donnaimmaculata (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
donnaimmaculata) wrote2005-01-16 10:27 pm
donnaimmaculata) wrote2005-01-16 10:27 pm
Entry tags:
GoF stuff
Listening to GoF during the past few days, I realised that it is probably the HP novel that annoys me most. (I kinda liked OotP, because the form corresponded with the plot quite perfectly: the loose endings, the illogical actions, the annoying behaviour of the characters serve to emphasise the stagnation and frustration the characters experienced. In a way, Rowling made most readers feel quite as frustrated as the characters do, and while I don't think she did it on purpose, it worked quite well for me. Plus, I very much appreciate that she didn't have the characters forget their petty old grudges (yes, I'm looking at you, Snape) and stand united against their mutual enemy. But I digress.)
So, there are quite a few things that annoy me about GoF (even if I ignore the completely preposterous Triwizard Tournament frame story). But before I come to them, here's a random theory:
In book six or seven, Ron will be put under the Imperius Curse.
Ron will be put under the Imperius Curse because of the spiders: In Moody's class, Moody makes the spider tap-dance to illustrate the Imperius Curse. In PoA-the-movie, Ron wakes up from a nightmare in which spiders wanted to make him tap-dance. Rowling said in the DVD extras that Cuarón unknowingly foreshadowed many events from the upcoming books. - Namely, Ron's being put under the Imperius Curse. (<-My elaboration, not Rowling's.) (This would also neatly encompass the theory that Ron will turn traitor. He will, but not because he wants to.) Farfetched? Possibly. But fun.
I think there are more points, but I didn't write them down while listening. I might be back with more eye-rolling and WTF-ing as the re-listening progresses.
And something else that occurred to me: After Moody transfigured Draco into a ferret, nothing that McGonagall says indicates that this is actually forbidden:
"Moody, we never use Transfiguration as a punishment!" said Professor McGonagall weakly. "Surely Professor Dumbledore told you that?"
"He might've mentioned it, yeah," said Moody [...]
"We give detentions, Moody! Or speak to the offender's Head of house!"
It sounds to me as though this was Dumbledore's choice not to transfigure students and not a legal regulation of any kind.
So, there are quite a few things that annoy me about GoF (even if I ignore the completely preposterous Triwizard Tournament frame story). But before I come to them, here's a random theory:
In book six or seven, Ron will be put under the Imperius Curse.
Ron will be put under the Imperius Curse because of the spiders: In Moody's class, Moody makes the spider tap-dance to illustrate the Imperius Curse. In PoA-the-movie, Ron wakes up from a nightmare in which spiders wanted to make him tap-dance. Rowling said in the DVD extras that Cuarón unknowingly foreshadowed many events from the upcoming books. - Namely, Ron's being put under the Imperius Curse. (<-My elaboration, not Rowling's.) (This would also neatly encompass the theory that Ron will turn traitor. He will, but not because he wants to.) Farfetched? Possibly. But fun.
- Why do Bill and Charlie have to go to bed when Ginny is tired? Arthur sends them all to bed when, after the Quidditch game, Ginny falls asleep over her cocoa. Now, Bill is at least 10 years older than she is, and from all that we know about him, he seems like the sort of guy who would go out and party all night. Just a minor detail, but one that made me roll my eyes.
- Why are the Veela mascots? That doesn't sound very... respectful. Certainly not as though they were considers equals of the wizards. Arthur (I think) refers to them as "creatures". Hm. If they are "creatures" rather than "humans", does this affect Fleur in any way?
- One of the Top Five of Annoying Issues from all five novels and one that makes me froth at the mouth each time I reread it: Why are the Heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang not allowed to know about the dragons? Dumbledore knows. His staff know. But Madame Maxime and Karkaroff are to be kept in ignorance, because - as Charlie says - "The champions aren't supposed to know what's coming - she's bound to tell her students, isn't she?" I mean, WTF? Why is she bound to tell her students (which she does to get the plot rolling), while Dumbledore, Hagrid and Moody are considered trustworthy? I am so not surprised that Maxime and Karkaroff were royally pissed off when Harry was accepted as the fourth champion. They way they were treated throughout the whole event, they could probably count themselves lucky they weren't put into custody as to not interfere with the smooth procedure of the Tournament. (Awarding Harry full points for "moral fibre", I ask you!)
