Feelings on OoP - Neville, Ginny, and a little Harry

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 80093

Sorry, I cut out all of the original post. I'm just going to make some
general comments on certain things that have been addressed by all the
posters in this thread.


General-
I found Order of the Phoenix a thoroughly enjoyable book, but I
wouldn't rate it the best in the series. The plot was a little flat in
places but overal I was satisfied. 

When many writers write, they have specific events or scenes in mind,
and the bulk of the book is writing the lead in and follow up to these
key scenes. Across a broader arc, a lot of writing is the fill to tie
the critical scenes together. I think JKR had a lot of key points, a
lot of crucial information, and a lot of critical scenes that had to
appear in this book to set up the next two, and I have no doubt that
it was a struggle to write a coherent story that tied it all together. 

In another post, I described the series like this... PS/SS is the
intro, CoS which is not the best story, is the set up for the next two
book which are really good. Now again we have OoP which is the setup
for the next two books which we reasonably assume will also be really
good. 

We have entered a whole new phase in the story. This latest book,
story wise, was a new beginning, and the framework and the context of
that new beginning needed to be established. I think that is why this
book comes of a little weak, just as many people think CoS came off a
little weak.

Don't get me wrong, none of them were bad; I loved them all, but
didn't find CoS that captivating of a story. So, in a sense, while I
on one hand liked the latest book, I can recognise it's weakenes, but
I can also logically and reasonably justify those weakenes.

As a side note, I don't deny anyone their opinion. This isn't my
attempt to tell you that they are wrong. I'm simply offering an
alternative perspective.


Neville-
Big Neville fan here... Several people have said they were shocked by
the change in Neville, but those of us who are big Neville fans and
who have been analysising his position in the storyline, have been
consistently predicting the change we saw in Neville since he was
first introduced. 

We have always known that the image of Neville that the stories
projected to us on a superficial level, was not the Neville we saw
hinted at in the deeper subtext. Neville fights with Crabbe and Goyle,
Neville challenges the Trio, Neville did exceptionally well in DADA
when Lupin was the teacher, Neville has the courage to ask two girls
to the Yule Ball, etc.... 

Neville is a bit of a loner; he fights his own battles on his own
terms. We never hear him whining, complaining, or crying to his
friends about how mean Snape is to him. He rarely speaks about his
insecurities regarding his studies in general. He never seeks sympathy
from people by telling them about his parents. 

In a sense, Snape is Neville's personal Umbridge. Just like Harry and
Umbrige, Neville isn't going to give Snape the satisfaction of know
that Snape is getting to him. He's not going to ask for help. He's not
going to complain to the administration about treatment that would get
most teachers fired, and in some places, come close to getting the
teacher into legal trouble. This is personal. This is between himself
and Snape, and he is never going to give Snape the satisfaction of
knowing that Snape beat him. Neville bravely faces Snape day after
day, something that I think is pretty brave considering how miserable
it is for him.

I have always known, and said it many times, that Neville was a great
and powerful wizard, and the current book just proved me right. It
didn't surprise me because I've been expecting it. While Neville is a
great and heroic wizard; sadly, I think in the end, he will be a
tradically heroic wizard. 

By the way, he still did his share of stubbling and bumbling in the
current book, but at the same time, we were allowed to see what his
true potential was.


Ginny-
We thought we knew Ginny's personality, but how much of Ginny have we
really seen in any of the books. She's hardly been in more than a
short scene or two in each book, and more often than not, she is not
talking, she is being talked about; either by people or in narrative. 

In CoS, she was only 11 years old, we can hardly take what we saw
their as a reflection of her teenage personality. And the
circumstances of that story put a strong emotional coloring on her
personality, so we can't really use that as a true model. 

Up until GoF, we really don't seen Ginny at all. In GoF, she seems
confident. She speaks openly around Harry. She and Hermione obviously
have their share of long conversations. But even with these hints of
her personality, she really doesn't appear on the page that much. 

In GoF, she is just entering puberty; age 13. She is already
interested in going to the Yule Ball. So we are seeing the first signs
of the real Ginny, but only the smallest sign because she is never on
the page. Just like all the other underclassmen, we see very little of
her because we see through Harry's eyes.

In the latest book, now age 14, I think we see a very reasonable
reflection of a likely personality for Ginny. It doesn't surprise me
at all that she takes after Fred and George. They are just about the
right age to influence her. Ron is too close to her in age, Percy is a
little too Percy, and Bill and Charlie are older and off on their own,
so their influence is limited. Although, she seem to really idolize Bill.

Also, being the youngest girl in a family of many older brothers, it
seems very reasonable that she would be comfortable and confident
around boys. She's lived with a pack of them her whole life; she know
how they think, and she know how to handle them. That also seems like
an environment where she would grow up being very strong willed and
independant in order to hold her own against a house full of boys.

Personally, Ginny as a younger female Fred and George struck me as the
perfect personality for Ginny. I loved it.

As a side note, I think Ron and Percy are a lot closer in personality
that either one of them would ever admit. They are both pigheaded and
stubborn as mules.


Harry-
I really don't see how people can NOT see or understand Harry's anger
in this latest book. It all seems perfectly logical to me. Also, I
think being 15 is only a small part of the anger we see.

Harry as been through hell. He's been through a massively tramatic and
emotional experience. He witnessed a classmate being killed, and came
very close to being killed himself, not to mention experiencing a few
well placed Cruciatus Curses. Then he has one short talk with
Dumbledore, and he is abandon at Privet Drive. Abondon in a place
where he it totally lacking in any kind of support. Then to top it
off, after the hell he went through, after being so intimately
involved in Voldemort's return that his own blood which was forcibly
taken from him and his own life was nearly taken, Harry is left
completely out of the aftermath. If I had been that intimately and
tramatically involved, I would expect to be kept abreast of what the
hell is going on. Then not only is he not kept up to date, but it is
very obvious from the people who he is in contact with that they are
actively and intentionally keeping information from him.

Damn, the boy is only human. Who wouldn't be furious after all that?
Personally, I can't imagine Harry acting any other way. He left
compeltely alone and unsupported, and the people he is counting on are
actively working against him, compounded by being trapped with his
hopelessly clueless and irrational relatives. Then at ever step of the
way through out the whole school year, circumstances and people are
conspiring against him, making his already miserable life a living
hell. I mean, it makes my blood boil just thinking about it.

You say, how could he act that way, and I say, how could he possibly not?

Just a few thougths.

bboy_mn