OOP from a second reading

[J]

No: HPFGUIDX 64787

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "banjo_ken" <banjoken at o...> 
wrote:
> I must say I'm enjoying the book even more on my second reading. I'm
> starting to think that this just may be my favorite of the series so far.
> 
> Anyway, there are a few things that I don't think have been discussed
> here yet, so I thought I'd point them out. Has anybody else realized
> that Professor Marchbanks (the O.W.L. examiner) is probably about 175
> years old? See this quote, from pg. 711 of the US edition:
> 
>      "I doubt it," shouted tiny Professor Marchbanks, "not if
> Dumbledore doesn't want to be found! I should know....Examined him
> personally in Transfiguration and Charms when he did N.E.W.T.s...Did
> things with a wand I'd never seen before..."
> 
> Considering that Dumbledore is about 155 years old when this takes
> place, and he probably took his N.E.W.T.s when he was 18 or so. I
> don't think this is just a simple mistake, and Marchbanks really is
> supposed to be that old. I would not be at all surprised to see him
> again doing something important in the future.
> 
> Aside from that I've been thinking a lot about Sirius. I know a lot of
> you don't want to hear this, but I'm going to argue from a slightly
> different angle. I think that considering who/what they were up
> against, the order was very lucky to have only lost one member in that
> battle. Given the kind of powerful wizards they were fighting, it's
> pretty amazing that Sirius was the only one who didn't survive,
> especially when you consider that the order managed to tie up several
> important death eaters by the end. As much as it hurts to say this,
> the order came away with a very important victory, despite their great
> loss. 
> 
> I'm still very sad to see Sirius go, but I really think he almost
> would have preferred it this way. He had been locked up in his old
> house with Kreacher and that portrait of his mother for almost a year.
> He was going mad knowing that because he was still a fugitive from the
> MoM, he had to keep himself inside. This is just a guess, but I think
> it probably occurred to him when he finally went out to help save
> Harry that he might not be coming back. He was probably in some way
> satisfied that he gave his life to save his godson and be useful to
> the order in a way that he never could have been in Grimmauld place.
> 
> Ken


I agree.  I am also on my second reading and have been busy taking my own 
notes and such.  I was absolutely livid with JKR when first reading the book.  
I hated the awkwardness I felt on behalf of Harry during much of the book, and 
the incredible injustices he suffered.  I was also shrieking with indignation at 
what Dumbledore had done and the lack of ceremory for Sirius' death. 
 
But now I have ranted, I have discussed, I have thought about it, and in 
rereading it I am beginging to understand and really appreciate the book as 
being yet another masterpiece of her work.  

I think that my reaction to the book nearly completely matches that of Harry's 
moods.  I understand that I hated the irrationalness Harry suffered and the 
utter fristration and anger at the world he felt, because I was feeling it too on 
his behalf and also because I remember now how it was for me when I was 
near that age and "irrational" is an understatement.  My anger at JKR at the 
end of the book for the apprently senseless killing of Sirius and the patriarchal 
sheltering/ostracising of Harry also reflects the same feelings that Harry would 
have felt.  

I can now see that the senselessness of Sirius' death *IS* the point.  Dying for 
a cause, as a matyr or a hero is how anyone would like to go, but this is the 
begining of war and as the Centaurs said in SS, the innocent are always the 
first to go.  I think JKR's point is that death IS senseless and that the senseless 
death is the most difficult to accept.  

Underdeveloped plot lines and unanswered questiosn do still bug me as the 
reader, but after reminding myself that the books are told from somewhere 
right behind Harry's shoulder (not quite his narrative but his perspective) I 
realized that Harry would never have had time to realize and process have 
the crap that was thrown at him what with his own emotianl and hormonal 
growth and increasing pressures and burdens and shrinking outlets for this 
frustration and support.  

After reading the book once, I hated it and it was in the bottom 3 of favorite 
books.  Now, after discussions, time, a second read, and some yaga 
breathing, I think it is neck and neck with GoF for her best book, IMO.

Adolescence is a difficult time, as most of can attest.  The fact that JKR made 
my own emtions follow so closely the turbulant rollercoaster of those of a 15 
year old destiny-bound orphan hero is a credit to her prowess as an author.  

Five Stars and Nargel.

Arya