CHAPDISC: HBP 18, Birthday Surprises

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 153658

> >>Debbie:
> CHAPTER DISCUSSIONS: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,      
> Chapter 18, Birthday Surprises
> <snip of summary>
> QUESTIONS
> 1.  What do you think of Golpalott's Third Law?  Was it included   
> as an example of magical principles?  Do you think it will be     
> applied in Book 7, either actually or metaphorically?  And is      
> there any significance to the name Golpalott, other than its      
> resemblance to gulp-a-lot?

Betsy Hp:
I think the Third Law makes a sort of sense, and I'm impressed that 
JKR came up with it (mainly because it took me a bit to figure out 
what the heck it meant <g>).  I'm sure there is some sort of 
thematic meaning to the Law that can be applied to the rest of the 
book, but I'm not sure that the Law itself will come up again.  And 
I tip a hat, again, to JKR's cleverness with names and titles. <g>

> 2.  Harry and Ron appear incapable of anything in Potions class    
> without Hermione's assistance.  They can't even manage to consult 
> Advanced Potion Making to figure out what to do (although Harry    
> does look in the margins for advice from the Prince).  How did    
> they do so well on their Potions OWLs?

Betsy Hp:
Really, really good question.  Obviously both Ron and Harry are able 
to do things without Hermione there to hold their hands.  They both 
manage to snag a few OWLs all by themselves.  But if they *know* 
she'll be there, they lean on her totally.  One gets the sense that 
neither boy has read the textbook as they should.  Ron depends on 
Hermione to interpert it for him, and Harry relies on the Prince.

> And is this joke getting old now that the Trio are 16?

Betsy HP:
Yes, I do think the joke is getting a bit old.  Especially when it 
comes to Ron.  Harry, thankfully, is starting to strike out on his 
own, without a constant dependence on an increasingly annoying 
Hermione, but Ron seems stuck in "needs help from Mother" mode.  
It'd be nice to see him succeeding at something, accomplishing 
something, all on his own.

I think Hermione's overwhelming need to *always* be the one called 
on in class, to *always* be seen as the smartest person in the room 
is getting old too.  It was charming and idiosyncratic for an eleven 
year old in a totally foreign environment.  It's a bit disturbing in 
a well established sixteen year old.  Speaks to Hermione having some 
issues, IMO.

> 3.  How do you think Lily acquired her reputation as having       
> an "intuitive grasp of potion-making"?

Betsy Hp:
That it's "intuitive" suggests to me that Lily benefited from 
Snape's research as Harry is benefitting now.  Not that Lily was 
*bad* at Potions, but I suspect that she and Snape were study 
partners and that he shared his findings with her.  I think that if 
Lily experimented with the textbook formulas as young!Snape did, 
than there'd be times that her potions would go completely wrong.  
And Slughorn would have described her poition ability differently.

It's going out on a limb, I'll admit, but I like it. <g>

> 4.  Why is it so important to Hermione to outshine Harry in       
> Potions?  Is it a need for recognition?  Fear of failure?  Concern 
> about Harry's reliance on an unknown author?  Annoyance that Harry 
> is taking credit for the Prince's work?  Something else?

Betsy Hp:
All of the above, I think.  Plus, Hermione defines herself within 
the Trio as the "smart one".  *She's* supposed to be the one Harry 
turns to for academic help, and now there's this usurper to her 
place.  The half-blood Prince is as bad as Lavender, and poor 
Hermione is losing her grip on her boys.  (I feel like I've read 
this theory somewhere rather than forming it myself, but I can't 
think of where.)

> And why do you think she put her own hair into her potion?

Betsy Hp:
Part of it could be an illustration of "putting your all" into an 
effort.  Part of it might be to demonstrate that Hermione is really 
losing it, she's literally "pulling out her hair" in her need to win.

> 5.  JKR frequently makes a point of describing the weather when    
> she shifts to a new scene or section of narrative; for example,    
> February brought "cold dreary wetness."  Do you think JKR is using 
> the weather to set a mood here or is it just transition?

Betsy Hp:
I've never thought about this before! It'd be really neat if the 
weather did comment on the action, but I'd have to re-read the 
series with that in mind to see if it actually does.  Huh...  Not a 
bad idea actually. <g>
 
> 6.  Wilkie Twycross tells the students that the restrictions on   
> Apparition have been lifted in the Great Hall for the duration of 
> the lesson.  If it's that simple, couldn't anyone undo the        
> restriction?  Why, then, is Draco spending an entire term trying   
> to create an entrance through the Vanishing Cabinets?  Shouldn't   
> the DEs have tried to undo the restriction long before now?

Betsy Hp:
Because it's one of those things that is simple *only* if you're the 
right person.  It's very simple for Dumbledore *as Headmaster of 
Hogwarts* to adjust the various shields and protections on Hogwarts, 
he does it all the time (generally in the "strengthening" 
direction).  But it's not so simple for an outsider to gain that 
kind of control over Hogwarts.  Just like it's very simple for a 
prison guard to freely leave a prison, but a bit more complicated 
for the prisoners.

