The Woes of Mrs. Weasley

[merrymelody]

The chapters start getting long here.
I keep meaning to do Lexicon style headings: In which Harry is an asshat, Molly cries and Remus is saintly.



* Dumbledore's abrupt departure took Harry completely by surprise.

Yet more more anvils on Harry/Dumbledore.

* Nobody seemed to be paying him the slightest bit of attention, except the toadlike witch on Fudge's right, who was now gazing down at him instead of at Dumbledore. Ignoring her, he tried to catch Fudge's eye, or Madam Bones's.

Heh. Aim high, Harry. You should command the attention of the Minister or Head of Magical Law Enforcement, don't they know how important you are?

* 'Harry, that's wonderful! Well, of course, they couldn't have found you guilty, not on the evidence, but even so, 1 can't pretend I wasn't -'

I've lost all faith in The Good Side's legal opinions after they said exactly the same thing about the 'trial' in POA.
And of course, it's not as if the WW is known for it's fair legal system at the best of times. One would think with such fine humanitarians as Hermione, Arthur and Dumbledore, this would be addressed; but I guess it's a case of 'I'm alright, Jack, pull the ladder up!'

* 'Merlin's beard!' exclaimed Mr Weasley wonderingly.

So it's Arthur to blame for the rash of this in fics? *sharpens knives*

* Madam Bones, said, 'Morning, Arthur,' to Mr Weasley.

Suspicions confirmed regarding Bones' personal affiliation with the Order both here and later in the chapter.

* ...the witch looked almost appraisingly at Harry as she passed.

Dolores/Harry OTP, baby.

* Like Fudge, he completely ignored his father and Harry; he marched past clutching a large roll of parchment and a handful of spare quills, his back rigid and his nose in the air. The lines around Mr Weasleys mouth tightened slightly, but other than this he gave no sign that he had seen his third son.

Seems to be the same problem here as with Sirius and his mother - similiar personalities clashing.
As we knew, Arthur is the one continuing the row, not the outwardly more dominant Molly.

* '...It's more the attitude behind the vandalism, Harry. Muggle-baiting might strike some wizards as funny, but it's an expression of something much deeper and nastier, and I for one -'

Love to know what he was going to say there.
I for one discourage it, unless it's my family or the really rich kid who stays with us doing the baiting?
I for one dismiss it as long as the baiters are 'real jokers'?
I for one understand that it's 'deep and nasty' prejudice, unless it's against fat little brats, who deserve whatever they get?

* 'Quite astonishing, the way you continue to wriggle out of very tight holes ... snakelike, in fact.'

There's some Lucius/Harry fodder and a Slytherin!Harry implication there - fun for all the family!

* 'I thought you were up on the second floor ... don't you do something that involves sneaking Muggle artefacts home and bewitching them?'

I don't like Lucius. But that line is probably one of my favourites in the whole book.

* 'What are you doing here, anyway?' Harry asked Lucius Malfoy.
‘I don't think private matters between myself and the Minister are any concern of yours, Potter,' said Malfoy, smoothing the front of his robes. Harry distinctly heard the gentle clinking of what sounded like a full pocket of gold.
'Really, just because you are Dumbledore's favourite boy, you must not expect the same indulgence from the rest of us ... shall we go up to your office, then, Minister?'

Whether the Malfoys eventually lose their money or not, or are nouveau riche; as theorised, they're clearly not having difficulties at present.
Both the physical description ("sleek blonde hair" and "cold grey eyes") and the wording here is also associated with Malfoy Junior. ("You caught some pathetic reporter, and Potter's Dumbledore's favourite boy again. Big deal." - GoF)

* 'Trying to find out whether you'd been expelled or not. I'll leave a note for Dumbledore when I drop you off, he ought to know Malfoy's been talking to Fudge again.'
'What private business have they got together, anyway?'
'Gold, I expect,' said Mr Weasley angrily. 'Malfoy's been giving generously to all sorts of things for years ... gets him in with the right people ... then he can ask favours ... delay laws he doesn't want passed ... oh, he's very well-connected, Lucius Malfoy.'

