Friday, 3 May 2013

"'I am not worried, Harry,' said Dumbledore... 'I am with you.'"

Well, that was devastating, amiright?
Even now, 8 years after the book came out, I still don't know how to process or deal with the fact that Dumbledore is dead. I just... I mean, I know exactly why JK did it (mainly because she spells it out in a faiiirly heavy-handed paragraph- "he could not let anybody else stand between him and Voldemort." etc etc.) and why she did it in the way she did (mainly, I'm going to assume, to make me believe once and for all that SNAPE IS EVIL. Because, believe it or not, I totally bought that. Until... You know.) but that doesn't mean I have to like it. What it actually means is that I have to WEEP, and then worry about Hagrid (Hagrid loves Dumbledore SO MUCH) and then feel even sadder because how are the good guys supposed to win without Dumbles? HOW CAN THEY?!
But, instead of wallowing in my misery, can we talk about some nifty narrative devices* that I liked a lot? FIRSTLY, I enjoy that Harry is all invisible and body-bound whilst Dumbledore and Malfoy are having their showdown, so that we get to see what's going on, but Harry doesn't have to be involved in any way. I realise this is important IN OTHER WAYS too, but purely narratively, I think it's great. AND, then I like how there is a massive amount of drama when Harry is chasing Snape and Malfoy, and it's very fast and confusing, but THEN you get all the other characters going through what else happened that same evening so you don't miss out on anything, and it's like they're piecing everything together while you are also trying to figure out what just happened. It's just... I like it, ok?

Now! The grand list of things I didn't even remember happened at all!

  1. This little exchange that Hagrid overhears: "'Well- I jus' heard Snape sayin' Dumbledore took too much fer granted an' maybe he- Snape- didn' wan' ter do it anymore.'" I mean... You know what I'm saying here, right?! Right.
  2. Voldemort totally cursed the DADA job! Everything makes sense now. 
  3. Snape was the one who heard the prophecy and sent Voldemort after Harry's parents. NOW. This was the BIGGEST revelation for me, and also the one that causes me the most trouble, because how can Snape be SO mean to Harry all the time, when actually he is genuinely the cause of his parents' deaths? I mean... Seriously, Snape, think about what you're doing, yeah?
  4. I absolutely forgot about poor Bill's beautiful face. And Fleur's actual, now proven, awesomeness. "'I am good looking for both of us, I theenk!'"
Seriously, for all these things, I was just like:
Absolutely no memory at all. It's a shame, really.

I am skipping the bullet points this week (I'm too sad. And also, lazy as hell) but before I finish, I just want to do a bit of a shout out to Neville and Luna. I feel like we of the readalong are very much in love with both Neville and Luna (as well we should be!) and so almost every week we go 'OMG NEVILLE DID THIS AND LOL LUNA I LOVE YOU!' and that kind of makes me forget that in the book? They're kind of like the least popular people ever. They're the only ones who still check their DA coins for more meetings because they don't really have anything else to do, and this just BREAKS MY HEART. But then, at the same time, this is a part of why we love them so much, because we appreciate the qualities in them that no one else does, right? And besides, real world popularity>popularity in a book, right?

That's all I have. Apart from, also, the blues. But I'll be ok. Now to find a copy of Beedle the Bard for next weeks post...


*I don't even think these are 'devices'. So, um, narrative things? And stuff?
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41 comments:

  1. Frances3 May 2013 at 11:08

    HOW COULD YOU FORGET ALL THAT STUFF?
    haha. I do live in a weird world where Harry Potter never went away for a second so I never forget anything!

    Snape is mental BECAUSE he caused Lily's death. Every time he sees him and his Jamesnesss he remembers that he loved Lily and then caused her death. I'm surprised he's not more disturbed. I can't deal with Snape. I could make myself cry about Snape in about 2 seconds at any time.

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    1. Laura3 May 2013 at 12:28

      I HAVEN'T READ THEM FOR 4 AND A HALF YEARS BECAUSE I AM RIDICULOUS! Also the audiobooks are EXPENSIVE AS HELL so I can't listen to them at all times!

      Ok, so THIS is why I love Snape (for his LOVE) but I don't think that remembering that he feels really bad about Lily should mean that he's really horrible to her son all the time! It just makes no sense to me! I would absolutely be REALLY NICE to that kid because I'd feel so awful.

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    2. Frances3 May 2013 at 12:43

      IT'S SO COMPLICATED. I am just going to ramble now:
      1. Harry looks like James and reminds Snape that the person he HATED ended up with Lily.
      2. If Harry hadn't been born then he wouldn't have been in the prophecy and Lily would never have died.
      3. He doesn't feel guilty that he killed Harry's parents, he is heartbroken that he caused Lily's death.

