Chapter Discussion: Twenty Two, Goblet of Fire: The Unexpected Task

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 192480


> Questions:
> 
> 1. "Hermione, Neville's right - you are a girl...
> "Oh, well spotted," she said accidly"
> So do you think this was indeed the moment when Ron starts noticing Hermione as
> somebody more than a friend, if not, when did you think it start?"

Pippin:
It depends on which part of Ron you are talking about. I think there were sparks from the first meeting, even before they became friends. But Ron is still repressing those feelings at this point in the story, The girl he consciously  wants to be more than a friend is Fleur.

At this point,  Ron is repressing the thought of Hermione as a romantic partner to the extent that he can't see her as a romantic partner for *anyone*. Thus his insistence, later, that Krum is only interested in Hermione so he can get information on Harry.


> 
> 
> 2. Neville for all his timidness, apparently invited Hermione before Ron and
> Harry worked up a courage to invite the girls they wanted to go with. Did this
> signify Neville's courage coming into spotlight or something else? Anything?

Pippin:
It could be courage, but it might be resignation. I don't think Neville is as afraid of making himself look bad as Harry and Ron. 

> 
> 
> 3. "She looked at me like I was a sea slug or something.  Didn't even answer".
> If Ron's recollection is true to what happened, I thought Fleur could have been
> nicer to him, even though of course as an older girl to hear fourteen year old
> invite her may have felt as beneath her. What did you think?

Pippin:
Turning someone down nicely while still conveying that there isn't a hope would be a challenge even for a native speaker -- Fleur may have felt that her "Engleesh" was not up to the task. It's also a bit insulting that Ron would even suppose Fleur, wouldn't have a date already.

> 
> 4. Bearing in mind that Harry had been effectively dragged into the Tournament
> without his knowledge or approval, do you think that Professor McGonagall
> treated him harshly in overruling him and insisting that he have a partner
> despite his insistence that he did not dance, bearing in mind that the dance,
> in Harry's perception was a waste of time against the threst to him from
> Voldemort?

Pippin:
Harry needs all the friends he can get -- embarrassing the school, or the segment of the school that supports him, won't help. Also, if the Goblet of Fire thinks that the ball is a part of the competition, there really is no choice -- Harry is bound by its magic to participate.

> 
> 5. What do you think of the boys' approaches to potential ball partners? Do
> you think that Ron's rather flippant views about the Ball created problems
> for Harry?
> 

Pippin:
I'm not sure what you mean, would you like to expand on that?

> 6. Do you think that Hermione's comment that people only liked Krum because
> he was famous might also be applicable to Harry ? If so, why had only a
> handful of girls – mainly from junior forms – made any sort of move in his
> direction?

Pippin:
Heh heh -- this is misdirection of course, since Hermione knows very well who Krum's partner is. As for why the other girls were avoiding Harry, -- I think everyone expected him to go with Ginny or Hermione, and were leery of getting in their way.

> 
> 7. Harry was very suspicious of Rita Skeeter's interview with Hagrid. What did
> you feel about her motives and possible article when Hagrid described it to
> them?

I thought she was looking to stir up trouble, as usual. 
> 
> 8. It seems strange that, in the past, when younger people were allowed to enter,
> they would have been expected to have a date and to lead off a ball. What does
> this tell us about the Wizarding World historically? Would the younger
> contestants have been considered closer to marriageable age than younger witches
> and wizards today? Would they have had marriage arrangements and so not have
> had the difficulty of asking someone for a date? Has the Wizarding World changed
> much since then, as far as dating is concerned?

Pippin:
Hmmm...if the ball has been part of the tournament from the beginning, then candidates would always have been selected with that in mind -- it's almost unheard for a firstie to get chosen for a House Team, let alone the TWT. 

Who competes in the tournament has never been entirely up to the goblet, because only some students from the visiting schools even get a chance to put in their names. So it's really only the host school that would have younger students eligible. But from what Fake!Moody says, even fourth years haven't usually come into their full power as wizards, so it's unlikely that   students too young to date ever made it into the competition at all.  

I expect in the days when the TWT was open to younger students, it still would probably have been only 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th years competing, and that's plenty old enough to go to a dance, IMO. 

Young nobles in the Renaissance and  Middle Ages had dancing masters, didn't they? So they would have been expected to know how to perform court dances. 


Pippin