Why does Lucius even care whether Harry's been expelled or not? It's not as if Voldie's meandering plan is dependent on his attendance at Hogwarts, unlike last year.
What's his job, anyway? In movie!canon, he works at the Ministry also; but this doesn't appear to be canon.
I do love how outraged Arthur is at Lucius
a) giving to charity
b) delaying laws he doesn't like and
c) accepting/asking favours from 'well-connected' friends; considering that Arthur himself doesn't hesitate at the last two (the Weasleys' tickets to the Quidditch World Cup in GoF were gifts, just like the Malfoys; for instance) and Lucius' motives don't affect the first - if St. Mungoes, for instance, can afford more equipment thanks to donations, does it really matter who the money comes from or why said donors gave it?
I suppose the Weasleys are the only people in the world with purity of purpose.

* He looked up into the handsome wizard's face, but close-to Harry thought he looked rather weak and foolish.

This has been noted recently a couple of times - physical beauty must reflect inwards and vice versa, to Harry.
Dudley, Vernon, Fudge, Neville, Hagrid, Millicent, Molly, Crabbe, Goyle and Peter Pettigrew's ineptitude, especially, is reflected in their excess weight.
Or as pauraque put it:

"In Harry's world, people can't be truly handsome if they're bad, nor can they be truly ugly if they're good. I'm reminded of Sirius's physical descriptions -- when he's a homicidal maniac, he's described as horribly skeletal, with sunken black eyes, but as soon as Harry takes his side, he sees the remains of the 'handsome best man' from the old photographs. Likewise, when Lockhart's cowardice is revealed, he can't be a handsome coward."

* 'I knew it!' yelled Ron, punching the air. 'You always get away with stuff!'
'They were bound to clear you,' said Hermione, who had looked positively faint with anxiety when Harry had entered the kitchen and was now holding a shaking hand over her eyes, 'there was no case against you, none at all.'

Ron's jealousy in GoF has disappeared as quickly as it arrived.
This plotline was dealt with so quickly, that some people don't accredit it to jealousy at all.
Don't know if I'm one of them, this essay seemed a little too glowing and convinced that Saint Ron would never EVAR have negative impulses (and of course, Hermione said he was! She can't be wrong!) but it's compelling nonetheless.
And Hermione's "seeming more and more like a grown woman here" as sistermagpie put it earlier.

* Fred, George and Ginny were doing a kind of war dance.

Get it yet? Ginny is the third Weasley twin.

* The gloomy house seemed warmer and more welcoming all of a sudden; even Kreacher looked less ugly.

Repetition of the theme mentioned above.

* 'Course, once Dumbledore turned up on your side, there was no way they were going to convict you,' said Ron happily...
'Yeah, he swung it for me,' said Harry. He felt it would sound highly ungrateful, not to mention childish, to say, 'I wish he'd talked to me, though. Or even looked at me.' And as he thought this, the scar on his forehead burned so badly that he clapped his hand to it.

I love how there's absolutely no shame over this.
Imagine that line regarding say, Snape and Draco Malfoy; and both text and audience would not be slow in condemning the latter and his arrogance and complacency and the former (well, perhaps - the fandom seems to be extremely light on Snape) for obvious bias.
Harry's scar burning at the thought of Dumbledore? Interesting.

* Molly's also continuing her themes of 'roaring' at her own children while showering Harry with love/food.

* Soon, however, he was moodier and surlier than before, talking less to everybody, even Harry, and spending increasing amounts of time shut up in his mother's room with Buckbeak.

Wanking and picking his spots? Shut up, Teenage!Sirius!

* 'You belong at Hogwarts and Sirius knows it. Personally, I think he's being selfish.'
‘That's a bit harsh, Hermione,' said Ron, frowning... 'you wouldn't want to be stuck inside this house without any company.'
'He'll have company!' said Hermione. 'It's Headquarters to the Order of the Phoenix, isn't it? He just got his hopes up that Harry would be coming to live here with him.'
'I don't think that's true' said Harry... 'He wouldn't give me a straight answer when I asked him if 1 could.'
'He just didn't want to get his own hopes up even more,' said Hermione wisely. 'And he probably felt a bit guilty himself, because I think a part of him was really hoping you'd be expelled. Then you'd both be outcasts together.'
'Come off it!' said Harry and Ron together, but Hermione merely shrugged.
'Suit yourselves. But I sometimes think Ron's mum's right and Sirius gets confused about whether you're you or your father, Harry.'
'So you think he's touched in the head?' said Harry heatedly.
'No, I just think he's been very lonely for a long time,' said Hermione simply.

