Giant Wizard Werewolf Zombies, with Vampire Tendencies
We’ve had werewolves for awhile, but now with the introduction of a truly dangerous one, as well as a seemingly-random vampire, all we need is a solid zombie character to achieve the ultimate trifecta. It’s interesting that so many fantasy stories feel okay double-dipping, using two or more supernatural beings at a time. The implication is that if one of these creatures can exist, they all can exist. Once you open that can of worms…
But before we get into that, let’s talk politics first.
I liked Rufus Scrimgeour up until this point. I liked him for the same reason I liked John Kerry in the 2004 election – Kerry wasn’t Bush and Scrimgeour isn’t Fudge. But that’s pretty much out the window at this point. To step outside the story and talk style for a moment, I appreciate how unfortunately realistic J.K. has made the Ministry of Magic. There’s corruption, but it’s not unreasonable corruption. It’s the believable kind. Of course the Minister of Magic who swept everything under the rug would be replaced by the Minister who would do anything to appear as though he was doing something. I want to strike a Clinton/Bush comparison here, but maybe it’s a little too easy to compare any leader who wrongfully arrests and detains his citizens to Bush. It’s just so obvious.
Wow! My political leanings are coming on strong this entry. Anyhoo…
The fact that Umbridge is still employed speaks volumes for J.K.’s awareness of how real politics work. Not everyone is corrupt. Not everyone is wrong. And not everyone’s intentions are bad. But sometimes things go sour anyway. That can be said for any line of work or any institution. Still, I’m not sure why Umbridge is so protected. Fudge liked her, but Scrimgeour doesn’t have any obvious affinity. The only thing I can think of is that she knows too much to be safely shown the door.
That’s my feeling on it, anyway.
But to go back to the first point of this entry, now we have an evil werewolf. I’m not sure what to make of that. I love Lupin and seriously enjoy when he’s on the page, but I’m not a big fan of werewolves as characters. I’m a zombie person, myself. And I’m sincerely hoping we don’t dwell too much on Greyback. Maybe if he got as much story time as the giants, that’d be okay. Not as much as Grawp - that’d be a lot – but say, as much as the giant tribe. That would be enough to explain away any future occurences that are the result of the werewolves.
I’m a bit more interested in the vampire Slughorn brought to his party, but I get the impression he was there just for the sake of being there. His presence was comical, with the ever-so-casual move toward the girls and Slughorn telling him to stay, like a well-trained dog. Funny! So that alone tells me that vampires are probably not going to be a huge deal in the rest of this series.
And before I go, a quick note on the love story (since I really haven’t said much since I rallied against it a few entries ago).
Alright, J.K. – you won me over with the teenage wizard love triangle. Alright! My change of heart started with Hermione taking Cormac McLaggen to Slughorn’s party just to annoy the ever living crap out of Ron. I gave a quick “You go girl” fist pump in the air for that one. Granted, I’m pretty much behind anything Hermione does (save for knit hats for elves), so don’t put too much stock in this. I just think it’s fabulous that she is painted as this nerdy goody-two-shoes know-it-all (so many hyphens!), but she keeps scoring these gorgeous guys. In what universe does that happen? Yes, in a story where people are wizards, I’m questioning the logic of the nerdy girl getting the attractive sporty guys. Stay with me.
In all honesty, though, I wasn’t completely sold on the love story until Harry briefly thought to himself that with all the things he was dreaming about Ginny, he was glad Ron couldn’t do Legilimency. Okay, yes. That’s really funny! While I appreciate how realistic J.K. has made the politics in this series, I adore how she can manipulate the realities of the wizarding world to convey universal truths about growing up. No teenager is worried about his best friend actually reading his mind, but hell, if that was a possibility, this would be a legitimate concern. I enjoy how a supernatural world has been created, and then how the story is completely able to use this world to unfold. You can tell a lot of outlining took place.
Wait. Thought. Are the Inferi zombie-like? (Don’t answer that)
I was most impressed with the fact that it didn’t take very long for Hermione to realize her mistake in asking Cormac to the party. Ron, on the other hand, has been terribly slow to get a clue with Lavender.
I thought it rather interesting that Snape tried Legilmancy on Draco, only to find that Draco had already learned Occlumency. That seems much more important than whether or not Ron would have been able to know what Harry was thinking.
And *why* does Draco already know it, hmmmmmmm????? Maybe because Bellatrix was a decent teacher, instead of a nasty one? HMMMMM????
I actually was most impressed that Hermione thought to ask Cormac — it seemed obvious that she wouldn’t like him, and I think she knew that up front. But how better to upset Ron? And to draw Pavarti into it, the sidekick kicked to the curb, was wonderful.
