When you put it like that...oneandthetruthFebruary 13 2015, 19:21:14 UTC
I just realized it reading this, but this chapter contains a really nasty slap against Ron. All through the book, he’s been subjected to ridicule because he was such a lousy quidditch player. Then, when he finally redeems himself and helps to win the game, his triumph takes place off-camera. Since we don’t witness it, it’s almost like it didn’t really happen. It doesn’t matter anyway, because the really important stuff, the stuff that’ll matter later in the story, and at the climax of the series, is what’s happening to the Hs. It reminds me of the Peanuts cartoon in which Charlie Brown is ecstatic because he’s finally won a trophy. When he receives it, he sees it’s been engraved to “Charlie Braun.”
Filch: How on earth am I supposed to whip and torture misbehaving students when so few of them behave nowadays?Is this a mistake? Filch seems to be contradicting himself. Was it supposed to read, “How on earth am I supposed to [find the time to] whip and torture [all these] misbehaving students when so few of them behave nowadays?” Either
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Re: When you put it like that...jana_chFebruary 13 2015, 19:55:06 UTC
Not only does Ron's triumph happen off-stage, it doesn't "stick." I would not expect to see him suddenly become the World's Greatest Keeper (He's not Holy Harry, after all, who is naturally the Seeker Without Peer), but we should have seen a definite improvement in both performance and confidence. This game should have effectively resolved the "Ron is Insecure at Quidditch" storyline. Instead we had a repeat in the next book, just as if this game has never happened. Ron is every bit as insecure on the Quidditch pitch in Book Six as he is in Book Five.
Maybe Filch can't catch any students to whip and torture them because so many of them are misbehaving, and only he and Umbridge care about stopping them. So many brats, so little time!
Re: When you put it like that...aikateriniFebruary 14 2015, 01:10:53 UTC
/Not only does Ron's triumph happen off-stage, it doesn't "stick." I would not expect to see him suddenly become the World's Greatest Keeper (He's not Holy Harry, after all, who is naturally the Seeker Without Peer), but we should have seen a definite improvement in both performance and confidence. This game should have effectively resolved the "Ron is Insecure at Quidditch" storyline. Instead we had a repeat in the next book, just as if this game has never happened. Ron is every bit as insecure on the Quidditch pitch in Book Six as he is in Book Five
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Re: When you put it like that...oneandthetruthFebruary 16 2015, 18:35:02 UTC
I think she has to. If Ron were to mature at all realistically, he'd develop some independence and self-respect, and cut the Hs loose. They both treat him like a fifth wheel, so much so that I'm not surprised people thought Harry and Hermione were meant for each other. I think, like all authors who write the same characters for years, Rowling found her creations growing in ways and directions she never anticipated. But she had this plan for how everything was going to turn out, and for whatever reason, she refused to deviate from it. The only way to make it work was to treat her characters like Cinderella's step-sisters, cutting off chunks of their personalities when needed to make them fit into her glass slipper prearranged plans. As I've commented in my own sporking, you can see her doing it with Snape, and Harry's moments of refusing to become his own man, instead of Dumbledore's lackey, are quite blatant (when he buried Dobby and tuned out Aberforth). Hermione does it all along, every time she willfully turns her back on the non-
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Hermione & CentaurshwylaFebruary 14 2015, 06:50:43 UTC
A few chapters back (when Hermione referred to Firenze as a horse) we discussed Hermione's knowledge of centaurs and I mentioned that perhaps her 'lack' of centaur knowledge was JKR giving her an 'out' when it comes to leading Umbridge to them for a rape. My problem with Hermione's apparent lack of knowledge was that she knew the centaurs wouldn't hurt 'foals' such as she and Harry. And here we find where she learned this tidbit of info,
So apparently, JKR didn't have Hermione do any actual 'research' on centaurs. Interesting how the centaurs see Firenze as a 'slave' to the humans and it doesn't push any buttons for Hermione like the house elves do...
Dumbledore’s Slavejana_chFebruary 14 2015, 10:19:36 UTC
Hermione knows that being a slave to Albus Dumbledore is a noble thing. Our brave hero Harry is Dumbledore’s man through and through. That should be good enough for anyone-human, centaur, or potions master.
By the way, what abuse were you warning us about? Grawp being tied down? Are readers really so incredibly sensitive they have to be 'warned' about that, lest they go into seizures of sympathy?
McGonagall: I could put a stop to any of their little pranks easily, of course, but if I did that I wouldn’t get to watch the torment of someone I hated for as long.
What about the 7th years who need to do well on their Owls to get a job?
I pity the poor students who actually take their studies seriously. It would be rather like going to school in a war zone.
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Filch: How on earth am I supposed to whip and torture misbehaving students when so few of them behave nowadays?Is this a mistake? Filch seems to be contradicting himself. Was it supposed to read, “How on earth am I supposed to [find the time to] whip and torture [all these] misbehaving students when so few of them behave nowadays?” Either ( ... )
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Maybe Filch can't catch any students to whip and torture them because so many of them are misbehaving, and only he and Umbridge care about stopping them. So many brats, so little time!
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So apparently, JKR didn't have Hermione do any actual 'research' on centaurs. Interesting how the centaurs see Firenze as a 'slave' to the humans and it doesn't push any buttons for Hermione like the house elves do...
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What about the 7th years who need to do well on their Owls to get a job?
I pity the poor students who actually take their studies seriously. It would be rather like going to school in a war zone.
Reply
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