First occurence of Emotional!Expert!Hermione in this book. She can expertly psychonanalyse Sirius and defuse Harry at the same time!
I'll give her a pass for this one, despite the unsubtle exposition, because she at least knows Sirius and Harry; unlike the later occurence with Cho, with whom she's never exchanged a word.
I also think that while Sirius is being a selfish whiny brat, Hermione has never been know for her ability to emphasise.
She intellectually understands his issues, as she does everyone else's; but there's no compassion there, which her interactions with others also lacks. In fact, I would go so far as to say she shows consideration and concern only for Harry and Ron.
no_remorse suggests that Hermione's sanctification and lack of development in OotP (there's nothing left for her to improve!) is a possible sign of her death in the next two books; whereas nothingbutfic notes that it's fairly typical and inkeeping with the portrayal of women in the HP-verse.

* 'Well, now you understand what dreadful lives they lead, perhaps you'll be a bit more active in SPEW!' said Hermione hopefully, as Mrs Weasley left them to it. 'You know, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to show people exactly how horrible it is to clean all the time.'

I've already expressed my prediction for the resolution of the House Elf issue; but I will say that Hermione is once again applying human values to non-human creatures (while dehumanising actual humans who don't have value to her) - the house elves live 'dreadful' 'horrible' lives because Hermione dislikes the idea of cleaning all the time.
Someone compared the cause to feminism, in which case Hermione would represent the zealot who believes women who prefer homemaking to wage-paying jobs are miserable and just 'brainwashed' not to be.

* Harry found himself daydreaming about Hogwarts more and more as the end of the holidays approached; he could not wait to see Hagrid again, to play Quidditch, even to stroll across the vegetable patches to the Herbology greenhouses; it would be a treat just to leave this dusty, musty house.

Just like he couldn't wait to leave Privet Drive, so he could see Ron, Hermione and Sirius again.
This is a continuing theme for both Harry and Ron here - they want something until they get it, when it then becomes useless.
In Ron's case, to quote no_remorse:

"He wants to go with the prettiest girl, he can find, to the Yule Ball, but when he goes with the prettiest girl of his year, he ignores her.
He fawns over Harry's broomsticks, but his own becomes pretty much a non-issue once he has it.
He wants to be prefect, but once he has finished polishing his badge, he doesn't know what to do with that responsibility.
He wants to be part of the Quidditch team, but after a bit of trouble he is ready to throw it all away."

As for Harry, he desperately wants to date Cho, but is content to sit and gaze on her from afar. The moment true sexuality enters the picture, Harry's desire is diminished. She is less a paragon and more a person, and Harry, like the knights of literary lore, cannot adjust to her as one.
He wants recognition and sympathy for his ordeals, then becomes impatient when he recieves it.
He has absolutely no desire to become a prefect until his friends are, then he bitterly resents them until he's told his father wasn't, at which point he loses interest again.

* 'Dumbledore was having real trouble finding anyone to do the job this year.'

Poor Dumbledore, it's not as if there's a persistent applicant who'd likely do a better job than at least half the previous teachers. And I don't even like Snape that much!

* 'We thought Dumbledore was bound to pick you!' said George indignantly.
'Winning the Triwizard and everything!' said Fred.
'I suppose all the mad stuff must've counted against him,' said George to Fred.
'Yeah,' said Fred slowly. 'Yeah, you've caused too much trouble, mate. Well, at least one of you's got their priorities right.'
He strode over to Harry and clapped him on the back while giving Ron a scathing look. 'Prefect ... ickle Ronnie the Prefect.'

Huh? How is Harry's being overlooked a moral victory in his favour? He hasn't 'got (his) priorities right', he just didn't get it. It's not as if he nobly turned it down or anything.
Why are Fred and George so keen to make everyone either exactly like them (Harry, Ginny) or the enemy (Percy, Molly, Ron, Hermione, Slytherin)?
And while it would be perfectly in character for Dumbledore to reward Harry inappropriately (*cough* House Cup! *cough*); it's pretty silly to think Harry would be suitable for or succeed in an authoritative position dependent on obeying and enforcing rules merely because he's co-won a competition (helped in no small part by his breaking the rules.)

* 'Ohh, Mum's going to be revolting,' groaned George, thrusting the prefect badge back at Ron as though it might contaminate him.
Ron, who still had not said a word, took the badge, stared at it for a moment, then held it out to Harry as though asking mutely for confirmation that it was genuine. Harry took it.