Yup, I was really predisposed to like Scrimgeour, down to the whole “looked like a lion” thing tying him into Gryffindor. But wow — I guess he didn’t get where he got without knowing how/when to manipulate.
The Bush references were so strong I had to wonder when JKR was writing this stuff. (“That annoying President from across the sea,” or whatever it was, that “the other Minister” was waiting to hear from in Chapter 1 appeared to be a direct poke at Bush.) But maybe that’s just me.
Reading this is the most fun I’ve had in a while.
Seriously.I’ve reading too much but it’s for work, and I miss reading for FUN.
I started to read the books when book4 came out and book 1 was released in my country – so NO ONE knew what the hell I was talking about. They took part in seven years of my life, I miss them so much. And it’s so much fun to see someone battling the same questions we did when the bookS were coming out, except that, for us, the questioning went on for YEARS. It was cruel, I’ll tell you.
At least you got spared of the shipping debate. There was near a war between the harry/hermione and ron/hermione (and harry/ginny) supporters – yes, I said supporters.
Where are you writing from that the books were delayed like that?
Oh, from Brazil. The first translation came out here in 2000, after the books became world-wide famous. Books 2 and 3 were released the same year. Fun fact, Harry Potter taught me English. I couldn’t wait for book 4 to be translated, so I tackled the original with my basic knowledge of the language. I was so anxious that didn’t even bother with a dictionary. I had no freaking idea what a tent was and that they were at a camping site at the Quidditch Cup. I though they were in so kind of desert hahaha By the time I was finished, my English had improved about 200% and my teacher was very much scared. I read all remaining books in English, fell in love with the language and refused to read translations ever since.
I have worked many years as an English teacher, so I guess I should thank J.K. Rowling for my paychecks.
Holly, that’s actually really awesome that you learned English to read these books. As someone who struggled through 4 years of French (I still can only speak in the present tense and say things like “I am a girl” and “Where is the bathroom?”), the fact that you now teach English is really impressive!
Oh, I actually tried to do the same thing with the books in French. I have the first book and the CD too, but I haven’t been able to move from the first chapter. I really wish I could get a grip and do that. Harry Potter (and the fandom) introduce to me Tolkien, Austen, Dickens, Wilde and other authors, I was hoping mastering French through the books could do that to French literature as well.
You’re reading Harry Potter. I love Harry Potter! You love zombies. I love zombies! You live in Philly and so do I.
Clearly, we’re supposed to be friends.
Obviously!
Welcome to the blog!
Hi there, my name is Rosa and you have just deprived me of a perfectly good night’s sleep. And yet somehow I don’t detest you. I fact, I think I may be in love with you.
It’s currently 3:47 in the morning (I’m British), and I’ve just spent the past three hours or so reading every single entry on this blog. I’ve been holding in a wee ever since you very decisively stated that Lupin was, in fact, Crookshanks.
So there we go. Just thought I’d let you know that you have an extra follower an another admirer (mainly of your writing style, but also your love of Hermione and Draco, my two favourite characters). I like you so much that I’m willing to overlook the horrific truth of this blog; that you didn’t read the Potter books from the moment they arrived, and that – worse still – you saw the movies first. BUT I’m very and extremely excited to see how you react to the last book, given you have such little prior knowledge and spoilers.
Also, I am superjealous that you get to do this. I wish I could relive them all again properly.
Yours in admiration and envy and antcipation,
Rosa.
Hi Rosa!
It’s midnight here, which means it’s 5 a.m. there, so I hope you’ve gone to bed and get this in the morning. I cannot believe you read the whole thing through. I’m so flattered! And I’m so excited to have you as a new reader.
People keep saying they are jealous that I get the chance to read the series for the first time, but I’m actually really jealous of the people who had to wait for years for each book. I think it makes reading it all that much sweeter. Plus, I will never get the opportunity to show up at a bookstore in costume without people staring.
I’m sad I saw the movies, but happy that I remembered so little of them as I read. And at this point, I know NOTHING about Book 7, so this is only going to get better.
Thanks again for reading!
We can tell you what inferi are because Dumbledore describes them in chapter 4, ” Dead bodies that have been bewitched to do a Dark Wizard’s bidding. Inferi have not been seen for a long time, however, not since Voldemort was last powerful…he killed enough people to make an army of them of course.”
You got to read some GREAT scenes. I LOVE when Harry takes Luna as his date. Again this shows Harry’s coming of age that he’s OK with taking a friend. It also shows how far Ron has to come because he laments that Harry “could have taken anyone he wanted but choose Luna”.
