Re-reading Book 4
Well, I re-read Book 2 also, but don't have the book with me now. Will comment on that book later then.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Ahh, Book 4 is still my favorite of the first four installments, no doubt about that. In particularly the trip to World Quidditch Cup, magical folks can't resist showing off, old Archie in flowery muggle night gown, people flocking in from all over the places... Very very nice. And Bill and Charlie! Probably the only Weasleys I like other than (and after) Fred and George of course. (Well, I guess 4 out of 9 Weasleys isn't too bad.) Back to the wizarding folks and the extravaganza at the tournament; it's this kind of rich picture of wizarding world that I love! Then of course the arrival of the schools (love the showing off), the dragons <3, random things that kept the scene busy with Krum camping in the library for Hermione and Karkakoff stalking Snape, etc. Although not a fan of Sirius, really appreciate him for coming to Hogswart right away when Harry's troubled. Really enjoyed Harry and co researching and practicing for each tasks. My favorite was the First Task with the dragons, oh yes!
And in midst of a world of very stupid and prejudiced people, glad to see Snape stood out as the bright (although still prejudiced) one. Like in Chapter 25, "The Egg and the Eye", "But Snape's black eyes were darting... and Harry could tell he was putting two and two together, as only Snape could... " Good for you, Professor Snape! (Although I think Harry meant more that Snape's a suspicious bastard always going after him *shrug* At least Snape figured it out pretty quickly.) And in Chapter 36, "Parting of the Ways", when Dumbledore asked Snape to go back to spying? Saying "Snape was such a brave man" seems so... trite? But he was, he really was. Voldemort already knew Snape's not his anymore, when he said in the graveyard that one's a coward and one has turned against him. I'm inclined to think the coward meant Karkarkoff (who did flee) and the turncoat meant Snape. So the Headmaster's basically sending Snape off to his death -- a particularly grisly suicide mission. Of the scenarios considered by Dumbledore and Snape, one must be: Snape went back to Voldie, who didn't believe him, tortured him in imaginable and unimaginable ways, and flaunt his remains (probably not-dead but better off dead) right back to Dumbledore, maybe carried by owls. *sigh* And when Snape just walked right up to Fudge and showed his Dark Mark in the infirmary? Talk about presence and style. Hats off to Professor Snape.
And at the end of it all, just wanted to give Harry a hug. Getting caught up in the tournament with no one believing him and a bigoted moron for a best friend. The one professor who seemed to actually cared about his well-being turned out to be a Death Eater wanting him dead. And after the mess with Cedric and Cho, Cedric ended up dying at the graveyard and Harry almost got killed twice. Sometimes it seemed like "101 ways to make Harry's life miserable". How is a lad supposed to trust anyone after this? At least let him get some with Snape. That way, at thleast the fangirls will have a grand old time.
And oh yes, the grievances. Why must the wizarding world be made up of such unrelentingly jumping-to-conclusion, quick-to-hate but never-quite-forgive crowd? In real life, people can be stupid, but not so many at one time, and not that stupid (I think, I hope). Not with the whole school, the whole newspaper-reading world acting as one, sometimes just because of sensational stories in one paper all written by the same journalist? Setting up for overblown drama, I say. And this book is also where Ron got on my bad side, permanently. Seriously, since Ron was a somewhat important character, should have used him to show that poverty doesn't mean everything, should have shown some resilience under adversity, that it's what you make of what you have instead of just cursing your fate and venting it on your friend... Would have been a great lesson for the target audience (kids and teens). Ron had potentials, but pity JKR never went there. And was also very, very disappointed when Mrs. W believed Witch Weekly on matter of Hermione. Come on, what the hell? You are an adult, you met the girl, and while she could be downright annoying, she was not that kind of person. At least check with your son or the girl before actingall cold and nasty. *throw up hands in frustration* The whole lot of them are barking bigoted. And I must take back my previous statement about why Harry and Hermione should have got together in the het-only canon... (I say if Harry can't have Snape, he should go single then.) The girl was the most annoying ever in this book. Dear girl, please look past your nose. I was quite relieved when she later devoted herself to helping Harry.
I also thought it quite hilarious that I mixed up the three Triwizard tasks from canon with the three tasks from fic "Harry Potter and the Mirror of Paradox" by Yih in my head. In the fic, the tasks were dementors, basilisks, and duel. Also read another fic before, where in the second task, the merepeople took Snape as Harry's most important person... But can't remember the title; think it's by Nemesis?
