GoF 12

[pauraque_bk]

In Chapter 11 we had talk of Draco/Pansy and dissected the train scene a bit more.


GoF 12: The Triwizard Tournament

The Sorting of the new students into houses took place at the start of every school year, but by an unlucky combination of circumstances, Harry hadn't been present at one since his own. (154)

Circumstances including his author not wanting to make up that many songs, I imagine.

For Hufflepuff, hard workers were
Most worthy of admission (157)

Rather different from the OotP line about Helga taking "the rest" and treating them all equally, which I expect was more the Hat making a point about unity than anything else... But on the other hand, watch for the Fat Friar in a few pages.

Secret message to aithopa: Salazar is "from fen". Someone fetch a gadfly!

On Snape's other side was an empty seat, which Harry guessed was Professor McGonagall's. Next to it, and in the very centre of the table, sat Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster, his sweeping silver hair and beard shining in the candlelight, his magnificent deep-green robes embroidered with many stars and moons. The tips of Dumbledore's long, thin fingers were together and he was resting his chin upon them, staring up at the ceiling through his half-moon spectacles as though lost in thought. Harry glanced up at the ceiling, too. It was enchanted to look like the sky outside, and he had never seen it look this stormy. Black and purple clouds were swirling across it, and as another thunderclap sounded outside, a fork of lightning flashed across it. (155-156)

What is Dumbledore thinking here? He's gazing at the Metaphorical Gathering Storm (a popular device since Shakespeare and probably before). He's dressed in green and sitting next to Snape. Suggests to me he's calculating, scheming if you like.

What do you guys think motivated him to reinstate the Tournament? I have to assume it was his idea, or it wouldn't have ended up at his school.

As an aside, now that Harry's tendency to notice people's long shiny hair has been pointed out to me, I can't stop seeing it!

[Nearly Headless Nick:] 'We held a ghosts' council -- the Fat Friar was all for giving him the chance -- but most wisely, in my opinion, the Bloody Baron put his foot down.'

The Bloody Baron was the Slytherin ghost, a gaunt and silent spectre covered in silver bloodstains. He was the only person at Hogwarts who could really control Peeves. (161)

Here the Fat Friar does seem to exemplify the "Hufflepuff treated them all the same" idea from OotP, wanting to give Peeves another chance.

The Bloody Baron controls Peeves -- Slytherin tactics/knowledge can control chaos?

'Treacle tart, Hermione!' said Ron, deliberately wafting its smell towards her. 'Spotted dick, look! Chocolate gateau!' (162)

Spotted dick is a sort of steamed pudding which is perpetually amusing to sophomoric Americans such as myself. Did they let it stand in the US edition?

Of course, she doesn't want dessert because it was made by house-elf slave labor. There'll be lots more opportunities to talk about this, but for now I'll just say that this is a good age for a teenaged girl to suddenly become obsessed with social justice; I remember my female friends doing the same thing at 14.

But at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder, and the doors of the Great Hall banged open.

A man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black travelling cloak. Every head in the Great Hall swivelled towards the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightning that flashed across the ceiling. (163)

Junior! I have to say, all through this book he seems to be having the time of his life. Like V, he loves high drama -- waits for a peal of thunder to make his theatrical entrance. Unlike some of the other DEs, he genuinely enjoys what he's doing. Only the real loonies do: Junior, Bellatrix, Fenrir. The relatively lucid ones (say Lucius, Snape, Peter, Karkaroff etc) don't.

I still don't know what a traveling cloak is. I bet you could find places I've used it in fic, though.

[Moody] stretched out a hand that was as badly scarred as his face, and Dumbledore shook it, muttering words Harry couldn't hear. He seemed to be making some enquiry of the stranger, who shook his head unsmilingly and replied in an undertone. Dumbledore nodded, and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side. (164)

I want to keep an eye on places where "Moody" and Dumbledore interact. The more they do, the less plausible it appears that Dumbledore wouldn't know it wasn't really him.

Are there any good theories postulating that Dumbledore did know but kept it to himself?

I'm going for it!' Fred Weasley hissed down the table, his face lit with enthusiasm at the prospect of such glory and riches. (166)

Fanon usually has it that Fred is the more outgoing of the twins, and that seems evident in this chapter. Fred has excited dialogue about wanting to enter the Tournament six times in this chapter; George just says it's not fair that they can't. Just notable as a point where they're not interchangeable.