You’ve now read some of my favorite lines in the book:
- I see your Dumbledore’s man through and through….yea I am, glad we got that straight.
- Wow Hermione you sure like you’re quidditch players…I like really good quidditch players
- And Harry was left to ponder in silence the depths at which girls would sink to get revenge
Great entry! Love the new pace, love your writing
Oh and Scrimgeour is mentioned in OoTP. Kingsley said he was poking around about Dumbledore so Scrimgeour still comes from the Fudge, Umbridge, Percy line of defending the institution first and foremost.
I see your awesome quotes, and raise you:
“‘There isn’t anyone I want to invite,’ mumbled Harry, who was still trying not to think about Ginny any more than he could help, despite the fact that she kept cropping up in his dreams in ways that made him devoutly thankful that Ron could not perform Legilimency.”
Take 2!!!!
“I don’t think you should be an Auror, Harry”…”The Aurors are part of the Rotfang Conspiracy, I thought everyone knew that. They’re working to bring down the Ministry of Magic from within using a combination of Dark Magic and gum disease.”
“Well think back”, said Harry. “Have you ever let it slip out that you’d like to go out in public with the words ‘My Sweetheart’ round your neck?”
I just spent the last couple of hours reading this whole blog from the beginning… I only meant to read a couple posts to see what it was about but then you got me addicted. I’m so excited that you’re doing this!!! It’s so cool to see and read the thoughts of someone who doesn’t know (or at least barely doesn’t know) what’s going to happen next. It brings back memories of what I was thinking when I first read the books =] I read the first book when I was in 1st grade, so I’m one of those kids who’s literally grown up with harry. (I’m 16 now)
And I’d just like to say that when I was at this point in the series, I was just as convinced about Snape being good as you are now. My friend and I had a HUGE debate about it. I won’t say who was right =]
Needless to say I’m tagging along on this book club adventure type thing too and I’m definitely looking forward to your next post =]
-Camille
So glad you like the blog! I am really floored by the people writing to say they read the whole thing straight through. I’m long-winded. That’s a lot of reading!
Many people have mentioned that they thought Snape was good when they were at this point in the story. I’m not sure if this means they eventually discovered they were wrong, or if they are proud of themselves for getting it right. I’m almost more curious about what happens with Snape than I am with how the series ties up entirely.
Hi Jess, great update, really enjoy reading these. Now about your line:
” I just think it’s fabulous that she is painted as this nerdy goody-two-shoes know-it-all (so many hyphens!), but she keeps scoring these gorgeous guys. In what universe does that happen? ”
At the risk of being a party pooper neither Krum nor McClaggen are good looking in the books – however they both are in the films for some I can’t think why reason…
You’ve got a point. It’s just really hard to remove the book characters from the film characters. That was a definite benefit for people reading the books before the films – you could imagine what the characters looked like before seeing them on the big screen, and then decide if they appeared appropriate.
I’m pretty stuck with the folks Warner Bros. gave me.
Yeah, I tend to only accept the actors that meet what I had imagined of them while reading. Most of the adult characters were done pretty well, but I don’t like the movie version for Lupin. David Thewlis is a wonderful actor, but Remus is much softer, kinder and lovable in the book. Can’t even talk about Hermione. And Ginny bugs me not in the way she looks, but how she is written in the script. It’s like a whole different character.
Yeah, there’s a lot of things that bugs me in the movies, really.
Uh Holly I agree with you, most of the people casted after the 2nd movie are terrible which pisses me off because everyone casted in the first 2 movies are perfect. The new Dumbledore is so awful there are no words to describe it and most of these characters aren’t anything like they are in the books. Right on about Lupin and Mr. Weasley was terrible in PoA. I know Jess loves Bellatrix but she’s awful in the movies as well. She plays a characature in the movies which sucks because I think she is a great character.
And don’t even get me started on the TERRIBLE ministry of magic fight scene. The Dumbledore/Voldemort fight was terrible and why were the death eaters doing?? They can’t apparate in the ministry of magic!!
Hahaha yes, Bellatrix is horrible. She’s clever and cunning and yes, a bit on the crazy side, but above all she’s cruel, and Mrs. Burton only plays her as a maniac with great cleavage.I don’t actually remember Mr. Weasley in PoA, though. Emma Watson has a tendency to overshadow everyone as worst portrayal of a book character. And PoA is definetly her worst movie. Oh, wait. The scene “Is your scar, isn’t it? It’s hurting again” from GoF, right? Gotta hate those eyebrows.