---"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Professor Charity Burbage and I will be teaching you about the fascinating subject of muggles in the coming year!"
If only she *had* been introduced in PoA! I was always impressed by the way JKR seemed so in control of her story when she introduced Cedric long before he became important. And Cho. Even Sirius and his motorbike got an early soundbite. Either she stopped bothering, or Burbage's death was a last minute thing. Some people think it should have been Trelawney, some think it was meant to be - but she hardly had a vital role in DH, so why change? I can understand why Voldemort would want to kill a teacher trying to teach young wizards about Muggles, but this woman was a Star Trek redshirt - something 20th century JKR didn't resort to. All it needed in PoA was Hermione mentioning ONE LESSON and the teacher's name, either saying she was a Muggle-born who understood the difficulties in entering a new world, or a half-blood who understood both sides of the coin. Then in DH, Voldemort could be resentful of a 'Mud-blood' spreading Muggle propaganda, or a half-blood being a traitor. Two or three sentences would have been enough, but nothing;which makes me think it was a late addition to the story.
---"What's weird to me is how Percy went from being an amusingly pompous older brother to being the scourge of the wizarding world."
Actually he was the scourge of Harry and the Weasleys and no-one else - but that's enough in this series. He obviously didn't genefluct appropiately when entering The Presence and therefore deserved to be CAST OUT.
---"For Muggleborn students:...If possible, try to convince them to leave you on your own in the wizarding world for the last weekend before school. It's vitally important to start training them to accept your new way of life."
I'm suprised there wasn't a school of thought that believed that all Muggleborns should be removed from their muggle parents permanently. If Hermione can wipe her parents' memory at first attempt, I'm sure Arthur's dept and many others could manange it with ease. Stick all the children in a special orphange - 'St Cuthberts School for muddy blooded inferiors'. Tell them their parents were Wizards who died in a war, wipe their memorys, brand them with an 'Unclean' tatoo, but tell them they had a hereditary 'illness'(it would also warn the pure-bloods). That would remove the need for any Muggles to know about the Wizarding World. I'm sure Commandant Hermione is working on it as we speak.
If only she *had* been introduced in PoA! I was always impressed by the way JKR seemed so in control of her story when she introduced Cedric long before he became important. And Cho. Even Sirius and his motorbike got an early soundbite. Either she stopped bothering -
I really do think it was something like that. I think Rowling had the first few books neatly mapped out in her mind either before she even got PS sold or certainly before she became a mega-blockbuster commercial success. But then the 'bloat factor' crept in, the books got bigger and bigger ... and the paucity of the second half of her overall story arc became more and more clear. In HBP there was only really one thing of importance that happened - the death of Dumbeldore. So 90% of the novel is just boring or juvenile filler material. And then in the last book we have the Trio's stay at the Kreacher Bed & Breakfast, followed by the infinite camping trip, while Rowling tried to download the infodump necessary for the readers to understand the onslaught of deus ex machina devices she brought in to clumsily and artificially thrust Harry over the finish line.
I do think she *did* plan those first 3-5 books with some attention and detail, but then flailed once she realised she hadn't thought out a good ending. And even if she *tried* to 'bother' ... I think Rowling demonstrated that she just didn't have the talent or ability to tie things together, to draw the various plot threads in for the big finish. Writing an end game is a quite significantly different beast from creating and expanding an early literary universe, and I think Rowling proved she was hopeless at the former.
If only she *had* been introduced in PoA! I was always impressed by the way JKR seemed so in control of her story when she introduced Cedric long before he became important. And Cho. Even Sirius and his motorbike got an early soundbite. Either she stopped bothering, or Burbage's death was a last minute thing. Some people think it should have been Trelawney, some think it was meant to be - but she hardly had a vital role in DH, so why change? I can understand why Voldemort would want to kill a teacher trying to teach young wizards about Muggles, but this woman was a Star Trek redshirt - something 20th century JKR didn't resort to. All it needed in PoA was Hermione mentioning ONE LESSON and the teacher's name, either saying she was a Muggle-born who understood the difficulties in entering a new world, or a half-blood who understood both sides of the coin. Then in DH, Voldemort could be resentful of a 'Mud-blood' spreading Muggle propaganda, or a half-blood being a traitor. Two or three sentences would have been enough, but nothing;which makes me think it was a late addition to the story.
---"What's weird to me is how Percy went from being an amusingly pompous older brother to being the scourge of the wizarding world."
Actually he was the scourge of Harry and the Weasleys and no-one else - but that's enough in this series. He obviously didn't genefluct appropiately when entering The Presence and therefore deserved to be CAST OUT.
---"For Muggleborn students:...If possible, try to convince them to leave you on your own in the wizarding world for the last weekend before school. It's vitally important to start training them to accept your new way of life."
I'm suprised there wasn't a school of thought that believed that all Muggleborns should be removed from their muggle parents permanently. If Hermione can wipe her parents' memory at first attempt, I'm sure Arthur's dept and many others could manange it with ease. Stick all the children in a special orphange - 'St Cuthberts School for muddy blooded inferiors'. Tell them their parents were Wizards who died in a war, wipe their memorys, brand them with an 'Unclean' tatoo, but tell them they had a hereditary 'illness'(it would also warn the pure-bloods). That would remove the need for any Muggles to know about the Wizarding World. I'm sure Commandant Hermione is working on it as we speak.
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I really do think it was something like that. I think Rowling had the first few books neatly mapped out in her mind either before she even got PS sold or certainly before she became a mega-blockbuster commercial success. But then the 'bloat factor' crept in, the books got bigger and bigger ... and the paucity of the second half of her overall story arc became more and more clear. In HBP there was only really one thing of importance that happened - the death of Dumbeldore. So 90% of the novel is just boring or juvenile filler material. And then in the last book we have the Trio's stay at the Kreacher Bed & Breakfast, followed by the infinite camping trip, while Rowling tried to download the infodump necessary for the readers to understand the onslaught of deus ex machina devices she brought in to clumsily and artificially thrust Harry over the finish line.
I do think she *did* plan those first 3-5 books with some attention and detail, but then flailed once she realised she hadn't thought out a good ending. And even if she *tried* to 'bother' ... I think Rowling demonstrated that she just didn't have the talent or ability to tie things together, to draw the various plot threads in for the big finish. Writing an end game is a quite significantly different beast from creating and expanding an early literary universe, and I think Rowling proved she was hopeless at the former.
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