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My thoughts on Order of the Phoenix—very long!
I finished Order of the Phoenix last night, with a torch under the bedclothes so as not to waken my sister.
Wow. Sometimes I've wondered what it would be like to have got the full impact of Empire Strikes Back in 1980. Well, I think I know now. And don't worry, Voldemort isn't Harry's father, as far as I know.
I don't think it's quite sunk in to me yet. I'm sure it hasn't fully sunk in to Harry. All I could think of was 'What's this going to do to Harry—hasn't the w00blet suffered enough?! And Remus!' To have lost his friend for twelve years, to find him vindicated beyond hope, only to lose him again so pointlessly—
Poor Sirius—it looks like his childhood was even worse than Harry's, twelve years in Azkaban, and now—didn't he deserve a little happiness??
The plot...a lot of it had been correctly predicted. Harry's the Fated Child, then. And predicted by Trelawny. Some how I was expecting JKR to come up with something less clichéd. I suppose in a Hero's Journey a good mythic cliché isn't so bad. At least he isn't the Heir of Gryffindor.
Hermione's a prefect, and Ron got on the team as Keeper. As expected, and I was actually pretty open to Ron being the prefect, or even Dean—or Neville, the sweetie. I thought Harry might have a bit too much on his plate to cope with that too.
Snape's back in the Death Eaters, and he can hide his lying from Voldemort—wonder how he pulled that one off? And Hagrid was with the giants—can you believe the idiocy of the man? Honestly, it would nearly be a relief for him to die—plotwise, I mean, not for the Trio.
Percy was even more of a prat than I expected—I wouldn't care if he died at the minute, apart from the effect it would have on the rest of the Weasleys. It'll be interesting to see what he does in Book 6, now that Fudge and Co. have come to Dumbledore's side of the boat with a bang. Crawl, Perce...
Oh, and can anyone believe the stupidity of the MoM??? That Umbridge woman making life hell for Harry and all the Dumbledore supporters in Hogwarts for a year, when the magical community should have been uniting to face Voldemort—what's all the stress going to do to Harry's capabilities for fighting in future?
But maybe the kids in the DA are stronger for it—and how amazing was that? The chamber-pot room putting in an appearance again, Hermione being convinced she was right by the appearance of the books, Dobby coming in useful again—honestly, he's the Artoo-Detoo of the Potterdom! (Does that make Winky Threepio?)
Does everyone's Patronus take the form of an animal? I was convinced Ginny's would be Harry—I know we didn't see hers, but even Harry would have noticed that! Or maybe she hasn't produced a corporate Patronus yet?
Oh, Ginny—and Neville—they came into their own all right! The Ginny-fans have been proved right. Not a blush or a squeak in sight!
Snape's Pensieve—erk. I felt like I was reading Psychic Serpent or something. I thought the Potter-Snape rivalry was more like the Potter-Malfoy—James and the Maurauders versus Snape and the gang of Slytherins, instead of—that was bullying. And it looks like James/Lily was love/hate after all. Sigh.
Poor Harry—he's pretty short of role models—lost Sirius, and found his parents had feet of clay. (How did James become Head Boy when he wasn't a prefect???) At least the Weasleys and Lupin are still coming up to snuff. ('One, he's sitting in my chair. Two, he's wearing my clothes...' I love Remus
)
I was feeling rather ESB-ish as I was reading that—wonder who's had it worse, Luke or Harry? Luke's was more concentrated, but at least he had a happy childhood—Harry's had ten years of misery, followed by five years of insecurity punctuated by mortal peril. At least he hasn't lost any body parts yet. (I have a plot bunny of Frodo and Luke giving Harry advice on the Hero thing—'You don't have much chance of coming out of this with ten fingers, you know.')
I was getting annoyed with Harry for thinking of Voldemort's death as 'murder', and then realised he wouldn't be being Harry if he didn't. At least the wording of the prophecy suggests Harry will be standing at the end of it—but in what state? I was relieved actually to see Harry getting angry and doing a bit of yelling, but what will Sirius' death do to him? And looks like more deaths are coming...I wonder will Dumbledore's talk do anything to stop Harry taking the burden of guilt on himself? Somehow I doubt it, although I lay the blame at Dumbledore's door.
