for history, in any of its forms. Of *course* digging through ancient tombs is great, and of course the main reason to do it is so you can grab on to whatever's in them and keep it for yourself (or your employers).

[pauraque]

Yeah, it feels imperialistic for sure. Pretty consistent with the general insensitivity of the WW, I think.

[alya1989262.livejournal.com]

um, I should be struck, since I am Egyptian, but... well, it's gold, right? You know, when I was younger, I used to think, why don't we sell all the gold in the museums and use the money to feed those people right here under our nose in Egypt that are dying from hunger?! No, it doesn't seem so wrong to me...

[http://users.livejournal.com/_hannelore/]

However, Bill was -- there was no other word for it -- cool.

Hahaha. Harry just finds him hot.

Molly's reverence of Percy and her attitude toward the twins remind me of a parent who dotes on the do-gooder as the one who will go far. Charlie doesn't quite reach that status because he's running with dragons (flying with dragons?) and Bill isn't as neatly dressed as Percy, from a parent's eye view, Molly has quite lucked out with her brood! No one's addicted to drugs or in jail and even the twins are still somewhat tied to the apron strings.

He is? He loves to play the game, but we never see him take an interest in how things are going in the professional league(s), do we?

I can't remember which book, but there is a scene where Harry tells off Hermione because she can't possibly understand how great Quidditch is or how much it means to Harry... I think he also gets really into his "Quidditch Through the Ages" book. Unless it's just to ogle the guys. :D

[pauraque]

I think he also gets really into his "Quidditch Through the Ages" book. Unless it's just to ogle the guys. :D

Which it clearly is. He's always noticing Ron's Chudley Cannons poster. Mmmmm, well-toned Quidditch lads! :D

[amythis.livejournal.com]

Sorry if this is too long and topic-hopping.

Egyptian gold is something to be dug up and put in a bank, not a museum.

And definitely not something to be left in Egypt!

So, Bill and Charlie. What are they (narratively) for?

Bill is for "an excess of Flegm." Charlie gets to ship Hagrid/Maxime. Together, they represent two more brothers that Ron can feel inadequate in comparison to.

As we know, seven is a magic number, and the seventh son of a seventh son is supposed to have magic powers.

But the seventh Weasley child is a girl. (Unless Ginny is a male metamorphagus passing as a girl, in which case that'll be a nice surprise for probablygay!Harry.)

I think one or both of these kids is toast in book seven.

Hasn't Bill suffered enough?

She seems to already have a little fangirl crush on him -- or the idea of him -- when they're on the platform in PS/SS. (If that's supposed to be indicative of impending True Love, I have to wonder why we didn't get Harry/Colin instead.)

Maybe we will in Book 7.

I want to look for signs in GoF that Ginny's personality shift in OotP didn't come from nowhere, but I didn't see any in this chapter.

The main shift I notice in Ginny is that she and Hermione are clearly good friends now, which is nice since Hermione doesn't seem to have any female friends in the first 3 books.

Why else would she be unhappy about F&G starting a joke shop?

Because she's like Mrs. Weasley. (As the narrator often tells us.)

This is a prime opportunity for a little exposition, but JKR doesn't take it! It actually reads weirdly to me that she mentions Scabbers's absence twice but doesn't explain the reason for it.

Are these the only places in the book that he's not called Wormtail?

Ron rolled his eyes and muttered to Harry and Hermione, 'He's been trying to get us to ask what that event is ever since he started work. Probably an exhibition of thick-bottomed cauldrons.' (58-59)

Or maybe this is just an excuse for JKR to slip in innuendo.

It reads to me like a clumsy attempt to get them to notice that he has a successful and (to him) interesting life. The detail of him wanting his brothers to ask him about the Tournament, and them refusing, is telling.

Percy has his own insecurities. With seven kids, he's the only one who doesn't have a sibling to match up with. (Bill and Charlie are the oldest, Fred & George are of course the twins, and Ron & Ginny are the youngest.)

The other thing that goes on in this chapter is the introduction of Bertha Jorkins's disappearance. She's been gone for a month. I don't have anything particular to say about it; how about you?

