GoF 23

[pauraque_bk]

In Chapter 22, sistermagpie linked to her analysis of Ginny in GoF and OotP, which goes much further than the usual "she just seems different". Highly recommended.


GoF 23: The Yule Ball

[Sirius's letter:] I was going to suggest a Conjunctivitis curse, as a dragon's eyes are its weakest point-- (353)

Traditionally, dragons have a hypnotic stare from which one can't escape. JKR doesn't seem to have made use of that point, though.

[Hermione] sat down to watch [Harry and Ron's] chess match, which culminated in an exciting checkmate of Ron's, involving a couple of recklessly brave pawns and a very violent bishop. (354)

I'm still a big believer in the importance of chess metaphors in the HP books. In the PS/SS chess game, Harry is a bishop. But here I'm much more reminded of the point -- I'm pretty sure lycoris made it -- that bishops may represent spies or undercover operatives, because in chess, each side has a bishop that moves only on the squares of the opposite color. The culmination of this book involves two undercover DEs (Barty and Peter), who certainly contribute to the violent end. Either one of them could be the bishop.

"Recklessly brave" makes one think of Sirius, but here I think the pawns are Harry and Cedric. Neither of them understands what's really going on until far too late -- they are not powerful pieces.

(Does anyone mind if I skip the part with Dobby? It's just more of them same.)

Harry's other presents were much more satisfactory than Dobby's old socks -- with the obvious exception of the Dursleys', which consisted of a single tissue, and all-time low -- Harry supposed that they, too, were remembering the Ton-Tongue Toffee. (357)

Couple ways you can go with this: Either this is an unfortunate collision of JKR's earlier grotesque portrayal of the Dursleys with her later realistic portrayal, or part of their taking-care-of-Harry contract says that they have to give him some sort of Christmas gift.

'I still can't work out how you two got the best-looking girls in the year,' muttered Dean. (358)

I couldn't pick out who Dean went with, but this line of his makes him sound like he's getting ahead of Harry and Ron in the maturity stakes. They went with Parvati and Padma because they had to find _somebody_, but Dean's well aware of how they stack up to the other girls.

Crabbe and Goyle were both wearing green; they resembled moss-coloured boulders, and neither of them, Harry was pleased to see, had managed to find a partner. (359)

Oh Harry. Your naivete charms me.

Come on! Two dudes at a ball together with no chicks and matching outfits? That's as good as it gets in this fandom, people.

Professor McGonagall [...] was wearing dress robes of red tartan, and had arranged a rather ugly wreath of thistles around the brim of her hat[...] (360)

Ooh, crown of thorns! Minerva's really going all out to express her feelings of martyrdom at having to chaperone this little shindig.

It was Hermione.

But she didn't look like Hermione at all. She had done something with her hair; it was no longer bushy, but sleek and shiny, and twisted up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. She was wearing robes made of a floaty, periwinkle-blue material, and she was holding herself differently somehow -- or maybe it was merely the absence of the twenty or so books she usually had slung over her back.

[...]

Parvati was gazing at Hermione in unflattering disbelief. She wasn't the only one, either[...] (360)

And her eyes were violet, and she was the last of the cat people, and she was secretly Sirius's daughter, and a flying unicorn Animagus, and and and!

Okay. I don't have a problem with Krum/Hermione per se, but this is a little silly. Would it be so wrong for her to at least be recognizable as herself? (Her two best friends walk past without knowing it's her!)

Dumbledore smiled happily as the champions approached the top table but Karkaroff wore an expression remarkably like Ron's as he watched Krum and Hermione draw nearer. (361)

This is a bit confusing, since Ron's last expression was "without looking at her", but I guess the idea is that Karkaroff gives a look of disdain. Has he just realized Viktor's new girlfriend is a Muggleborn?

'Nice socks, Potter,' Moody growled as he passed, his magical eyes staring through Harry's robes.

'Oh -- yeah, Dobby the house-elf knitted them for me,' said Harry, grinning.

