Harry Potter - some thoughts on HBP
Jul. 18th, 2005 10:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thalia_seawoodMany people have already posted many excellent observations. Not sure I have anything new to add, but here are my two cents anyway.
Overall impressions:
My favorite book in the series. Finally we get to see more of the Slytherins and Draco Malfoy morphs from cardboard character into three-dimensional. Am a very happy fangirl right now. I had always been so frustrated by Rowlings' portrayal of Draco, because he felt so stereotypical, but behind the stereotype there seemed to be hidden much more. It just was never developed and after book V I had more or less given up hope to ever see any character development for him.
I also love the humor in this book:
"I don't mean to be rude-" he [Vernon] began, in a tone that threatened rudeness in every syllable.
"- yet, sadly accidental rudeness occurs alarmingly often." Dumbledore finished the sentence gravely.
Also the text of Celestina Warbeck's songs cracked me up:
Oh, come and stir my cauldron,
And if you do it right
I'll boil you up some hot, strong love
To keep you warm tonight.
How comes Rowlings gets away with subtext like that? Because I don't believe that she isn't aware of how, well, slippery that song is. :-)
Thoughts on Harry
No more CAPSLOCK!!Harry this time around.
Some fans seem to think that this is an unrealistic development, but in my opinion it makes sense. Harry has realized that he's in part guilty of Sirius' death. Now there are two options left for him: Sink into despair or pull himself together and try to make a difference. He obviously decides to move on, but it's also apparent that Sirius' death is still extremely painful for him. He can't bear to talk about it with even Hermione or Ron, for example.
Also nice to see that Harry no longer tries to do everything by himself. In the past, he never involved any authorities when he was investigating things. He was always convinced that he and his friends would figure everything out - no help needed. Now he goes to Mr Weasley and Dumbledore more than once and tries to get them to look more closely into the secrets he feels Draco Malfoy is keeping.
This makes so much sense considering how horribly wrong Harry's last attempt of solving things independently went.
Thoughts on my background on the H/D pairing:
Now before I get more closely into this topic, I'll feel I have to give some background on my feelings for Harry & Draco. I think it might explain where I'm coming from. So without further ado: I was a Harry/Draco shipper of the first hour. And yes, I'm proud of it. :-)
I got into the Harry Potter fandom when the third book had been released, read the three books shortly after one another - and then started to look for fanfiction, particularly H/D fanfiction.
At this time, HP was basically non-existant which is hard to believe now. The hpslash group at yahoo.com had about 50 members at the time. And the only stories in existance were Sirius/Lupin and Snape/Dumbledore (yes, even early on the HP fandom had daring moments :-)).
There was absolutely no H/D fiction around apart from some vaguely subtexty stories that got flamed on fanfiction.net. Anything resembling HP slash was frequently and wickedly flamed on fanfiction.net, because how could you dare to write slash about a series of children books.
The first true H/D stories I'm aware of were written byastolat (shalott). These stories are still worth reading.
(I especially recommend "A Rare Descent" and the 2 follow ups: http://www.intimations.org/fanfic/#hp)
So what's my point? Well, when I write that I enjoy Harry/Draco people will either say "Based on what? Draco is so boring/so horrid/so unimportant." (reactions before HBP) or they'll say "Duh. H/D, the fandom of a million bad stories.".
After HBP it's quite easy to bring up valid points for H/D so I can easily discard the first reaction.
But yes, the second reaction is very understandable. H/D fandom has an overload of stories by now, many of them have horrid clichées and only very few of them are worth reading. But you know what? I don't care. :-) If I have to wade through heaps of bad stories to find some gems I'll do it. Because H/D is one of my first fandoms, it's a fandom that I saw come to life and were I helped with lots of meta and beta-reading. And I still remember how happy I was when I found the first stories...
Most of the H/D stories were written with not much to go on, bur some authors had wonderful ideas and made Draco come alive. So yes, now I'm looking forward to see what the H/D fandom will do with the gift of HBP. I expect much angst, because Angst!Draco is canon now. But angst taken in small doses is therapeutical, so bring it on.
