Half-Blood Prince: Chapter Fourteen: Felix Felicis

Aug 28, 2005 19:35


I don’t know where Chapter 13 is, but here’s Chapter 14….

Chapter Fourteen: Felix Felicis

Since the Half-Blood Prince’s potions book, Hermione has been extremely annoyed. She continues to snap back at Harry and Ron, especially when something regarding the Half-Blood Prince is brought up.

The Slug Club is having another party, a Christmas one, and ( Read more... )

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cadesama August 29 2005, 05:21:46 UTC
::shrugs:: Might as well get talking.

Why do Ron and Hermione always have to be difficult before the logical being nice part? I mean, wouldn't it make more sense to mention that Club members can bring guests instead of saying it's "just for the Slug Club"? I'd appreciate it more when they made up if their arguments weren't so stupid and such transparent obstructions to them getting together. "Hmm, need another four hundred pages of Ron-Hermione tension. Ohhh, maybe I'll have them work through their personality conflicts and underlying issues! No wait, that'd be work. Guess I'll have them argue about which color the sky is, instead, and then cuddle after Ron realizes that azure is actually a shade of blue. I'm sure that's just as satisfying." /bitterness ( ... )

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cheeringcharm August 29 2005, 15:43:43 UTC
Ohhh, maybe I'll have them work through their personality conflicts and underlying issues! No wait, that'd be work. Guess I'll have them argue about which color the sky is, instead, and then cuddle after Ron realizes that azure is actually a shade of blue.

I'm so with you on this. The way she goes about getting them together doesn't bode well for their future relationship. Neither have matured or changed at the end of this book. The big progression is they both realize they like each other. Well, I've got news for them and everyone else that thinks opposites attract and balance each other out: the things that irritate the crap out of you before you get together won't suddenly go away. In fact, it gets worse because you realize, "They aren't going to change. What the hell have I gotten myself into?"

She deliberately lulls him into a false sense of security by telling him to go to Lavender, and then she attacks him.

Which is why it seems so out of character to me. It's reprehensible and I've never thought of her in that way.

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cadesama August 29 2005, 19:04:48 UTC
In fact, it gets worse because you realize, "They aren't going to change. What the hell have I gotten myself into?"

Exactly. I think there's some argument to be made for how touchy and irritable Ron and Hermione are because they are unsure of how the other feels for so long, but that's not the root of their arguments and it never has been. They've been hurting each other since they met because they both refuse to listen (and well, actually say what they mean), and there's no reason that factor will ever go away.

Which is why it seems so out of character to me. It's reprehensible and I've never thought of her in that way.The terrible thing is, I can't think of any purpose to that scene other than to make of us think of Hermione that way. Ron and Lavender were getting along fine snogging in the common room. Why did they decide to move it to an empty classroom, where they have a greater probability of getting caught by a teacher? Maybe they were chased from the common room by disgusted students (although such a reaction should ( ... )

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cheeringcharm August 29 2005, 21:20:51 UTC
The terrible thing is, I can't think of any purpose to that scene other than to make of us think of Hermione that way.

I've been wondering what the point was too. My guess is that she had this really neat idea to, you know, have birds fly at someone and she, like you know, wanted to use it. Is this her idea of revenge? Is this her idea of acceptable behavior?

Part of me hopes that we will come to realize in Book 7 what the point of her turning Hermione into an unrecognizable shrew was. The other part of me wants no mention of romance or relationships at all. I don't think I can take two books worth of JKR's idea of healthy relationships.

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house_elf_44 August 30 2005, 03:41:28 UTC
Part of me hopes that we will come to realize in Book 7 what the point of her turning Hermione into an unrecognizable shrew was. The other part of me wants no mention of romance or relationships at all. I don't think I can take two books worth of JKR's idea of healthy relationships.

I agree. My pet theories are the only thing preventing me from abandoning my interest in HP until we can know for sure whether or not this was trickery and temporarily altered characters.

I'm wondering, if it turns out that it's trickery, will we be able to enjoy it after seeing everything resolve? I'm not sure. If we find out early in the book or from spoilers, probably. But if this mess continues through most of book 7, maybe not. I'd feel cheated out of reading what could have been a favorite part of two books.

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pilly2009 August 30 2005, 05:11:36 UTC
"Hmm, need another four hundred pages of Ron-Hermione tension. Ohhh, maybe I'll have them work through their personality conflicts and underlying issues! No wait, that'd be work. Guess I'll have them argue about which color the sky is, instead, and then cuddle after Ron realizes that azure is actually a shade of blue. I'm sure that's just as satisfying." /bitterness

What's a little sad is that their arguments used to be more interesting in the past, when they actually did deal with their personality conflicts. Why did arguments over Hermione's nagging or Ron's cluelessness stop being enough? No idea; but they were a lot more interesting in PoA.

Deserted corridor? One that's the typical short cut to Gryffindor tower for a least a handful of students? I don't quite buy Ginny's line there. Hmm, it make me think that Ginny purposefully snogged Dean there in hopes that Harry would see her. LOL, I've seen this theory before! Actually, it is pretty suspicious; but this is actually one of the only scenes in HBP in which I actually liked ( ... )

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cadesama August 30 2005, 06:24:50 UTC
Why did arguments over Hermione's nagging or Ron's cluelessness stop being enough? No idea; but they were a lot more interesting in PoA.

I guess Ron's cluelessnes is still a big part since I don't think a totally clued-in Ron would have decided not to go to the part iwth Hermione, but it's ridiculous in HBP. It's not really cluelessness any more, it's just simple cowardice.

For the first time, she was actually being mean, and someone didn't think she was the greatest thing to walk the earth since Jesus for doing so. It was the one time that the authorial intent didn't portray Ginny as completely golden.

Very true, although Harry witnessing Ginny acting that way and immediately fantasizing about the girl makes me feel a bit queasy. Doesn't show a whole lot of mental solidarity with his best friend.

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annearchy September 1 2005, 18:10:43 UTC
If Ginny is Harry's "ideal girl" after scenes like this, then Harry's idea of ideal is pretty immature. I have to hope that JKR intended to show that Harry was still a very hormonal 16-year-old boy through all this Ginny-fantasizing. I HOPE this wasn't intended to show Harry's "maturity". Sheesh.

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cadesama September 1 2005, 18:55:09 UTC
I really wish that interview had never happened. If it happened then I, and probably most of fandom, would have happily accepted that Harry's attraction to Ginny was hormonal and that their relationship was just a lusty teen relationship. Yeah, maybe a foundation for more, but nothing else in HBP. Now we keep squinting at the text trying to figure out wtf JKR was talking about, how Ginny is the slightest bit "ideal."

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