Aargh! To think Sirius died unneccessarily, that it could have been stopped—and Hermione's more perceptive than I gave her credit. A saving-people thing—isn't that the essence of the Hero? ESB, again—use the friends as bait, with the evil twist that the friend was really in no danger.
(I wonder could I steal that phrase for the SW fanfic? Leia knows enough English (Basic?) to know it's a nobility complex, and she'd never say that to Luke—I could see Han yelling something like that at him, in exasperation as he holds Luke back by the shirt collar. But no—Luke learned that lesson in ESB).
And talking of murder—didn't Dolores Umbridge attempt it? Why isn't she in Azkaban? I was hoping that the centaurs had killed her, by the way.
All Sirius ships obviously on the sea-bed—and Sirius/Narcissa a total loss from the get-go.(Although considering we still have Luke/Leia AU shippers 20 years down the line...)
Looks like Snape/Lily is listing badly too—unless, a la certain Draco/Hermione shippers, you consider 'mudblood' a term of endearment.
Harry/Cho went pretty much as I expected—down. The crush seems to have totally died, clearing the way for—what? Ah, now...
Ron/Hermione is pretty much where it was—I wasn't expecting full-blown coupledom, but still...Oh well, we had a little more Jealous!Ron, that adorable A/M-R/H comparison by Harry, and a couple of Ron compliments to Hermione. Is it just me, or is the banter and bickering a little more mature? Still annoys Harry sometimes—it would be a relief to him for them to get together. They can't kiss and argue at once (Although knowing our Hermione, she would probably find a spell to do it!). As for Harry feeling 'left out', he already is, by his destiny. Poor baby.
But I did not like that "What a lovely, sweet-tempered girl," comment at all, probably because it was in more-or-less cold blood. I think it was a nasty as anything Han/Leia ever said to each other, so that argument's kind of gone west. At least no-one can say now Ron is forever slapping Hermione down—look at her instant assuption Harry was the prefect, and that Ron did badly in practice—both, I will say, well founded in fact, but 'She could be a little nicer'—and people try to say Hermione's an F not a T???
Oh, well, the longer they hold off, dancing round each other, the more mature a relationship it will be (they are only 16 now after all), and the less time there will be for the Devil's Triangle.
Harry/Hermione—she was giving him girl advice! She did frown once, as I recall, but it could have been at Ron being an insensitive pillock. Harry thought a compliment (didn't say it, being Harry), and there was the back-handed 'But I don't think you're ugly'. The H/H friendship seems to be a smidgen more appreciative, probably because there was no Ron/Harry estrangement. I'm sure in the next two book the Trio will stand as firm as ever. Even Angry!Harry didn't crack them.
Harry/Ginny—well, it could hardly go backwards, could it? Ginny's on the radar in a way she never was before—as an equal. And she's over the crush and playing the field a bit, which I always said was a prerequisite for H/G. And looks like Ron has no problem with H/G—heck, he's setting them up! I'm sure Dean could be got rid off as easily as Michael and Cho were, if Ginny was even serious—it looked like overprotective-big-brother-baiting to me, for I've done exactly that same thing myself! All we need now is for Harry to notice Ginny, and he's pretty crush-free at the minute.
And, wow! All Cho and Harry share is a sorrow, more Cho's than Harry's. But Ginny is the only person to have come in any way close to Harry's encounters with Voldemort—the only person who could understand. And look at how she uses her experience—to alleviate Harry's worries, not to add to them, like poor Cho.
My shipping mind noticed that there were six kids in on the final showdown, three male and three female. Anyone want to start a Neville/Luna ship?
There was the little Neville/Ginny moment when he wouldn't let the Slytherins take her, but that could just as easily indicate friendship. Luna's scatty tendencies and gullibility annoy me, so I wouldn't like a Harry/Luna (now I'll get confused with Han/Leia!) ship. The only thing he feels for her at the moment is pity—surely not a good basis for a relationship? And H/G has all the metatext.
But somehow shipping seems less vital than it was.
More Harry angst. Voldemort will be in full-blown killing-people action. Eeek.
Hagrid/Snape/Dumbledore will die. Possible Remus too.
Pettigrew's debt to Harry will be important.
Looks like both the Weasleys will be on the team next year—more H/G opportunities, and Quidditch might take Harry's mind off things. Hopefully Ron will stay on the form he was in his last match.
R/H will happen in sixth year, and H/G in seventh.
