GoF 15

[pauraque_bk]

In Chapter 14 we had further talk of why Snape is so wary of Moody, which I enjoyed.


GoF 15: Beauxbatons and Durmstrang

[Harry] wished he still had Quidditch to distract him; nothing worked so well on a troubled mind as a good, hard training session. (203)

I'll say! *whipcrack*

'Look at that, you lot ... Potter fought! He fought it, and he damn near beat it! We'll try that again, Potter, and the rest of you, pay attention -- watch his eyes, that's where you see it -- very good, Potter, very good indeed! They'll have trouble controlling you!' (204)

I was already beginning to wonder if Harry's amazing ability to throw off the Imperius curse (he learns it within an hour) was related to his ability to deflect another Unforgivable -- the Killing Curse -- and when I got to watch his eyes, that's where you see it, I felt pretty certain. We're always seeing Lily's influence in Harry's eyes, and I have a feeling this is the same deal. Then again, he doesn't seem to have any special ability to deflect the Cruciatus Curse... but he can't cast it.

I also wonder a bit if when he says "they'll have trouble controlling you", he doesn't (only) mean the DEs, but also Dumbledore &co., which is true too.

Crouch!Moody says that Dumbledore wanted him to place the Imperius curse on the students. Do you guys think that's true?

Harry and Ron were deeply amused when Professor Trelawney told them that they had received top marks for their homework in their next Divination class. She read out large portions of their predictions, commending them for their unflinching acceptance of the horrors in store for them -- but they were less amused when she asked them to do the same thing for the month after next; both of them were running out of ideas for catastrophes. (206)

But as we were saying last time, there really may be truth to their made-up predictions. Can we credit Trelawney with realizing this on some level?

'Yeh'll do wha' yer told,' [Hagrid] growled, 'or I'll be takin' a leaf outta Professor Moody's book ... I hear yeh made a good ferret, Malfoy.'

The Gryffindors roared with laughter. (206)

Despite the fact that I doubt Hagrid really could transfigure Draco into a ferret (maybe he could give him a wee ferret tail), this is a bit disturbing when you know Moody's actually one crazy and evil dude. But his antics are hilaaaaarious to our heroic Gryffs.

[McGonagall:] 'Longbottom, kindly do not reveal that you can't even perform a simple Switching Spell in front of anyone from Durmstrang!' (208)

Interesting that she says Durmstrang, not Durmstrang or Beauxbatons. Perhaps a hint of not wanting to show weakness in front of Dark or at least potentially Dark wizards. Or maybe Durmstrang is considered more academically rigorous.

Some people, like Neville, had paid [for a SPEW badge] just to stop Hermione glowering at them. A few seemed mildly interested in what she had to say, but were reluctant to take a more active role in campaigning. Many regarded the whole thing as a joke. (210)

We aren't told whether the few who are interested are Muggleborns or not, but I'd expect they would be.

'Weasley, straighten your hat,' Professor McGonagall snapped at Ron. (212)

Fandom tends to forget that the kids are supposed to be wearing pointy wizard hats, I think, since they aren't shown in the movies and JKR rarely refers to them. Maybe she sometimes forgets too.

Harry, whose attention had been focused completley upon Madame Maxime, now noticed that around a dozen boys and girls -- all, by the look of them, in their late teens -- had emerged from the carriage and were now standing behind Madame Maxime. (215)

I hear the movie is planning to depict Beauxbatons as a girls' school, which it isn't.

Slowly, magnificently, the ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it was a resurrected wreck, and the dim, misty lights shimmering at its portholes looked like ghostly eyes. (217)

More cinematic imagery here, ditto for the giant horses. There are a lot of impressive spectacles in this book, which could make for a very pretty film.

Karkaroff had a fruity, unctuous voice; when he stepped into the light pouring from the front doors of the castle, they saw that he was tall and thin like Dumbledore, but his white hair was short, and his goatee (finishing in a small curl) did not entirely hide his rather weak chin. (217)

Fruity? *rolls about laughing*

Aaaha. Yes, anyway. Karkaroff has a weak chin, which should tell us right off that he's a shady character. Lockhart is also weak-chinned.


Previous GoF posts are saved in memories here.

Comments

[des06.livejournal.com]

'Yeh'll do wha' yer told,' [Hagrid] growled, 'or I'll be takin' a leaf outta Professor Moody's book ... I hear yeh made a good ferret, Malfoy.'

The Gryffindors roared with laughter. (206)

Perhaps I'm cutting Hagrid too much slack but I've always seen this as a bit of a silly toungue in cheek threat. He's not seriously threatening Draco and the both of them know it.

[arclevel.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's intended as a serious *threat*, but it's still completely out of line for him as a teacher. He's deliberately humiliating a student for one thing. I also think he's intending Draco to pick up on a threat here, even if Hagrid couldn't/wouldn't actually turn him into a ferret. But then, I've long thought that Hagrid's treatment of Draco was extremely similar to Snape's treatment of Harry.