More transfering of resentment towards Molly onto the sibling who recieves her attention.
And a bit of symbolism as Ron hands his recognition/responsibility over to Harry.
Ron is pathetically Neville-like in this book, constantly surprised at and rejecting any attention he recieves; whereas Harry is more like Books1-4!Ron - for instance, he's coded much less romantically than before in the way that Ron is: he vomits, he's jealous, he yearns for attention from girls and will exploit their pity to get it, he experiences self-pity.
Which I guess leaves Neville to assume Harry's role as Hero, just in time for the prophecy's revealing!

* 'I knew it!' she said excitedly, brandishing her letter. 'Me too, Harry, me too!'

OMG, Hermione made a mistake! Write that one down, won't happen again.

* '...what colour would you like?'

Molly's a little more considerate here than previously.

* 'I don't believe it! I don't believe it! Oh, Ron, how wonderful! A prefect! That's everyone in the family!'
'What are Fred and I, next-door neighbours?' said George indignantly, as his mother pushed him aside and flung her arms around her youngest son.

Not to mention Ginny. But really, let's not.

* '...You could end up Head Boy just like Bill and Percy, it's the first step!'

Rather wide streak of ambition in this archetypal Gryffindor family, isn't there? Interesting that it's associated with the more broadly portrayed characters - Percy, Molly and arguably, the Twins.

* '...Or a new rat, you always liked Scabbers -'

Huh? So The Order know that Peter Pettigrew is alive and assisting Voldemort by removing his limbs, but not that he lived with the Weasleys for twelve years?
Either Molly's being jarringly insensitive or the Trio's distrust of adults and authority (as encouraged by the WW's and Dumbledore's lacksadiscal attitude of 'Don't tell the parents anything, maybe they'll go away' and 'Concern over a child's welfare is a sign of Eeeevil!') is verging into the psychotic. Probably both!

* 'He could if you don't watch out!' said Hermione angrily.
Fred and George burst out laughing, and Ron muttered, 'Drop it, Hermione.'

Hermione "invokes Ron’s authority as well, because her own as a woman is not enough", arguably. A theme later continued with her clash over the Twins' pranks and mirrored in Molly's battles with Sirius ('Arthur, back me up!')

* 'Don't pay any attention to them, Ron, they're only jealous!'
'I don't think they are,' said Ron doubtful(ly).

While Ron by dint of experience should be correct here, I'm going to back Hermione's assumption, since she knows everyone else's feelings better than they do.
Fred and George's attitude seems similiar to Harry's - they don't want the job, but they don't want anyone else to have it either.

* 'Erm - Harry - could I borrow Hedwig so I can tell Mum and Dad? They'll be really pleased - I mean prefect is something they can understand.'

Yet another example of the lack of closeness between Hermione and her parents - she presumes they won't understand her life and has no reliable regular way to contact them, nor they her.
Dean Thomas follows this example later, with the rather spooky 'My parents are Muggles, mate. They don't know nothing about no deaths at Hogwarts, because I'm not stupid enough to tell them.'

* ...the only sounds he could hear were the blank picture on the wall sniggering again.

I call 'Nut o' Fun!' This fascinates me. Who's behind it? Are they alive or dead? Black family member or not? Male or female?

* He had forgotten completely about prefects being chosen in the fifth year...But if he had remembered ... if he had thought about it ... what would he have expected?
Not this, said a small and truthful voice inside his head.
Harry screwed up his face and buried it in his hands. He could not lie to himself; if he had known the prefect badge was on its way, he would have expected it to come to him, not Ron. Did this make him as arrogant as Draco Malfoy? Did he think himself superior to everyone else? Did he really believe he was better than Ron?
No, said the small voice defiantly.
Was that true? Harry wondered, anxiously probing his own feelings.
I'm better at Quidditch, said the voice. But I'm not better at anything else.
That was definitely true, Harry thought; he was no better than Ron in lessons.

Except at DADA, presumably?
Also, Harry believes himself to be better at Quidditch than everyone so this is no surprise.
I love that once again Malfoy is Harry's guide. Especially since Harry beat him, as he does with everything else, in the arrogance stakes a couple of books back.