The one thing I do not want to see any longer though is a Draco who's physically abused by Lucius or unloved by his parents. Because it felt all wrong back then and now canon has pretty much shown that this take on Draco is wrong.
After that long interlude finally some impressions on Harry & Draco in HBP:
There are four moments that stood out to me as being pivotal in their relationship.
1) The train incident
A most fascinating scene. We see how much Draco has matured over the summer:
When he realizes that Harry is in the train department he does not take him on together with his friends, but sends them away. This is no longer the Draco who acts before he thinks. This is no longer the Draco who always relied on Crabbe and Goyle for any fighting that needed to be done.
I also find it impressive that he does not hurt Harry more considering what Harry and his friends did to him at the end of book V.
Oh, and isn't it interesting that he didn't take the Invisibility Cloak? Not sure what to make of this. Doesn't he think of that? Because Harry without his cloak would be much easier to deal with. Also an Invisibility Cloak would be useful for Draco too.
And yes, it's the first time that Draco ever wins against Harry.
From Harry's side it's noteworthy that he doesn't seek any revenge from Draco. I believe that he knew that he had it coming. Of course, he was also too embarrassed by how easily he had been defeated.
--> So this is the scene where we see that the tables have turned; Draco has changed.
This theme is continued in as far as it's no longer Draco following Harry around and trying to annoy him. Instead now it's Harry who's obsessing over Draco. In fact he talks about him so often that Hermione and Ron refuse to listen to him whenever he says his name.
2)Harry's advice to Draco
I tell my friends what I'm up to, if I want them to keep a lookout for me," Hary said, just loud enough for Malfoy to hear him.
Well, that's actually good advice. And Harry doesn't seem to say it in any aggressive way either. He also says it in such a way that only Malfoy appears to be able to hear him.
I believe this is the first time that Harry says something to Malfoy that's not an insult.
3) Harry seeing Draco crying in the washroom
I won't get into this right now, because I should go to bed and a lot has already been written about this scene. Suffice it to say that Harry finally realizes that Draco Malfoy is a human being.
4) Harry's final thoughts on Draco
Hulking boys though they [Crabbe & Goyle] were, they looked oddly lonely without the tall, pale figure of Malfoy between them, bossing them around. Harry had not spared Malfoy much thought. His animosity was all for Snape, but he had not forgotten the fear in Malfoy's voice on that Tower top, nor the fact that he had lowered his wand before the other Death Eaters arrived. Harry did not believe that Malfoy would have killed Dumbledore. He despised Malfoy still for his infatuation with the Dark Arts, but now the tiniest drop of pity mingled with his dislike. Where, Harry wondered, was Malfoy now, and what was Voldemort making him do under threat of killing him and his parents.?"
Harry no longer sees Draco as enemy, but instead feels some pity and is even worried for his safety.
He also sees Crabbe and Goyle as human beings and feels slightly sorry for them.
Dear H/D shippers, please take note that Harry describes Draco is tall. So I never ever want to read about tiny, dainty Draco again, okay? :-)
More thoughts will follow when I have time.
Overall impressions:
My favorite book in the series. Finally we get to see more of the Slytherins and Draco Malfoy morphs from cardboard character into three-dimensional. Am a very happy fangirl right now. I had always been so frustrated by Rowlings' portrayal of Draco, because he felt so stereotypical, but behind the stereotype there seemed to be hidden much more. It just was never developed and after book V I had more or less given up hope to ever see any character development for him.
I also love the humor in this book:
"I don't mean to be rude-" he [Vernon] began, in a tone that threatened rudeness in every syllable.
"- yet, sadly accidental rudeness occurs alarmingly often." Dumbledore finished the sentence gravely.
Also the text of Celestina Warbeck's songs cracked me up:
Oh, come and stir my cauldron,
And if you do it right
I'll boil you up some hot, strong love
To keep you warm tonight.
How comes Rowlings gets away with subtext like that? Because I don't believe that she isn't aware of how, well, slippery that song is. :-)
Thoughts on Harry
No more CAPSLOCK!!Harry this time around.
