(no subject)
Chapter Six
Once again, quotes from my insanely long replies to other analyses.
*
Ron explained as he pulled on his maroon pyjamas.
Shorthand for Ron still gets no attention at home?
*
Ron locks the door because Kreacher comes in at night.
Ew.
*
The blank picture on the wall was now breathing very slowly and deeply, as though its invisible occupant was asleep.
I didn't notice this if it was mentioned in the earlier chapters. Gosh, an invisible portrait. Could be anyone in there. Could be Voldemort. Could be A GORILLA!1111 ;0
*
'-demort,' said Harry firmly. 'When are you going to start using his name? Sirius and Lupin do.'
Ooh, one of my pet peeves - Harry is so liek brave for saying Teh Name! (I'll come back to it later, when it annoys me the most)
Um, remember what you said in PS, Harry? About it's not that you're super brave for saying the name, it's just that you've not been brought up to avoid it? Yeah. Words to live by.
Also, I wanna be just liek Sirius and Lupin, don't you? They're teh kewliest!11
*
'Bet it is!' said George. 'That's where he hid the Philosopher's Stone.'
Thanks, Captain Exposition! Except that the audience and the characters all already know this, and were in fact 'eye' witnesses, unlike you.
*
'He's got the Cruciatus Curse for causing pain,' said Harry, 'he doesn't need anything more efficient than that.'
There was a pause.
Anyone else sense an undertone here?
'You know how I know? HE CAST IT ON ME! Anyone else experienced the awesome efficiency of the Cruciatus? No, I didn't think so! WHERE WERE YOU, HUH, HUH? So STFU on the subject, cause Harry says so!'
Also, there's a spell mentioned in St. Mungoes that apparently removes your organs, so I wouldn't rule out Voldie not needing/wanting/using any new exciting hexes (just ask the DA!)
*
On top of Magpie's noted constant Ginny exposition (she's omg so gud at hexing!1111) I see that Ginny also saves everyone from sleep gas in this chapter (she lies about Garroting Gas later, to continue the Ginny and Gas theme.) You like Ginny, yet? Huh, huh? Wait til you hear about her Sooper Sekrit Quidditch Skillz!
*
Hagrid the Care of Magical Creatures teacher was saying, 'Beauties, aren't they, eh, Harry? We'll be studyin' weapons this term ...' and Harry saw that the creatures had cannons for heads and were wheeling to face him...
Ahahaha. Harry's subconscious has Hagrid's mark. And is easily led by Sirius' "slip".
*
Mrs Weasley was bending over to check the page on Doxys in Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Household Pests...
Molly still goes by Lockhart. Which brings up the question: how much does she know about what's happened?
She only found out about Sirius at the end of GoF (which makes me wonder what explanation was given for Ron's broken leg) and iirc, later she mentions Scabbers, so presumably she believes it died of natural causes or something. Huh. Interesting.
I'm sure she knows more than the Grangers, though, who didn't appear to have noticed their daughter's double hospitalization in her second year.
*
(Magpie):You know, if you're trying to clean the house, you'd think keeping a wild animal that eats dead rats in the bedroom would be a bad idea (but marks to Sirius for being childish enough to want to keep Buckbeak in there).
You'd think Sirius and most of the Order possessing short tempers would eventually lead to Buckbeak getting hacked off at some imagined 'disrespect' but I guess it's role is done for good. And of course, Buckbeak would only ever have it's pride wounded by Evil people. What a clever, clever plot device it was.
*
...dressed and breakfasted...
Is 'breakfasted' even a word?
*
Harry caught it full in the face with a blast of Doxycide. It froze in midair and fell, with a surprisingly loud thunk, on to the worn carpet below. Harry picked it up and threw it in the bucket.
You trim that to 'Harry caught it full in the face' and you've got yourself a decent slash fic start there.
Also, somewhere between CoS and OotP, Harry has rather lost his compassion for magical creatures.
*
Magpie: Doxies are poisonous, and Fred pockets one to experiment with the venom for...candy. I'm sure it's a much nicer poison than the stuff Lucius was selling in CoS.
...
Harry "forced them." They wanted to earn the money themselves doing honest work, you see.