* But what about outside lessons? What about those adventures he, Ron and Hermione had had together since starting at Hogwarts, often risking much worse than expulsion?
Well, Ron and Hermione were with me most of the time, said the voice in Harry's head.
Not all the time, though, Harry argued with himself. They didn't fight Quirrell with me. They didn't take on Riddle and the Basilisk. They didn't get rid of all those Dementors the night Sirius escaped. They weren't in that graveyard with me, the night Voldemort returned ...
And the same feeling of ill-usage that had overwhelmed him on the night he had arrived rose again. I've definitely done more, Harry thought indignantly. I've done more than either of them!
But maybe, said the small voice fairly, maybe Dumbledore doesn't choose prefects because they've got themselves into a load of dangerous situations ...maybe he chooses them for other reasons ... Ron must have something you don't...

I also love that Harry can't come up with one example of Ron having any attributes whatsoever that Harry himself lacks; and how contemptous he is a friend who if I recall, wasn't present on half those adventures because he'd already risked his life and been injured in order to assist Harry.
And I'm not even a particular Ron fan! But credit where it's due.
I assumed the kids selected for Prefect either suited the position temperment (Hermione) or perhaps would benefit from some attention (Ron, Malfoy, Pansy); whereas Harry is completely incapable of cooperating with others or of obeying the rules, which is why I loathe the ending in which Dumbledore reveals that all the plebes who are Prefects instead of Harry? They're just superficial and irresponsible, next to Harry who has so much more important things to worry about.

* Harry...remembering what Fred had said: 'No one in their right mind would make Ron a prefect ...' ...Gave a small snort of laughter. A second later he felt sickened with himself.

Claaaassy.

* Ron took (the broom) from her with a moan of longing.

Ew, implied Sexual!Ron? Not on my watch!

* '...Authority figures always attract trouble, but I suppose Dumbledore thinks you can withstand most major jinxes or he wouldn't have appointed you ...'

You'd think, but none of the other prefects have shown any ability to withstand jinxes - look at Draco and Pansy.
Who of course, are the authority figures that attract trouble later.

* 'I was never a prefect myself,' said Tonks brightly from behind Harry... Her hair was tomato red and waist-length today; she looked like Ginny's older sister. 'My Head of House said I lacked certain necessary qualities.'
'Like what?' said Ginny, who was choosing a baked potato.
'Like the ability to behave myself,' said Tonks.
Ginny laughed...

Ginny/Tonks associations. They're so sassy! They break rules! They're cool! Like them yet? Huh, huh?

* 'I think Dumbledore might have hoped I would be able to exercise some control over my best friends,' said Lupin. 'I need scarcely say that I failed dismally.'

No kidding. I really don't like Lupin, or the way he's portrayed as the 'nice' one of MWPP, whose worst crime was not being able to 'control' their nastier impulses. We've never seen any indication that he found anything they did to be particularly objectional apart from a 'frown line' forming, and there's something almost more repulsive about someone who recognises cruelty and is too cowardly/uninvolved to do anything than someone who performs it. But I'll get to that later.

* Hermione was talking very earnestly to Lupin about her view of elf rights. 'I mean, it's the same kind of nonsense as werewolf segregation, isn't it? It all stems from this horrible thing wizards have of thinking they're superior to other creatures...'

Because Muggles don't have that at all?
And god knows Hermione herself doesn't have a superiority complex at all.
What, it's sick and wrong to think you're better than someone because of their bloodline but it's fine and dandy to think so because of their intellect (a factor they have no more control over than Hermione does over her parentage) or their house (ditto) or because you just rilly rilly don't like them?
And Hermione doesn't think her opinion of the house elves lives and whether or not they're fulfilled and content isn't more valuable than their own?
It's even been argued that Hermione's attitude towards say, centaurs isn't without prejudice.
Also, if I were Lupin, I'd probably feel either amused or annoyed by a privileged little fifteen year old lecturing me on why prejudice against me and 'creatures' like me is so very wrong, and why I'm just like an elf.
But Lupin is saintly, so he likely didn't.

* Mrs Weasley and Bill were having their usual argument about Bill's hair.
'... getting really out of hand, and you're so good-looking, it would look much better shorter, wouldn't it, Harry?'

Weasleycest + Bill's sexy and cool, got that?
On top of being good at Quidditch and head boy and able to pull a Veela and having a successful exciting job at twenty-odd. There are too many Sues in these books by half.

