Quickly And Carefully, Touch The Fire.

[rionaleonhart]

As he pushed past Harry into the darkening corridor, Zabini shot him a filthy look that Harry returned with interest.

When I first read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, it didn't occur to me that 'with interest' was a metaphor meaning 'with extra filth'. I thought Harry just returned it... interestedly. Going 'hmm, Zabini's giving me a

Comments

[littlered2]

It seemed to me unlikely that Rowling had introduced Blaise Zabini as a romantic interest for Harry, but I couldn't work out what else she could be getting at.

And, to be fair, Harry does notice that Zabini is very attractive (or the Harry's-POV narration does, at least), so maybe it's not even that unlikely!

[rionaleonhart]

True! Harry's internal narration won't stop breathlessly going on about how handsome Tom Riddle is, either.

[littlered2]

Hmm; Harry Potter, oblivious bisexual? (As someone who managed to be an oblivious bisexual for many years, it seems plausible.) Or, more interestingly, I can see Harry being very uncomfortable with same-sex attraction because in his case the men he thinks of as handsome are people like Slytherins and the Dark Lord. (Plus there's the whole Dubledore/Grindelwald thing, which I can imagine givng Harry even more uncomfortable associations.)

The Harry's POV narrative voice must make it tricky for Rowling to describe male characters as attractive while making the distinction that it's not Harry finding them attractive. "It's very important for the readers to know how handsome Riddle is, but how do I make it sound as if my protagonist isn't breathlessly admiring him?2

[livii]

As he pushed past Harry into the darkening corridor, Zabini shot him a filthy look that Harry returned with interest.

When I first read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, it didn't occur to me that 'with interest' was a metaphor meaning 'with extra filth'. I thought Harry just returned it... interestedly. Going 'hmm, Zabini's giving me a charged look. Intriguing. Where's this going?'

I puzzled over this for some time. It seemed to me unlikely that Rowling had introduced Blaise Zabini as a romantic interest for Harry, but I couldn't work out what else she could be getting at.

This is fantastic.