Chapter 23: The Yule Ball

[John Walton]

No: HPFGUIDX 6738

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Chapter 23: "The Yule Ball"

or "Angst 'R' Us"

pp 403-432 (US Hardback)

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Brief Summary: Christmas happens and everyone has issues about who's going
with whom to the Yule Ball.
Favorite Quote: "I 'ave nevair been more insulted in my life! 'Alf-giant?
Moi? I 'ave -- I 'ave big bones!" --Madame Maxime, p 429
Illustration: Deer standing on hedge in front of fountain. [Very Turner
Prize, eh? ;)]

Commentary from my Evil Twin will be interspersed in ((double parentheses))
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= LONG SUMMARY =

Oh, the fodder this chapter gave for the teenybopper HP fics on FFN. Joy,
rapture. Oh, JKR, what will you leave us this time? ::winks at Carole::

Time passes, term ends, and the Weasleys are still getting people with their
WIzard Wheezes. It appears that the majority of Gryffindor (and all its male
fourth years) have remained at Hogwarts. Any theories as to why they all
stay this year? ((Apart from an attack of Plot Necessity?))

Fleur whinges about ze "'eavy 'Ogwarts food" -- Hermione is unsympathetic.
It turns out that La Granger already has a partner for the ball, and that,
when Madam Pomfrey shrunk her teeth after Malfoy's prank earlier in the
book, Hermione let her keep going until they shrunk to the size of everyone
else's teeth -- her dentist parents don't know yet, though.

Sirius writes to Harry congratulating him on gettinng past the Horntail yet
warning him not to get complacent. While Hermione recommends that he get on
with trying to decipher the egg (Task 2), Ron is less vigilant.

Christmas happens and the Yule Ball takes place with much ado. (See the Yule
Ball section)

= CHRISTMAS =

Dobby gives Harry a pair of knitted odd socks.
Harry gives Dobby a pair of Uncle Vernon's old ones.
The Dursleys (boo, hiss) give Harry a single tissue ("an all-time low").
Hermione gives Harry a book about Quidditch.
Sirius gives Harry a penknife.
Hagrid gives Harry a box of sweets.
Molly Weasley gives Harry a sweater and mince pies.
Harry gives Ron a Chudley Cannons hat.
Ron gives Harry a bag of Dungbombs.
Ron gives Dobby a pair of violet socks and his Weasley Jumper.

= THE YULE BALL =

Partners:
Harry goes with Parvati Patil (G)
Ron goes with her sister Padma (R).
Draco goes with Pansy Parkinson
Fleur goes with Roger Davies (H?)
Cedric (H) goes with Cho (R)

* Harry WANTS to go with Cho
* Ron WANTS to go with Hermione

Much teen angst occurs, --er--ing,  --umm--ing and all. The Patil sisters
are described as "the best-looking girls in the year" by Dean. IMHO it's a
bit saccharine that neither Harry nor Ron are satisfied with this. Ron
wanted Hermione and Harry wanted Cho.

However (and here's the clincher), "Krum was...accompanied by a pretty girl
in blue robes Harry didn't know." The Champions get their own table, and
Harry and Parvati leave Ron and Padma behind. And so, in a sudden rainstorm
of similes, Harry realises that the pretty girl is Hermione:
"It was Hermione.
But she didn't look like Hermione at all. She had done something with her
hair; it was no longer bushy but sleek and shiny, and twisted up into an
elegant knot at the back of her head. She was wearing robes made of a
floaty, periwinkle-blue material, and she was holding herself differently,
somehow -- or maybe it was merely the absence of the twenty or so books she
usually had slung over her back. She was also smiling -- rather nervously,
it was true -- but the reduction in the size of her front teeth was more
noticeable than ever; Harry couldn't understand how he hadn't spotted it
before."
(...)
"Parvati was gazing at Hermione in unflattering disbelief. She wasn't the
only one either; when the doors to the Great Hall opened, Krum's fan club
from the library stalked past, throwing Hermione looks of deepest loathing.
Pansy Parkinson gaped at her as she walked by with Malfoy,  and even he
didn't seem to be able to find an insult to throw at her. Ron, however,
walked right past Hermione without looking at her."

((Ooh, naughty Ron. I sense a Jerry Springer moment about to happen. Serious
question, though -- does Hermione's newfound appearance change our opinion
of her?))

The Great Hall has been fantastically decorated, but Harry doesn't really
notice this as he's trying not to look a fool by falling over. The Champions
(and partners) are up at the top table with the teachers, Bagman and Percy
Weasley (standing in for Barty Crouch).

Question: Percy Weasley tells us that "Mr Crouch isn't well, not well at
all." Does this point us to any later conclusions about Crouch?

Question: While being served at Top Table, Hermione isn't thinking about
SPEW. Do we reconsider our opinion of her and her commitment because of
this?

Hermione teaches Viktor how to say her name (Her-my-oh-knee), but he can
only say "Herm-own-ninny". ((Yes, that's how it's pronounced,
Her-MY-oh-knee. Not HERmee-own, Herme-OWN-ee or anything else!)) The
scrumptious food finished, the Weird Sisters (who we've already heard about
from the Wizarding Wireless Network in a previous book) set up and play.

Harry and Ron basically ignore Parvati and Padma (to shouts of joy from all
the Ha/He and He/Ro [and, for that matter, Ha/Ro] shippers), and Ron has
issues with the fact that Herm-own-ninny is "fraternizing with the enemy".
His hypocrisy is underlined when Hermione points out that he has a Krum
model on his bedside ((But how does Her-my-oh-knee know this? ::nudge nudge,
wink wink::)). Much bad blood is exchanged between Hermione and Ron, to
which Harry doesn't contribute much.

We also see Gred and Forge "accost"ing Ludo Bagman, to Percy's irritation.
Do we have any inkling of why they're accosting him -- i.e. do we connect
this to their bet at the World Cup?

Harry and Ron take a walk in the moonlight (to shouts of joy from H/R slash
fans...) and discover Snape and Karkaroff deep in...discussion. It sounds
Very Ominous Indeed, so ominous that Snape delights in un-bushing (to coin a
phrase) several pairs of students furthering their interpersonal relations.

They next hear Hagrid and Madame Maxime talking -- the former rather
amorously and, we assume, inebriatedly. He tells her he thinks she's a
half-giant, and she shrieked "through the peaceful night air like a
foghorn". ((Fleur and Roger Davies fall out of their rosebush at this
point)) Ron explains about the Wizarding World's anti-giant prejudice.

Upon returning, Parvati and Padma have got a crowd of Beauxbatons boys
around them, and Hermy-own is dancing with Vicky Krum. Angst ensues as Harry
spies Cho dancing with Cedric...

They leave, but Cedric catches Harry on his way up the staircase and
essentially tells him how to work the golden egg. ((We also hear about the
prefects' bathroom...)) He returns to the Gryffindor common room to find Ron
and Hermione having a major catfight -- Harry thinks Hermione was in the
right.

Okay, that's it. Read, digest, burp loudly. Any other suggestions for
alternative chapter titles?

--John

P.S. Character Summary of Minerva McGonagall to follow soon :)

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John Walton     john at walton.to

When I am an Evil Overlord...#109
I will see to it that plucky young lads/lasses in strange clothes and with
the accent of an outlander shall regularly climb some monument in the main
square of my capital and denounce me, claim to know the secret of my power,
rally the masses to rebellion, etc. That way, the citizens will be jaded in
case the real thing ever comes along.
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