... the Baron is completely deconstructed in Deathly Hallows by his lame backstory.
That's true; I was quite underwhelmed by that latest in deus ex machina factoids that just happened to be available when Harry needed it, where he asks the Gray Lady about the diadem.
And the reactions of the pureblood children to Hogwarts - Ron's ignorance of the sorting ceremony, the ghosts, etc - seems unauthentic too.
I suppose Gryffindor parents make a point out of keeping the kids in suspense. The Slytherin parents tell the kids all about it, but also tell them to pretend they don't know so they can keep the story from the children of Gryffindors. I'm not sure what parents of other Houses do.
Suggestion: Ravenclaws told their children about it as well as made it abundantly clear what a lot of utter nonsense it is whereas the Hufflepuffs forget to tell them because it's never occurred to them it mattered in the least because, you know, it's your family and the main thing about family is you feel comfortable with them instead of obsessing how your family is so much better than the next door neighbours. come to think of it, that's another instance where JKR seems very Petunia like, doesn't she?
Hufflepuff here is defined by being just and loyal and industrious and in Order of the Phoenix it will be clarified that JKR considers this to be the dump house ie that these qualities are completely worthless in her opinion.
Well, she wouldn't want anyone to think that she disagrees with Draco.
>*Nick is a true Gryffindor! He enjoys showing off physical injury. He should have a story of recklessness to go with it.<
Well, of reckless incompetence. There was originaly a song which an editor mercifully cut. Relating how he was executed for practicing dentistry without either training or any idea of what he was doing.
*sigh* Let us give thanks to the unknown editor, who prevented her from letting Harry win his first Quidditich game by having Hedwig catch the snitch...
You know what would shake things up nicely? Re-sorting the kids every year based on random lottery. Then kids could get exposed to different styles, being variously encouraged in different areas (ambition, hard work, studiousness, courage), and it would give the kids a chance to socialize with new people and possibly help break up those cliques. But then they might learn that they're all just people or actually change after the age of eleven, and we can't have that.
Poor Percy. He doesn't 100% approve of Dumbledore when he praises his intellect but notes he's also a bit mad, which foreshadows his future as a toady who mindlessly obeys authority figures and betrays Team Dumbledore instead of deciding what's right for himself. Somehow. Honest. It does not at all show that maybe he was thinking all along and decided Team Dumbledore was way dodgier than the Ministry on average, or that he might have been right, or that at the very least Dumbledore gave no good reason to believe his outrageous version of events. (A dead Dark Lord and
( ... )
Especially a year after an escaped DE who had threatened his brother with a knife and broke same brother's leg disappeared out the window of a locked room immediately after talking to Dumbledore.
Who then did not explain anything, but expected everyone to drop the issue.
And since there was never any investigation, how do they know that Harry didn't kill Cedric? Because Dumbledore says so? Plus, so far he's seen a) Ron almost get killed in the mysterious school-saving adventure in his first year because he followed Harry, b) Ginny kidnapped and Ron again endangered because of the Heir of Slytherin/Chamber of Secrets incident which once again seemed to revolve around Harry, now revealed as a Parselmouth, and c) that escaped DE threatening Ron with a knife because he thought it was Harry and breaking his leg to lure Harry somewhere. I'd be worried about my siblings hanging around Harry too.
*OK, how on Earth does Hermione get sorted into Gryffindor? It really does make the existence of Ravenclaw House completely pointless. I suppose she must be JKR’s self-insert at this point who gets to be one of the elect by authorial fiat.
Ravenclaws learn things because they find them interesting (and may not bother with things they don't). Hermione studies to stand out, show off and keep Harry out of trouble. All Gryffindor reasons.
*Ah this newer UK edition has also *belatedly* caught JKR’s special arithmetic where she wrote that Nick had been dead for nearly four hundred years when his Deathday was actually 499 years ago. The UK edition now reads, “I haven’t eaten for nearly five hundred years.”
Do you have new editions for all books? I have heard that a newer edition of POA has Sirius state Voldemort was 'in hiding' for 12 years rather than 15 it says in my edition. What about the 16 years of information about Dumbledore that Severus claims to have provided in chapter 2 of HBP?
*I expect Mr Finnigan was shocked to learn
( ... )
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That's true; I was quite underwhelmed by that latest in deus ex machina factoids that just happened to be available when Harry needed it, where he asks the Gray Lady about the diadem.
And the reactions of the pureblood children to Hogwarts - Ron's ignorance of the sorting ceremony, the ghosts, etc - seems unauthentic too.
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Well, she wouldn't want anyone to think that she disagrees with Draco.
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Well, of reckless incompetence. There was originaly a song which an editor mercifully cut. Relating how he was executed for practicing dentistry without either training or any idea of what he was doing.
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Wait, what? Surely not even JK Rowling could come up with such a silly idea as that...
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Poor Percy. He doesn't 100% approve of Dumbledore when he praises his intellect but notes he's also a bit mad, which foreshadows his future as a toady who mindlessly obeys authority figures and betrays Team Dumbledore instead of deciding what's right for himself. Somehow. Honest. It does not at all show that maybe he was thinking all along and decided Team Dumbledore was way dodgier than the Ministry on average, or that he might have been right, or that at the very least Dumbledore gave no good reason to believe his outrageous version of events. (A dead Dark Lord and ( ... )
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And since there was never any investigation, how do they know that Harry didn't kill Cedric? Because Dumbledore says so? Plus, so far he's seen a) Ron almost get killed in the mysterious school-saving adventure in his first year because he followed Harry, b) Ginny kidnapped and Ron again endangered because of the Heir of Slytherin/Chamber of Secrets incident which once again seemed to revolve around Harry, now revealed as a Parselmouth, and c) that escaped DE threatening Ron with a knife because he thought it was Harry and breaking his leg to lure Harry somewhere. I'd be worried about my siblings hanging around Harry too.
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Ravenclaws learn things because they find them interesting (and may not bother with things they don't). Hermione studies to stand out, show off and keep Harry out of trouble. All Gryffindor reasons.
*Ah this newer UK edition has also *belatedly* caught JKR’s special arithmetic where she wrote that Nick had been dead for nearly four hundred years when his Deathday was actually 499 years ago. The UK edition now reads, “I haven’t eaten for nearly five hundred years.”
Do you have new editions for all books? I have heard that a newer edition of POA has Sirius state Voldemort was 'in hiding' for 12 years rather than 15 it says in my edition. What about the 16 years of information about Dumbledore that Severus claims to have provided in chapter 2 of HBP?
*I expect Mr Finnigan was shocked to learn ( ... )
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