[ani-bester.livejournal.com]

On the hats, I cna't speak for other aritst, but they are a pain to include. i rarely do so peronslaly, though I am aware of their existance and try to include them when I can (I think the last time I did was in Duckpupp's B-Day gift).

I just finished up a MWPP era comic and all the initial thumbs had the hats, but the bloody things crowded out too much space and created all kinds of freakish focal points and jsut basically took away from the faces and made them look like tiny KKK mmemeber in blcak. Sooo yesh, *L* that's my personal experience with 'em, and I can understand the movie dropping them . . though I still wish the kids wore proper robes -_-

[pauraque]

I do see how the hats could get cumbersome in the films. Dumbledore and McGonagall manage to get around okay with their pointy hats, but their comportment is considerably more mature than the kids. :)

[vikingcarrot.livejournal.com]

HEY YOU.

DO NOT BE KNOCKING THE FRUITY. :|

And hah, I had forgotten about Lockhart's weak chin. Damn, JKR, what have you done. Weak chins ae not shady. D:

[pauraque]

I ain't knocking it, I just...! FRUITY! I don't even know what a fruity voice IS! XD

[scarah2.livejournal.com]

Crouch!Moody says that Dumbledore wanted him to place the Imperius curse on the students. Do you guys think that's true?

I have no idea. But if so, it's the best plan he ever had. That wins most useful DADA lesson.

[pauraque]

It's still a bit freaky that Dumbledore is trying to train these children to fight a war, but... yeah, if that's the goal, teaching them to resist Imperius is a smart move.

[hilarita.livejournal.com]

As for the pesky hats, I was at a school (for a short time) where you were meant to wear hats. What this meant was that we almost never wore them, except on special occasions, when we were forced to, and people would come and inspect us. So it's quite likely that the uniform hats would only be worn for important occasions, like end-of-year feast (plus house cup presentation), perhaps the Sorting, meeting other schools... If they were wearing hats all the time, you'd hear about people dropping them (or if they're magicked to stay on, you'd hear about someone's charm failing - probably Neville's).

[ook.livejournal.com]

The pointed hats were worn by most of the student body in a couple of Great Hall scenes in the first HP film -- at the end of the Leaving Feast, the kids tossed their hats in the air. The hats were a type of tall, pointed wizard's cap that had no brim.

[pauraque]

Makes perfect sense. Thanks for the perspective!

[g_shadowslayer]

but his white hair was short, and his goatee (finishing in a small curl)

Anyone else having real trouble with the way he looks in the movie? It bugs me that he's just about a complete opposite of what he's supposed to look like.

Hmmn... Maybe they didn't want to get smacked for copying 'Uncle Olaf' from Unfortunate Events...

[immora.livejournal.com]

I guess they get right that he even has a goatee, but there's no curl to it, wrong hair length, wrong hair color... I've wanted to smack them for awhile for it. How hard is it to read a description and follow it?

Maybe they thought his hair was so fantastic that they didn't want to mess with it?

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Interesting that she says Durmstrang, not Durmstrang or Beauxbatons. Perhaps a hint of not wanting to show weakness in front of Dark or at least potentially Dark wizards. Or maybe Durmstrang is considered more academically rigorous.

I wonder if it's that Durmstrang is more likely to be obnoxious about it and gloat, while she considers Beauxbatons to be less into learning and more into manners or something. Though that's interesting in itself because BB seems to actually be the school that makes Hogwarts girls, at least, be more defensive. Hermione is annoyed listening to them say that it's too cold in Hogwarts, for instance. (Sometimes it seems like a sort of "snooty French people" thing.) So maybe it is just that McGonnagall herself feels more competitive with Durmstrang.

[undeadgoat.livejournal.com]

But there's definitely also the whole "boys from Beaubatons" being the pretty-boys of choice for the Patil twins . . .

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

Yes, anyway. Karkaroff has a weak chin, which should tell us right off that he's a shady character.

Unlike Cedric, whom I imagine has a chin that could knock over tall buildings.


Cabernet Karkaroff! Fruity, unctuous bouquet with slightly woody overtones and a burnt umber aftertaste.

_{ICON!!! Back off! XDDD}

[slinkhard.livejournal.com]

But his antics are hilaaaaarious to our heroic Gryffs.

What makes me laugh is how this is considered hearty joyous laughing, whereas whenever the Slytherins snigger at one of Snape or Umbridge's equally lameass jokes, it's sycophantic. Really, guys, Hagrid's not that funny, honest.

[pauraque]

Word.

[pilly2009.livejournal.com]

Then again, he doesn't seem to have any special ability to deflect the Cruciatus Curse... but he can't cast it.

Well he can cast it -- I'm starting to think that anyone can -- he just can't maintain it.

I also wonder a bit if when he says "they'll have trouble controlling you", he doesn't (only) mean the DEs, but also Dumbledore &co., which is true too.

