[HPforGrownups] CHPDISC: HBP14, Felix Felicis

[catherine higgins]

No: HPFGUIDX 151878



potioncat <willsonkmom at msn.com> wrote:    (snipped chapter discussion and excellent summary...)

Felix Felicis Questions:

>3.Harry makes some difficult decisions as a Quidditch captain. In 
>what ways has he grown?

  As well as being able to lead probably the most long and frustrating trials in a great many  years...he is now a lot more able to keep his anger in check (as opposed to with Umbrage).  He retains his leadership skills from the DA and improves, I believe in his people skills. I also think we see him able to control and analyse a situation that is quite overwhelming with the number of students turning up in the first place, and devising a good plan to weed out the really bad flyers and players quite efficiently.
  

>5. Many Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs had taken sides. Does this give 
>the impression that Slytherin House is not universally disliked? It 
>sounds as if the individuals within the two houses had taken sides, 
>not that one house was pulling for one team. What does this mean?
   
  Well, hopefully it shows the seeds of the house unity that has been absent since Slytherin's departure.

>8. What do you think of Ginny's retaliation? If McGonagall was there, >why wasn't she giving Smith what for?
   
  I also thought this was funny (although I'm in the minority). I don't find that Ginny is a bully hexing anyone who crosses her. In fact the only person we see her hexing (apart from in self-defense) is Zacharias Smith and on both occasions he was being his annoying and insulting self. Don't forget he was insulting her in front of the whole school during his commentating. I think he got off easy. He didn't have to go to the hospital wing or anything. She didn't injure him so as he couldn't play against them.

>11. We see Hermione with a flock of yellow birds around her head. 
>That image is often used to represent innocence or love. Next thing 
>we see, those birds are attacking Ron, and apparently do some >damage. 
>What does this tell us about Hermione? Or does it tell us more about >love?

  Well, this is the second time in the series that I can remember birds pecking at Ron, the first time was in OotP when Harry sent Hedwig messages to Ron, Hermione and Sirius with the instructions to peck them until they wrote good long replies (IIRC) Hermione's reaction was more emotional, she had asked Ron out to Slughorn's party. It wasn't meant "as friends" as Ron later says, he was wrong about that, he was justifying his being with Lavander. The reaction the both of them had during that herbology scene is evident that she was going to ask him as her *date*. The next thing, he's being cold and distant with her and then starts snogging Lavander in front of her. Her reaction is not particularily nice, but knowing what a powerful witch she is, he also got off easy. 
  
12. JKR set us up. The title of the chapter, the description at 
breakfast and the description of the game all made it look as if 
Harry had spiked Ron's drink. Did you think Harry put Felix Felicis 
in Ron's juice? What did you expect the outcome to be?

  You know, I'm trying to remember back to my first read, and I don't know. I think I had a feeling something was up. Firstly, Ron and Harry were alone for quite a while before Hermione showed up, why would he have waited for a witness? Had he really done it, he would have done it before. Also, I didn't think Harry would really cheat that way, had he done it, it would have changed my view of him and his character.
   
Catherine
  (who thankfully re-read her post and hopefully managed to catch all the typos....I really shouldn't post after a night shift!)

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