- Re: the Floo network. Sirius is able to speak to Harry through the common room fire, using the fireplace in some wizarding household or other. It follows logically that all wizarding parents should be able to speak to their children directly through the common room fireplaces. Why bother with owl post, then? Oh dear. Logic. (Not to mention that the fireplaces could be used for travelling to and from Hogwarts, but I'm willing to assume that there are different forms of terminals, those which are used for transport and communication and those which work only as communication channels.)
I think there are more points, but I didn't write them down while listening. I might be back with more eye-rolling and WTF-ing as the re-listening progresses.
And something else that occurred to me: After Moody transfigured Draco into a ferret, nothing that McGonagall says indicates that this is actually forbidden:
"Moody, we never use Transfiguration as a punishment!" said Professor McGonagall weakly. "Surely Professor Dumbledore told you that?"
"He might've mentioned it, yeah," said Moody [...]
"We give detentions, Moody! Or speak to the offender's Head of house!"
It sounds to me as though this was Dumbledore's choice not to transfigure students and not a legal regulation of any kind.
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My mum still tries to take my hand when I cross a road with her. I am 29 years old. *g*
Possibly Arthur is so used to treating the 'kids' as a collective lump of humanity rather than individuals that it's just habit to send them all to bed at the same time?
You are sending spirals of fear into my stomach with your theory about Ron. It is going to make me cry my eyes out if that happens, and ron-hating communities will sprout like fungus in a damp toilet - waaahahahahaa! Of course, if they only use the Imperious curse to make him tap-dance, I'll survive. But the traitor thing...oh help!
I always thought the 'mascots' thing was the same as having cheerleaders? Or alternatively, something/someone the country is proud of that they want other countries to see. The Veelas freak me out, by the way - do you think Fleur can do that bird-thing with her face???
Floo Network: another point is that Diggory was able to take a piece of toast from Molly when he spoke through their fireplace. In that case, couldn't they just have a 'postman' deliver the mail directly to the common room? I can imagine congestion issues with lots of parents jostling to speak to their children otherwise! I also don't understand how Umbridge managed to get her arm into the fireplace to swipe at Sirius's head?
Polyjuice: how did Barty Crouch manage to act exactly like Moody for a whole term? That has always amazed me.
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She only has your best interest at heart, you know!
collective lump of humanity LOL!
Ah, don't worry about the Ron prediction. I'm sure he will be fine. And we all know his love for Harry is deep and true.
I thought of cheerleaders first, too, but Arthur's "creatures" comment put me off. It doesn't sound as though "creatures" were on the same level with wizards. And I wonder whether Fleur can do the weird bird thing with her face, too. There is a fic by Seeker out there where Lucius' Veela heritage shows in exactly that way, with the bird feature becoming more pronounced, but I never read anything like that in connection with Fleur. Then again, I don't read much Fleur, so that might be the reason.
I thought that maybe the fireplaces work either for transport and communication or for communication only, in which case parents would be able to speak to the children, but not interact with them. I don't think the fireplaces would become clogged, though - the fireplace would work rather like a phone booth, I imagine: like in the old times, before mobile communication was introduced. The thing with Umbridge's arm implies that it is possible to physically interact through the Hogwarts Floo network. But maybe it works only within the internal network?
The thing with Barty Crouch acting like Moody without being found out by Moody's old friend Dumbledore is ridiculous; I am willing to ignore it, because it is the aspect that carries the plot, stupid though it is.
Hm, maby Moody and Barty Jr. used to be close friends? Like, really close? Is there fiction out there exploring this pairing? There should be.
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To me, that only emphasises the "reverse bigotry" of the wizarding world. I think it was on your LJ a week or so ago where we were talking about how wizard's consider humans to be like little children and are very condescending towards them... Well, here Arthur makes these beings out to be something less than Wizard/human... paralleling Lucius' attitude towards Muggles, and the Wizarding attitude towards muggles in a more general way. I've always seen it as a way to show that even the 'good guys' have issues.
Then again, maybe JKR wasn't trying for that at all, maybe she just considers non-humans to be creatures in context of her world.