This is a great angle; I'd love to see it play out, but we have seen that Dumbledore, for the most part, could control Harry despite everything else. (Dumbledore's man, and all that)

Crouch!Moody says that Dumbledore wanted him to place the Imperius curse on the students. Do you guys think that's true?

He had to have been aware of it (because Umbridge was aware of it, too); whether it was his idea or not is less certain. It's possible: if he was "reading the signs" as Sirius said he was, and the Imperius curse really had given the Ministry a whole lot of trouble in the first war, maybe he figured it was best to prepare the next generation for it in the second war.

[pauraque]

Well, in OotP it wasn't easy to control Harry... In HBP he sure lost a lot of that independence. Dumbledore's man, indeed.

[playscape.livejournal.com]

I've always wondered what we're supposed to see in Harry's eyes when he deflects the Imperius curse, too. Wha? I agree that it will probably be revealed to be Lily-related, though how I have no clue.

I'm not sure if Dumbledore said that he wanted the kids under Imperius, but considering how infrequently Junior lies, it's possible. Also it wouldn't be wise for Junior to say that Dumbledore said something he didn't--if word gets back to DD on that, Junior is immediately Very Obviously Shady. But trying the Imperius and seeing if he gets in trouble for it seems a lot let harmless than lying about why he's doing it.

And if Dumbledore did give permission, knowing him it's one of those things where we'll learn all about his reasoning for it like 3 books from now. ;o) But he probably just wanted to see how Harry resisted it. And after that lesson and DD finds out, and we never hear of Junior doing it again. Mission accomplished!

[pauraque]

I wonder if in the next book Harry will discover a lengthy letter from Dumbledore explaining all his circuitous plans. :D

But he probably just wanted to see how Harry resisted it. And after that lesson and DD finds out, and we never hear of Junior doing it again. Mission accomplished!

Oh, I agree. I believe Dumbledore is always very focused on Harry, even when it isn't apparent.

[silentauror.livejournal.com]

Agreed on the cinematic images! I also noticed that JKR never referred to Angelina Johnson as black until after she'd been cast that way. Very curious, indeed.

I've also noticed that she tends to use the fail-safe fairy tale approach to looks for the most part - ugly = bad; pretty = good, although she does make excepts. Veela/not judging a book by its cover. But Slughorn's immense weight, which seems to come up in every single appearance in HBP (though I'm getting way ahead of the discussion here!), Lockhart and Karkaroff's weak chins, Snape's greasy hair/hooked nose, Krum (i.e. the evil!school's student)'s round shoulders and duck-footed walk, Rita Skeeter's tacky taste in clothing, all set against Lily's beautiful eyes, Ginny's shinyshiny hair, ditto for Cho's hair, etc. I could just be reading into this, but I thought it worth a mention. Feel free to disagree!

I wonder if the students do know that Hagrid's not a wizard? Does Hogwarts only employ non-wizards as support staff? (Squibs, unqualified wizards, elves, etc.) My high school only seemed to employ Cuban refugees for janitorial staff, despite being located in a part of North America with an extremely low Hispanic population...

I do wonder about Moody and the Imperius curse being used in class like that, though. Hmmm.

[des06.livejournal.com]

I think that the non-wizards as support staff is a result of the likely difficulty getting a job that a non-wizard would have in the magical world. Most jobs there require magic with the exception of support staff jobs like these.

[skelkins.livejournal.com]

Coming in late...

Crouch!Moody says that Dumbledore wanted him to place the Imperius curse on the students. Do you guys think that's true?

Unless we're going to run with a "Dumbledore knew it was Barty all along" speculation, I think it has to be true. The entire Great Hall is buzzing with excitement after "Moody's" first day of classes. Fred and George are all excited about it, people are talking... I find it hard to believe that word of the Imperius practice wouldn't have made it back to Dumbledore somehow, and I find it equally hard to believe that Crouch wouldn't have anticipated that. Crouch is a nutter, all right, but I don't think he's so incautious as to risk blowing his cover with such a tremendous lie quite that early in the game.

Fandom tends to forget that the kids are supposed to be wearing pointy wizard hats, I think, since they aren't shown in the movies and JKR rarely refers to them. Maybe she sometimes forgets too.

I think that either the kids don't wear them all the time, as [Unknown site tag] suggested, or Rowling really just does forget about them. As a regular part of the school uniform, one would expect to hear more about them falling off, or to have them described as askew to show a character's dishevelment. Yet, although Rowling does sometimes mention characters' hair being rumpled to show that they're disheveled or out-of-sorts, she never mentions the hats.

Also, think of how often Rowling refers to Draco Malfoy's "sleek head" when Harry is supposed to be seeing him from the back. Unless Draco's hair is supposed to be really long and shiny (like Ginny's! O, Harry! You and your hair fetish!), it does seem rather unlikely that the head of someone wearing a pointy hat would be perceived as "sleek," no matter what the proclivities of the observer. :-)

Then, Rowling often seems to contradict herself on sartorial matters, doesn't she? I think that when it comes right down to it, she's probably just not all that interested in clothing.