Chapter 26 - The Second Task

[Marvin Long]

No: HPFGUIDX 9506

> Questions:
> 1. Did Harry show moral fiber or was be being a prat?

Moral fiber - he was willing to sacrifice his game for the sake of
saving lives.

Prat - he didn't understand the rules of the game well enough respond
correctly.  In this sense, I sympathize with Karakoff...if the
Tri-Wizard tournament is analogous to the Olympics, you don't give
competitors extra points for things they do as a result of not
understanding the rules of the game.  *Unless* the ambiguity of the
fates of the hostages is intentional, designed to elicit a response
that can be evaluated on a moral level.  But if that were the case,
Karakoff would be obliged to take Harry's good deed into account, and
clearly he doesn't feel so obliged.

On the other hand, the French competitor seems not to have felt secure
regarding her sister's safety, either--she wasn't just upset because
she did badly; she also feared for her sister's life.  If a contestant
whom we can presume to have been properly prepared was genuinely
uncertain about the terms of the competition, then I think we can tip
Harry's performance in favor of moral fiber.

> 2. Why didn't Harry look for any potions or plants to help with the
task? Does
> he automatically veer towards charms and transfigurations for any
particular
> reason, or is he genetically inclined to those areas, given that
they were his
> parents' specialties?

I think he's just ignorant, suffering the combined disadvantages of a)
being Muggle raised, and b) being too young and inexperienced for the
tournament.  Conversely, one might argue that if Moody/Crouch hadn't
given Longbottom that book about magical aquatic plants, it would been
in the library for Potter to find when he was frantically searching
for a solution.  (Do we really know if the book given to Longbottom
was actually Crouch's or if he took it from the library?)

I seem to recall that he *did* look at things that would qualify as
potions, but the thing about gillweed was that it *wasn't* a
potion--you just eat the stuff.  I suspect that a plant like this,
whose magical properties are useful without prior preparation, is
actually rather rare. The other competitors seem not to have known
about it, anyway.

I also recall that Crouch chastised Potter for not asking Longbottom
for help--but really, of all the people in Gryffindor, to whom would
Harry be less likely to turn to for help than the perpetually bumbling
Longbottom?

> 3. Does Percy's protectiveness of Ron in this chapter change how you
think of
> him?

Ah, Percy's a good chap.  Just trying to kiss butt and get ahead so he
won't have to live in insecurity and poverty.

> 4. What about Hermione & Krum's relationship?

Krum reminds me of the stereotype of the East European or Russian
athlete, selected at a very young age for his talent and then
sheparded/forced through a program of rigorous, endless training for
the greater glory of the school/state/whatever.  Despite his youth
he's likely been a celebrity for so long that he's sick of it and
desperate for some privacy and for a normal kind of friendship or
relationship.  I can understand that he would be attracted to
Hermione, a studious girl who doesn't chase after him for a change. 
Despite their age difference, she might strike him as more mature and
approchable than the sycophantic girls I presume he's more accustomed
to seeing...she's someone he can actually talk to!

As for Hermione, I think she's definitely curious and flattered by
Krum, but I think she's also pretty smart about "relationships" for
somebody her age.  The prospect of somebody like Krum might offer a
way out of the potential love triangle that might happen if she were
to "go" for either Ron or Harry; also, since she sees a lot of Ron and
Harry, they may strike her as, well, a little bit too immature.  Like
many girls her age, she may be much more intrigued by an older guy.

Intellectually, her curiosity regarding other cultures may make her
interested in Krum for reasons that are largely non-romantic.

> 5. If you were an H/H Shipper, would you consider the fact that
Harry went to
> rescue Hermione before Cho as evidence that he likes her? How would
you
> interprit this if you were an R/H shipper?

Since I'm neither, I think that Harry was concerned primarily for his
friends as friends, period, and probably considered it a rotten trick
for them to be turned into gamepieces in the Tournament.

Cheerio!

marvin