GoF 26

[pauraque_bk]

GoF 26: The Second Task

Ladies and gentlemen, let me just remind you that the first three rows are in the Splaaaash Zooooone, and when that giant squid comes around, you WILL GET WET!

Erm. Okay. Here we go, then.

[Charms] class was ideal cover for a private conversation, as everyone was having far too much fun to pay them any attention. (416)

Here they're practicing Banishing Charms, sending cushions flying across the room. Again, Flitwick is the fun teacher.

[The cushion] soared into the air and knocked Parvati's hat off[...] (417)

Again with the hats!

'Harry ... maybe Moody thinks Snape put your name in the Goblet of Fire!'

'Oh, Ron,' said Hermione, shaking her head sceptically, 'we thought Snape was trying to kill Harry before, and it turned out he was saving Harry's life, remember?' (417)

Harry doesn't answer; privately, he doesn't know what to think. This is more symbolism than characterization, Ron speaking as Harry's emotions, and Hermione as his logic.

'I just want to know what Snape did with his first chance, if he's on his second one,' said Harry grimly, and his cushion, to his very great surprise, flew straight across the room, and landed neatly on top of Hermione's. (418)

His sudden success at the charm represents that he's put his finger on the heart of the Snape issue, IMO. We still want to know exactly what Snape did with his first chance, don't we?

It turned out that Hagrid knew quite as much about unicorns as he did about monsters, though it was clear that he found their lack of poisonous fangs disappointing. (420)

Maybe JKR thought she'd been making Hagrid appear a bit too incompetent lately. His lesson about unicorn foals goes quite smoothly -- though he repeats his prediction that Harry's going to win the tournament, which is still off-base.

'What?' Harry gasped. 'They've got -- they've got Ron?'

'The thing Harry Potter will miss most, sir!' squeaked Dobby. (426)

Well, of course there's the obvious interpretation here -- Harry ♥s Ron -- but let's take another look.

In the wand-weighing scene, we noticed how Cedric and Krum's masculine maturity, and Fleur's femininity, were contrasted against Harry's sexual immaturity. We've got the same thing here: Cedric and Krum would most miss Cho and Hermione -- their respective love interests -- whereas Harry would most miss Ron, his best mate.

I don't know about Fleur. She would most miss her younger sister -- perhaps another symbol of femininity. This may also be calculated to make us more sympathetic towards Fleur; watch her reaction when she thinks Gabrielle is hurt.

'[...]Dobby heard Professor McGonagall and Professor Moody in the staff room, talking about the next task ... Dobby cannot let Harry Potter lose his Wheezy!' (426-427)

Junior intentionally let Dobby overhear, of course.

Do we have any evil!McGonagall fans in the house? This is a nice juicy bit of evidence.

'You want to try over there!' [Myrtle] said, pointing. 'I won't come with you ... I don't like them much, they always chase me when I get too close...' (431)

I'd forgotten that Myrtle helps him again with this task. He really can't do anything on his own, can he?

The ropes of weed tying the hostages to the statue were thick, slimy and very strong. For a fleeting second he thought of the knife Sirius had brought him for Christmas -- locked in his trunk in the castle a quarter of a mile away, no use to him whatsoever. (432-433)

!!!

This is another one like the mirror in OotP; no matter what Sirius does, he can't help Harry.

'You take your own hostage,' one of them said to him. 'Leave the others...'

'No way!' said Harry furiously[...] (433)'Harry, you prat,' said Ron, 'you didn't take that song thing seriously, did you? Dumbledore wouldn't have let any of us drown!' (436)

'Most of the judges' -- and here, Bagman gave Karkaroff a very nasty look -- 'feel that this shows moral fibre and merits full marks. However ... Mr Potter's score is forty-five points.'

[...]

'There you go, Harry!' Ron shouted over the noise. 'You weren't being thick after all -- you were showing moral fibre!' (440)

This is perhaps the only point where Harry actually behaves in a manner befitting a champion. You go, boy.

Dumbledore and Ludo Bagman stood beaming at Harry and Ron from the bank as they swam nearer, but Percy, who looked very white and somehow much younger than usual, came splashing out to meet them. Meanwhile Madame Maxime was trying to restrain Fleur Delacour, who was quite hysterical, fighting tooth and nail to return to the water.

'Gabrielle! Gabrielle! Is she alive? Is she 'urt?'

[...]

Percy seized Ron and was dragging him back to the bank ('Gerroff, Percy, I'm all right!')[...] (437)

In light of OotP and HBP, I think we're being shown the same thing here about Fleur and Percy -- they both care deeply about their families. I think the idea is that this proves Fleur is worthy of Bill... and hopefully that Percy is also worthy of the Weasley name.

Dumbledore was crouching at the water's edge, deep in conversation with what seemed to be the chief merperson [...] clearly, Dumbledore could speak Mermish. (438)

Well, he didn't learn it at Hogwarts, that's for sure...


Previous GoF posts are saved in memories here.

Comments

[amythis.livejournal.com]

I'll bet JKR reads this book years from now....

"Everyone else in the world has read these things. Might as well see what all the fuss is about."

Though also I have to say that Fleur and Harry just come out looking more normal. Compared to a sister and your best friend, the girl you've been dating since the Yule Ball doesn't really stack up.

I agree. While Cedric and Cho may get close enough in the six months of dating before his death to warrant her tremendous grief, at this point it's two months in. And C/C might've at least known each other for years. Hermione and Viktor have had how many conversations since he arrived?

In contrast, Fleur and Gabrielle are sisters who apparently get along, might even be close. And Harry and Ron, subtext or not, are very close friends. (Seamus might've saved Dean, but OTOH they haven't risked death together multiple times, AFAIK.)

[funwithrage.livejournal.com]

Hermione and Viktor have had how many conversations since he arrived?


I actually read this as Viktor being *really* isolated, which isn't surprising now that I think about it. Most people, both at Durmstrang and Hogwarts, treat him either like Giant Celebrity Guy or like The Enemy: a girl he's known for a couple months may *well* be the person he's closest to who can reasonably be grabbed for the test. Poor guy.

[des06.livejournal.com]

Gabrielle was taken from France so if Krum was close to someone back at Drumstang/home she/he could have been taken from whereever she/he was just as easily as Gabrielle was.

[amythis.livejournal.com]

Poor Viktor. No wonder he falls so quickly for Hermione-- she treats him like a person. Sad.