I think that Voldemort, by applying for a teaching position at 
Hogwarts, was trying to do that very thing.  Once he'd gained the 
position of Headmaster (and I'd be surprised if he wasn't gunning 
for that position, probably literally) than controlling Hogwarts 
would have been simple.

> 7.  Is the watch Ron received for his coming of age birthday      
> significant in any way?

Betsy Hp:
Lord, I *hope* so!  I really want to see Ron come into his own and 
stop being merely the silly side-kick, good for a laugh but little 
else, by series end.

> 8.  JKR uses Ron to portray the effects of Love Potions in a very 
> humorous way (I thought Ron's deadpan comments about Romilda Vane 
> were the most laugh-out-loud funny in the entire book).  Does this 
> scene help to envision the effect of Merope's love potion on Tom   
> Riddle Sr.?  How do you think Riddle's family and friends reacted 
> to lovelorn Tom?  Is JKR lampooning the effect of crushes on us    
> Muggles?

Betsy Hp:
For me it showed that Tom had absolutely *no* control over his 
actions once the potion took effect.  That Ron would actually *hit* 
Harry was pretty eye-opening for me.  I can totally see Tom turning 
on his friends and family if they dared question his new 
found "love".

So, for me the lampooning of school-crushes was more with Ron and 
Lavender, where I think JKR captured the phenomena perfectly 
(especially with Harry's confusion that Ron was actually falling in 
love with Lavender in that scene).  The love potion stuff was a bit 
darker, I think.

> 9.  Why is Ron horrified when Slughorn administers the antidote?   
> Is he feeling the disappointment of the crush wearing off, or is   
> he just embarrassed at having acted the way he did?

Betsy Hp:
I think it has to do with the horror of realizing how completely he 
was under the drug's control.  Harry, fortunately, kept Ron from 
embarrassing himself in front of witnesses, but I can imagine that 
Ron was perfectly able to imagine what he may have done.  (Hitting 
Harry as he did was probably not a great thing for Ron to remember.)

> And why does JKR always select Ron as a victim of forms of magic   
> with sophomorically humorous effects?

Betsy Hp:
For the same reason Lucille Ball (Lucy Ricardo) specified that 
Vivian Vance (Ethel Mertz) be chubbier than her in "I Love Lucy".  
Ron is the comedic side-kick and he can't over-shadow Harry.  So 
when Ron suffers he generally does so in an amusing or slightly off-
putting way.  He either makes himself a bit of a fool, or he throws 
up.  Just as Neville is still getting his underwear set on fire by 
Peeves.

I feel like Harry doesn't need that sort of boost anymore, though.  
So hopefully Ron will be allowed to stand on his own a little bit.  
Still Harry's loyal friend, but with strength and ability of his 
own.  (Willow to Buffy rather than Ethel to Lucy, IOWs.)

> 10.  There is so much Slughorn in this chapter it could have been 
> named for him.  Slughorn's actions include (i) invoking Lily, (ii) 
> reacting badly to Harry's inquiry about horcruxes, (iii) calling   
> Ron "Ralph", (iv)opening a bottle of mead intended for Dumbledore, 
> and (v) failing to recognize Ron's symptoms or take responsive    
> action, even though the bezoar was in his bag.
> How do these actions affect our prior perception of his           
> character?  Is Slughorn a sympathetic character despite his       
> faults?  What do you think of his ethics?  His potion-making      
> skills?

Betsy Hp:
I think Slughorn's actions in this chapter fit in well with the 
Slughorn we met at the beginning of HBP.  He's still mostly about 
living a comfortable life and getting as much enjoyment out of it 
that he can.  And he's not afraid for anyone to know it.  For that 
reason, that honesty, I still like Slughorn.

However, he does present an interesting counter to Snape.  Which 
leads us to...
 
> Bonus Question.  Despite the fact that ch. 18 is infused with
> potions, former potions master Snape is barely mentioned.  If      
> Snape had still been potions master, how do you think he would he 
> have handled Ron's predicament?

Betsy Hp:
With the Love Potion:  He'd have sent Ron to the infirmary.  It's 
Pomfrey's job to handle such things, and Ron wasn't in danger for 
his life.  Also, Snape would have reported to Dumbledore that there 
was a breach in Hogwart's security.  He's not the type to sweep rule-
breaking under the rug, especially if Gryffindor's are involved.

With the poisoning:  Snape would have realized something was wrong 
as soon as Harry did.  And he would have reacted instantly, just as 
he did in PS/SS when Harry was being cursed by Quirrell.

And in the classroom (just cause I want to <g>):  As Harry realized, 
he wouldn't have let Harry get away with the bezoar trick, and he 
wouldn't have let Hermione get away with merely quoting the text 
verbatim, and he would have set a particularly nasty essay for 
homework on Golpalott's Third Law.  Ron and Harry would have 
complained miserably while they learned the Law, and the class's 
second attempt at the procedure would have gone a lot more 
smoothly. :)

Betsy Hp, who realizes she's a bit late with this but didn't want to 
let another chapter discussion pass her by.