Chapter 10 Summary: Mayhem at the Ministry

[Aberforth's Goat]

No: HPFGUIDX 1319

INTRODUCTORY NOTES
(1) Apologies in advance: my English spell-checker's on the blink!  My
spelling's always been creative, so brace yourself.
(2) For Tomorrow: Character Sketch of Resident Non-Corporeal Persons,
Excepting Pictures, Intelligent Animals, and Semi-animate Suites of Armor.
(A.k.a., "Ghosts & Peeves")

* * * * * * * * * *

PLACE IN THE PLOT
This chapter closes the events of the Quidditch World Cup (QWC) Final and
gets the plot moving back toward Hogwarts.  It also introduces us to four
realities that will play important roles in the rest of the book: Rita's
journalism, the twins' secret, Ron's frustration, and expantions in the
social life of Hogwarts 4th years.

OUTLINE
The chapter covers the final week of the Hogwarts summer holidays, spent at
the Burrow.

We begin with the trip home from the QWC, in a scene of general panic.  Back
at the Burrow, we find that Mrs. Weasley has read a sensationalized account
of the incidents at the QWC and is in an agony of fear (for everyone) and
conscience pangs (for brow beating Fred and George before they left).  Mr.
Weasley breaks off his holiday to help the MOM work through the aftermath of
Rita's article; Percy follows suite.  Meanwhile, Harry tells Ron and
Hermione about his forehead and dream. They are worried, and wonder why they
haven't received any news from Sirius.

Shfting to the final days of the summer holidays, JKR treats us to a glimpse
of home life at the Burrow.  Percy is exceeding even his normal pomposity
quotient.  The twins, caught at some mysterious work presumably connected to
the Weasleys'Wizard Weases, use Mrs. Weasley's lingering bad conscience to
good effect.  (Actually, the twins have realized that Bagmann has given them
fake gold and are probably writing a first letter of protest.)  At the end
of the chapter, Mrs. Weasley brings Ron and Harry dress robes, which they
will need for the first time this year.  Ron is dismayed at Mrs. Weasley's
secondhand purchase, threatens to go "starkers", and complains bitterly
about being poor.

COMMENTS & QUESTIONS
In this chapter, JKR snaps a second chance to dispell fans' rumours that
Harry is stingy: facing Ron's outburst, she writes, "Harry looked away. He
would willingly have split all the money in his Gringotts with the Weasleys,
but he knew they would never take it."  Some people have insinuated that
she's laying it on a little thick. I would point out that this statement
gives a background to his decision to give his thousand galleons to the
twins at the end of the story.

About Rita Skeeter: (1) You'd have to be nuts to say JKR's own interactions
with the press didn't flesh her out a little.  Even IF JKR has stated in
several interviews that Skeeter wasn't conceived as a vendetta.  (2) Also:
Rita is apparently a late addition to the book.  JKR had meant to employ a
cousin of the Weasley sibs as the book's bad gal and as a source of leaks
from Hogwarts.  For some reason, this lead to plot problems so serious that
JKR exised the cousin, invented Rita, and rewrote the book.  So the rewrite
probably starts here.

Molly (Mrs. Weasley) is quite a lady.  First she's harsh, then she's bear
hugging.  She and Aurthur don't seem passionate (notwithstanding their
erstwhile feats of procreation), but when Percy criticizes Dad, Molly goes
ballistic.  She can be very sensitive, but she tosses Ron an outfit
practically designed to torture fourteen-year-olds--without so much as a
warning.  Very interesting.  Don't wizards have anything for menopause?

Baaaaaa!

Aberforth's Goat (a.k.a. Mike Gray)
http://profiles.yahoo.com/aberforths_goat