The Floo network, if I remember correctly, was seen as somewhat unstable and unreliable (with Apparating being more dangerous, and brooms being less dangerous but also less convenient). Also, you can only use it for one destination at a time, making it a very crowded way to communicate. I've also always thought that, with Hogwart's at least, things were warded in a way that made it difficult to get through... you don't see it happening often, and if you're using Sirius firecalling Harry as an example, well - A. Sirius was already a fugitive and thus could resort to less than perfect means, and B. Dumbledore may have allowed him special access.
The thing with Barty Crouch acting like Moody without being found out by Moody's old friend Dumbledore is ridiculous
That's because Dumbledore is Teh EVIL, of course. I'm sure he was in on the whole thing. Testing moral fiber my arse. Pfft.
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I agree. I think the attitude towards the Veela irritates me a bit because it is never reflected in anyone's attitude towards Fleur. Ron, who is always an excellent indicator for who is discriminated and who's not in the wizarding world, doesn't seem to have a problem with her. The reason might be because he fancies her, but this is a rather poor and degrading reason in itself.
I wonder how Molly reacted to Bill & Fleur. She's not the most accepting and open-minded person around.
Harry talks to Sirius through the fireplace in OotP, and since he uses the one in Umbridge's office, it seems that she, at least, uses it as a communication channel. IIRC, there is a passage about all Hogwarts fireplaces but Umbridge's being monitored by the Ministry. So they are used for some sort of communication, because otherwise the Ministry would not monitor them.
Dumbledore may have allowed him special access.
That, indeed, is an excellent point. I'm not sure how it would work, but it certainly seems well possible.
I think Dumbledore is Teh Redundant. He doesn't contribute anything but convenient plot devices, which could be just as well obtained without him.
Testing moral fiber my arse.
This, also, completely disregards the rules of the Tournament, thus discriminating the other two schools.
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However, that does not excuse the fact that the very reason why the two other schools weren't told things (i.e. it would give the players unfair advantages) was disregarded at Hogwarts.
The thing is, I don't think it was Hogwarts being preferential so much as Harry and Dumbledore getting what they want because they basically rule JKR's world... which makes sense, because Harry, at least, it who the books are titled after. Still, she does leave some pretty big plot holes in her attempts to get the reader to sympathize and root for Harry.
Not to mention her manipulation of of the world for plot advancement.
Dumbledore is the Exposition Fairy. I'm fairly sure if you stripped him down and searched him you'd find curled-toe boots, wings, and Plot Dust.
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I don't think it was Hogwarts being preferential so much as Harry and Dumbledore getting what they want because they basically rule JKR's world...
Yes, and this is why this particular passage grates on my nerves. It's not merely that Harry and Dumbledore want to win; it's that Rowling characterises Maxime and Karkaroff as not trustworthy without giving any logical explanation as to the why. It's widely unnecessary, too; the plot would not have been any different if Maxime and Karkaroff had been given the information. Harry would still be able to stumble across the dragons and tell Cedric because of Hogwarts solidarity - and I would have been spared the annoyance about stupid discrimination!
Dumbledore is the Exposition Fairy. I'm fairly sure if you stripped him down and searched him you'd find curled-toe boots, wings, and Plot Dust.
And this is why he should die. Because while you need an Exposition Fairy in children's literature, adults can be trusted to understand the plot and draw the right conclusions themselves.
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That's the thing though - we know that, but at their heart, the HP books are kids books. They do have 10-11 year old readers...and while, when I was around that age I probably wouldn't have needed the Dumblefairy, some might. And so, while we are reading it with a more 'adult' perspective (though I can't say more mature, because dude, I have a prawnporn icon *g*), they are meant to be kids books.
Though I can't say I don't agree with Dumbledore needing to die. Do you think if we just stopped believing in him, he'd disappear?
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*stops believing, stops believing, stops...*
It's like trying not to think about the pink elephants.
but at their heart, the HP books are kids books
OTOH, Rowling makes a point of making the books darker and more adult as the story progresses. That's exactly my quibble with Dumbledore: While I could accept him in PS and CoS just fine, I think he should have died somewhere between PoA and OotP, because his transition from the Exposition Fairy of children literature to a 3D character has not quite worked for me.
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I mean, they're both zealots, they both hate escaped death eaters, they're both willing to do almost anything to ensure they attain their goals, including becoming morally dubious, at best.
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you make some very good points about Moody - though I get confused as to how much we can rely on GoF for an accurate characterisation.
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The leg thing could be quite kinky. As could the peeping Tom eye.
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