Now I just need to wait for the fifth book *sit and wait* And I might need to find a Book 3 elsewhere...
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Ahh, Book 4 is still my favorite of the first four installments, no doubt about that. In particularly the trip to World Quidditch Cup, magical folks can't resist showing off, old Archie in flowery muggle night gown, people flocking in from all over the places... Very very nice. And Bill and Charlie! Probably the only Weasleys I like other than (and after) Fred and George of course. (Well, I guess 4 out of 9 Weasleys isn't too bad.) Back to the wizarding folks and the extravaganza at the tournament; it's this kind of rich picture of wizarding world that I love! Then of course the arrival of the schools (love the showing off), the dragons <3, random things that kept the scene busy with Krum camping in the library for Hermione and Karkakoff stalking Snape, etc. Although not a fan of Sirius, really appreciate him for coming to Hogswart right away when Harry's troubled. Really enjoyed Harry and co researching and practicing for each tasks. My favorite was the First Task with the dragons, oh yes!
And in midst of a world of very stupid and prejudiced people, glad to see Snape stood out as the bright (although still prejudiced) one. Like in Chapter 25, "The Egg and the Eye", "But Snape's black eyes were darting... and Harry could tell he was putting two and two together, as only Snape could... " Good for you, Professor Snape! (Although I think Harry meant more that Snape's a suspicious bastard always going after him *shrug* At least Snape figured it out pretty quickly.) And in Chapter 36, "Parting of the Ways", when Dumbledore asked Snape to go back to spying? Saying "Snape was such a brave man" seems so... trite? But he was, he really was. Voldemort already knew Snape's not his anymore, when he said in the graveyard that one's a coward and one has turned against him. I'm inclined to think the coward meant Karkarkoff (who did flee) and the turncoat meant Snape. So the Headmaster's basically sending Snape off to his death -- a particularly grisly suicide mission. Of the scenarios considered by Dumbledore and Snape, one must be: Snape went back to Voldie, who didn't believe him, tortured him in imaginable and unimaginable ways, and flaunt his remains (probably not-dead but better off dead) right back to Dumbledore, maybe carried by owls. *sigh* And when Snape just walked right up to Fudge and showed his Dark Mark in the infirmary? Talk about presence and style. Hats off to Professor Snape.
And at the end of it all, just wanted to give Harry a hug. Getting caught up in the tournament with no one believing him and a bigoted moron for a best friend. The one professor who seemed to actually cared about his well-being turned out to be a Death Eater wanting him dead. And after the mess with Cedric and Cho, Cedric ended up dying at the graveyard and Harry almost got killed twice. Sometimes it seemed like "101 ways to make Harry's life miserable". How is a lad supposed to trust anyone after this? At least let him get some with Snape. That way, at thleast the fangirls will have a grand old time.
And oh yes, the grievances. Why must the wizarding world be made up of such unrelentingly jumping-to-conclusion, quick-to-hate but never-quite-forgive crowd? In real life, people can be stupid, but not so many at one time, and not that stupid (I think, I hope). Not with the whole school, the whole newspaper-reading world acting as one, sometimes just because of sensational stories in one paper all written by the same journalist? Setting up for overblown drama, I say. And this book is also where Ron got on my bad side, permanently. Seriously, since Ron was a somewhat important character, should have used him to show that poverty doesn't mean everything, should have shown some resilience under adversity, that it's what you make of what you have instead of just cursing your fate and venting it on your friend... Would have been a great lesson for the target audience (kids and teens). Ron had potentials, but pity JKR never went there. And was also very, very disappointed when Mrs. W believed Witch Weekly on matter of Hermione. Come on, what the hell? You are an adult, you met the girl, and while she could be downright annoying, she was not that kind of person. At least check with your son or the girl before actingall cold and nasty. *throw up hands in frustration* The whole lot of them are barking bigoted. And I must take back my previous statement about why Harry and Hermione should have got together in the het-only canon... (I say if Harry can't have Snape, he should go single then.) The girl was the most annoying ever in this book. Dear girl, please look past your nose. I was quite relieved when she later devoted herself to helping Harry.
I also thought it quite hilarious that I mixed up the three Triwizard tasks from canon with the three tasks from fic "Harry Potter and the Mirror of Paradox" by Yih in my head. In the fic, the tasks were dementors, basilisks, and duel. Also read another fic before, where in the second task, the merepeople took Snape as Harry's most important person... But can't remember the title; think it's by Nemesis?
Now I just need to wait for the fifth book *sit and wait* And I might need to find a Book 3 elsewhere...