Alarm bells were ringing for me regarding the twins in this chapter particularly. Of course, alarm bells also occur for me around Harry, Hermione and most of the DA, so I'm fairly Moody-esque when it comes to seeing the negative in characters!
*
Hermione and the house-elves.
I do think that there's going to be some kind of cop-out new information about house-elves and why they're 'enslaved'.
Because there doesn't seem to be a way to resolve it at present.
If Hermione succeeded in his quest, it wouldn't mitigate the fact that her methods are insensitive and that she, as usual, has a set objective in mind that she works to 'prove' (in this case: house elves should be free! Although her examination of the laws surrounding Hippogryffs is also an example) and then ignores any evidence that may contrast with how she wishes to view things (ie, Winky's feelings on the matter.)
But if she fails, the underlying message would seem to be that Ron and Harry's apathy and lack of compassion is the correct reaction, and that attempting to help others is wrong. So, I see a helpful Deus Ex Machina along the lines of - Gosh, it turns out all the house elves were under spells cast years ago.
Fits into the whole 'Corrupt WW, statue of Doooooom' theme, rescues Hermione from any moral misgivings anyone may have had about her style of 'rescuing', and the house elves reactions will undoubtedly reflect the 'maturing' tone of the books: some will stay with their families, others will enjoy freedom.
Blah blah.
*
It looked very old. Its skin seemed to be several times too big for it and, though it was bald like all house-elves, there was a quantity of white hair growing out of its large, batlike ears. Its eyes were a bloodshot and watery grey and its fleshy nose was large and rather snoutlike.
Kreacher sounds like Brain from Pinky and the Brain.
Also, Rhoddlet wrote Kreacher fic.
Anyway, Sirius is annoying with the bitching. Dude, it's an elf. Have some dignity.
Also, why doesn't he just give Kreacher the keepsakes? A lot of them were apparently unmagical (rings, photos, etc.) so he couldn't have used them against the Order, and if they're just going in the bin anyway...
*
'Kreacher said nothing,' said the elf, with a second bow to George, adding in a clear undertone, 'and there's its twin, unnatural little beasts they are.'
Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not.
Really? I don't think I'd find that particularly funny, but then it's fairly obvious to me that my sense of humour and the Weasleys/JKR's is radically different.
This part actually reminds me of Ginny's giggling at Mundungus: at 14-15, I would be horrified at some drunk smelly tramp, and likewise, seeing a creature that is obviously mentally unstable and hateful wouldn't really amuse me.
*
'Don't call her a Mudblood!' said Ron and Ginny together, very angrily.
Interesting that Harry, Fred and George remain silent.
Although Ron and Ginny just remind me of James and everyone else in the books - OMG RACISM IS LIEK TOTALLY WRONG BUT IT'Z OK 4 US 2 DO WHATEVER WE WANT 2 SLIMY SLYTHERINZ.
*
'Is it true? Is it Harry Potter? Kreacher can see the scar, it must be true, that's the boy who stopped the Dark Lord, Kreacher wonders how he did it -'
'Don't we all, Kreacher,' said Fred.
Harry and Hermione are referred to by gender, whereas the twins are simply 'it'(s).
Also, the twins are almost friendlier than anyone else to Kreacher. Sirius is angry and rude, Hermione patronises him, Harry ignores him, Ron and Ginny are indifferent until roused by insults to Hermione (I'll get into Hermione/Ginny later, suffice to say that although I loathe the pair of them and am not a huge femmeslash fan, I could actually totally buy it in this book.)
The twins greet him, answer his questions, and at least don't patronise him by pretending they don't hear him.
*
And she's been dying to have a go at Mundungus ever since he sneaked off when he was supposed to be following you, Harry -
Ugh. Molly's so annoying. If she's angry about the fricking cauldrons, as she has a right to be, yell about them.
If you've got a grudge against someone for something else, don't be manipulative and provoke an argument about an unrelated topic.
*
'She won't read the Daily Prophet any more, 'cause of it telling lies about you and Dumbledore.'
Ahahaha. Hasn't it been more like inferring and insinuating than outright libel? I don't think they'd have much of a case in court, except that Dumbledore is probably Judge of the WW on top of his other positions.
