[HPforGrownups] Re: "A Little Romance"

[Laura Ingalls Huntley]

No: HPFGUIDX 127821

Laura (me):
>> And I'm rather curious about instances of Harry making jokes.  I'm not
>> saying he *doesn't*, mind you, it's just that I don't remember him
>> doing so.  I guess he makes rather wry comments from time to time, but
>> I can't think of anything that would illicit laughter from the average
>> companion (i.e. not Luna ^_^).
>>
>> If anyone tells jokes that Hermione doesn't approve of, it's Ron.  And
>> yet, R/Hers cite her annoyance as veiled attraction.  *winsome smile*
>> Eh, to each his own.


Richard Jones:
> That article at the HP Lexicon that I mentioned -- "D'You
> Really Think They're Suited?" -- quotes a couple of pages worth of
> jokes that Harry makes in all the books to try to break the tension
> or to lighten his dark mood. Ron and Ginny and everyone else except
> Hermione laughs at his jokes.

That is NOT TRUE, although it's hardly your fault.  Read on.

The article (http://www.hp-lexicon.org/essays/essay-hh-suited.html) is 
extremely misleading in its use of quotes.  They're taken out of 
context to the point that I think the author must have intentionally 
trying to pull a fast one.  The part that you're citing, for example, 
has a bunch of bulleted quotes under the *bold* heading **Hermione 
Doesn't Laugh at Harry's Jokes**.  It is understandable, then, that you 
-- as a reader -- would assume that the quotes listed were instances of 
Harry doing or saying something that caused other people to laugh (and 
not Hermione).  That assumption, however, is Dead Wrong, despite the 
fact that all of the quotes are snipped so as to give any clue to the 
actual events surrounding them.

  Of the **17** scenes quoted, only five have *anything* at all to do 
with Harry having said/done something, and of those five, only two 
could be viewed as Harry being intentionally humorous in any way.  
Also, these two jokes are more of the "wry comments" that I mentioned 
before, rather than the laugh-out-loud type.  The five Harry-related 
quotes are listed belong with my commentary.  All of the other quotes 
are characters *other than Harry and Hermione* laughing at various 
random things (for example: Sirius, Tonks, Bill and Charley, the 
Twins).

***
"I didn't mean to," said Harry, while Ron roared with laughter. "I just 
-- lost control."
"It's not funny, Ron," said Hermione sharply. "Honestly, I'm amazed 
Harry wasn't expelled." (PA47/56)
***
This is in reference to blowing up Aunt Marge.  Harry's tone in this 
scene is anything but humorous, and he is not making a joke.  Ron 
laughs because he finds the idea of blowing up someone's aunt funny, 
and while Hermione wonders why Harry wasn't expelled, it's *Harry* who 
points out that he was lucky he wasn't *arrested*.  I'll also point out 
that Ron is laughing *at* Harry (although not meanly at all -- Ron 
tends to see the humor in nearly any situation, so naturally he 
laughs/jokes more than Harry and Hermione, often quite insensitively, 
but hardly ever viciously).

***
"Are you planning to eat or sleep at all this year, Hermione?" asked 
Harry, while Ron sniggered. Hermione ignored them. (PA47/57)
***
Harry says this while Hermione is explaining that she is taking *every* 
course offered to third years.  I suppose I would call this a joke, or 
a least a wry, amusing comment, but I'd hardly expect Hermione to laugh 
at it, as it's sort of at her expense (please don't make me go through 
the books and find all the time Ron makes jokes at Hermione's expense 
-- he does so much more pointedly than Harry not four lines after 
Harry's comment).

***
"Maybe he'll believe I'm not enjoying myself once I've got my neck 
broken or -"
"That's not funny," said Hermione quietly. "That's not funny at all." 
She looked extremely anxious. (GF255/290)
***
This quote comes from the famous Rift in GoF.  Harry is not joking; he 
is angry with Ron -- ranting, even -- talking loudly enough to spook a 
pack of owls.  Hermione's "that's not funny" breaks Harry out of his 
tirade and is NOT an admonishment against Harry for using levity (which 
he is in no way doing), but rather for talking about having his neck 
broken like it would show Ron good.  Obviously, she's worried that he 
actually *will* have his neck broken.  Laughter of any kind would have 
been an *incredibly* inappropriate response to Harry's mood in this 
scene.

***
'Wow, I wonder what it'd be like to have a difficult life?' said Harry 
sarcastically. Ron laughed, but Hermione frowned. (OP235/261)
***
Harry says this in response to Hermione warning him to ignore Malfoy, 
because (as a prefect) Malfoy could make Harry's life "really 
difficult."  This is the other quote which I feel could fairly be 
called a joke.  *shrugs* Not much to say here.  I do think it's an 
interesting, darkly humorous self-commentary on Harry's part, and it's 
a gem to readers, but I understand why Hermione didn't find it 
particularly funny (I think she, as opposed to Ron, has a very firm 
grasp on how much *truth* there is to it).

***
'I just wish the door would open, I'm sick of standing staring at it -'
"That's not funny,' said Hermione sharply. (OP489/554)
***
Again, Harry is not joking at all.  He is (rather exasperatedly) 
talking about his dreams, which he is (under Dumbledore's orders) 
supposed to be suppressing, as they are dangerous.  Again, Hermione 
uses "that's not funny" in the sense of "don't talk like that".

I haven't had a chance to go over the rest of the essay quite as 
thoroughly as this part, but if it's at all as misleading -- no wonder 
you found the anti-H/Hr case more convincing than the H/Hr case -- 
they've been cheating! ^_~

Laura