Friday 8 February 2013

"There are horrors in your past that the others don't have."

IT'S HARRY POTTER DAAAAAAAAAY! (You already knew that, right? It's been this way for about a zillion Fridays already! I'M STILL EXCITED!)

So. The Prisoner of Azkaban! Oooh, isn't that Sirius Black all dastardly and evil and whatnot? I sure hope Harry doesn't run into him in the second part of the book because he's sure to kill him because he's SO evil and everything.
Hey, I believe it! But seriously, I feel like not that much happens in the first half of the Prisoner of Azkaban (or at least, not much actiony stuff) but there is SO much setting up stuff that it's kind of ridiculous. Stuff like:

  • 'Ooooh, isn't Sirius evil?' (we've covered this. But seriously, I really hate Sirius right now)
  • The whole Snape vs. Lupin thing. Why does Snape LOATHE him, I wonder?
  • Scabbers didn't appear in basically ANY of the Chamber of Secrets, but he has been mentioned SO much in the first half of PoA. I wonder why..? (Seriously, the Scabbers thing tends to be all I remember about PoA. So let me notice it!) 
  • Lupin sure does get sick a lot. Like, once a month, I'd say? Hmmmm, I wonder what that could be...
  • Hermione's secrecy over how she's doing so many lessons- I wonder if that will be important later? 
So I'd say that there is a lot waiting to happen, and that is EXCITING, but I'm thinking that the second half is going to be a LOT more exciting than the first. Just a thought.

So, the Dementors are fairly terrifying, aren't they? I can't remember who, but someone was saying last week about how brutal wizard justice is, and I think the Dementors really bring that home- I mean, I guess that since wizards can do magic with only their brains (see: Harry and Aunt Marge- aka the biggest bitch in the world) they really need to be worn down so much that all they want is to DIE, but still, it seems pretty brutal. Let's not even talk about the fact that I used to get confused between Dementors and Death Eaters. I've worked it out now. 

And, some more Hermione amazingness. We all know that she's a fan of logic (as am I) so I LOVE her gobbiness in Divination because yes, it's clearly all bullshit- for one thing, there are 4 more books to get through and Harry is clearly not going to die. So that already gave me happy feelings towards Hermione, but also, right at the end of this part where she gets Prof. McGonagall to check out Harry's Firebolt? CLEARLY the right thing to do, and Ron and Harry are utter dicks for being angry at her. If I was her, I'd just be like:
Random thoughts and whatnot:
  • Lupin is, I think, the pinnacle of the Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers. It's all downhill from here, people.
  • I feel like, possibly, EVEN Uncle Vernon thinks Aunt Marge goes a bit too far? In that he doesn't go and murder Harry after the whole blowing up incident, so... 
  • "Crabbe and Goyle seemed to exist to do Malfoy's bidding.' Um... That's exactly why they exist, JK. How very meta of you!
  • "Overcome with emotion, he buried his face into his napkin." Awwwww, Hagrid! (Btw, those flobberworm classes sound SO. DULL. STUPID MALFOY!)
  • I love that Dumbledore hates the Dementors, and clearly thinks they're the WORST way to punish people and everything. Ugh, Dumbledore, why you so awesome?
  • Hogsmeade is, without a doubt, the place in HP Land that I'd most like to go to. Even more than Hogwarts. MUCH more than Diagon Alley. That sweet shop guys. I'd just DIE.
Until next week...

18 comments:

  1. Dementors are kind of brutal... but if we had something like Dementors in our world, I think I'd be okay with them for the worst criminals. I don't like that any wizard that commits the tiniest crime gets carted off to Azkaban, THAT's extreme. (Although I live in a country where you get harsher penalties for drug-related crimes than murder, so maybe JK is purposely using Azkaban/Dementors to show how cruel and unjust prison systems can be? Or maybe I'm trying to look for Rowling's hidden meaning in EVERYTHING now? Lol.)

    There's SO MUCH SETTING UP in this book, but I think it's done pretty well for first-time readers. I still think the way she sets up all the Scabbers stufff is genius. And LUPIN! He really is the best DADA teacher. The students are finally actually learning stuff in that class!

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    1. I don't know that I'd EVER be ok with Dementors, you know. I'd definitely like to think that JK's going 'oh prisons, you are TERRIBLE' but I think she's more just going 'poor Sirius, look what he's BEEN through!' Only, you know, later. Shhhh Laura...

      SO MUCH SETTING UP! The thing is, I totally wouldn't have realised it if we hadn't been reading in sections, so you know, it doesn't really matter? Lupin is really awesome, I LOVE HIM.

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    2. I agree that Azkaban is so horrible mostly to be like "look at what Sirius had to go through" and to set up this super creepy prison area instead of a commentary on how terrible this sort of prison really is. I mean, the only reason anyone is upset about Hagrid going there the first time is cos he was actually innocent. Instead of anyone being angry they sent a KID to this crazy prison.