Harry caught a glimpse of Cho, the Ravenclaw Seeker, cheering Stewart Ackerly as he sat down. For a fleeting second, Harry had a strange desire to join the Ravenclaw table too. (158)

Harry rolled over in bed, a series of dazzling new pictures forming in his mind's eye [...] he had just won the Triwizard Tournament [...] Cho's face stood out particularly clearly in the blurred crowd, her face glowing with admiration... (169-170)

Chapter 9 has Harry falling asleep to fantasies of flying like Krum, which is pretty similar to this last passage. His fantasy life seems much more focused on personal glory than it has previously -- in PS/SS, it's Ron whose mind runs along those lines. (It's also similar in the sense that both times he's fantasizing about Seekers, though in somewhat different capacities!)


Previous GoF posts are saved in memories here.

Comments

[silentauror.livejournal.com]

Fen, eh? Rowling really doesn't like Slytherins, does she? Apparently they prefer the dim of the dungeons because it reminds them of their swampy origins or something?

I've never really sat down and thought about why Dumbledore would have reinstated the Tournament, but now I'm thinking that perhaps he thought it was draw Voldemort's attention? An opportunity to trap him or something?

Ha ha, spotted dick. :) I have the British version, too, so I can't help you there. But what a great name. Symbolic much? Ron, trying to snag Hermione's attention by wafting dick over to her? Pardon my juvenility (if that's a word!) here, but you know. :P

I have to say, all through this book he seems to be having the time of his life. - And he's hot, too! Another pointless comment, but (in your case) spot on. He's a true nutter.

It seems like Harry's lead a rich and varied fantasy life. I'd love to see what else his little dreams involve, were the books only R-rated. :)

Excellent commentary, as usual. :)

[ook.livejournal.com]

Isn't spotted sometimes used for people with freckles? Which makes Ron offering Hermione spotted dick even more amusing. ;)

[atalantapendrag.livejournal.com]

Unless by "fen" she means Salazar Slytherin's dark secret is he's a Mordred/Lancelot `shipper, filling roll after roll of parchment with the steamiest slash since the fall of the Roman empire...


(side note: there's an Ellis & Salazar auto body shop in my town. They advertise on late-night TV, and as a night owl I see their ads a lot. And giggle every time.)

[pauraque]

It's okay, we're all juvenile here. I am, at least. :D

[skelkins.livejournal.com]

Oh, fen's not all bad, I'd say. Marshes have a long-standing archetypical role as the dangerous and mysterious places where one must go to learn secret or hidden knowledge, especially knowledge about oneself, and it's an archetype that has been enthusiastically taken up by many modern fantasists. Think of Dagobah in the first Star Wars Trilogy. Or that place where the Fates live in Lloyd Alexander's Prydain books.

So while I agree that JKR doesn't think much of Slytherin, here I'd say that she's actually giving a nod to one of the more positive aspects of the archetypes that the House represents.

[biichan.livejournal.com]

... they used to call Oliver Cromwell Lord of the Fens.

OMG!!! CROMWELL WAS A SLYTHERIN!!!!

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

I believe, although I may be wrong, that a travelling cloak has an extra capelet that goes over the shoulders, possibly to divert rain from the main part of the fabric.

Google provided me with The Little Lame Prince and his Travelling Cloak (http://www.indiana.edu/~letrs/vwwp/craik/prince.html), and the general consensus from a bunch of costuming sites confirms that a travelling cloak is generally waist-length, made of sturdy fabric, and has extra protection in the shoulders.

*full of useful facts tonight*

[pauraque]

And now we know! Thanks.

[glitterdemon.livejournal.com]

It was kept as spotted dick in the US version. It's so strange what the American editors choose to keep and discard/replace.

[pauraque]

I'm given to understand that a more genteel version is "spotted richard", but I guess they didn't do that either!

[atalantapendrag.livejournal.com]

Are there any good theories postulating that Dumbledore did know but kept it to himself?

Well, there's my will-never-be-canon darkly-manipulative!Dumbledore AMERICAN GODS theory, but I wouldn't claim it's particularly good, just entertaining.

[girlupnorth]

So according to your theory Dumbledore = Wednesday, right?