'He is so creepy!' Parvati whispered, as Moody clunked away. 'I don't think that eye should be allowed!' (365)

Word, Parvati. Staring through the robes of fourteen-year-old students, nothing weird or suspicious about that at all...

'Viktor's just gone to get some drinks.'

Ron gave her a withering look.

'Viktor?' he said. 'Hasn't he asked you to call him Vicky yet?'

Hermione looked at him in surprise.

'What's up with you?' she said.

'If you don't know,' said Ron scathingly, 'I'm not going to tell you.' (366)

'[H]e said he'd been coming to the library every day to try and talk to me, but he hadn't been able to pluck up the courage!'

[...]

'Yeah, well -- that's his story,' said Ron nastily.

'And what's that supposed to mean?'

'Obvious, isn't it? He's Karkaroff's student, isn't he? He knows who you hang around with ... he's just tyring to get closer to Harry[...]' (367)

Goddamn! I generally like Ron, but he's such a bitch in this scene. The "If you don't know, I'm not telling you" is especially outrageous (I despise it when people say that to me), but telling his supposed friend that she only got a date because he's trying to spy on Harry? Again, I don't really get it... If the idea is that he's attracted to her, WHY is he constantly putting her down? WHY does he keep going on about how absurd it is that anyone could BE attracted to her? He honestly sounds like he's jealous of her for dating him, not jealous of him for dating her. No slash goggles required. Hermione is right to get upset.

But then we move on to where the real action is. Lots of couples snogging in the rose bushes outside, including these two lovebirds:

'...don't see what there is to fuss about, Igor.'

'Severus, you cannot pretend this isn't happening!' Karkaroff's voice sounded anxious and hushed, as though keen not to be overheard. 'It's been getting clearer and clearer for months, I am becoming seriously concerned, I can't deny it--'

'Then flee,' said Snape's voice curtly. 'Flee, I will make your excuses. I, however, am remaining at Hogwarts.' (371)

Karkaroff comes to his old Death-Eating pal because he thinks they're in the same position -- both DEs who went free. But Snape quickly reminds him that they're not in the same position at all; he pointedly says he's remaining at Hogwarts, under the protection of Dumbledore, protection from which Karkaroff does not benefit. "You're on your own, buddy," says Snape.

'Ten points from Hufflepuff, Fawcett!' Snape snarled, as a girl ran past him. 'And ten points from Ravenclaw, too, Stebbins!' as a boy went rushing after her. 'And what are you two doing?' he added, catching sight of Harry and Ron on the path ahead. (371)

What indeed! I confess amusement at Snape catching Ron and Harry strolling along Makeout Point here.

Although it's hardly unusual for a teacher to be stopping kids from canoodling at a dance, Snape is particularly pissy about it. Bitterness over his own romantic failures? Or maybe he's just taking out his irritation at Karkaroff on the kids.

And then we have Hagrid and Maxime, with beetle!Rita listening in:

'Me dad was broken-hearted when she wen'. Tiny little bloke, my dad was. By the time I was six I could lift him up an' put him on top o' the dresser if he annoyed me[...]' (372)

The very existence of Hagrid presents some not inconsiderable... logistical problems. I can think of ways that a woman the size of Grawp could be impregnated by a small human man, but doesn't it seem like you'd have to be trying for it?

Then Hagrid asks Maxime whether her mother or father was a giant, which produces rather alarming mental images.

I can't really blame Ron (or the wizarding world in general) for being shocked at human/giant couplings. It freaks me out too.


Previous GoF posts are saved in memories here.

Comments

[atalantapendrag.livejournal.com]

I can't really blame Ron (or the wizarding world in general) for being shocked at human/giant couplings. It freaks me out too.


I've known people with fetishes like that, but only in the Wizarding World are they actually possible.


Not sure if that's good or bad.

[pauraque]

One of the problems I have with it is that Grawp is presented as mentally deficient, and it takes some analysis to arrive at the idea that it may just be him, and not his species. The most obvious reading is that giants are less than sentient, IMO, and then Hagrid isn't necessarily stupid but he is uneducated, so you get to wondering exactly what JKR is trying to say.

