HBP Spoiler review Chapters #1-#2

[katsaris]

Chapter 1

Heh. Very amusing. I'm glad that none of the disasters listed bear much similarity to the recent bombings. That was probably a piece of good luck.

"He's only quacking!". hee hee.

The new Minister looks an interesting character -- even the fact of a new character as minister is interesting by itself, given how we don't know which side he's really on, and what he'll be like. He's not a Fudge -- but is he a Crouch, a Malfoy in disguise or even a worthy guy for the job?

Amelia Bones' death was a surprise -- I'd been thinking that *she'd* perhaps be the new Minister of Magic, as she seemed to have a somewhat strong presence in the Ministry in the previous book. Which makes me wonder if her death was planned exactly so that Scrimgeour got the job -- in which case he obviously can't be trusted if Voldemort wants him in the post.

It occurred to me that JKR Rowling is such a good writer simply because she cares to tell us what happened to the gerbil. Not many authors would. :-)

Chapter 2

Malfoy drama! This is the first canonical Malfoy drama -- and the first hint of a book where Draco is actually part of the story rather than a sideshow.

To tell the truth I don't really like the idea of Snape having successfully infiltrated the Death Eaters once more. Given how it's highly unlikely that he's telling the truth about being truly in the service of the Dark Lord, I'm not glad if he's truly managed to deceive him. It diminishes Voldemort to show him as gullible, if he indeed is. But ofcourse a more complicated game may be being played, with Voldemort using a known spy of the enemy for disinformation purposes.

Anyway, even if Voldemort is just gullible, the idea that he was first sent to Dumbledore by Voldemort as a double agent, helps suspend a bit the disbelief in this.

The Unbreakable Vow. I'm imagining a lot of continuity whining over this. Ah, well.

Annoyance: "if he had not forgiven we who lost faith at that time, he would have very few followers left". Unless my English is very much mistaken shouldn't that be "if he had not forgiven US who lost faith"? Harry Potter books should be above this level of foolish mistakes. Is there noone in the English world who knows the difference between nominative and accusative anymore?

Comments

[homasse.livejournal.com]

*g* It's archaiac and formal. To me, a native speaker, it sounds *extremely* formal, like something either written or something full of pomp and circumstance. "If he had not forgiven those of us" sounds fairly common, but "we" sounds really elevated.