CHAPTER DISCUSSION: COS 14, Cornelius Fudge

[poohmeg20]

No: HPFGUIDX 189167

<snip of the nice brief summary>
 
> 1.	I am pretty sure JKR was going for comic effect with the Mandrakes, but when I was rereading this chapter I found myself strangely disturbed by imagining young wizards and witches cutting the parts of the beings that seem so humanlike in their behavior. What part of the Mandrakes is being used in the potion? Are they going to be really and most sincerely dead before or during the process?
> 

Megan:
You know, that didn't hit me until this most recent round of discussions of this book as I was re-reading in response to some questions posted earlier. I think JKR presented them in a comic enough way that I didn't think of how disturbing it was at first that they would be killing these human-like creatures, or even worse, cutting them up alive. I wonder if it hits her differently, re-reading it now. 
 
> 2.	"Travels with Trolls" is one of the items Harry finds on his bed after the villain who stole the diary went through his trunk. What was the reason for Lockhart to assign it as one of the books for class, what did you think he was hoping students will learn from that book? 
>

Megan:
I think every book he assigned was supposed to teach students how awesome he is - perhaps he did have deeper motives than that, but my little mind didn't catch onto them. 

> 3.	What was your first impression of Cornelius Fudge?
>  

Megan:
I think with the name I thought he was going to be comic relief - typical blowhard politician. I was actually kind of surprised that he ended up being involved in more serious aspects of the series plot.

> 4.	 I know it will come as no surprise to anybody but I found myself if not sympathizing with Lucius Malfoy (his tone showed to me that he had little if any concerns about the plight of Muggleborns), but at least definitely cheering him on and hoping in vain that somebody in the later books had guts to act decisively and throw Dumbledore out of school for good. Did you think that Board of Governors provided effective checks and balances to Dumbledore's powers?
>

Megan:
Well, I was generally a Dumbledore fan through most of the series, but the important thing with any kind of governance structure in the real world is to make sure it's not set up around particular individuals' personalities, popularity, or lack thereof. Whether or not you like Dumbeldore, even aside from the events of the series, he would not have been headmaster forever. Someone else would have come along that a given person might feel differently about, for better or for worse. So no matter what, it is important to have an opportunity to voice opposing opinions and curb excesses in any extreme. I can't say that was the first thing that popped into my mind in this situation, but now that you mention it, it would be a good idea for Hogwarts to have some other governance besides the sole authority of the headmaster. It didn't do much good later in the series, apparently - I don't recall if the board was mentioned during Snape's time.

> 5.	If you remember your first reaction, did you believe that Hagrid was guilty?
> 

Megan:
I never thought that Hagrid would do anything malicious at any point in the series - but I did wonder if he might have done something without realizing what he wad doing. So that was in the back of my mind throughout the book.

> 6.	 What did you think about Hermione being a victim? Was it a clue for you that  the monster target Muggleborns? Was Hermione rash in her actions and put herself at risk? Did readers worry how Ron and Harry would manage without her? Why do we think Rowling wanted them to manage without her?
> 

Megan:
My first thought at the first reading was that it was to demonstrate how serious the attacks were - even one of the main characters was frozen! So I don't think I analyzed it much more than that - but it was also interesting to see how the boys did on their own. 

> 7.	Who did you think stole the diary from Harry? Was Ginny among the suspects?
> 

Megan:
I don't think Ginny crossed my mind - for some reason, she never really hit me as a major character at any point in the series, so I tended to forget about her! I think my first thought was Malfoy. 

Thanks for the great questions!