Fleur's a quarter Veela, and that doesn't seem to bother anyone, so it isn't cross-species breeding per se that's the problem. It's something else.

[dphearson.livejournal.com]

Then Hagrid asks Maxime whether her mother or father was a giant, which produces rather alarming mental images.

I keep thinking of a miniature poodle and a Great Dane. Either sex will do.

Eeek.

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

Okay. I don't have a problem with Krum/Hermione per se, but this is a little silly. Would it be so wrong for her to at least be recognizable as herself? (Her two best friends walk past without knowing it's her!)

I dunno, I had that happen to me at my school formal when I was 17. I spent ten minutes talking to a male friend of many years' standing before he realised it was me -- that cliche about taking your glasses off and letting your hair down has some truth in it. Teenage guys just aren't that observant, and seem to have awful trouble coping with dramatic physical changes.

Come to think of it, I'd started wearing glasses the year before, and no one recognised me then, either.

Maybe I have a forgettable face. *worries*

[marissa-214.livejournal.com]

I was going to relate a similar story. I have very curly hair (bushy, if you will) and I straightened it for fun one day. My boyfriend of 1 year didn't recognize me until I spoke to him. The thing about curly-haired girls is that it's the recognizable feature about you. I'm definitely identified by my hair...it's the first thing people see. When I take that away, it's not that I'm not noticeable, it's just that other features come forward that might not have been evident before.

Same with glasses, I think, so I'm sure you don't have a forgettable face. :-)

[amythis.livejournal.com]

Couple ways you can go with this: Either this is an unfortunate collision of JKR's earlier grotesque portrayal of the Dursleys with her later realistic portrayal, or part of their taking-care-of-Harry contract says that they have to give him some sort of Christmas gift.

I think of the Dursleys as having a Christmas list and they have to send something to everyone on their list because that's what they're supposed to do (as "normal" people). For all we know, they may even think it's a thoughtful gift. (At least it's not used.)

I couldn't pick out who Dean went with

See? JKR only pays attention to Dean when she needs an everyman character.

Come on! Two dudes at a ball together with no chicks and matching outfits? That's as good as it gets in this fandom, people.

Giggle, how did I miss that all these years? I'm sure it'll play out differently in the movie than she intended, now that Goyle is teh sexy.

Ooh, crown of thorns! Minerva's really going all out to express her feelings of martyrdom at having to chaperone this little shindig.

I see McG as an older version of Hermione, so interesting that they're both martyrs in this book.

Would it be so wrong for her to at least be recognizable as herself? (Her two best friends walk past without knowing it's her!)

And wouldn't Parvati see at least some of Hermione's Yule Ball preparations since they take three hours?

This is a bit confusing, since Ron's last expression was "without looking at her", but I guess the idea is that Karkaroff gives a look of disdain. Has he just realized Viktor's new girlfriend is a Muggleborn?

Or he realizes his own chances with Viktor are reduced.

Word, Parvati. Staring through the robes of fourteen-year-old students, nothing weird or suspicious about that at all...

"Nice knickers, Patil."

Again, I don't really get it... If the idea is that he's attracted to her, WHY is he constantly putting her down?

Maybe he operates on the boy-pulling-the-pigtail-of-the-girl-he-likes level. But at 14?

He honestly sounds like he's jealous of her for dating him, not jealous of him for dating her. No slash goggles required.

Word. It may be that Ron/Hermione hadn't occurred to Ron either, not until she suggested it. And then by Christmas of Year Five he's giving her "unusual" perfume.

'And what are you two doing?' he added, catching sight of Harry and Ron on the path ahead. (371)
What indeed! I confess amusement at Snape catching Ron and Harry strolling along Makeout Point here.

I've always loved this in a Snape-shipping-Ron/Harry way, just like the thing in PoA of him saying, re the Zonko's products that Harry claims Ron gave him, "Indeed? And you've been carrying them around ever since? How very touching."