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    3. Frances3 May 2013 at 12:48

      sooooo building on 1 - Snape sees Harry AS James and only wants to protect him because Lily loved him, not because he's Lily's child.

      (I'm taking this too seriously.... runs away)

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    4. Laura3 May 2013 at 13:22

      AS IF there is such a thing as taking Harry Potter TOO seriously!

      These are all very interesting points. And true. I just feel like, though, if Snape could see more of like Harry's bullying experiences at the hands of Dudders, then he SHOULD be like 'Oh shit... This kid and I have kind of had the same experiences and maybe I should appreciate that he actually ISN'T HIS DAD just because he looks like him, and isn't really going to be anything like him because he died when he was 1!

      But Snape probably would never be able to think like that because of his mental problems.

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    5. Frances3 May 2013 at 14:35

      It's a shame they don't have therapy in the Wizarding World.

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    6. Laura3 May 2013 at 19:53

      This is soooo true. Harry needs it THE MOST in OotP. Seriouslyyyy.

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    7. Megs4 May 2013 at 19:27

      Do you think maybe Snape is awful to Harry, too, because he kind of resents him for living...when Lily didn't? I mean, it's not LOGICAL, but perhaps Snape sees Harry as the reason Lily died, because she died FOR him. That happens all the time when women die in childbirth, with the father sort of not being able to bond with the baby after. And then his OWN feelings of guilt complicate that dynamic, I'm sure.

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    8. Laura4 May 2013 at 19:38

      Yepppppp, I'm sure that's a part of it too. I don't think there's just one reason, or even that Snape exactly knows WHY he's being so awful to Harry all the time, but I'm sure ALL of these things are to do with it.

      I'll bet Snape blames Harry more than he blames himself for it though. But then, maybe it's easier to. AND Harry blames Snape for Sirius's death so he doesn't have to blame himself and OMG they are the same person!!

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    9. Kayleigh vW5 May 2013 at 19:10

      Re: your comment way up there -- But Snape DOES know about Dudders' bullying Harry! What what makes me so mad.

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  2. Sarah3 May 2013 at 11:43

    Your point about Snape is true. I mean, I know that he couldn't necessarily have forseen that Voldy was going to go after the Potters, but his guilt over that really should make him just the teeniest bit nicer to Harry. Ugh, Snape. He's easily the most complex character EVER.

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    1. Laura3 May 2013 at 12:29

      Indeed he is EXTREMELY complex. Like, I truly believe we could talk about him for YEARS and still never get to the bottom of him. God, I love him. (BUT I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY HE HAS TO BE AWFUL TO HARRY, UNLESS HE SEES HIM AS THE THING THAT STOPPED HIM GETTING HIS DREAM LIFE OR SOMETHING, ONLY YOU TOTALLY DID THAT YOURSELF, SNAPE!)

      Ahem. There will be more Snape talk in DH, OF COURSE!!

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    2. Anonymous3 May 2013 at 17:19

      Maybe he feels SO guilty [especially about Lily] that he can't even handle it & can't stand himself & is so unbelievably angry and hates Harry because Harry reminds him that Snape's the reason that Lily is dead?

      So complicated.

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    3. Laura3 May 2013 at 20:05

      Very complicated indeed! And maybe so, like his anger at himself turns into anger that he directs at Harry? Because REALLY Harry has done nothing wrong, or at least he hadn't when Snape decided to hate him, which was pretty much straight away.

      *sigh* I will never understand you, Snape. But I may always love you.

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  3. Anonymous3 May 2013 at 13:36

    >>>This was the BIGGEST revelation for me, and also the one that causes me the most trouble, because how can Snape be SO mean to Harry all the time, when actually he is genuinely the cause of his parents' deaths? I mean... Seriously, Snape, think about what you're doing, yeah?

    GOD. RIGHT? How is he going to be such a nonstop all the time dick to a kid whose parents he BASICALLY HAD KILLED? Oh Snape. He is the worst. He is the worst worst worst.

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    1. Laura3 May 2013 at 20:13

      He is not the worst! Clearly Voldy is the worst. I am struggling with it because I want to like Snape SO BADLY, but the more I read, the more I'm like 'how can I continue to defend you, Severus? Please JUST STOP IT.'

      Whatevs, I forgive him for everything in DH. Because... You know.

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  4. Red3 May 2013 at 15:03

    So Dumbles death didn't get to me like Sirius's did BUT I did start to lose it a bit when Hagrid was all like "Dumbledore will know what to do" because Hagrid loves Dumbles so much. And Dumbles did always know what to do so when he's gone, everyone's safety net is also gone.