Some fans seem to think that this is an unrealistic development, but in my opinion it makes sense. Harry has realized that he's in part guilty of Sirius' death. Now there are two options left for him: Sink into despair or pull himself together and try to make a difference. He obviously decides to move on, but it's also apparent that Sirius' death is still extremely painful for him. He can't bear to talk about it with even Hermione or Ron, for example.
Also nice to see that Harry no longer tries to do everything by himself. In the past, he never involved any authorities when he was investigating things. He was always convinced that he and his friends would figure everything out - no help needed. Now he goes to Mr Weasley and Dumbledore more than once and tries to get them to look more closely into the secrets he feels Draco Malfoy is keeping.
This makes so much sense considering how horribly wrong Harry's last attempt of solving things independently went.
Thoughts on my background on the H/D pairing:
Now before I get more closely into this topic, I'll feel I have to give some background on my feelings for Harry & Draco. I think it might explain where I'm coming from. So without further ado: I was a Harry/Draco shipper of the first hour. And yes, I'm proud of it. :-)
I got into the Harry Potter fandom when the third book had been released, read the three books shortly after one another - and then started to look for fanfiction, particularly H/D fanfiction.
At this time, HP was basically non-existant which is hard to believe now. The hpslash group at yahoo.com had about 50 members at the time. And the only stories in existance were Sirius/Lupin and Snape/Dumbledore (yes, even early on the HP fandom had daring moments :-)).
There was absolutely no H/D fiction around apart from some vaguely subtexty stories that got flamed on fanfiction.net. Anything resembling HP slash was frequently and wickedly flamed on fanfiction.net, because how could you dare to write slash about a series of children books.
The first true H/D stories I'm aware of were written by
astolat (shalott). These stories are still worth reading.(I especially recommend "A Rare Descent" and the 2 follow ups: http://www.intimations.org/fanfic/#hp)
So what's my point? Well, when I write that I enjoy Harry/Draco people will either say "Based on what? Draco is so boring/so horrid/so unimportant." (reactions before HBP) or they'll say "Duh. H/D, the fandom of a million bad stories.".
After HBP it's quite easy to bring up valid points for H/D so I can easily discard the first reaction.
But yes, the second reaction is very understandable. H/D fandom has an overload of stories by now, many of them have horrid clichées and only very few of them are worth reading. But you know what? I don't care. :-) If I have to wade through heaps of bad stories to find some gems I'll do it. Because H/D is one of my first fandoms, it's a fandom that I saw come to life and were I helped with lots of meta and beta-reading. And I still remember how happy I was when I found the first stories...
Most of the H/D stories were written with not much to go on, bur some authors had wonderful ideas and made Draco come alive. So yes, now I'm looking forward to see what the H/D fandom will do with the gift of HBP. I expect much angst, because Angst!Draco is canon now. But angst taken in small doses is therapeutical, so bring it on.
The one thing I do not want to see any longer though is a Draco who's physically abused by Lucius or unloved by his parents. Because it felt all wrong back then and now canon has pretty much shown that this take on Draco is wrong.
After that long interlude finally some impressions on Harry & Draco in HBP:
There are four moments that stood out to me as being pivotal in their relationship.
1) The train incident
A most fascinating scene. We see how much Draco has matured over the summer:
When he realizes that Harry is in the train department he does not take him on together with his friends, but sends them away. This is no longer the Draco who acts before he thinks. This is no longer the Draco who always relied on Crabbe and Goyle for any fighting that needed to be done.
I also find it impressive that he does not hurt Harry more considering what Harry and his friends did to him at the end of book V.
Oh, and isn't it interesting that he didn't take the Invisibility Cloak? Not sure what to make of this. Doesn't he think of that? Because Harry without his cloak would be much easier to deal with. Also an Invisibility Cloak would be useful for Draco too.
And yes, it's the first time that Draco ever wins against Harry.
From Harry's side it's noteworthy that he doesn't seek any revenge from Draco. I believe that he knew that he had it coming. Of course, he was also too embarrassed by how easily he had been defeated.
