pauraque_bk | GoF 23

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.

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