Hey, I like it. :)

(Great icon, btw. I've just re-read Neverwhere and loved this description of the Marquis!)

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

Dumbledore as Wednesday and Voldemort as Low-Key Lyesmith?

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

What do you guys think motivated him to reinstate the Tournament? I have to assume it was his idea, or it wouldn't have ended up at his school.

I have to wonder if it wasn't all his idea, otherwise how would parents go for having a tournament at school that has been known to kill people? Unless parents of young wizards and witches tend to be more understanding of, uh, fantastical occurences such as having their kids Petrified and terrified (wonder what Colin Creevey's parents were told?).

The tournament also allows him to having some of the top schools come to his school, which neatly set up for him being able to ask Hagrid and Maxime to go seek out the giants. Might also be a good opportunity to check up on what Karkaroff's doing.

Uh. Not really a good theory, here.

[slinkhard.livejournal.com]

We know that Muggleborns don't receive news when a student dies in a school event (since Dean's family weren't informed about Cedric) so I'd find it perfectly believable that you actively have to ask for information about welfare/safety before. And even then, your wishes will probably end up overruled (for instance, all the owls about Hagrid in GoF.)
Luckily, the only parents who seem to give a damn about student welfare are the Slytherin ones, who are usually presented as just spoiling their children ala the Dursleys or else pursuing a grudge against Dumbledore.

[amythis.livejournal.com]

Circumstances including his author not wanting to make up that many songs, I imagine.

She avoids it in HBP IIRC.

What do you guys think motivated him to reinstate the Tournament?

A wish to matchmake Hagrid.

Spotted dick is a sort of steamed pudding which is perpetually amusing to sophomoric Americans such as myself. Did they let it stand in the US edition?

They let it stand. And, yes, I'm sure JKR meant those connotations with Ron offering it to Hermione.

Fanon usually has it that Fred is the more outgoing of the twins, and that seems evident in this chapter. Fred has excited dialogue about wanting to enter the Tournament six times in this chapter; George just says it's not fair that they can't. Just notable as a point where they're not interchangeable.

I think George goes along with Fred's ideas because they're twins and because it's fun.

(It's also similar in the sense that both times he's fantasizing about Seekers, though in somewhat different capacities!)

Harry lurves Seekers. Even Ginny counts, since she was a Seeker for awhile.

[atalantapendrag.livejournal.com]

He's Seekersexual!

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Here the Fat Friar does seem to exemplify the "Hufflepuff treated them all the same" idea from OotP, wanting to give Peeves another chance.

The Bloody Baron controls Peeves -- Slytherin tactics/knowledge can control chaos?

It's really interesting looking at the Bloody Baron in the books--in OotP Nick goes to him with help on something too. He's a silent ghost, yet affective, and covered in blood (Slytherin in HBP and CoS is all about that liquid element--blood, sweat and tears).

Now that I'm totally into the books being sort of themed by house, this also reminds me how this is the Hufflepuff book. The Fat Friar is their ghost, obviously, but also the fact that Harry has all these visions of personal glory but eventually learns it's better to share the glory through teamwork and represent the school rather than just get glory for himself. Cedric knows this already, and he is the true Hogwarts Champion.

It's hard to know whether Dumbledore is supposed to know about Moody or not--it's a bit chilling if he does. In the next book Harry thinks Percy couldn't have deserved a promotion for failing to notice the boss he barely knew was being influenced by Voldemort, yet here's DD not noticing his friend is a DE. (Or noticing Crouch is controlled by Voldemort even when there's a hilariously OTT moment where he appears as a skull in an upcoming chapter.)

Of course, she doesn't want dessert because it was made by house-elf slave labor. There'll be lots more opportunities to talk about this, but for now I'll just say that this is a good age for a teenaged girl to suddenly become obsessed with social justice; I remember my female friends doing the same thing at 14.

Yup--all the while refusing to actually talk to house elves. And her hunger strike ends promptly at breakfast the next morning when she decides to collect money instead.

[pauraque]

this is the Hufflepuff book. The Fat Friar is their ghost, obviously, but also the fact that Harry has all these visions of personal glory but eventually learns it's better to share the glory through teamwork and represent the school rather than just get glory for himself. Cedric knows this already, and he is the true Hogwarts Champion.

Too right!

