 |
| Heck yes, let's do this! |
So.
Harry has a broom! And not just any broom, a Nimbus 2000, TAKE THAT MALFOY.
The best thing about Harry getting a broom though? It means Quidditch begins, and besides the Quidditch scenes being some of my faves (Lee Jordan = only person to make sports interesting ever) it means Oliver Wood. Which means Sean Biggerstaff in the film versions, and HOLY SHIT I had a crazy crush on Biggerstaff when the film came out.
 |
| I mean, look at him! |
*ahem*
How upsetting is the whole Mirror of Erised thing? I mean, when you know where the series heads, and certain...things...are made clear, this chapter just becomes crazy tragic and sad. And even without the knowledge of future events, Harry just sitting there staring at his family for nights on end....ugh, crazy sad. I've always felt sorry for Harry, but talking through this book has really cemented just how miserable his early upbringing was. He had no one for so long, and I think I forget that sometimes.
Buuuuuuut, when he's looking at all his family, it refers to them as "The Potters" but he describes people having his green eyes, which he got from his mum. So did JK mean both sides of the family are being shown, OR is the real reason Petunia hates them so much because they're secretly cousins or something?
It's time to talk about Ron. The internet seems full of Ron hate, this readalong included. Now I'm not going to say you're wrong but, well, yeah you're wrong. Personally I think people conflate book Ron with movie Ron, because movie Ron is pretty stupid and mostly a waste of space. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact it's Rupert Grint (who I looooove) I'd probably be leading the charge. But book Ron is different. Sure he's sarcastic, a bit of a pain and has some major self esteem issues (thanks to his 10 000 successful older brothers) but that's basically a description of me - ESPECIALLY when I was 11 years old. Also, he's super crucial - at least in these first few books. He's the only one out of their group who lives in the magical world. He knows the laws, so while Harry and Hermione are still all "OMFG dragons" he can contextualise why Hagrid having a dragon is a majorly bad idea, and what it would mean to be caught.
Also, he's a redhead. Which gives him automatic immunity from hate.
Bulletproof arguement. Done.
 |
| Come at me in the comment section bro(s) |
Bonkers.
A few stray observations:
*McGonagall is crazy harsh - 150 points off Gryffindor is insane. Also, Malfoy only gets 20. THAT'S NOT OK MINERVA.
*How do you get 112% on a test? Clearly math isn't being taught at Hogwarts.
*The devil's snare scene always cracks me up. I think it was tension + capital letters that = comedy when I was younger.
*Why will Flamel die? Does the Elixer of Life have to constantly be drunk? Because if so, it doesn't grant immortality, it's simply a life extender. Or is it that when the stone is destroyed, anything it created is also destroyed?
*What happens to Quirrell? Dumbledore says that Voldemort left him for dead, but it doesn't actually say he died. If he did, was it the love burns or Voldemort leaving his body that did it? Or both?
*Which reminds me, how crap is it at the end of the film when Quirrell turns into ash and crumbles away when Harry grabs him. So stupid.
'Til next week nerds,
That first gif! That is the greatest! These posts are so fun
ReplyDeleteI want to be in a trio of best friends with Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stones. It'd be so gifable.
DeleteSO MUCH TO SAY. I'm going to have to rock out the numbers again.
ReplyDelete1. The Mirror of Erised upsets me SO much. Poor little Harry. I don't have an answer for you on the eye thing, but... I guess the nice members of Lily's family are there too? Maybe? I don't knoooow.
2. WHO HATES RON?! I mean, he is clearly the lamest of the three, BUT that doesn't mean I hate him! It's just that I like him sliiiightly less. I guess it helps that I haven't seen the films (or, most of them anyway) cause Rooooon! He's really important!
3. Yeah, that forbidden forest punishment is INSANE. Like 'oh, Malfoy and Neville, you just go off with the dog.' REALLY, Hagrid?! Did no one think that an extra adult would be helpful in this situation? No?
4. I think with the death thing it is that when the stone is destroyed it basically takes down anything it created. Or that's the way I've always seen it, I guess. But OBViously the elixir of life doesn't give you immortality cause you'd only need to drink it once and that would be it.