And of course, the Prophet has been insulting about Harry and Dumbledore for over a year. Let no one accuse Molly of being quick on the uptake.
I notice any 'lies' about Hermione aren't included as motives for Molly's wrath. Of course. She's only a girl - ew!
*
George steals a biting snuff box.
A biting snuff box with poisonous powder inside, no less!
Isn't it biting keyholes that land Muggles in St. Mungoes for 'finger regrowth' and memory zapping. How sweet and playful of the twins to keep such an object.
*
Magpie: Can I also point out that Sirius says he left the house because he "hated the lot of them" with their Pureblood views, which doesn't line up with fanon interpretations of poor Sirius being abused his whole life?
My view of Sirius is that he and his family were way too alike, hence he rebels. If they'd have been Weasley-esque Dumbledore fans, I think Sirius could have turned out the maniacal pure blood fanatic, just to be different.
*
Magpie: Sirius is contemptuous of his grandfather's Order of Merlin and promptly explains Grandpa just gave the Ministry money. Because nobody in Sirius' family can ever deserve anything honestly, ever. He's so much better than all of them. They buy Orders of Merlin just like Malfoy bought his place on the Quidditch team. Sirius is such a baby, and I think he's jealous that he's never going to win an Order of Merlin, first class, because he can't do anything.
I love how of course a Black having an Order is corrupt and due to nepotism (and is presumably another example of misappropriated rewards after the promise of Snape's, Peter's posthumous one, and Riddle's Special Services thing-o.)
Sheds a rather nasty light on Dumbledore and Harry's various awards, no?
And of course, Sirius doesn't hate the Black's money so much he can't accept it from good old Uncle Alphard, apparently.
*
Harry, however, did not laugh; he was too busy staring at the names to the right of Andromeda's burn mark. A double line of gold embroidery linked Narcissa Black with Lucius Malfoy and a single vertical gold line from their names led to the name Draco.
'You're related to the Malfoys!'
Harry is a stare-bear.
Hear that? My interest in this frickin' book, perking up.
It's too little, too late for this chapter, unfortunately, but I could and will write screeds on later equally short mentions, so be warned.
*
'Bellatrix and her husband Rodolphus came in with Barty Crouch junior,' said Sirius, in the same brusque voice. 'Rodolphus’ brother Rabastan was with them, too.'
Am I the only one who finds that quite sweet, in a demented way?
*
...'of course, any time the family produced someone halfway decent they were disowned.'
More of the reasoning and rationalization behind people who dislike the Gryffindors: they hate Sirius because he's much better than them!
Just as Malfoy is 'just jealous' of Hermione's brains and Harry's fame and Quidditch skills; and Snape was 'bitter' because James was more popular and was Head Boy and a Seeker, and everyone who doubts Harry and Dumbledore's story is just a gullible Prophet-reader; the Blacks totally disown family not because they disagree politically or don't connect emotionally but because Sirius is just too 'decent' for them.
*
...'Phineas Nigellus...least popular Headmaster Hogwarts ever had...'
I suppose Dumbledore is the most popular?
*
'Was he killed by an Auror?' Harry asked tentatively.
'No, he was murdered by Voldemort.'
Interesting wording here. Harry's first guess as to why a Death Eater might be dead is due to Aurors (who as we recall from GoF, were allowed to use Unforgiveables upon said suspected Dark Wizards), yet the logical extrapolation of this: if Harry achieves his dream of Auror-hood, he may have to kill someone, doesn't seem to bother Harry.
Odd, considering his reaction to the revelation that it's killed or be killed as regarding Voldie.
And the difference in words - an Auror kills, a Death Eater 'murders'.
*
...'my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them'...
Another interesting description: 'soft'. Not 'arrogant enough to believe them' or 'cold enough', but 'soft'. Hmm.
*
...'convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal'...
Silly Regulus! It's being a Gryffindor that makes you royalty!
*
Magpie: '[Harry] had not thought about the hearing once since dinner the previous evening; in the excitement of being back with the people who liked best...'
LOL! Those would be the people he's been raging about since he got here.