Bitterness over his own romantic failures? Or maybe he's just taking out his irritation at Karkaroff on the kids.

Is there a difference?

Then Hagrid asks Maxime whether her mother or father was a giant, which produces rather alarming mental images.

Well, Hagrid's father was a wizard, so, um, there might've been spells or something to get around this. But I can see why you're squicked.

[slinkhard.livejournal.com]

For all we know, they may even think it's a thoughtful gift.

I find the Dursleys gifts (and the characters themselves, come to think of it) bizarrely endearing. Whatever motive they have for sending presents, they must have gone to some effort and interacted with the magical world they hate - doesn't it arrive from an owl?

I'm sure it'll play out differently in the movie than she intended, now that Goyle is teh sexy.

The movie versions have dates. OMG TEH HOMOPHOBIA of the WB!

[vvvexation.livejournal.com]

It may be that Ron/Hermione hadn't occurred to Ron either, not until she suggested it. And then by Christmas of Year Five he's giving her "unusual" perfume.

See my earlier comment--and yes, the perfume is the next stage in the woefully drawn-out process of figuring out how to interact with someone who suddenly belongs in a Different Category than before. By that point he may or may not have developed feelings that could be described as "liking" her, but he's got the vague idea that perhaps he should treat her like a Girl, since she seems to want that facet of her identity acknowledged. Of course, his idea of how to do that still involves playing to feminine stereotypes instead of trying to figure out what she, as a person and not just a Girl, might actually want. It'll be interesting to see if Ron ever does figure out how to relate to her as a person, or show any understanding of her whatsoever, because so far he doesn't seem to have shown any understanding of, or even attempted to understand, anyone other than himself and possibly Harry (and I suspect he only groks Harry's feelings to the extent that they match his own).

Well, Hagrid's father was a wizard, so, um, there might've been spells or something to get around this.

Engorgement Charm, baby.

[pilly2009.livejournal.com]

Okay. I don't have a problem with Krum/Hermione per se, but this is a little silly. Would it be so wrong for her to at least be recognizable as herself? (Her two best friends walk past without knowing it's her!)

Ha! I did say that her canon outfit was just as OOC for her as her movie outfit is, which is why I'm probably the only person in fandom not bothered by her movie gown for this reason. (My only nitpick is that I don't see why they had to change the colour at all; Emma Watson's worn blue before, and looked fine.)

Word, Parvati. Staring through the robes of fourteen-year-old students, nothing weird or suspicious about that at all...

Am so glad someone else caught this :-)

[cosmob.livejournal.com]

(My only nitpick is that I don't see why they had to change the colour at all; Emma Watson's worn blue before, and looked fine.)

Someone -- I don't remember who -- pointed out that the set is decorated in very cool, blue-y colors, and that Hermione would simply fade into the background if she wore canon periwinkle blue.

It makes sense to me, anyway.

*is not bothered by her movie gown*

[asphodeline.livejournal.com]

'Then flee,' said Snape's voice curtly. 'Flee, I will make your excuses. I, however, am remaining at Hogwarts.' (371)

I love this chapter where Snape blasts things out of bushes. I assume the above means Snape would give Karkaroff's excuses to those at Hogwarts but might there also be the smallest hint that he could also mean making excuses to the Dark Lord???? Now that we know a little more of course.

[black-dog.livejournal.com]

The whole interbreeding-with-giants thing could be a playful kind of JKR meta. It's the sort of thing that happens in fairy tales, and sufficiently innocent children don't think twice about the mechanics of it -- and meanwhile we, as older readers, snicker about it. Given JKR's fondness for potty-humor generally, I wouldn't put it past her to be deliberately encouraging this kind of speculation while maintaining, for herself, a false pose of innocence.

[sibility.livejournal.com]

(I heard someone say something similar about the fantastic Master & Commander novels - that O'Brian was just making up ridiculously complicated naval terms to confuse teh fen and snickering behind his hand the whole time.)

But. What you said gives credence to all the Closet Slasher theories, too - subtext! UST! Subtext!