--> So this is the scene where we see that the tables have turned; Draco has changed.
This theme is continued in as far as it's no longer Draco following Harry around and trying to annoy him. Instead now it's Harry who's obsessing over Draco. In fact he talks about him so often that Hermione and Ron refuse to listen to him whenever he says his name.
2)Harry's advice to Draco
I tell my friends what I'm up to, if I want them to keep a lookout for me," Hary said, just loud enough for Malfoy to hear him.
Well, that's actually good advice. And Harry doesn't seem to say it in any aggressive way either. He also says it in such a way that only Malfoy appears to be able to hear him.
I believe this is the first time that Harry says something to Malfoy that's not an insult.
3) Harry seeing Draco crying in the washroom
I won't get into this right now, because I should go to bed and a lot has already been written about this scene. Suffice it to say that Harry finally realizes that Draco Malfoy is a human being.
4) Harry's final thoughts on Draco
Hulking boys though they [Crabbe & Goyle] were, they looked oddly lonely without the tall, pale figure of Malfoy between them, bossing them around. Harry had not spared Malfoy much thought. His animosity was all for Snape, but he had not forgotten the fear in Malfoy's voice on that Tower top, nor the fact that he had lowered his wand before the other Death Eaters arrived. Harry did not believe that Malfoy would have killed Dumbledore. He despised Malfoy still for his infatuation with the Dark Arts, but now the tiniest drop of pity mingled with his dislike. Where, Harry wondered, was Malfoy now, and what was Voldemort making him do under threat of killing him and his parents.?"
Harry no longer sees Draco as enemy, but instead feels some pity and is even worried for his safety.
He also sees Crabbe and Goyle as human beings and feels slightly sorry for them.
Dear H/D shippers, please take note that Harry describes Draco is tall. So I never ever want to read about tiny, dainty Draco again, okay? :-)
More thoughts will follow when I have time.
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no subject
Date: 2005-07-18 11:04 pm (UTC)And about Draco being tall -- I was rewatching the SS movie today, and I'd forgotten how Tom Felton just towered over wee Dan Radcliffe.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-18 11:07 pm (UTC)Sorry, i really need to sleep. 1 am here and I've got a busy day ahead. I'm just so *chipper*. :-)
no subject
Date: 2005-07-18 11:15 pm (UTC)Or small!Harry for that matter. Urgh. They're both tall!
no subject
Date: 2005-07-20 08:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-20 08:19 pm (UTC)While I've read Remus/Sirius I've found the pairing Snape/Lupin even more fascinating. :-)
About Tonks and Remus: I was surprised that I didn't mind the romance between them. They are both outcasts in a way. They also both cared for Sirius. And since Tonks/Remus happens after Sirius' death it doesn't really take away from that pairing either.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-19 07:11 pm (UTC)The HBP continues with the theme that has been obvious in canon and fanon alike: Draco and Harry obsess anout each other.
OotP kind of killed off my interest in HP fanfiction for a while, I was so attached to Sirius I just wasn't that interested in any fic plotlines after his death. But HBP revived my interest in several old favourites of mine. Draco/Harry, of course - and I haven't read that for years! Severus/Albus, and anything with Snape. And now I want to read HP femmeslash. All those canonical het teen romances caused a counter-reaction, so now I speculate about Trelawney/Luna, Hooch/Ginny and Tonks/Fleur...
no subject
Date: 2005-07-20 08:26 pm (UTC)The funny thing is that this time around is Harry obsessing about Draco whereas Draco just wants to be left alone so he can carry out his plans. He doesn't have much time for throwing snark at Harry though I enjoyed his comment about the "Boy Who Scored or whatever they call you these days". :-)
Femmeslash: I'd like to see Ginny/Luna. When Luna comments the Quidditch match and states that Ginny is really nice, my inner slasher added: "And she kisses so well". Because that's something Luna would announce to everyone. :-)
I have high hopes for good Harry/Draco and Snape/Draco. (Snape/Draco used to squick me because Draco was so young before. But now he's definitely grown up and they no longer feel like teacher/student to me.)