    How does Voldie's curse of the DADA job explain all the people that didn't make it in the position. Like Gilderoy. I'm confused by this curse.

    Snape being mean to Harry even though he is pretty much responsible for their deaths is because Snape is a massive douche-canoe.

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    1. Laura3 May 2013 at 20:20

      I... Seriously don't understand why Sirius's death makes you sadder than Dumbles's! I mean, Dumbles has been there THE WHOLE TIME and he's amazing and I love him, and Sirius was in 3 books, one of which we were meant to think he was evil, one where he had, like, a scene and wrote some letters, and one where he was all sulky and annoying! I just... WTF ALLEY?! But the Hagrid thing is so so so sad. I'm maybe sadder for Hagrid than for anyone else. :(

      I don't understand your question! I'm confused by the curse in that, if Dumbles knows about it, why does he let people have the job, and also does he pick out people he wants bad things to happen to? (I mean, that only really seems to apply to Lockhart, but STILL!)

      THAT IS NOT WHY! YOU LEAVE SNAPE ALONNNNNNNE!

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    2. Red3 May 2013 at 20:27

      I'm confused about Voldie's curse of the DADA job. I mean, did he actually curse it? How does the curse work? Or is it still just coincidental? Or is the curse just like the opposite of taking some Felix, but in a job. The concept of the job anyway.

      And Sirius's death is sadder because that was Harry's chance for a family and it was suddenly taken from him. It's far more unfair. Dumbles was there the whole time but it wasn't in a role that was as close to Harry as Sirius was. He was the headmaster with a special interest in the boy who lived. He wasn't family. Maybe that's why I really got upset at Dumbledore's death when we see Hagrid's reaction, because Dumbles WAS like family to Hagrid.

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    3. Laura3 May 2013 at 21:00

      Ohhhhh. I feel like it's a non-specific curse, so that ANYTHING can happen to the person who takes the job, so long as it means they're out of it in a year? I don't know, man, it's JK. She probably doesn't even know!

      But Dumbledore LOVED Harry. He loved him so much! (Apart from the leaving him with the Dursleys. But that was for Harry's safety!) I think I feel sadder for Dumbledore because he was like this shiny beacon of goodness and security for EVERYONE, and it's like now that he's gone anything could happen, and by anything I mean bad things. Plus, you know, I just LIKE Dumbledore more than I like Sirius (obvs).

      And I still maintain that if Harry had grown up with Sirius he would have turned into a James-style douchebag. Not that that's the point here, and obvs living with Sirius as a teen wouldn't have made him a douchebag at that point, but still.

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    4. Red3 May 2013 at 21:07

      I think Harry loved Dumbles too, but that didn't make them family. And if Harry and grown up with Sirius, like from the time he was 1, I don't know if he would have been that bad off. Sirius most likely would have taken on more of a father role instead of the big bro role he took on when Harry was older.

      Plus I think Sirius's death was more personal. His death sucked for those that knew him directly, but the rest of the world kind of doesn't care. Even if they had known he was actually innocent, his death wouldn't have changed too much for others. Dumbledore's death is less personal in a way because like you said, he's the shiny beacon of goodness and security for everyone. He represented things that were good and safe, and it's definitely terrifying now that he's gone. He had all the answers, and he was calm and wonderful. so OF COURSE it's sad that he's gone. But Harry's pain was more raw with Sirius.

      All that plus I heart Sirius, so yeah.

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    5. Laura3 May 2013 at 21:13

      Ooooh. Interesting. Ooooooooh. Maybe. I mean, we can speculate on that as much as we want, I guess, and it'll still never have happened! But, again, ooooooh! And maybe it would have made Sirius a better person (to me) too!

      I definitely see your point. All of your points. I think though, mostly it comes down to you love Sirius, and I love Dumbles (not that you DON'T love Dumbles... Hmmm. But anyway), and, you know, we're not really going to convince each other to think differently about this! But it's fun to discuss :)

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    6. Red3 May 2013 at 21:29

      Oh yeah I don't think I'll talk you into loving Sirius but I do like these discussions. Cos this readalong is the best.

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    7. Megs4 May 2013 at 19:32

      But...but...Dumbles was TOTALLY a father figure to Harry. Except for the last book when he couldn't look Harry in the eye at all. That was awful.

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    8. Laura4 May 2013 at 19:40

      That was so awful. I feel like the buddy comedy of book 6 was our reward for that horribleness. AND I agreee that Dumbles WAS a father figure, but in much more of an admiry-teacher way than a you-can-come-and-live-with-me-Harry sort of way?

