GoF 6

[pauraque_bk]

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.

Comments

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

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?

I suspect it is just to show Ginny as all lithe and athletic and energetic while Herimone's the one person in the group who doesn't play Quidditch and stays in the library. We'd probably hear if she was actually overweight. But since being good at sports seems a huge reason Harry loves Ginny this alone should be proof H/Hr will not happen.

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

I joke about it, but honestly it's gotten to where it actually does read as canon to me. As was said above, JKR writes Ron, and Ron never strikes me this way at all. When he calls Cedric a pretty-boy (I think everybody does at some point) I automatically take it that Ron is accusing Cedric of caring about his looks or not looking manly. With Harry it's just genuine handsomeness. He even notices that Sirius used to be handsome. Seriously, he seems to crush on Sirius immediately in the Pensieve. And I love that because Sirius is acting so much like Draco there, only suddenly his bored affectation is attractive.;-)

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

I love the way Amos is set up so clearly--reading it now I know how devestated this guy is going to be when he loses Cedric. I think he knows Cedric is a better man than he is even now, and Cedric seems sweet to Harry and to his father at the same time.

I had completely forgotten about Moody making Harry from another school, but it seems like JKR probably really did want a specific kind of martyr. He should be from Hogwarts, should be fair, should help Harry and all that. "Remember Viktor Krum" wouldn't mean the same thing--plus she can introduce him in an earlier book. Plus, he's British, which I think does bring something to this world that Viktor doesn't.

Oh, and thank you for the birthday wishes!

[fitchersvogel.livejournal.com]

But since being good at sports seems a huge reason Harry loves Ginny this alone should be proof H/Hr will not happen.

I just had to pick this out to say how much this annoys me (not because you said it, but because I guess it is true).
I always hated these kind of crushes in books/movies; does it really happen that boys pick a girl because she is sporty ? It seems a bit too bland for me: guy is interested in Quidditch --> falls in love with the athletic girl.
But maybe that's just me, the girl who hated PE with a passion, would be the last up the hill, and is a very lazy person :)... (And I'm not overweight, just really unathletic)

Oh, and isn't JKR very bad at sports as well? Hmmmm.

[alya1989262.livejournal.com]

I think it has been proved in OotP that Quidditch is an enormous part of your characterisation. As someone (hmm, could be Cassie, but I'm not sure) said at the time: It appears that your personal worth in Canon is determined by whether or not you can play Quidditch, unless you are Hermione, because she is perfect anyway.

[fitchersvogel.livejournal.com]

Grrrrr... I don't like it.
But I don't get Harry/Ginny anyway, so maybe my mind differs from JKR's too much these days...

[pauraque]

Seriously, he seems to crush on Sirius immediately in the Pensieve. And I love that because Sirius is acting so much like Draco there, only suddenly his bored affectation is attractive.;-)

Ha, I'd never thought of that! I mean, I do think he's crushing on Sirius, but I'd never thought of it as having H/D implications. :D