I found the whole Bertha Jorkins thing convoluted, as I do anything where Voldemort is out of Britain, e.g. the recruiting of Quirrell.

[pauraque]

But the seventh Weasley child is a girl. (Unless Ginny is a male metamorphagus passing as a girl, in which case that'll be a nice surprise for probablygay!Harry.)

Ha! That'd be a good one. And yes, of course I do realize the seventh child is Ginny. Instead of the really awesome powers she'd have gotten if she'd been a boy, she got this dopey Bat-Bogey Hex. :)

The main shift I notice in Ginny is that she and Hermione are clearly good friends now, which is nice since Hermione doesn't seem to have any female friends in the first 3 books.

They are? I don't see it.

[aithopa.livejournal.com]

[Charlie] had a broad, good-natured face, which was weather-beaten and so freckly that he looked almost tanned

Heh, I never absorbed these details of Charlie's description. That's a lot of freckles.

As we know, seven is a magic number, and the seventh son of a seventh son is supposed to have magic powers.

The seventh child is Ginny and for a moment I thought I remembered JKR saying she was the first Weasley girl in seven generations, but no, it's "several". :P It's probably for the best.

Why else would she be unhappy about F&G starting a joke shop?

General Hermione-esque Fred and George disapproval?

Speaking of things that are introduced for no apparent reason, Pigwidgeon! What does he ever do? I know he's replacing Errol, but was there really a need for it? Anyway, I enjoyed Errol's "I am old" gag more than Pig's "I am small and hyperactive" gag. :| I have similar gripes with Arnold the tribble. I realize that all pets can't live up to the plot-importance of Scabbers and Crookshanks, but come on. Hedwig and Trevor manage to do very little and still have style.

[pauraque]

I realize that all pets can't live up to the plot-importance of Scabbers and Crookshanks, but come on. Hedwig and Trevor manage to do very little and still have style.

This is very true. And of course, none of them can top the Giant Fanged Bear Thing! :D

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Of course Bill's cool -- he isn't a banker, he's a treasure-hunter. I forget who pointed this out in a previous book, but this is indicative of an attitude towards antiquities (or "buried treasure") that is Victorian or pre-Victorian, not modern. Egyptian gold is something to be dug up and put in a bank, not a museum.

And as others have said, it certainly isn't to be left in Egypt! It's that having and eating the cake thing again. Here's a book that's ostensibly dealing with correct dealings with other cultures, but some of that stuff in the Muggle past was just so fun we can indulge in it. Of course, I find Hagrid's tale pretty reminiscent of Imperialist thinking too.


Also, Bill being cool just cracks me up because he sounds like he just fell out of an 80s hair band.

Even before that, actually. She seems to already have a little fangirl crush on him -- or the idea of him -- when they're on the platform in PS/SS. (If that's supposed to be indicative of impending True Love, I have to wonder why we didn't get Harry/Colin instead.)

Yes, and somehow other people who have fangirl crushes on Harry are bad and shallow. I'm not seeing how Ginny is really different except that she's obviously got the sympathy of the author and is considered deserving of Harry. Romilda and Colin's problem is that they presume to try to create a relationship with Harry instead of being tongue tied. But the thing is, Ginny can do that because Harry is always brought to her doorstep via circumstance. No other girl has a chance to grow on Harry or gain his understanding the way Ginny does.

It's no secret I really hate the change in Ginny. She *has* a personality in these early books and there's nothing wrong with it. She's talking here, she's not a doormat, she's got spirit. Later on she'll tell Harry and Ron off. It's just Harry doesn't like her until she becomes more of a bully. I'd much rather read about ore-OotP Ginny falling in love with some other character (or even Harry) than that one.

Why else would she be unhappy about F&G starting a joke shop?

I think it's just part of the arc between Hermione and the twins. She resists them because she's torn between not approving of jokes and seeing how creative and smart they are. In this book she starts to turn away from Percy, in OotP she and the twins clash in a friendly way and ultimately work together (Hermione has a couple of moments where she seems just openly just jealous of their abilities). By HBP she's respectful of the joke shop.

On the other hand, although Percy's behavior in this chapter is kind of obnoxious, I don't think he's trying to rub it in his siblings' faces that he's successful.