[black-dog.livejournal.com]

Circumstances including his author not wanting to make up that many songs, I imagine.

Ha. Now on this one, I'm with you in seeking an extra-textual explanation. And grateful for it.

What do you guys think motivated him to reinstate the Tournament?

Well, my theory would be that it's connected to Trelawney's vision and Pettigrew's escape at the end of POA: Dumbledore probably figures its time to start rallying the WW again in anticipation of Voldemort's return.

So, he creates an event that pre-emptively forestalls divisions in the WW, or at least helps build some human bridges and connections -- perhaps especially to Durmstrang? He gets a chance to keep Karkarov more or less under his eye for a while, and Madame Maxime -- hey, he is fixing up Hagrid, as preparation for an overture to the Giants, no? And he gets to host a great networking event, for patching up and strengthening alliances, while reaffirming his own leadership position in the WW.

That last point could also make this a long-term response to DD's trouble with the Board of Governors in CoS. Certainly if the Board could be induced to relieve him, even briefly and under threat, his position is less strong than he might desire. And he probably couldn't organize a Tri-Wizard tournament the very next fall, but it might at that point have come up as a long-term idea, to coincide with the QWC coming to England.

I want to keep an eye on places where "Moody" and Dumbledore interact. The more they do, the less plausible it appears that Dumbledore wouldn't know it wasn't really him.

Well, here's a counter-question: Suppose Dumbledore really did sense something off about fake!Moody. What would he do about it? It certainly seems possible that he would bide his time, waiting and watching to see what happened, rather than tipping his hand too quickly by confronting or denouncing him.

And on the other hand, wouldn't Crouch, for his own part, be bending over backwards to appear not to be a DE? Hence (to address some issues in later chapters) his willingness to teach Harry how to resist Imperius, or his willingness to curry favor with the Gryffindors by abusing ferret!Draco.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

And on the other hand, wouldn't Crouch, for his own part, be bending over backwards to appear not to be a DE? Hence (to address some issues in later chapters) his willingness to teach Harry how to resist Imperius, or his willingness to curry favor with the Gryffindors by abusing ferret!Draco.

I really don't think Junior had to force himself for either. He had all reasons to hate Lucius' son (that craven traitor who was a free and upstanding citizen because he denied the Dark Lord while Barty himself was spending fourteen years under Imperius) and to dislike the Imperius curse. It's a subject on which I'll take him at face value ^^
As to favourizing Gryffindors... what tells you Barty wasn't a Gryffindor himself ? He certainly shows enough cheek and daring for that. Nobody ever told he was a Slytherin that I remember.

[caesia390.livejournal.com]

You had mentioned in the last chapter that it would make sense for Junior to be Confunding people who might sense something off with his performance, but I think that the more obvious conclusion is that he's somehow transfering knowledge and mannerisms directly from Moody's mind - he has him completely at his mercy, and it seems like the sort of Dark Magic that could come in handy for a DE.

[pauraque]

Yeah, that's a good point.

[wolfie-thu.livejournal.com]

Interesting that in this book it's McGonagall who's sitting at Dumbledore's right, but in HBP it's Snape who sits there.

[playscape.livejournal.com]

I noticed this same thing--I wonder if it's significant that we have Snape on Dumbledore's right-hand side at the start of HBP.

[alya1989262.livejournal.com]

Here the Fat Friar does seem to exemplify the "Hufflepuff treated them all the same" idea from OotP, wanting to give Peeves another chance
Iirc, Hufflepuff is described in PS as the kindest of all four houses... But that may be my problematic memory (I swear I've lost neurones when I was playing football today - I mean soccer).

I love Junior's dramatic streak. I think I'll be writing my next fic about Junior.

Also, am I the only one who absolutely loves Nearly Headless Nick?!

[pauraque]

Yes! More Juniorfic!

Nick's great. It doesn't hurt that I'm a fan of John Cleese. :)

[lodda.livejournal.com]

sorry to disturb, but would it be possible to join your community, pornish_pixes? what should I do to get your permission?

I´m 19 years old.

[pauraque]

As you can see in the userinfo, posting access to pornish_pixies is by invitation only. Sorry!

However, you may add the community to your friends list so that you can keep up with the posts. Here's the link:
http://www.livejournal.com/friends/add.bml?user=pornish_pixies