OoP: Focus on the Trio + Ginny + Neville (Spoilers)

[Margaret Thomas]

No: HPFGUIDX 61584


Note -- Am bringing my comments / thread from the OT
group back to where it belongs!  On the main board! 
Happy re-reading everyone :D


--- Margaret Thomas <magsthomas at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2003 10:55:27 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Margaret Thomas <magsthomas at yahoo.com>
> Subject: OoP: Focus on the Trio + Ginny + Neville
> (Spoilers)
> To: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com
> 
> 
> Having finished myself, and now reading what other
> people have to say about OoP, would like to turn
> focus
> away from the major death for a minute and look
> closer
> at happened with the kids...Once the regular HPFGU
> list reopens, continuation of this discussion
> belongs
> over there.
> 
> 
> > Message: 14
> >    Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2003 05:01:27 -0000
> >    From: "mochajava13" <mochajava13 at yahoo.com>
> > Subject: Re: OoP: My review (SPOILERS!)
> > 
> > 
> > > I
> > > 
> > > H
> > > O
> > > P
> > > E
> > > 
> > > Y
> > > O
> > > U
> > > 
> > > H
> > > A
> > > V
> > > E
> > > 
> > > F
> > > I
> > > N
> > > I
> > > S
> > > H
> > > E
> > > D
> > > 
> > > O
> > > R
> > > 
> > > Y
> > > O
> > > U
> > > '
> > > L
> > > L
> > > 
> > > B
> > > E
> > > 
> > > S
> > > O
> > > R
> > > R
> > > Y
> 
> [SNIP]
> 
> > > Ron and Hermione, Prefects? Rock! Well, at least
> > > Dumbledore explained why he didn't make Harry
> > one..and
> > > he was d*mn right. 
> > Hmm, I thought it a little bit of a stretch that
> Ron
> > was made a 
> > prefect and not another Griffindor boy. 
> 
> > Dumbledore
> > was right for 
> > not making Harry one.  And most of the students
> > thought he was 
> > unhinged for more than half the year, how
> effective
> > could he have 
> > been?
> 
> 
> Is it just me, or do Ron & Ginny both seem to get
> the
> shaft in discussion on this list in terms of what
> they're "capable of"?  Not only on this list, but
> from
> Harry (Hermione, too, in Ron's case) in some
> respects...?  Will tackle Ron first...
> 
> WOW! Ron made a Prefect -- was very excited for him
> and I thought his aversion to disciplining his elder
> twin brothers was handled very well.  I *fully*
> think
> Ron had / has it in him for this responsibility --
> the
> only reason I think it would've been interesting for
> a
> *different* Gryffindor boy to be made Prefect
> (agreed
> on Dean as the next likely candidate) is that one of
> the roles would've existed outside the Trio.
> 
> I also think it was right for Harry to have a quick
> twinge of jealousy / indigation that Ron was made
> prefect and he wasn't -- even to the point of
> thinking
> "I'm more suited to it...it should be me."  Harry's
> arrogance as a character flaw plays a deep deep role
> in OOP (a discussion that will crop up again, I'm
> sure).  I was relieved to see Harry then give Ron a
> great deal of support during the Quidditch Team
> trials
> and ongoing support as Ron struggled with his Keeper
> abilities.
> 
> But to see Hermione *assume* that the badge is
> Harry's
> -- and then stumble when she learns it's Ron's...
> Ouch.  Just plain Ouch.  Let's give Ron some credit,
> here!  Harry may be the Boy-Who-Lived, but he's
> continually more reckless than Ron ever is -- I
> think
> *Ron* always was the better Prefect candidate,
> regardless of how much weight Dumbledore thinks is
> on
> Harry's shoulders.  
> 
> 
> Yes, going into OoP, the public at large think
> Harry's
> unhinged.  That aside, Harry already exudes adequate
> influence on his fellow Gryffindors (for better or
> worse) just by being him.  How many fellow students
> (in and out of Gryffindor) would've become fairly
> stroppy / annoyed after taking Prefect orders from
> the
> Boy-Who-Lived (talk about other students perceiving
> "Big Head Boy" syndrome)?  Ron may have some
> internal
> demons he's fighting (youngest Weasley brother and
> Harry's Sidekick, for example) but he's a more
> stable
> Hogwarts student overall and I think fellow students
> (peers & older Gryffindors especially) would be more
> comfortable w/ Ron in the role.
> 
> RON & QUIDDITCH
> 
> After that early "Head Boy / Team Captain" vision in
> the Mirror of Erised, it's healthy (from a character
> development stance) that Ron has struggled in taking
> his place on the Quidditch team.  What a lot of
> pressure to have *2* older brothers watching
> you...and
> that Slytherin chant...Again, ouch, what a lot of
> pressure to overcome.
> 
> What I would've given to be on the Quidditch Pitch
> while Ron did his thing in the final match instead
> of
> following Hermione / Harry into the Forbidden
> Forest! 
> Am glad we got to hear Ron relive it and also