5. Aaaaand with Quirrell I always assumed that Voldemort leaving his body would have killed him because their souls got intertwined or whatever. But it could have been the burns. OR maybe Dumbledore Avada Kedavra'd his ass. But probably not that one.
1. I'm sure I found it sad when I was younger, but it absolutely gets me right in the feels now that I'm old and close (not that close) to motherhood. Or I'm just less emotionally stable. Or something.
Delete2. I'm sure I saw Ron hate in someone's comments last week, and it's everywhere online. I just don't get it.
3. Agreed
4. That seems the most logical- it always bugged me as a kid though because I always figured they had to keep drinking it and that confused me.
5. Something makes me think Dumbledore wouldn't have done that...
Ron is so awesome, and I love movie Ron if only because the actor is awesome and he's so goofy.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I'm totally okay with the kid's detention... if nothing else, that is SERIOUS motivation for not getting detention in the future! Writing lines does not inflict that kind of caution. Plus, like Hagrid said no one in the forest messes with him, so maybe it seemed safer with Hagrid being there, even with a lack of magic. Dude has a CROSSBOW. Also, I guess I'm just harsher on kids than basically everyone else in this readalong?
I think McGonagall took so many points away from them because they were from her own house which was SO much more disappointing. She expects her students to not screw up that badly.
You're crazy harsh on them! They're 11!
DeleteGetting lines in book 5 are wayyyy worse than the forest. Just sayin'
Dude, 11 is almost a teenager, they're fine. Also I'm pretty sure if the entire forest was THAT dangerous, maybe Dumbledore would like block off access to it completely.
DeleteAnd yeah, THOSE lines are worse, lol. THAT I think is too cruel and horrible a punishment. As hard as I am on kids, I'm not really in favor of making them cut themselves.
The Mirror scene is SO SAD. I mean you KNOW his upbringing sucks cos we've seen what the Dursleys were like but to see him just watching his family in the mirror.
ReplyDeleteAGREED about book Ron and movie Ron not being the same and stop comparing them cos book Ron is way better. Outside of the Redhead thing because even if Ron was evil I'd still love him and his whole family due to the hair.
I forgot to mention how INSANE it is that the school thought a fitting punishment was sending four first years into the woods that are called The Forbidden Forest BECAUSE they are full of things that actively want to kill you, and they're going after something they know to be more dangerous than the normal forest dwellers. AND then yeah, no sleep for you. I don't want to side with Malfoy but he should TOTALLY tell his father about that. They all should cos whaaa?
Obv you get 112% by putting more information than the professor asked for in the essay questions. Flitwick asks, like, How do you levitate a feather? and Hermione answers that and includes some brief forays into related spells and, like, magical theory. So Flitwick gives her extra credit. SOME OF US DID STUFF LIKE THAT IN SCHOOL OKAY.
ReplyDeleteI mean, I know that's what that is supposed to imply, but that shit doesn't fly in Australia. Maybe a teacher would write A+++ on an essay but you don't actually get extra percent, you just get full marks and a goofy smile from the teacher
DeleteOhhh I remember the Biggerstaff craze. That was way long ago.
ReplyDeleteMirror of Erised scene is The Saddest.
Biggerstaff? Oliver WOOD was played by a boy named BIGGERSTAFF? Holy moly. There is so much wrong there, but it *might* explain why I had a naughty dream about Oliver Wood.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm with the extra credit for getting 112% on an exam. I did this once with an essay an earned 119% because the teacher took off points for wrong things but added points for extra insight or good writing or whatever. clearly i've gone downhill since then. it was an essay about how pink elephants = happiness or something like that.
I actually like Ron in this book and think he has wonderful moments and I never thought to see him as the contextualizing guy for Harry and Hermione, but you are so right.
Also, YES to the insane detention. I meant to mention this in my essay today so I'm glad you did!
DeleteAnd I laughed for like 5 min straight at your first comment in here.
DeleteYes to this - penis jokes were the first thing that popped into my mind here. We're a sophisticated bunch.
DeleteAnother extra percentages explanation could be that Flitwick had included bonus questions.
