GoF 23

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.

( I could have daaaanced all night... )

Previous GoF posts are saved in memories here.

GoF 23

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.

( I could have daaaanced all night... )

Previous GoF posts are saved in memories here.