> experience his euphoria.  Here again, though, I was
> a
> bit disturbed at Harry / Hermione thinking that Ron
> would continue to stumble, that Angelina might kick
> him off the team.  GO ANGELINA for seeing something
> in
> Ron, for evaluating him not only on skill but on his
> ability to add to the team overall, and for
> continuing
> to work with him.  (And how cool was it that, even
> though brief, Angelina succeeded Wood as Captain?)
> 
> 
> GINNY
> 
> First, Ginny & Quidditch.  I'm surprised no one's
> said
> anything about Ginny taking on the Seeker role after
> Harry was banned.  GO GINNY!  And to have her pretty
> matter-of-factly say she's interested in pursuing
> Chaser next year, since she likes that better
> anyway. 
> Can we say versatility?  Can we say that big
> brothers
> -- and many other characters -- have underestimated
> what Ginny's capable of doing / thinking /
> contributing?
> 
> All along, I've thought some listers have been
> pretty
> hard on Ginny (and this is outside the SHIP
> universe).
>  So she's younger...so she's got a crush...so she's
> *growing up* and going through awkward phases --
> don't
> we all?!!  Just because she's had a bad case of Hero
> Worship doesn't mean she won't snap out of it and
> move
> on.  And boy, did she ever move on!  Acted pretty
> d*mn
> casual about the boyfriend overall, which really
> emphasized that her life has continued outside
> Harry's
> radar.
> 
> LOVED the fact that she's had a dating relationship
> that Ron and Harry both were oblivious to.  LOVED
> that
> it took Harry a while to think actively about the
> fact
> that Ginny was no longer nervous around him -- and
> that he actually did think about it (some boys,
> especially after being the target of the Hero
> Worship,
> would remain oblivious).  LOVED that people -- Harry
> included -- were surprised when Angelina named Ginny
> the replacement Seeker (yay! Harry's starring role
> on
> the team gets taken by GINNY :D).  
> 
> LOVED that Ginny got very ticked off at Harry being
> so
> self-involved that he failed to remember that he
> could've talked to her about being possessed by
> Voldemort.  LOVED that she (and Neville) kicked butt
> in their D.A. practices -- and that Ginny switched
> the
> meaning of D.A. on Cho.  LOVED that she pointed out,
> when Harry tried to say she was too young to go find
> Sirius, that she was already 3 years older than he
> was
> when he first confronted Voldemort.  
> 
> GO GINNY!  You're a *WEASLEY* in the true tradition
> of
> Bill, Charlie, the Twins *and* Ron (think Wizards
> Chess) -- though that Percy needs a Come-to-Merlin
> experince :p  (Oh, and I also loved that Ginny used
> to
> swipe her brothers' Quidditch brooms when they
> weren't
> looking :D)
> 
> I also was pleased to see that, when he wasn't being
> so self-centered, Harry *did* talk with Ginny as a
> peer.
> 
> Now there's that little twist JKR slipped in at the
> end, where Cho is now dating Ginny's *ex*-boyfriend.
> 
> Ginny didn't seem too broken up over it -- seemed
> rather disgusted that her ex had been so childish
> about the Gryffindor win over Ravenclaw (and as
> Seeker, she would've played a role in the final
> score).
> 
> 
> > Seventh, I remember Professor Dumbledore saying in
> > CoS that stronger 
> > wizards/witches than Ginny had been fooled by Lord
> > V.....and so it 
> > goes that Harry, who is not invulnerable or
> > omnisicient, gets fooled 
> > also...JKR's character development is really
> > wonderful....
> 
> 
> This hadn't occurred to me during my first read, but
> bravo for pointing it out! :)
> 
> 
> [SNIP]
> 
> > Sixth, GO NEVILLE GO! I'm REALLY happy to see
> > Neville begin to come 
> > into his own, to learn the DADA, to fight, what a
> > great kid he's 
> > turning into....the scene in the hospital was very
> > compelling...
> > 
> 
> Yes, Neville (and Molly's Boggart experience) is
> really what tugged at my heartstrings the most. 
> Like
> Ron, he's come into his own.  When he yelled at
> Bellatrix Lestrange, saying he *knew* the role she'd
> played in his parents' injuries -- lots of
> repression
> that finally got released (to some degree -- I think
> he let a lot loose in his determination during his
> determination in D.A. practice).  And that Droobles
> Best Blowing Gum wrapper *sniff* ;(
> 
> Could go into a lot more re: Neville, but my husband
> is saying, "let's go already!" :} :)  One last
> comment
> about the Trio -- loved Hermione's "Let's Trick
> Umbridge" ruse and the looks of shock she received
> from her compadres before they realized what she was
> up to! :D  Go Hermione! :)
> 
> Ok, done, but I hope this will open more discussion
> on
> the kids :)
> 
> - Mags
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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