Hee.

[icyaurora8.livejournal.com]

hey... this is totally off the subject, but i was wondering if you could add me to pornish_pixies? i didnt realize that when i added the group onto my friends list, that it doesnt actually put me into the group, so when i was going to post my drabble, i couldnt! just let me know, thanks :-)

[pauraque]

As the user info indicates, pornish_pixies posting access is by invitation only. Sorry!

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Come on! Two dudes at a ball together with no chicks and matching outfits? That's as good as it gets in this fandom, people.

It's not like they couldn't have gotten dates if they needed them. Presumably Malfoy could ask Pansy to enlist somebody. Only fourth years and older get to go to the dance, so there must be some younger Slytherin girls who would want to go.

And her eyes were violet, and she was the last of the cat people, and she was secretly Sirius's daughter, and a flying unicorn Animagus, and and and!

LOL!

Okay. I don't have a problem with Krum/Hermione per se, but this is a little silly. Would it be so wrong for her to at least be recognizable as herself? (Her two best friends walk past without knowing it's her!)

I think they're confused because she sounds like an attractive 35-year-old here in her tasteful mother-of-the-bride perriwinkle and French twist hair. It's no wonder the movie put her in Pansy's outfit. It's not like she's described as wearing make-up, which would change her appearance more.

Word, Parvati. Staring through the robes of fourteen-year-old students, nothing weird or suspicious about that at all...

Yeah, Parvati's got a clue at least.

Goddamn! I generally like Ron, but he's such a bitch in this scene.

Ironically, Ron hits Hermione with the same insult Arthur later levels at Percy. She shows up pleased with herself for having been asked to the ball and looking pretty, and Ron says he couldn't possibly want her for herself, he's only trying to get close to Harry. Only for some reason it's okay when Arthur says it, according to some!

Anyway, yeah, Ron is really bitchy there, but I assume it's just that he's supposed to be all freaked out at the way he suddenly feels. Actually, I've never thought of this before, but Ron may be upset at Hermione's look at the ball, too, because she dresses up like that for Viktor but not for him. We know the Weasleys are pretty much cave men underneath when it comes to women--their views are pretty traditional but not always badly meant (the boys are trying to protect Ginny, which she never acknowledges in her sassy feminist rants). So imagine Ron thinking he's friends with Hermione and maybe is starting to get glimmers of liking her, and he knows her as a girl with bushy hair who doesn't care about these things. Then suddenly Viktor shows up and Hermione dolls herself up and really does become a different person in some significant way. This is a girl interested in a boy's attention; his Hermione is the opposite. Ooh. I feel a post coming on about this subject...

What indeed! I confess amusement at Snape catching Ron and Harry strolling along Makeout Point here.

LOL! These two couples are hilarious here.

I can't really blame Ron (or the wizarding world in general) for being shocked at human/giant couplings. It freaks me out too.

Yes. And Hagrid never seems to speak of Grawp as retarded for a giant, even though he seems to be. Frankly it seems more like just that when you take the giant out of his home environment and put him in civiliation he appears more savage.

[jane85.livejournal.com]

Ironically, Ron hits Hermione with the same insult Arthur later levels at Percy. She shows up pleased with herself for having been asked to the ball and looking pretty, and Ron says he couldn't possibly want her for herself, he's only trying to get close to Harry. Only for some reason it's okay when Arthur says it, according to some!

I couldn't agree more. This is one of the reasons why I'm a Percy fan. I feel sorry for him, and don't understand how people seem to forget this part in the book. Ron's doing the same damn thing here, yet because a lot of people already didn't like Percy too much, they dismiss Arthur's insult.

[black-dog.livejournal.com]

Ironically, Ron hits Hermione with the same insult Arthur later levels at Percy. She shows up pleased with herself for having been asked to the ball and looking pretty, and Ron says he couldn't possibly want her for herself, he's only trying to get close to Harry. Only for some reason it's okay when Arthur says it, according to some!

