The OOTP Gripe List, v. 5,432

[Hannah]

No: HPFGUIDX 126114


Lupinlore wrote:
<snip>
> The characters whom people object to are:
> 
> 1) Dumbledore.  Many people found him OOC in the last book. 
> Particularly they found his decisions and actions implausible and
> sometimes downright unbelievable in light of his previous actions 
and characterization.

Hannah: I've always found DD like this.  His actions in all five 
books don't make sense in the light of his reputation and JKR's 
apparent image of him as the personification of goodness.  In my 
opinion anyway.

>Lupinlore:
> 2) Harry.  <snip>

Hannah:  Apart from his anger, Harry seemed about the same as before 
in this fic.  He never was the sharpest kid around.

Lupinlore:
> 3) Ron.  His development seems contrived to some, and perhaps even
> offensive, since he was elevated to a position he had not earned at
> the expense of Harry, who had earned it.  In particular it seems
> forced and manipulative as it seems designed to fulfill a
> foreshadowing we had been assured was not a foreshadowing.  
<snip>
 
Hannah:  I don't think that Ron's position as prefect or as keeper 
are signs that he will achieve his eleven-year-old ambitions.  There 
are other people more likely to be made head boy, and I'd think 
Harry was a dead cert for Quidditch captain (and also a strong 
candidate for head boy, actually).  Why shouldn't Ron be given a bit 
of an existence of his own?  He's a good Quidditch player from a 
Quidditch playing family, and had the advantage of a bit of 
favouritism to get him onto the team, and while I don't think he's 
an obvious choice for prefect, neither would I say Harry is.

Lupinlore:
> 4) Ginny.  Her shift in personality came out of left field, 
<snip>

Hannah:  I didn't see her personality as shifting that drastically.  
Even back in CoS Ron says that she 'never shuts up.'  The fact that 
she survived the trauma of her possession suggests a great strength 
of character.  And in GoF she was already developing into the more 
confident girl we see in OotP.

Lupinlore:
> 5.  Hermione.  She seemed shrill and unsympathetic to some people, 
and many object to the fact that she was always right.
<snip>

Hannah:  Again, Hermione was pretty much like she's always been, and 
I didn't think she was always right.

My problems with OotP lie more in the excessive length and the 
amount of padding, along with the frustrating way that it promised 
much and left us plotwise barely any further on from the end of 
GoF.  The characterisation was never a problem for me.  It's not her 
best book - I'd go as far as saying the weakest of the five - but it 
is still a good read.

Lupinlore wrote:
> I think that about sums it up.  Like I said, just trying to pull 
allthe topics together for convenience and further discussion, if 
anyone so desires.
 
Hannah:  It was a great idea for a discussion thread, Lupinlore :-)

Hannah