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    3. Wait, did Hagrid go to Azkaban the first time though? Didn't he just get expelled? WHO WANTS TO READ CoS AGAIN TO FIND OUT?

      But yeah, I think it is more of a 'poor Sirius thing' more than anything else.

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    4. I thought there was something about him "going back to Azkaban" when they arrested him in CoS. But perhaps I am wrong.

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    5. You may not be. But how did he get out if they sent him there before, you know?

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  2. Nice not so subtle hint dropping about next week Laura, ha!

    It annoys me so much that no one says, "ummmmm Malfoy, we're witches and wizards. We grow bones back overnight so stop your bitching and get your shit together".

    I find the dementors terrifying. In so many ways, but mostly because there doesn't seem to be a huge uproar of people being anti-dementor. Each read seems to hit home the fact that Wizards/witches are dark and terrifying people, and they do a lot of not great things.

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    1. BUT IT IS SO OBVIOUS!! And I didn't even think I remembered anything about PoA before I started reading it, but it's really all there.

      Why does everyone indulge Malfoy so much?! Harry grew his bones back in like a night, right?! And Malfoy has a SCRATCH? Everyone sucks.

      I dunno, man, maybe they've been so scarred by Voldemort that they're like 'well, we clearly NEED them to keep the bad guys in line.' Which is terrrrrible logic, but whatevs. I just love that Dumbledore is totally vocal in hating them. GO D-Dore!

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    2. I think the Voldemort thing is probably the reason, but all I can think of now is all the terrible instances where after war/famine/something countries have turned to something evil and seen it as a necessity to never-let-the-bad-thing-happen-again and it has proved the undoing for everyone. And now I'm sad, and I'm not supposed to start getting sad until the next book at least.

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    3. Oh yeah, definitely! I mean, I think that's kind of the point. Or kind of *a* point, anyway. Because if EVERYONE in Azkaban escaped, they'd be preeeetty pissed about what happened to them, you know, and then they'd be even worse. So BOOO crazy bad punishments.

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  3. Why does Snape dislike Lupin but ALSO makes him that potion to help him??

    Aunt Marge is extra mean to Harry. Like she has some extra grudge against him. Maybe it's just cos Vern bitches about Harry to her so the few times she seems him she really lets him have it?

    You know, Dumbledore should have really taken the job as Minister of Magic. Sure, we wouldn't get him as the headmaster and that would suck, but if he was in a position of actual power, he could, you know, NOT use Dementors as guards. Because they're awful.

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    1. I'm thinking it's because Dumbledore asked him to, and everyone does everything Dumbledore says? I think it's fairly big of Snape not to poison him, tbh!

      I really don't understand Aunt Marge. She just needs a smack. Or to be blown up like a balloon. Whichever!

      D-Dore would have been AMAZING as Minister of Magic! But there's an argument for him being more important as Headmaster of Hogwarts, because he can shape a whole generation of people who will want things to be better rather than just changing things for a little bit and then them getting changed back when he dies, if that makes sense? Basically that teachers>politicians.

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  4. I think Snape loates EVERYONE. I mean, who does he like? Except maybe Malfoy? But he doesn't seem to like any of the other main characters, professors/staff included.

    I feel like there is a lot of foreshadowing with Scabbers and Crookshanks even though I have no idea what they are trying to forshadow!

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    1. Yeah, Snape is kiiiind of a massive misanthrope... But he has REASONS (if they're good ones or not is up to each individual reader, I think).

      Hehehehe, it's genuinely so fun having you reading these! It's like 'I KNOW STUFF IS GOING TO HAPPEN, BUT WHAT IS IT?!?!' Love it :)

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  5. I get stupid about this book. And the film. Because basically my thoughts just pan down to "OMG that flight with Buckbeak makes me cry", "OMG I want to marry Lupin", "OMG Sirius is awesome later so we'll ignore him being a bit psychotic" and "OMG JOHN WILLIAMS THIS IS MY FAVOURITEST SOUNDTRACK". With maybe a bit more crying because of the whole Marauders being back together thing and Harry finding out more about his mum and dad and having these surrogate uncle figures kind of gathering out of nowhere... and then I go read FanFiction instead because then you get more Marauders and less death. I KNOW I KNOW.

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    1. Um. I really haven't seen any of this film. Or the next one. But YES TO ALL THE OTHER THINGS. I really and truly want to marry Lupin. Bless him.

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  6. That first time we see Snape bring Lupin a potion, when Harry's in Lupin's office, the whole thing is a weirdly civil interaction, hey? Maybe Snape was just thrown off by having Harry in the room. But you'd think that would make him angrier.

    Also, Percy would have been all for having the Dementors search the school. Phbt. Percy.

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