Weasley!issues! I really liked your analysis, in your own post, about what Ron might be feeling -- confusion over what "category" he puts Hermione in, hurt that she doesn't dress up for "him."

But I also was thinking about this, and wondering what might happen when we take Ron's comments at face value -- that his primary hostility is directed at Krum, that he sees, at least in his own mind, Hermione as "deceived." Not that this is remotely accurate, but what does it say about Ron's feelings that he expresses himself this way?

Pauraque made a comment that Ron seems almost more jealous that Hermione got Krum, than that Krum got Hermione. Without going into the slash aspects of this, I think there's something to it. Krum is someone Ron pays (or his father exchanges favors) to see in a public performance. He is someone whose action figure Ron buys. He's someone who's autograph Ron considers asking for. He's not a peer -- he's someone awesome and a little unapproachable, even when he's right there in school as a fellow student.

And this is, after all, the book where Ron wakes up to some of his own social insecurities -- class and money anxieties, which in their own way are as much part of the awakening of adolescence as sex is.

So the shock of Hermione dating Krum is not purely about romantic issues. It sort of piles on top of some things that have been happening between Ron and Harry as well. Ron's proud of knowing Harry but hasn't, before this book, felt insecure or like a sidekick around his celebrity-friend. Because in practical terms, of course, Harry hasn't been much of a public figure except by reputation, in sort of an intangible way. But in this book Ron has felt humiliated by Harry over money issues, and hostile about Harry's big move into the limelight via the Triwizard tournament, even if it wasn't intentional on Harry's part. So Ron's been confronting the issue of not feeling equal to Harry, which pokes at him right in his sorest spot.

In consolation, though, he's always had Hermione for solidarity. In fact, Hermione might even be beneath him in the Trio pecking order, since she was admitted last, and at first only on suffrance. But now Hermione is making her move socially -- she belongs with the heroes, like Krum, and along with Harry, and poor Ron is left behind, outshone by both of these figures. He's humiliated and upset, and all this is in addition to whatever romantic confusion he may be feeling.

So his reaction does two interesting things. By implying that Krum is just out to spy on Harry, he can sort of deny to himself that Hermione is really passing outside his social range. She's not really Krum's equal, he's just using her cynically. Second, by "exposing" Krum as a scammer, Ron is posing as Hermione's protector. I really do think he's dumb enough to think that he's doing her a favor here, warning her and looking out for her, rather than insulting her. (Again, I'm trying to get inside his head, not to suggest that he's got a clue here.)

So I agree that there's hostility and agression here, just that it's deeply masked; I think he's desperately masking his own anxieties, which are social as much as romantic, and I don't think he has a clue what a bitch he's being.

[continued . . . ]

[black-dog.livejournal.com]

[. . . continued]

The parallel with Arthur and Percy is really interesting. I confess I think of Arthur as someone who has a reasonable amount of self-knowledge, at least about the consequences of his career and family choices, and is at peace with them. But maybe that needs more careful examination. Clearly Percy's careerism is a rebuke to Arthur's lack of ambition and low-impact professional style. Does this sting Arthur at a place where he's previously felt well-defended? Maybe so, and maybe that's part of his hostility to Percy. His son really couldn't be surpassing him, leaving him behind, rejecting his lifestyle -- it has to be a conspiracy, where Percy's superiors really have a different and more sinister agenda. It's less threatening that way, and he really has no clue how offensive it is for him to say or imply this to Percy.

Envy and insecurity seem to be traits that run very deeply among the Weasleys. I wonder if there's anything they do that might not be better understood by keeping this in the forefront.

[vvvexation.livejournal.com]

I couldn't pick out who Dean went with, but this line of his makes him sound like he's getting ahead of Harry and Ron in the maturity stakes. They went with Parvati and Padma because they had to find _somebody_, but Dean's well aware of how they stack up to the other girls.

Well, Ron did admit to Hermione that he cared about looks almost exclusively; that doesn't sound mature to me, but it does sound like he's about level with Dean on that score (though we still don't know about Harry.)