Yeah, I bet Ron and Hermione were really 'excited' to be told they're useless tagalongs. Cause that just means Harry likes you best!
*
Magpie: Harry rightly describes "cleaning" the house as waging war--and I think we should all take note of what that entails. The Purebloods are wiped out of their own home, their history erased and their families destroyed. Let's do the Weasleys next.
Bwhahahahaha! Finish the job Voldie started and eliminate the Potters has my vote.
Interestingly, the tapestry can't be taken down. There's some symbolism for ya:
The only undesirable things left in it were the tapestry of the Black family tree, which resisted all their attempts to remove it from the wall.
*
The thought that Dumbledore had been in the house on the eve of his hearing and not asked to see him made him feel, if it were possible, even worse.
Surely that's NOT POSSIBLE? Heh.
Am I missing something with Harry's whole Dumbledore is Ignoring Meeeee issue?
Because it's not like they were ever bosom buddies.
I mean, Harry doesn't trust Dumbledore in CoS with his suspicions, he believes in GoF that Dumbledore would let the other contestant's families die, he knows that Dumbledore hides things from him.
They go long screeds without any interaction apart from creepy winks and Dumbledore giving Harry free passes for any trouble he may cause encounter; and now suddenly Harry's missing his BFF?
Jeez, welcome to the other side of the mirror, it's called 'not being a privileged reciepent of favouritism'. Not much fun, is it?
*
Mundungus redeemed himself slightly in Mrs Weasley's eyes by rescuing Ron from an ancient set of purple robes that had tried to strangle him when he removed them from their wardrobe.
Building from the question of 'what Molly knows about the Trio's adventures, myunet theorises that Molly's antipathy towards Sirius could be partially motivated by his treatment of Ron. I don't necessarily buy it, but it would make me like Molly a little more, as this excerpt does, since her horror/approval at other's behaviour and reasons for liking/disliking people has so far been limited to 'How do they treat Harry?' whereas she has little reaction to any slurs against her own children.
*
'Dumbledore is Secret Keeper for the Order, you know'
Gosh, Dumbledore has everyone in the Order's lives in his hands? Starting to see why Harry can't sleep at nights!
Once again, quotes from my insanely long replies to other analyses.
*
Ron explained as he pulled on his maroon pyjamas.
Shorthand for Ron still gets no attention at home?
*
Ron locks the door because Kreacher comes in at night.
Ew.
*
The blank picture on the wall was now breathing very slowly and deeply, as though its invisible occupant was asleep.
I didn't notice this if it was mentioned in the earlier chapters. Gosh, an invisible portrait. Could be anyone in there. Could be Voldemort. Could be A GORILLA!1111 ;0
*
'-demort,' said Harry firmly. 'When are you going to start using his name? Sirius and Lupin do.'
Ooh, one of my pet peeves - Harry is so liek brave for saying Teh Name! (I'll come back to it later, when it annoys me the most)
Um, remember what you said in PS, Harry? About it's not that you're super brave for saying the name, it's just that you've not been brought up to avoid it? Yeah. Words to live by.
Also, I wanna be just liek Sirius and Lupin, don't you? They're teh kewliest!11
*
'Bet it is!' said George. 'That's where he hid the Philosopher's Stone.'
Thanks, Captain Exposition! Except that the audience and the characters all already know this, and were in fact 'eye' witnesses, unlike you.
*
'He's got the Cruciatus Curse for causing pain,' said Harry, 'he doesn't need anything more efficient than that.'
There was a pause.
Anyone else sense an undertone here?
'You know how I know? HE CAST IT ON ME! Anyone else experienced the awesome efficiency of the Cruciatus? No, I didn't think so! WHERE WERE YOU, HUH, HUH? So STFU on the subject, cause Harry says so!'
Also, there's a spell mentioned in St. Mungoes that apparently removes your organs, so I wouldn't rule out Voldie not needing/wanting/using any new exciting hexes (just ask the DA!)
*
On top of Magpie's noted constant Ginny exposition (she's omg so gud at hexing!1111) I see that Ginny also saves everyone from sleep gas in this chapter (she lies about Garroting Gas later, to continue the Ginny and Gas theme.) You like Ginny, yet? Huh, huh? Wait til you hear about her Sooper Sekrit Quidditch Skillz!
