pauraque_bk | GoF 6

Happy birthday wishes to sistermagpie!

Discussion on Chapter 5 included Ginny's Great Personality Shift (+ love potions) and wizarding Imperialism.

This chapter is totally short and chock full of exposition. A holiday for my weary fingers.

GoF 6: The Portkey

[Mr Weasley] was wearing what appeared to be a golfing jumper and a very old pair of jeans, slightly too big for him and held up with a thick leather belt.

'What d'you think?' he asked anxiously. 'We're supposed to go incognito -- do I look like a Muggle, Harry?'

'Yeah,' said Harry, smiling, 'very good.' (62)

Since we've been ragging on Arthur's lack of Muggle skillz for the last few chapters, I thought it was only fair to point out his total success in dressing reasonably. Kudos, good sir!

And then a load of exposition about Apparition.

'We told you to destroy them!' said Mrs Weasley furiously, holding up what were unmistakeably more Ton-Tongue Toffees. 'We told you to get rid of the lot! Empty your pockets, go on, both of you!' (64-65)

And good for Molly. Speaking of Molly, she's the only one who doesn't go to the QWC.

And then a load of exposition about Portkeys.

Hermione came over the crest of the hill last, clutching a stitch in her side. (67)

This reminded me of something I almost pointed out in the last chapter, but didn't:

One, with very bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth, was Harry and Ron's friend, Hermione Granger. The other, who was small and red-haired, was Ron's younger sister, Ginny. (51)

It seemed odd to contrast Ginny with Hermione by saying she was "small". There seems to be no reason to point out that Hermione had a harder time making it up the hill (the sentence just sits there in its own paragraph, unrelated to anything else). Is it possible to read that Hermione is overweight, or is there something else to contradict that?

Cedric Diggory was an extremely handsome boy of around seventeen. He was captain and Seeker of the Hufflepuff house Quidditch team at Hogwarts. (67)

Cedric is so extreeeeemely handsome! It's been pointed out that the external reason for Harry to remark on the attractiveness of the guys he meets is that the books are being written by a straight female who doesn't know that straight teenaged boys don't think like that. But internally, it just makes Harry read as queer. Which doesn't bother me in the least. :D

'Ced's talked about you, of course,' said Amos Diggory. 'Told us all about playing against you last year ... I said to him, I said -- Ced, that'll be something to tell your grandchildren, that will ... you beat Harry Potter!!'

[...] Cedric looked slightly embarrassed.

'Harry fell off his broom, Dad,' he muttered. 'I told you ... it was an accident...' (68)

Aw, Cedric's so sweet. And he talks about Harry. OTP! Er.

Since we're here, let's talk about why Cedric exists. I've been thinking about this, and I can't quite pin it down. What happens if Cedric isn't present in the story? Harry is the sole Hogwarts champion. Crouch-as-Moody has to find a different indirect way to tell Harry what to do with the egg. Cho goes out with someone else, who (presumably) doesn't die, so she isn't all distraught in OotP. Fleur can't die because she has to marry Bill, so let's say it's Krum who gets killed by Peter. (Hermione would be affected by that.)

We don't know what (if anything) Krum will be needed for in Book 7. Does he make a worse martyr than Cedric? Is Cedric's death more shocking because he's from Hogwarts -- and because he's so inescapably good?

Quick, someone make me a Cedric icon!

Previous GoF posts are saved in memories here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

This commentary is great! This is the first I've read and I'm going to keep reading them now, I think.

Ahaha! I totally want to see a fic featuring Harry & Arthur, with the thick leather belt! :)

Hermione vs. Ginny: I think it's just implying that Hermione spends more time in the library than out running about. Ginny grew up with badillions of brothers and was probably forced into more tomboy-ish games than only-child!Hermione was. Overweight? Potentially, although she apparently looks all pretty in her dress robes later on. (The "floaty, blue" ones, not the pink ones from the movie which she apparently stole from Pansy Parkinson!) Or possibly, it simply means that Ginny's a pixie. Small, you know? :D

Cedric's Super-Sekrit Crush! So cute. And his dad embarrassed him about it, what a jerk-off! :D

I think I want a Cedric icon now, too. This was fun; good stuff!

Oh, and just totally curious here: a long time ago, I remember Gina having a poll about how you pronounce various people's names and I was wondering how you do pronounce yours. I voted for the French pronunciation, "pah-RAHQ". I've been thinking about this for no good reason for awhile now. Correct me? :)

I think it's just implying that Hermione spends more time in the library than out running about.
I agree. I mean, at Hermione's age, I took regular exercise, was quite fit, but ask me to run 100 yards with a group of people and I'd arrive long after them, wheezing away.

Plus, of course, there seems to be no PE at Hogwarts.

Quite the oversight there! First-year flying lessons hardly qualify!

Running is for the weak. :D (Swimming, now there's where it's at! Although I can still think of preferable ways of attaining physical activity...) ;)

Okay, so perhaps not the weak. No offense intended to any runners out there. :)

Two of my friends are training for the Honolulu AIDS marathon. They're up to running sixteen miles! Not something I'd ever be able to do.

I'm much more fond of those... other ways of raising your heartrate. :D

I'm a classical singer (opera), so we get a lot of movement training. My last trainer told me once that all people are either natural runners or swimmers. I'm definitely a swimmer and really like it. Given the choice, though, I'm certainly more interested in "alternative" methods. ;)

Yeah, and the only sport they play is on broomsticks. Admittedly, riding can tire you out, if it's anything like horseback riding, but it's still not exactly full-court basketball in terms of physical exertion.

Welcome! Good to have you aboard.

Ahaha! I totally want to see a fic featuring Harry & Arthur, with the thick leather belt! :)

I almost said something about how Harry, having slept in the room with Ron, Fred, and George, wakes up not feeling very rested... Could be because it's so early, of course. Or because of the naughty naughty games they stayed up playing. Those Weasleys, you know how they are. ;D

My name is Spanish. It's paw-rah-kay.

I'd definitely prefer thinking it's the Weasleys. After a night with them, I'd hope I was tired the next morning!

Man, I need a twins icon, too!

And thanks for indulging my curiosity! I shall adjust my mental pronunciation accordingly. :D

I still can't stop saying nimORi instead of nimmery. :D

Oh, me too! In fact, I may never be able to change that one, and if she and I ever meet, I'll have to carry around a little memo to self to call her nimmery. :)

(The "floaty, blue" ones, not the pink ones from the movie which she apparently stole from Pansy Parkinson!) Or possibly, it simply means that Ginny's a pixie. Small, you know? :D

I pictured Ginny as a Molly-Charlie-Twins Weasley (short and "muscly"), rather than an Arthur-Bill-Percy-Ron Weasley (tall and thin).

I LOL at the robes comment.

Ahaha, now she definitely sounds like a lesbian. I agree wholeheartedly with her physicality as you've described it, absolutely.

Okay, seriously. Where did the pink frouffy come from??? As if Emma Watson wasn't already too girly and cutesy to be Hermione (IMO), but now she's wearing pink frilliness to the Yule Ball. Because the pink hoodie wasn't enough. Argh.

My vision of Hermione wears plaid kilts and sweater vests. And does not like climbing steep hills. :)

Ginny as lesbian, well, she is very fond of Tonks. ;-)

Re girly Emma, I think she's a good actress but my vision of Hermione isn't so skinny (Harry and Ron are canonically skinny, not Hermione) and has buckteeth through the first 3 1/2 books.

Yes, exactly! Emma's too sporty or something. She's a decent actor, just not what I had in mind.

GoF 6

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