Some questions/comments about OOTP (LONG)

[meriaugust]

No: HPFGUIDX 102757

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Barbara D. Poland-Waters" <bd-
bear at v...> wrote:

> How does Dumbledore know exactly what is happening on Privet Drive 
and how
> is he able to send a Howler minutes after Vernon tells Harry to 
get out?

Meri: I think the popular theory is that DD's put-outer, which was 
used at Privet Drive at the begining of SS put up some sort of early 
warning system that let DD know exactly what was going on at the 
Dursleys. This could also explain why the MoM knew about Dobby's 
magic in CoS and about Aunt Marge being exploded in PoA. I can't 
remember though if the put-outer was used differently in OotP. 
 
> I can totally understand Harry's anger and hurt at being left out 
of things
> when he is the one that has had to endure the trauma and havoc 
wreaked by
> VM. Not only has he handled himself well enough to be told what is 
going on,
> but he has suffered so much and then feels like people have 
abandoned him
> just when he needs them most.

Meri: I absolutely agree. Harry is not only fifteen years old, but 
far more experienced in fighting off evil than Ron, Hermione or most 
of the Weasleys. He is not a child anymore and Harry is right in 
thinking that he was being treated like a "naughty boy" who did 
something wrong. IMHO, DD should have been way up front with Harry 
right after the GoF ressurection scene. Harry should have been told 
of the prophecy then, and everything should have been explained to 
him, no matter the risk that LV might find out. 
 
> Does Lucius Malfoy know Sirius is an Animagus? When the trio, et 
al, are
> riding the Hogwarts Express, and Draco says he'll be "dogging" 
Harry's
> footsteps, Harry and Hermione both wonder if Draco knows something 
about
> Sirius.
> 
> "What if Mr. Malfoy had noticed the black dog and told Draco, what 
if he had
> deduced that the Weasleys, Lupin, Tonks and Moody knew where 
Sirius was
> hiding?" OOTP p. 194

Meri: I guarantee Wormtail spilled the beans to LV about the 
animagus thing, and LV will also probably know about Lupin being a 
werewolf, though I don't know what implications that will have. 

snip 
> Back to Umbridge for a second. I'm sure I'm not the only one who 
sees the
> similarities between what she does and the McCarthy era hearings. 
She
> certainly resembles a dictator. It's ridiculous (in our society 
anyway, not
> necessarily in the WW) to have someone able to give themselves 
supreme
> power, without that being voted on or approved by the people she 
has power
> over! I was outraged reading those pages again!

Meri: I think that DU is one of JKR's more brilliant creations. She 
is one of the most henious, vile, nasty villians ever to appear in a 
kids book, right up there with the Trunchbull from "Matilda" 
and...well, I can't even think of any one else right now who quite 
so ESE. I shudder anytime I read about her sickening, simpering 
laughs, and I want to smack the book shut whenever I read "hem hem"! 
 
> I thought it was interesting that in spite of the continued 
division between
> the houses, three of them manage to come together in the form of 
DA. It
> would have been really cool if there had been one or two 
Slytherins who
> overheard Hermione and Ron recruiting for DA and wanted to join, 
but I think
> the way things are written, it couldn't have happened. Harry, his 
friends
> and even his house, I think, don't trust the Slytherins enough not 
to think
> that they would be spied on or "arming" a future DE.

Meri: Yes, where oh where are the good Slytherins? I think that this 
one dimensional portrayal of Slytherin house is one of the big 
faults with the books, hopefully to be rectified in the future. 
 
snip

> I found some parts of the book very funny (although I can't quote 
them at
> the moment). That was a nice contrast to all the stuff that 
Umbridge was
> putting them through. I think the funniest parts (although they 
were more
> touching than funny) were the parts with Cho (when she wasn't 
crying!).
> Harry discovering how it feels when a girl likes him, getting 
kissed,
> holding hands, etc. I think those were the best parts of his whole 
year.

Meri: What about F&G blowing off some really cool steam by pissing 
of DU, and blowing school? Or Ginny bringing chocolate in the 
library? Or anything Luna says? Or, perhaps my second favorite line 
in the book, after Harry's overtly frustrating Valentine's Day date 
with Cho: "Women!" Or Kreacher. When he wasn't being a psycho, he 
was actually doing a pretty hysterical Gollum impression. 

snip

> I vaguely recall some discussion about Neville showing some 
powerful
> abilities, but I didn't really see that. What I did see is proof 
that he is
> rightfully in Gryffindor! He showed such bravery to be by Harry's 
side the
> whole time! I was very impressed with that. 

Meri: Yes, Neville is the MAN! I loved how he stood up to Bellatrix 
LeStrange and how he got turtured and didn't crack. He did Ma and Pa 
Longbottom proud, but I also think that with a whole new wand we 
could see a whole new Neville. 

And what the heck was that
> brain-thing doing to Ron? Actually there was so much happening in 
those
> couple chapters, I might have to read them again to absorb it all.

Meri: Maybe this was wrong of me (or maybe in the tension I just 
needed something to laugh at) but I thought this part was 
hysterical. When Ron, all daffy, goes, "look, brains" or something 
and then accios them right at himself, I was laughing too hard to be 
scared for him. But then I really lost is when he said "No, I don't 
like this anymore" and was half laughing and half screaming RUN RON, 
because of course I was worried that he'd be the one to die. 

snip

> This was an excellent book. Very long but well worth it. I think 
the only
> parts that might have been a bit extraneous were the parts with 
Grawp. But
> who knows if he'll play a larger role in the next 2 books. Maybe 
JKR had to
> set him up a bit in this book for the future.

Meri: I guess part of the genius of JKR's storytelling is that we 
don't know what we'll need to know in the future, after all, Sirius 
was in book one and how many of us remembered that when we read PoA 
for the first time, be honest. 

> Ultimately I am just so sad for Harry. What a life he's had! How 
much
> sadness he has had to endure! What a year! It was probably the 
only year
> he's ever been at Hogwarts that he was miserable or unhappy most 
of the
> time. And yet, he still didn't want to go back to the Dursleys, so 
that
> tells you how awful it is there!

Meri: Yes, the poor kid. Here's hoping that despite what JKR says 
about the books getting darker that at least something good will 
happen to Harry soon. Maybe he'll be Quidditch captain. That'd be 
nice, eh? 

Meri - who just wants to take Harry home with her and make it all 
better...