*
Hagrid the Care of Magical Creatures teacher was saying, 'Beauties, aren't they, eh, Harry? We'll be studyin' weapons this term ...' and Harry saw that the creatures had cannons for heads and were wheeling to face him...
Ahahaha. Harry's subconscious has Hagrid's mark. And is easily led by Sirius' "slip".
*
Mrs Weasley was bending over to check the page on Doxys in Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Household Pests...
Molly still goes by Lockhart. Which brings up the question: how much does she know about what's happened?
She only found out about Sirius at the end of GoF (which makes me wonder what explanation was given for Ron's broken leg) and iirc, later she mentions Scabbers, so presumably she believes it died of natural causes or something. Huh. Interesting.
I'm sure she knows more than the Grangers, though, who didn't appear to have noticed their daughter's double hospitalization in her second year.
*
(Magpie):You know, if you're trying to clean the house, you'd think keeping a wild animal that eats dead rats in the bedroom would be a bad idea (but marks to Sirius for being childish enough to want to keep Buckbeak in there).
You'd think Sirius and most of the Order possessing short tempers would eventually lead to Buckbeak getting hacked off at some imagined 'disrespect' but I guess it's role is done for good. And of course, Buckbeak would only ever have it's pride wounded by Evil people. What a clever, clever plot device it was.
*
...dressed and breakfasted...
Is 'breakfasted' even a word?
*
Harry caught it full in the face with a blast of Doxycide. It froze in midair and fell, with a surprisingly loud thunk, on to the worn carpet below. Harry picked it up and threw it in the bucket.
You trim that to 'Harry caught it full in the face' and you've got yourself a decent slash fic start there.
Also, somewhere between CoS and OotP, Harry has rather lost his compassion for magical creatures.
*
Magpie: Doxies are poisonous, and Fred pockets one to experiment with the venom for...candy. I'm sure it's a much nicer poison than the stuff Lucius was selling in CoS.
...
Harry "forced them." They wanted to earn the money themselves doing honest work, you see.
Alarm bells were ringing for me regarding the twins in this chapter particularly. Of course, alarm bells also occur for me around Harry, Hermione and most of the DA, so I'm fairly Moody-esque when it comes to seeing the negative in characters!
*
Hermione and the house-elves.
I do think that there's going to be some kind of cop-out new information about house-elves and why they're 'enslaved'.
Because there doesn't seem to be a way to resolve it at present.
If Hermione succeeded in his quest, it wouldn't mitigate the fact that her methods are insensitive and that she, as usual, has a set objective in mind that she works to 'prove' (in this case: house elves should be free! Although her examination of the laws surrounding Hippogryffs is also an example) and then ignores any evidence that may contrast with how she wishes to view things (ie, Winky's feelings on the matter.)
But if she fails, the underlying message would seem to be that Ron and Harry's apathy and lack of compassion is the correct reaction, and that attempting to help others is wrong. So, I see a helpful Deus Ex Machina along the lines of - Gosh, it turns out all the house elves were under spells cast years ago.
Fits into the whole 'Corrupt WW, statue of Doooooom' theme, rescues Hermione from any moral misgivings anyone may have had about her style of 'rescuing', and the house elves reactions will undoubtedly reflect the 'maturing' tone of the books: some will stay with their families, others will enjoy freedom.
Blah blah.
*
It looked very old. Its skin seemed to be several times too big for it and, though it was bald like all house-elves, there was a quantity of white hair growing out of its large, batlike ears. Its eyes were a bloodshot and watery grey and its fleshy nose was large and rather snoutlike.
Kreacher sounds like Brain from Pinky and the Brain.
Also, Rhoddlet wrote Kreacher fic.
Anyway, Sirius is annoying with the bitching. Dude, it's an elf. Have some dignity.
Also, why doesn't he just give Kreacher the keepsakes? A lot of them were apparently unmagical (rings, photos, etc.) so he couldn't have used them against the Order, and if they're just going in the bin anyway...
*
'Kreacher said nothing,' said the elf, with a second bow to George, adding in a clear undertone, 'and there's its twin, unnatural little beasts they are.'
Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not.
Really? I don't think I'd find that particularly funny, but then it's fairly obvious to me that my sense of humour and the Weasleys/JKR's is radically different.
This part actually reminds me of Ginny's giggling at Mundungus: at 14-15, I would be horrified at some drunk smelly tramp, and likewise, seeing a creature that is obviously mentally unstable and hateful wouldn't really amuse me.
*
'Don't call her a Mudblood!' said Ron and Ginny together, very angrily.
Interesting that Harry, Fred and George remain silent.
Although Ron and Ginny just remind me of James and everyone else in the books - OMG RACISM IS LIEK TOTALLY WRONG BUT IT'Z OK 4 US 2 DO WHATEVER WE WANT 2 SLIMY SLYTHERINZ.
*
'Is it true? Is it Harry Potter? Kreacher can see the scar, it must be true, that's the boy who stopped the Dark Lord, Kreacher wonders how he did it -'
'Don't we all, Kreacher,' said Fred.
Harry and Hermione are referred to by gender, whereas the twins are simply 'it'(s).
Also, the twins are almost friendlier than anyone else to Kreacher. Sirius is angry and rude, Hermione patronises him, Harry ignores him, Ron and Ginny are indifferent until roused by insults to Hermione (I'll get into Hermione/Ginny later, suffice to say that although I loathe the pair of them and am not a huge femmeslash fan, I could actually totally buy it in this book.)
The twins greet him, answer his questions, and at least don't patronise him by pretending they don't hear him.
*
And she's been dying to have a go at Mundungus ever since he sneaked off when he was supposed to be following you, Harry -
Ugh. Molly's so annoying. If she's angry about the fricking cauldrons, as she has a right to be, yell about them.
If you've got a grudge against someone for something else, don't be manipulative and provoke an argument about an unrelated topic.
*
'She won't read the Daily Prophet any more, 'cause of it telling lies about you and Dumbledore.'
Ahahaha. Hasn't it been more like inferring and insinuating than outright libel? I don't think they'd have much of a case in court, except that Dumbledore is probably Judge of the WW on top of his other positions.
And of course, the Prophet has been insulting about Harry and Dumbledore for over a year. Let no one accuse Molly of being quick on the uptake.
I notice any 'lies' about Hermione aren't included as motives for Molly's wrath. Of course. She's only a girl - ew!
*
George steals a biting snuff box.
A biting snuff box with poisonous powder inside, no less!
Isn't it biting keyholes that land Muggles in St. Mungoes for 'finger regrowth' and memory zapping. How sweet and playful of the twins to keep such an object.
*
Magpie: Can I also point out that Sirius says he left the house because he "hated the lot of them" with their Pureblood views, which doesn't line up with fanon interpretations of poor Sirius being abused his whole life?
My view of Sirius is that he and his family were way too alike, hence he rebels. If they'd have been Weasley-esque Dumbledore fans, I think Sirius could have turned out the maniacal pure blood fanatic, just to be different.
*
Magpie: Sirius is contemptuous of his grandfather's Order of Merlin and promptly explains Grandpa just gave the Ministry money. Because nobody in Sirius' family can ever deserve anything honestly, ever. He's so much better than all of them. They buy Orders of Merlin just like Malfoy bought his place on the Quidditch team. Sirius is such a baby, and I think he's jealous that he's never going to win an Order of Merlin, first class, because he can't do anything.
I love how of course a Black having an Order is corrupt and due to nepotism (and is presumably another example of misappropriated rewards after the promise of Snape's, Peter's posthumous one, and Riddle's Special Services thing-o.)
Sheds a rather nasty light on Dumbledore and Harry's various awards, no?
And of course, Sirius doesn't hate the Black's money so much he can't accept it from good old Uncle Alphard, apparently.
*
Harry, however, did not laugh; he was too busy staring at the names to the right of Andromeda's burn mark. A double line of gold embroidery linked Narcissa Black with Lucius Malfoy and a single vertical gold line from their names led to the name Draco.
'You're related to the Malfoys!'
Harry is a stare-bear.
Hear that? My interest in this frickin' book, perking up.