* 'Oh - I dunno -' said Harry, slightly alarmed at being asked his opinion; he slid away from them in the direction of Fred and George, who were huddled in a corner with Mundungus.
Mundungus stopped talking when he saw Harry, but Fred winked and beckoned Harry closer. 'Its OK,' he told Mundungus, 'we can trust Harry, he's our financial backer.'

Once again, Harry wants people to be curious and concerned about him, but also doesn't even want to be asked his opinion.
And I would tread extremely carefully around being associated with the twins and their plans, but that's just me.

* 'Venomous Tentacula seeds,' said George. 'We need them for the Skiving Snackboxes but they're a Class C Non-Tradeable Substance so we've been having a bit of trouble getting hold of them.'

Like father like son, eh?
More warning signs about how far the twins are willing to go to achieve their ends, besides experimenting on living creatures and obtaining poisons to be used on children.

* 'Be careful,' Harry warned them quietly.
'What?' said Fred. 'Mum's busy cooing over Prefect Ron, we're OK.'
'But Moody could have his eye on you,' Harry pointed out.
Mundungus looked nervously over his shoulder. 'Good point, that,' he grunted. 'All right, lads, ten it is, if you'll take 'em quick;
'Cheers, Harry!' said Fred delightedly, when Mundungus had emptied his pockets into the twins' outstretched hands and scuttled off...
...Harry watched them go, feeling slightly uneasy. It had just occurred to him that Mr and Mrs Weasley would want to know how Fred and George were financing their joke shop business when, as was inevitable, they finally found out about it. Giving the twins his Triwizard winnings had seemed a simple thing to do at the time, but what if it led to another family row and a Percy-like estrangement? Would Mrs Weasley still feel that Harry was as good as her son if she found out he had made it possible for Fred and George to start a career she thought quite unsuitable?

As in previous books, Harry's moral code is not based around whether he's doing the right thing (in this case aiding and abetting the obtainment of illegal goods) but simply: Will anyone find out?
He also takes responsibility for things he doesn't control, (Sirius is another example) such as whether the Weasleys will fight; while averting any for the things he does control, such as his own negative behaviour.

* Kingsley Shacklebolt's deep voice was audible even over the surrounding chatter. '... why Dumbledore didn't make Potter a prefect?' said Kingsley.
'He'll have had his reasons,' replied Lupin.
'But it would've shown confidence in him. It's what I'd've done,' persisted Kingsley, 'specially with the Daily Prophet having a go at him every few days ..."
Harry did not look round; he did not want Lupin or Kingsley to know he had heard. Though not remotely hungry, he followed Mundungus back towards the table. His pleasure in the party had evaporated as quickly as it had come.

Teh Mood swings!
Also, shut up Kingsley. (I'm already prejudiced against him, since he memory charms children later in the book, I'm afraid.)
Didn't Dumbledore's 'swinging' a court case show enough confidence?
How about everyone in the school from Harry's closest friend (Ron) to his worst enemy (Draco) to both Harry and Dumbledore themselves being aware that Dumbledore will let countless people suffer and die as long as Harry's 'peace of mind' is assured?
And since when does being a Prefect mean that Dumbledore has confidence in you? He seems to be really fond of Draco, Pansy and Percy, after all!

* 'That's Edgar Bones ... brother of Amelia Bones, they got him and his family, too, he was a great wizard.'

Confirmed as to why everyone's so flattering regarding Bones and her fairness - she has a vested interest in them.
Much like McGonagall, another character described as 'stern' and 'unbiased', who in actual fact...isn't.

* 'Gideon Prewett, it took five Death Eaters to kill him and his brother Fabian, they fought like heroes.'

Gideon and Fabian? Possible twins? Same initials, at any rate - maybe this is foreshadowing for Dead!Fred and George.
*crosses fingers*

* Evidently Moody was under the impression he had just given Harry a bit of a treat.
...He did not know why it had been such a shock; he had seen pictures of his parents before, after all, and he had met Wormtail but to have them sprung on him like that, when he was least expecting it...no one would like that, he thought angrily ...
And then, to see them surrounded by all those other happy faces...all waving happily out of the photograph forever more, not knowing that they were doomed...well, Moody might find that interesting...he, Harry, found it disturbing...