No, he's not, imo. I think he's just trying to hard. Ron actually has similar missteps elsewhere, which are treated with more indulgence, like when he tells the story of the Sirius break in a million times, or keeps going over the Quidditch game that he won. They're both insecure. Percy no doubt sees the easy authority of his older brothers and is trying to be like them and failing. Personally, I can't help but find it a little endearing. I keep wanting someone to give him a little positive response and see if he gets better at it. Hermione would be much the same if she'd never met the boys.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Oh, and p.s. I've been annoyed at things I've read claiming Ginny does indeed fit the mythical "seventh daughter of a seventh daughter" (though it's usually son) idea because Molly, too, had six older brothers. But the point is you have to be the seventh of seven *daughters* not the seventh child (girl or boy) of any family.

[pilly2009.livejournal.com]

It actually reads weirdly to me that she mentions Scabbers's absence twice but doesn't explain the reason for it.

I find it odd that just as Peter is now referred to as Wormtail (as though Harry is trying to distance himself), there is absolutely no connection given between Scabbers and Wormtail -- perhaps further distancing? Like Harry doesn't want to admit that Wormtail lived in such close quarters to Ron for so long. If one hadn't read PoA (but had read every other book in the series), you wouldn't even know that Scabbers and Wormtail were the same rat/person.

At this point in the book, the only thing that I found weird about Bertha Jorkins is that the Ministry had been shunting her from department to department instead of just firing her, if she was so much trouble. How would that work? Every department specializes in something different, don't they? She couldn't have been qualified for every single one.

[pilly2009.livejournal.com]

Another thing that caught my eye in this chapter was Charlie's appearance. Family trait! Ron apparently gets very freckly when he visits sunny climates as well. (PoA) I wonder if all the Weasleys do (Ginny might not; I remember in OotP when Ron's freckles caught the attention of that portrait in St. Mungo's, but Ginny was standing right next to him and apparently drew no attention.).

[subtle-shades.livejournal.com]

Perhaps the Scabbers comments are foreshadowing for later in the book?

[pauraque]

How do you mean? The Peter/Scabbers plotline was revealed in a previous book, and we've already had a scene with Peter in this one. Where's the foreshadowing?

[arclevel.livejournal.com]

While both Arthur and Molly get upset about the incident, Arthur is enraged that his children would harm a Muggle, whereas Molly is just pissed off that they want to open a joke shop.

Oh, but Arthur's not so enraged that he was actually planning on *telling* his *wife* about the horrible thing (in his own opinion) the twins have done. I don't think I can list all the ways this is bad parenting and points to serious issues in the Weasley household (and marriage in particular). Yet, in addition to the idea that the Weasleys are the perfect family, every time Ron and Hermione are compared to Arthur and Molly, this is supposed to indicate how clearly they're meant for each other. (This is why my favorite form of R/Hr is when they're already divorced.)

Poor Percy. I think he's also trying to get them to show an interest in anything he has to say at all, since clearly the cauldrons aren't inspiring that. One really has to wonder what he'd be like if someone actually took the time to *listen* to him occasionally, respect what he does, and maybe, once in a while, treat him like a human being. Or one does if I happen to be the one, anyway.

Harry does seem to really like Flying With the Cannons, but that doesn't seem to indicate that he knows the league; he just got the book from Ron since it's *Ron's* favorite team. That would suggest to me that he likes Quidditch in ways other than playing it, but that he doesn't actually *follow* the sport at all. Two notable omissions are that he mentions scores for, say, the Ravenclaw/Slytherin match, but we never see him *attend* said match, and that he only subscribes to the Daily Prophet for the summers (I think) after Voldemort has risen, and we never see him turn to check the Quidditch scores. In fact, in OotP, he specifically never reads past the front page headlines.

[pauraque]

Oh, but Arthur's not so enraged that he was actually planning on *telling* his *wife* about the horrible thing (in his own opinion) the twins have done. I don't think I can list all the ways this is bad parenting and points to serious issues in the Weasley household (and marriage in particular).

Yeah, I wanted to go into that. What a mess! Arthur seems more afraid of Molly's reaction than the children do.