Chapter 37 Summary

[Ebony AKA AngieJ]

No: HPFGUIDX 16146

Outta my Monday moanin' mind--hasty thoughts from a 
classroom somewhere in the U.S.A....

Great summary, Pippin!

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., foxmoth at q... wrote:
> Chapter 37 Summary
>
> QUESTIONS:
> Voldemort's return is the scoop of the century. Is Hermione 
naive to think Rita Skeeter will keep her end of the bargain and 
not publish for an entire year? Hermione is now a kidnapper. 
Isn't that worse than anything Rita has done?
> 

Hmm.  

Rita Skeeter is certainly nasty, but when I learned that she was 
supposed to be the "evil female character", I was disappointed.  
She is many things--a self-serving opportunist is the first thing 
that comes to mind--but she is not 100% evil yet.  I actually found 
her articles amusing, although I appreciated the characters' 
consternation over them as well.

I'm not sure how I feel about Hermione's kidnapping of the bug 
myself.  I do believe that it will backfire.  We haven't heard the last 
from Rita Skeeter.

I'm now also wondering if we will ever see the evil Weasley 
cousin.  Just because JKR said she didn't fit into this book 
doesn't mean she won't pop up later on.

> Draco and his group don't even have their wands out when 
they are surrounded and attacked. Are we  to approve of Fred 
and George attacking from behind? Was the reaction of Harry 
and his friends justified? Will they be receiving owls from the 
Improper Use of Magic Office? Or will they be fined by the 
Department of Magical Transportation for cursing while on a 
public conveyance? :)
> 

Take a deep breath and repeat after me:  GRYFFINDORS CAN 
DO NO WRONG.  <vbg>

All joking aside, I would have been more angry if there had not 
been some sort of physical retaliation at Draco's words.  Heidi 
does a great job explaning the method behind Draco's 
"madness" in her fanfiction SoC, but just thinking of pure canon, I 
always thought his remarks on the train scene were among his 
dumbest.  No wit there at all.

"Mudbloods" and "Muggle-lovers" seem to pack the same nasty 
emotional punch that the "word that starts with n and rhymes 
with figure" carries in the United States.  (Which makes me 
wonder if underprivileged Muggle-borns call themselves 
Mudbloods as an insidious form of self-hatred.)

Much as the thought of canon Draco's possible redemption 
makes me grin, I do think that the closest he'll realistically get to 
the team I'm rooting for is in a Snape-like capacity... resenting it.

> Emphasis is laid on Dumbledore's fallibility in this chapter. He 
misses the renegade Slytherins because he has "no magical 
eye", underlining his failure to spot the false Moody. Ron speaks 
"darkly" of  Dumbledore's unknown reasons for keeping Harry at 
the Dursleys. Harry wonders about Dumbledore's confidence in 
Snape. Is the stage being set for a falling out between Harry and 
Dumbledore, or between Harry and Hagrid, whose confidence in 
Dumbledore is unwavering?

Could be both.

Several things could be causing Dumbledore to miss the mark:
1)  First of all, the man is 150 years old.  Cut him some slack, 
please... he's doing quite well for his age. <g>
2)  One wonders if Voldemort or any of his Death Eaters are 
doing something (spell from afar (but how?), lacing his drinks 
via Crouch-as-Moody, etc.) to weaken Dumbledore.
3)  Perhaps Dumbledore's wisdom and magical ability is derived 
from a Source (yes, been reading too much DD/DS) and the 
Source is weakening/waning.
4)  Maybe it has something to do with Dumbledore's sock 
fetish... could he have Elvish blood?  We know about 
house-elves... but they can't be the only elves in this particular 
world, can they?  (Not sure if I believe this theory.)
5)  Or perhaps Voldemort *is* slowly gaining control of 
Dumbledore, or Dumbledore's integrity is questionable.  (I DO 
NOT believe this... Dumbledore is the guide-figure in this story... 
his very role prohibits him from being on the wrong side.)

Harry's never been one to blindly follow authority.  Chances are 
very good that he will have a strong disagreement with Hagrid, 
Dumbledore, or both.

Again, great stuff, Pippin!

A couple of questions before I get back to work:
1)  What happened to Ron Week?  I'm really disappointed that 
we didn't have a chance to discuss that character more.  (And 
surprised that his devoted fans didn't moan about his lack of 
coverage compared to Hermione's.)  Could we push back Harry 
Week a bit so that Ron can get the attention he ::cough!:: 
deserves?  

2) Speaking of Harry week, won't there be a lot of people out of 
town due to the Easter break?  

--Ebony AKA AngieJ