Harry will eventually kill Voldemort—but at what cost?
Wow. Sometimes I've wondered what it would be like to have got the full impact of Empire Strikes Back in 1980. Well, I think I know now. And don't worry, Voldemort isn't Harry's father, as far as I know.
I don't think it's quite sunk in to me yet. I'm sure it hasn't fully sunk in to Harry. All I could think of was 'What's this going to do to Harry—hasn't the w00blet suffered enough?! And Remus!' To have lost his friend for twelve years, to find him vindicated beyond hope, only to lose him again so pointlessly—
Poor Sirius—it looks like his childhood was even worse than Harry's, twelve years in Azkaban, and now—didn't he deserve a little happiness??
The plot...a lot of it had been correctly predicted. Harry's the Fated Child, then. And predicted by Trelawny. Some how I was expecting JKR to come up with something less clichéd. I suppose in a Hero's Journey a good mythic cliché isn't so bad. At least he isn't the Heir of Gryffindor.
Hermione's a prefect, and Ron got on the team as Keeper. As expected, and I was actually pretty open to Ron being the prefect, or even Dean—or Neville, the sweetie. I thought Harry might have a bit too much on his plate to cope with that too.
Snape's back in the Death Eaters, and he can hide his lying from Voldemort—wonder how he pulled that one off? And Hagrid was with the giants—can you believe the idiocy of the man? Honestly, it would nearly be a relief for him to die—plotwise, I mean, not for the Trio.
Percy was even more of a prat than I expected—I wouldn't care if he died at the minute, apart from the effect it would have on the rest of the Weasleys. It'll be interesting to see what he does in Book 6, now that Fudge and Co. have come to Dumbledore's side of the boat with a bang. Crawl, Perce...
Oh, and can anyone believe the stupidity of the MoM??? That Umbridge woman making life hell for Harry and all the Dumbledore supporters in Hogwarts for a year, when the magical community should have been uniting to face Voldemort—what's all the stress going to do to Harry's capabilities for fighting in future?
But maybe the kids in the DA are stronger for it—and how amazing was that? The chamber-pot room putting in an appearance again, Hermione being convinced she was right by the appearance of the books, Dobby coming in useful again—honestly, he's the Artoo-Detoo of the Potterdom! (Does that make Winky Threepio?) Does everyone's Patronus take the form of an animal? I was convinced Ginny's would be Harry—I know we didn't see hers, but even Harry would have noticed that! Or maybe she hasn't produced a corporate Patronus yet?
Oh, Ginny—and Neville—they came into their own all right! The Ginny-fans have been proved right. Not a blush or a squeak in sight!
Snape's Pensieve—erk. I felt like I was reading Psychic Serpent or something. I thought the Potter-Snape rivalry was more like the Potter-Malfoy—James and the Maurauders versus Snape and the gang of Slytherins, instead of—that was bullying. And it looks like James/Lily was love/hate after all. Sigh.
Poor Harry—he's pretty short of role models—lost Sirius, and found his parents had feet of clay. (How did James become Head Boy when he wasn't a prefect???) At least the Weasleys and Lupin are still coming up to snuff. ('One, he's sitting in my chair. Two, he's wearing my clothes...' I love Remus
)I was feeling rather ESB-ish as I was reading that—wonder who's had it worse, Luke or Harry? Luke's was more concentrated, but at least he had a happy childhood—Harry's had ten years of misery, followed by five years of insecurity punctuated by mortal peril. At least he hasn't lost any body parts yet. (I have a plot bunny of Frodo and Luke giving Harry advice on the Hero thing—'You don't have much chance of coming out of this with ten fingers, you know.')
I was getting annoyed with Harry for thinking of Voldemort's death as 'murder', and then realised he wouldn't be being Harry if he didn't. At least the wording of the prophecy suggests Harry will be standing at the end of it—but in what state? I was relieved actually to see Harry getting angry and doing a bit of yelling, but what will Sirius' death do to him? And looks like more deaths are coming...I wonder will Dumbledore's talk do anything to stop Harry taking the burden of guilt on himself? Somehow I doubt it, although I lay the blame at Dumbledore's door.
Aargh! To think Sirius died unneccessarily, that it could have been stopped—and Hermione's more perceptive than I gave her credit. A saving-people thing—isn't that the essence of the Hero? ESB, again—use the friends as bait, with the evil twist that the friend was really in no danger.