Too many ellipses. Also, I can see why Harry's so disturbed by this, but given his previous reaction to members of the Order giving him photographs of his parents (PS, when he 'couldn't speak' from presumed happiness) it's not unreasonable to assume that an orphan will want to see pictures of his family. I actually thought Moody was being uncharacteristically thoughtful.

* Sprawled on the dusty old carpet in a patch of moonlight, clearly dead, was Ron.
...'R - r - riddikulus!' Mrs Weasley sobbed, pointing her shaking wand at Ron's body.
Crack. Ron's body turned into Bill's, spread-eagled on his back, his eyes wide open and empty.
Mrs Weasley sobbed harder than ever. 'R - riddikulus!' she sobbed again.
Crack. Mr Weasley's body replaced Bill's, his glasses askew, a trickle of blood running down his face.
'No!' Mrs Weasley moaned. 'No ... riddikulus Riddikulus! RID-DlKULUS!'
Crack. Dead twins.
Crack. Dead Percy.
Crack. Dead Harry...

Interesting that Charlie and Ginny don't feature.
Maybe they came before?
And yet another connection with ineptitude and being overweight, as Molly fails to accomplish a magical task third years are capable of.

* Lupin looked from Mrs Weasley to the dead Harry on the floor and seemed to understand in an instant. Pulling out his own wand, he said, very firmly and clearly: 'Riddikulus!'

Lupin is both capable and kind:

Next second, she was sobbing her heart out on Lupin's shoulder. 'Molly, it was just a Boggart,' he said soothingly, patting her on the head, 'just a stupid Boggart ...'

Could JKR go to any more pains to make him appealing?

* 'I see them d-d-dead all the time!' Mrs Weasley moaned into his shoulder. 'All the t-t-time! I d-d-dream about it ...'

I do actually feel sorry for Molly here, as I did Ron with his hopeful 'Nothing too expensive, just a new (broom), for once...'
Cherish these rare moments of sentimentality, they don't often occur ;)

* 'D-d-don't tell Arthur,' Mrs Weasley was gulping now, mopping her eyes frantically with her cuffs. 'I d-d-don't want him to know ... being silly ...'
Lupin handed her a handkerchief and she blew her nose.
'Harry, I'm so sorry. What must you think of me?' she said shakily. 'Not even able to get rid of a Boggart ...'

"After all, without male guidance, the emotionality of the female may become apparent, and the women in Harry Potter tend all too readily towards the stereotype of the hysteric.
Mrs. Weasley cannot stop sobbing when she confronts the Boggart that haunts her with the possibility of her family’s death - her sole role is as wife/mother - and when the Boggart is banished by Remus, as her emotions render her unable to perform magic that is taught to third years, her chief concern is then of what her husband and Harry think of her."

* 'Half the f-f-family's in the Order, it'll b-b-be a miracle if we all come through this...'

Simple mathematics states at least one Weasley will die before the books are complete. Maybe more! *gets excited*

* Mrs Weasley gave a little squeak of fright at the sound of the name.

More repetition of 'Only stupid purebloods are afraid of the name. Everyone should be kewl and brave like Lupin, Hermione and Harry!'

* 'Don't worry about Percy' said Sirius abruptly. 'He'll come round. It's only a matter of time before Voldemort moves into the open; once he does, the whole Ministry's going to be begging us to forgive them. And I'm not sure I'll be accepting their apology,' he added bitterly.
'And as for who's going to look after Ron and Ginny if you and Arthur died,' said Lupin, smiling slightly, 'what do you think we'd do, let them starve?'

Percy and everyone who doubted Dumbledore/the Order/Harry should/will come crawling for forgiveness? Oh, great.
Of course, if they were truly big people, they wouldn't care or at least would attempt to understand the small minds of everyone who hasn't been lucky enough to be blessed with their knowledge.
Plus, I wouldn't let Sirius and Lupin guard a tin of tuna, let alone two of my children.

* 'First sigh of madness, talking to your own head,' said a sly voice from the empty picture on the wall.
Harry ignored it. He felt older than he had ever felt in his life and it seemed extraordinary to him that barely an hour ago he had been worried about a joke shop and who had got a prefects badge.

The painting talks!

I don't like how Harry is portrayed throughout the book as having higher things on his mind than petty unimportant badges, rivalries and Quidditch matches; but also gets to indulge his feelings and lose control. But I'll come back to that.