Harry and Charlie

[montavilla47]

No: HPFGUIDX 183207

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "sistermagpie" <sistermagpie at ...> wrote:
>
> > Montavilla47:
> > I think what JKR tends to do is veer from one side to the other.  
> There are
> > times in her stories where it seems obvious that we're supposed to be
> > reading HP like we'd read a Roald Dahl story--and take no more mind 
> of 
> > Draco being bounced up and down than Veruca Salt dropping in the nut 
> > bin.  
> 
> Magpie:
> She wrote that scene strangely if she wanted me to take it that way. I 
> know plenty of people do read the scene as just funny, but I did, and 
> thought it was written in a sympathetic way, what with the little 
> ferret squealing in pain as he smacked against hard stone, leaving 
> Draco with his eyes filled with tears. Yipes!
> 
> When the villain was revealed I thought the idea was to give us a clue 
> that he was really a sadist DE so we were supposed to notice that.
> 
> -m


Montavilla47:
Exactly.  She puts in these touches that make the Draco, in this case,
just a little too sympathetic for the reader to really enjoy what's 
happening to him.

I could easily be wrong, because it's been ages since I read CatCF, but
I don't recall there being anything to draw sympathy to Augustus, Violet,
Veruca, or Mike when they are having horrible things done to them.  The
closest thing is that glimpse of them at the end (somewhat like the glimpses
we get of Marietta), when we see that Violet is still purple and squashed-
looking, or that Mike is tall again, but incredibly skinny.  I remember 
feeling a little sorry for them at that point.

But JKR will show you Draco being bounced, show you Harry enjoying it,
invite you to enjoy it, but mention that he's got tears in his eyes.  Or
show the Dursleys looking terrified as Dumbledore delivers this lecture
that most of the readers have been looking forward to for years.

And it's really easy to flip at that point and start to dislike Dumbledore--
if you didn't already dislike him for humiliating his own students at
the end of PS/SS.