(I wonder could I steal that phrase for the SW fanfic? Leia knows enough English (Basic?) to know it's a nobility complex, and she'd never say that to Luke—I could see Han yelling something like that at him, in exasperation as he holds Luke back by the shirt collar. But no—Luke learned that lesson in ESB).
And talking of murder—didn't Dolores Umbridge attempt it? Why isn't she in Azkaban? I was hoping that the centaurs had killed her, by the way.
All Sirius ships obviously on the sea-bed—and Sirius/Narcissa a total loss from the get-go.(Although considering we still have Luke/Leia AU shippers 20 years down the line...)
Looks like Snape/Lily is listing badly too—unless, a la certain Draco/Hermione shippers, you consider 'mudblood' a term of endearment.
Harry/Cho went pretty much as I expected—down. The crush seems to have totally died, clearing the way for—what? Ah, now...
Ron/Hermione is pretty much where it was—I wasn't expecting full-blown coupledom, but still...Oh well, we had a little more Jealous!Ron, that adorable A/M-R/H comparison by Harry, and a couple of Ron compliments to Hermione. Is it just me, or is the banter and bickering a little more mature? Still annoys Harry sometimes—it would be a relief to him for them to get together. They can't kiss and argue at once (Although knowing our Hermione, she would probably find a spell to do it!). As for Harry feeling 'left out', he already is, by his destiny. Poor baby.
But I did not like that "What a lovely, sweet-tempered girl," comment at all, probably because it was in more-or-less cold blood. I think it was a nasty as anything Han/Leia ever said to each other, so that argument's kind of gone west. At least no-one can say now Ron is forever slapping Hermione down—look at her instant assuption Harry was the prefect, and that Ron did badly in practice—both, I will say, well founded in fact, but 'She could be a little nicer'—and people try to say Hermione's an F not a T???
Oh, well, the longer they hold off, dancing round each other, the more mature a relationship it will be (they are only 16 now after all), and the less time there will be for the Devil's Triangle.
Harry/Hermione—she was giving him girl advice! She did frown once, as I recall, but it could have been at Ron being an insensitive pillock. Harry thought a compliment (didn't say it, being Harry), and there was the back-handed 'But I don't think you're ugly'. The H/H friendship seems to be a smidgen more appreciative, probably because there was no Ron/Harry estrangement. I'm sure in the next two book the Trio will stand as firm as ever. Even Angry!Harry didn't crack them.
Harry/Ginny—well, it could hardly go backwards, could it? Ginny's on the radar in a way she never was before—as an equal. And she's over the crush and playing the field a bit, which I always said was a prerequisite for H/G. And looks like Ron has no problem with H/G—heck, he's setting them up! I'm sure Dean could be got rid off as easily as Michael and Cho were, if Ginny was even serious—it looked like overprotective-big-brother-baiting to me, for I've done exactly that same thing myself! All we need now is for Harry to notice Ginny, and he's pretty crush-free at the minute.
And, wow! All Cho and Harry share is a sorrow, more Cho's than Harry's. But Ginny is the only person to have come in any way close to Harry's encounters with Voldemort—the only person who could understand. And look at how she uses her experience—to alleviate Harry's worries, not to add to them, like poor Cho.
My shipping mind noticed that there were six kids in on the final showdown, three male and three female. Anyone want to start a Neville/Luna ship?
There was the little Neville/Ginny moment when he wouldn't let the Slytherins take her, but that could just as easily indicate friendship. Luna's scatty tendencies and gullibility annoy me, so I wouldn't like a Harry/Luna (now I'll get confused with Han/Leia!) ship. The only thing he feels for her at the moment is pity—surely not a good basis for a relationship? And H/G has all the metatext.But somehow shipping seems less vital than it was.
More Harry angst. Voldemort will be in full-blown killing-people action. Eeek.
Hagrid/Snape/Dumbledore will die. Possible Remus too.
Pettigrew's debt to Harry will be important.
Looks like both the Weasleys will be on the team next year—more H/G opportunities, and Quidditch might take Harry's mind off things. Hopefully Ron will stay on the form he was in his last match.
R/H will happen in sixth year, and H/G in seventh.
Harry will eventually kill Voldemort—but at what cost?