Chapter 22 - The Unexpected Task

[Susan McGee]

No: HPFGUIDX 6521

> 
> "Hermione, Neville's right – you are a girl
" says
> Ron.  Hermione doesn't think much of his choice of
> pick-up lines, and tells him that she's going with
> someone else.  Ron refuses to believe her, and the two
> argue.  Ron tries to get Ginny to go as Harry's date,
> but Ginny admits that she is going with Neville,
> because she didn't think she'd have a date otherwise.
> 
> Parvati and Lavender enter the common room, and Harry
> asks Parvati to go with him.  After a cascade of
> giggles, she agrees.  He asks Lavender to go with Ron,
> but Lavender says she is going with Seamus.  Parvati
> offers to ask her twin sister Padma to be Ron's date,
> and Harry hopes that Padma Patil's nose is in the
> center of her face.
> 
> Discussion Questions
> 
> 1. I loved this chapter because I thought JKR did an
> excellent job of portraying a young adolescent's view
> of romance and dating.  Harry and Ron seem trapped in
> a fear of girls in large groups and the accompanying
> giggling.  They also want nothing to do with the
> unattractive girls in their class, like Eloise Midgen.
>  This seems pretty close to what I remember from when
> I was 13 or 14 years old.  Do other list members,
> especially any who may be in their early teens, agree
> with this?  

All I know is that I keep obsessing about instructions to my son (now 
3) when he asks a girl (or a boy) to the ball. You must pay attention 
to your date; you must dance with your date; you must focus on your 
date having a good time. You may not wander off with with your best 
friend. You may not ignore your date to glare at a boy who is with 
the girl you want to be with.... here are the basic rules of 
courtesy..
when I was a teenager it was a mixed bag..the boys who were the most
popular were actually those who were the most courteous not 
necessarily the most good looking...girls who were good looking were 
asked out a lot, but also there were girls who were very animated,
or fun, who also got asked..

Susan