Accio Firebolt: was: hello everyone

[annemehr]

No: HPFGUIDX 60696

Hello, Joanna!

You wrote:
<snip>
>The triwizard tornament is 
fantastic, I love it when Harry 
> shouts "ACCIO FIREBOLT" So that he could summon his broom to try and 
get the 
> egg from the horntail. That part of the book proved how powerful 
Harry is in my 
> opinion, because the Firebolt was all the way back in the school and 
his 
> Summoning spell was that strong, that the broom heard him....so to 
> speak...what do you guys think?
> 

Annemehr:
Oh, how I agree with you!  That seemingly insignificant detail 
(summoning the broom, as opposed to actually capturing the Golden 
Egg from under a *dragon*), has always stood out in my mind so much 
that I always paused there when I was reading that passage.

I think you are right, it does go to illustrate Harry's power.  
Partly, I think it works because "Firebolt" is *such* a good name for 
the most powerful broom ever made, so "Accio Firebolt" really sounds 
like something.  Then, there is the fact that Harry is quite up to 
taking full advantage of this broom; a fact that has been drilled into 
us by the description of Krum's flying in the QWC -- I for one 
certainly got the idea that if Krum is a better seeker than Harry, it 
is only because of his extra years of experience, not any more natural 
talent. It's as if this broom is Harry's *by right* because he can fly 
it as it should be flown.  And yes, the way Harry summoned it from far 
off, and he waited, and it came, and stopped just at the perfect 
height for him to mount it...

I never could put this into words before in my own mind until you 
posted, but it always was the hight point of the first task to me, and 
I could never figure out why.  Can anyone make this symbolise a theme 
of the series?  Once Harry got what he needed (his Firebolt), anything 
else, including facing a dragon was easy.  I don't know, I think maybe 
this scene stands perfectly well on its own...

> ..I am looking forward to Saturday...I'm getting the book at 
midnight in 
> Picadilly....I'm so excited.....Anyway, I am happy I have finally 
found an 
> adult Harry Potter group...I hope to join in many great discussion 
about the 
> Harry Potter novels.
> 
> 
> ml
> 
> 
> joanna
> x

I'm getting mine (well, *ours*) at midnight just north of Pittsburgh, 
but will have to share it with my oldest daughter at first, and will 
want to read it twice before coming back here, so hope I'm not gone 
too long!

Annemehr
feeling a strange sense of unreality when contemplating the fact I'll 
actually be *holding* OoP in less than four days!