If the idea is that he's attracted to her, WHY is he constantly putting her down? WHY does he keep going on about how absurd it is that anyone could BE attracted to her?

See my comments above--but also, I don't think he's disbelieving that someone would like her so much as he's believing that Viktor must have evil intentions, simply because Ron feels threatened by him. It's actually quite similar to his reaction to the news that Ginny has a boyfriend--on finding out who it is, he immediately says he didn't like the look of him. It seems like he's being territorial in both cases--Hermione and Ginny are both his to protect (in Hermione's case, it's not yet because he wants her for himself but more because he's got her flagged in his head as asexual), and any guy who puts the moves on either of them is ipso facto suspect.

[lamiael.livejournal.com]

(though we still don't know about Harry.)

Let's be honest. No one knows about Harry.

[skelkins.livejournal.com]

And her eyes were violet, and she was the last of the cat people, and she was secretly Sirius's daughter, and a flying unicorn Animagus, and and and!

::chokes on coffee::

Yeah, but look at it this way. It could have been much worse. At least we were spared a description of how SuddenlyAttractive!Hermione smells like flowers.

[vvvexation.livejournal.com]

Oh, good, I'm not the only one who hated that. Since when do athletes smell flowery?

(Okay, maybe I'm biased because I hate floral scents in general, but c'mon, aren't they Teh Girlie and isn't that supposed to be Teh Bad?)

[winningstreak.livejournal.com]

Interesting stuff. I'm friending you. Hope you don't mind. I'm guessing you wont, since you wrote yourself "Feel free to comment or add me to your Friends list; no need to be shy."

[tsosh.livejournal.com]

Okay. I don't have a problem with Krum/Hermione per se, but this is a little silly. Would it be so wrong for her to at least be recognizable as herself? (Her two best friends walk past without knowing it's her!)
It's like when Clark Kent takes his glasses off..

Come on! Two dudes at a ball together with no chicks and matching outfits?
Thanks for pointing it out, I can't believe I haven't noticed. It goes well their shared time in the closet in CoS! Half naked ;)

Ann.

...joining in a little late, Hi!

[(Anonymous)]

I'm exhausted! I only just found out that you had started a GoF reread, I remember I loved the ones for the other books, and I've been going backwards through all the chapters and discussion so far. These are so great, thank you for doing this! :D


Some random points from the discussion so far:

I LOVE that described Wormtail as having balls of steel. (Heh. They go so well with his silver hand.)

One thing about Bill, I can't remember which chapter, but you asked what was the point of him, plot-wise. My theory is that what may be important about him is that he works at Gringotts, and have access to the vaults as well as experience with curses etc put on them. I expect Voldie to have hidden one of his horcruxes there (safest place in the land, next to Hogwarts), he obviously knows his way around given that Quirrelmort managed to sneak around and break in, and that Harry will enlist Bill to help him break into Voldie's vault. Which I'm thinking could be vault 712, since both 713 and 711 have been important so far.

I think maybe you've answered your own earlier question as to why some people don't like Ron with this post; he can be a real bitch. ;-) He's been bothering me for some time, but I've realised that while I don't like him or find him interesting as a person and would probably avoid him in a RL situation, I like how his character works within the books and his interactions with Harry.


In this chapter, have you, or anybody else :D, wondered why Hermione accepts Krum's invitation to the ball? Do you think she would have accepted anyone? I mean, we know she doesn't like Quidditch, she's not impressed by his skills, she resents his intrusion into "her" territory, and she does not think he's attractive. Given that Krum hasn't learnt to pronounce her name yet, at the ball, it doesn't seem as if they've spent any time together yet, or that he tried to get to know her before he asked, so what made her say yes? Is she that much of a pushover for a celebrity (*cough* Lockhart *cough*)?

- Clara

[tallulahgs]

Just wanted to say that McGonagall is wearing thistles on her hat because they are the Scottish national flower - it goes with mentions in other places of her wearing tartan. So the martyr comment is funny, but presumably it wasn't her conscious reason for wearing them ^_^