Quirrell's death in the movie IS lame and really similar to Bellatrix's later on. And I do think he dies, based on a comment made in a later book. And in that case, why does nobody comment on how Harry just killed somebody? I know I'm adding a lot to form that conclusion but yeah, that's kind of what happened. Not that I blame him or anything but still, it's traumatic to kill bad guys too. And don't even get me started on the Hogwarts curriculum or how Ron even knows how to read, never mind work out the calculations needed to pay for something. Ron is good in this book...but I argue that he gets awful, and not just in the movie. :]
ReplyDeleteI agree about Ron. He's great in the first few books, even if he has some major flaws from Prisoner of Azkaban on. But it's not until Goblet of Fire and Deathly Hallows that his issues really have a bad effect on his character's likeability.
DeleteHarry becomes unlikeable for a bit in Order of Phoenix, too, which a lot of people overlook. But Hermione is always and forever perfect and flawfree, so there's that.
He becomes the worst! Book 5 is great for so many reasons but the angsty teenage bull that Harry pulls (and to a lesser extent ALL the teen characters) is unbearable. I wonder if Rowling was dealing with an obnoxious teen at the time of writing, cousin or nephew perhaps
DeleteBy the mirror of Erised scene, does Harry even know his mom's maiden name? I mean, I assume he heard Petunia mention it once or twice, but I don't think the reader knows it yet. So in that case, JKR just used "The Potters" to mean his whole family. Hmmm....
ReplyDeleteAfter pondering this A LOT I've come to the conclusion that JKR had them do a forbidden forest detention because it was the only way she could figure out how to get them into the forbidden forest. It's a really poor plot device as it's contradicted by detentions in later books (cleaning bedpans, doing chores for professors, etc.) BUT it makes for a super creepy and foreshadow-y scene, so I guess it's okay.
And LOL @ love burns.
I think you're probably right on both points. Especially considering how tame detention is next year for them.
DeleteI wonder if she was like 'oh this is cheating, there must be a better- oh blast it, I want to get icecream' because that's me every time I sit down and write.
I really want to think of a reason why it would make sense for them to go to the forbidden forest for detention, but no dice. Maybe nothing had really happened in it for many years, so the "forbidden" aspect of it was lightened a bit? Then after the whole tragic unicorn thing, it went back to being forbidden and detentionites went back to doing chores, Muggle style?
DeleteI love how Harry disobeys a teachers, breaks a rule, and not only do they make an exception for him, they give him the Ferrari of all brooms. Someone tell me how to get to Hogwarts ASAP.
ReplyDelete~sigh... Sean <3
*ahem*
About Ron - I love how gryffindorific he is at the end of this book! Makes me sad when I think about how petty and jealous and whiny he'll be in the next books :( I can't help but feel so bad for him when he's constantly overshadowed by his "10, 000 successful older brothers" (so true)
Nooooo! Ron's never...well ok he is all those things from time to time, but he's so much more than just petty and whiny and it really must be hard to live in the shadows of his family AND his best friend.
DeleteI'm truly surprised Harry has any friends considering the preferential treatment he receives. It'd be enough to drive me mad I think, unless I was Harry. Then it'd be awesome
Neville would just follow HIMSELF around, cleaning up his OWN messes but also making NEW ones, thereby becoming Mobius Neville.
ReplyDeleteA truer statement has not been made all readalong!
DeleteI'll join Team Ron. I always liked Ron, especially when Harry first gets to Hogwarts and everyone is all "OOOH FAMOUS," but doesn't really talk to him, and Ron just wants to be his friend. For some reason that part brought back some childhood anxiety about starting at a new school, and Ron is kind of the anecdote.
ReplyDeleteOMG that first gif is THE BEST. I heart Emma Stone.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think I missed the bit about the toilets? I remember some of you talking about toilets in the first weeks post - I was just as confused then as I am now...??? EXPLAIN!
That detention was the worst! I thought that too - what kind of detention starts at like midnight, goes all night and then I'm assuming the kids were expected to just go straight to class the next morning? That's crazy. Most adults wouldn't be able to do that, ha!