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    9. Kayleigh vW5 May 2013 at 18:55

      Ohmigosh can you imagine if Harry went to live with Dumbledore? I don't even KNOW.

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  5. Anonymous3 May 2013 at 17:18

    My biggest "WOW" moment while reading your post was wait...I forgot that Volemort cursed the DADA job...WAS THAT WHY DUMBLES WOULDN'T GIVE IT TO SNAPE FOR SO LONG?!

    Honestly, I catch something new every time I read these things.

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    1. Laura3 May 2013 at 20:21

      Hahaha, I know right?! It's amazing. And, also, MAYBE THAT IS WHY! And then he knew that Snape would have to get extra Voldiefied so he gave it to him for that one year cause he knew he'd have to leave after that. Ahhh, amazing.

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    2. Rayna4 May 2013 at 04:06

      Kind of makes you wonder why Snape was always applying for the job, though, right? Like, did he expect to only have it for a year or was he planning to ~break the curse (using sarcasm and legilimency, obvs) and stay in the position for years? Snape, you need to think things through.

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    3. Laura4 May 2013 at 15:39

      This is SUCH a good point. Unless he doesn't know about the Voldy curse. But he probably does. ALTHOUGH- would Voldy have gone around telling people that he cursed the job? Because that would involve telling people that he didn't get something that he'd wanted.

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    4. Rayna5 May 2013 at 02:18

      BUT wouldn't Dumbledore have told Snape about the curse when he applied for the DADA position? Because Dumbledore obviously knows about it, and he could have saved Snape a lot of bitterness with a quick, "Here's why you don't really want the job, bro."

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  6. As the Crowe Flies and Reads3 May 2013 at 23:46

    I like your idea of spending the next few years talking about Snape. Because he is a nasty piece of work but very complex and interesting and god, he's so conflicted and maybe more than a little sexy. What I'm saying is that we could have fun getting to the bottom of him, as you so cannily put it.

    I would love to see a spin-off series about Luna and Neville. Mostly what I didn't like about the upcoming Deathly Hallows book was my feeling that what was happening back at Hogwarts was SO much more interesting than the Endless Camping Trip of Doom.

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    1. Laura4 May 2013 at 15:42

      Soooooo sexy. If he washes his hair. I'm just... He makes me SO sad because he's all tortured, and THEN he makes me all angry and I just don't know what to do with him and ARGH SNAPE STOPPIT!

      I really don't remember being annoyed by all the camping, you know, but when you're reading the book in a day (every. time.) you can't find any part of it endless because it's all done with way too quickly! But, I would dig a spin-off with Luna and Neville. Because they're amazing.

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    2. Megs4 May 2013 at 19:33

      Mmmmm...the bottom of him.

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    3. Laura4 May 2013 at 19:40

      STOP THINKING ABOUT SNAPE'S BUTT, MEGS! Actually, don't. I'll join you, in fact. Mmmmmm...

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  7. Unknown4 May 2013 at 00:23

    Oh man the little mention of Luna and Neville loving the DA because they had nothing else etc etc slays me every time. Those two deserve to be the most loved and popular kids ever.

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    1. Laura4 May 2013 at 15:44

      They REALLY do. You can totally see why they aren't though, and they definitely wouldn't be irl either, but that's only because people are terrible. I LOVE THEM.

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    2. Unknown4 May 2013 at 15:59

      Yeah but I feel like irl they'd have a group of friends who truly appreciated how great they are. Even in the group as a whole was 'uncool'. WHY DOES NO ONE TRULY APPRECIATE THEM! :-( love them so.

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    3. Laura4 May 2013 at 21:03

      Maybe everyone at Hogwarts is just too cool for them? I don't know, man. OR maybe because of the polarisingness of the Houses, the 'losers' are all separated and so can't join together. I mean, we didn't even know Luna existed until book 5!

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  8. Jennifer4 May 2013 at 13:36

    Snape being mean to Harry... yeah, that's shitty, but remember that Harry looks exactly like James (except for his eyes, blah blah blah) so when Snape sees him, he sees his own tormentor AND the man who married the woman he loves. He makes it pretty clear in the next book that he didn't give a rat's fart about Harry or James, so this isn't all that shocking. Douchey, yes.

    I actually didn't like the bit where they piece things together though. Useful, but it felt forced and awkward and I think there would have been a LOT more interrupting (not counting Madame Pomfrey's outbursts of tears).

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    1. Laura4 May 2013 at 15:49

      I know that, but it still UPSETS ME MASSIVELY that he doesn't get that Harry ISN'T James. He very much isn't James, and actually he was really disapproving of things that James did. I just want them to be friends, Jennifer!!

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