It's too little, too late for this chapter, unfortunately, but I could and will write screeds on later equally short mentions, so be warned.
*
'Bellatrix and her husband Rodolphus came in with Barty Crouch junior,' said Sirius, in the same brusque voice. 'Rodolphus’ brother Rabastan was with them, too.'
Am I the only one who finds that quite sweet, in a demented way?
*
...'of course, any time the family produced someone halfway decent they were disowned.'
More of the reasoning and rationalization behind people who dislike the Gryffindors: they hate Sirius because he's much better than them!
Just as Malfoy is 'just jealous' of Hermione's brains and Harry's fame and Quidditch skills; and Snape was 'bitter' because James was more popular and was Head Boy and a Seeker, and everyone who doubts Harry and Dumbledore's story is just a gullible Prophet-reader; the Blacks totally disown family not because they disagree politically or don't connect emotionally but because Sirius is just too 'decent' for them.
*
...'Phineas Nigellus...least popular Headmaster Hogwarts ever had...'
I suppose Dumbledore is the most popular?
*
'Was he killed by an Auror?' Harry asked tentatively.
'No, he was murdered by Voldemort.'
Interesting wording here. Harry's first guess as to why a Death Eater might be dead is due to Aurors (who as we recall from GoF, were allowed to use Unforgiveables upon said suspected Dark Wizards), yet the logical extrapolation of this: if Harry achieves his dream of Auror-hood, he may have to kill someone, doesn't seem to bother Harry.
Odd, considering his reaction to the revelation that it's killed or be killed as regarding Voldie.
And the difference in words - an Auror kills, a Death Eater 'murders'.
*
...'my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them'...
Another interesting description: 'soft'. Not 'arrogant enough to believe them' or 'cold enough', but 'soft'. Hmm.
*
...'convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal'...
Silly Regulus! It's being a Gryffindor that makes you royalty!
*
Magpie: '[Harry] had not thought about the hearing once since dinner the previous evening; in the excitement of being back with the people who liked best...'
LOL! Those would be the people he's been raging about since he got here.
Yeah, I bet Ron and Hermione were really 'excited' to be told they're useless tagalongs. Cause that just means Harry likes you best!
*
Magpie: Harry rightly describes "cleaning" the house as waging war--and I think we should all take note of what that entails. The Purebloods are wiped out of their own home, their history erased and their families destroyed. Let's do the Weasleys next.
Bwhahahahaha! Finish the job Voldie started and eliminate the Potters has my vote.
Interestingly, the tapestry can't be taken down. There's some symbolism for ya:
The only undesirable things left in it were the tapestry of the Black family tree, which resisted all their attempts to remove it from the wall.
*
The thought that Dumbledore had been in the house on the eve of his hearing and not asked to see him made him feel, if it were possible, even worse.
Surely that's NOT POSSIBLE? Heh.
Am I missing something with Harry's whole Dumbledore is Ignoring Meeeee issue?
Because it's not like they were ever bosom buddies.
I mean, Harry doesn't trust Dumbledore in CoS with his suspicions, he believes in GoF that Dumbledore would let the other contestant's families die, he knows that Dumbledore hides things from him.
They go long screeds without any interaction apart from creepy winks and Dumbledore giving Harry free passes for any trouble he may cause encounter; and now suddenly Harry's missing his BFF?
Jeez, welcome to the other side of the mirror, it's called 'not being a privileged reciepent of favouritism'. Not much fun, is it?
*
Mundungus redeemed himself slightly in Mrs Weasley's eyes by rescuing Ron from an ancient set of purple robes that had tried to strangle him when he removed them from their wardrobe.
Building from the question of 'what Molly knows about the Trio's adventures, myunet theorises that Molly's antipathy towards Sirius could be partially motivated by his treatment of Ron. I don't necessarily buy it, but it would make me like Molly a little more, as this excerpt does, since her horror/approval at other's behaviour and reasons for liking/disliking people has so far been limited to 'How do they treat Harry?' whereas she has little reaction to any slurs against her own children.
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'Dumbledore is Secret Keeper for the Order, you know'
Gosh, Dumbledore has everyone in the Order's lives in his hands? Starting to see why Harry can't sleep at nights!