HBP Spoiler review Chapters 7 - 10
Jul. 16th, 2005 10:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
katsarisChapter 7
Harry shows the sort of intelligence (he figured out the thing about the Dark Mark before I did) and reckless stupidity that has characterized him since the beginning -- that's to be expected.
What wasn't to be expected was Draco being competent for once. It's probably the first time ever. Moreover the fact that Draco had Harry at his mercy and didn't kill him seems to indicate that the early assumption I made that his task was to kill him was false -- this suddenly makes the whole plot-point of his task more interesting.
Nothing particularly interesting in Zabini so far, though his introduction alone may seem to indicate that he'll be more relevant to the story...
Chapter 8
Ho! The switch of the professors was a plot-twist I hadn't expected. Good one, JKR. Besides teasing us for five years about Snape never getting the DADA job, it's also the perfect way of letting Harry continue his Potion courses and Auror ambitions without either him getting an undeserved "Outstanding" nor Snape backing off and teaching him Potions under Dumbledore pressure or whatever.
The thing about Dumbledore's hand becomes more and more worrisome, especially Hermione's mention of uncurable poisons. Is Dumbledore already a Dead Man Walking?
Chapter 9
More background on the non-verbal spells, which is a good thing, putting into a canon what was fan guesswork so far. And Harry's cheek to Snape has grown more than ever, hasn't it? Heh. Amusing.
Every Ron/Hermione shipper out there is by now wondering what exactly is the third thing that Hermione smells in that love potion.
First mention of the Half-blood prince. And given the context, I think it's very likely that the possible candidates for the role have been reduced to just two: Dumbledore and Snape.
Chapter 10
Abuse breeds abuse, misuse breeds misuse. This is probably the most stark depiction of casual family abuse we've seen in the books so far -- the Dursleys always aware they're mistreating Harry and probably thinking it his due. But Marvolo probably doesn't even think of how he treats his daughter as abusive in any manner -- a psychopath to the core.
So far the HP books have shown us how people grown in awful circumstance end up awful -- though there've always been exceptions like Sirius (and he wasn't exactly a saint either). But this is possibly the first time there's hints in the books of possibly even a genetic cause to Voldemort's violence and psychopathy - his family's inbreeding over centuries. This kind of dispute of nature vs. nurture has existed throughout the books -- from the House Elves to the Giants, and now lastly to human beings -- and it's possibly one of the deepest, most convoluted and most discussion-worthy themes of the books.
The first continuity nitpick I found in this chapter, since I believe Voldemort was once mentioned to have been the first Parselmouth since the time of Salazar Slytherin. But these are just nitpicks over tiny background facts, and I hardly mind them.
Harry shows the sort of intelligence (he figured out the thing about the Dark Mark before I did) and reckless stupidity that has characterized him since the beginning -- that's to be expected.
What wasn't to be expected was Draco being competent for once. It's probably the first time ever. Moreover the fact that Draco had Harry at his mercy and didn't kill him seems to indicate that the early assumption I made that his task was to kill him was false -- this suddenly makes the whole plot-point of his task more interesting.
Nothing particularly interesting in Zabini so far, though his introduction alone may seem to indicate that he'll be more relevant to the story...
Chapter 8
Ho! The switch of the professors was a plot-twist I hadn't expected. Good one, JKR. Besides teasing us for five years about Snape never getting the DADA job, it's also the perfect way of letting Harry continue his Potion courses and Auror ambitions without either him getting an undeserved "Outstanding" nor Snape backing off and teaching him Potions under Dumbledore pressure or whatever.
The thing about Dumbledore's hand becomes more and more worrisome, especially Hermione's mention of uncurable poisons. Is Dumbledore already a Dead Man Walking?
Chapter 9
More background on the non-verbal spells, which is a good thing, putting into a canon what was fan guesswork so far. And Harry's cheek to Snape has grown more than ever, hasn't it? Heh. Amusing.
Every Ron/Hermione shipper out there is by now wondering what exactly is the third thing that Hermione smells in that love potion.
First mention of the Half-blood prince. And given the context, I think it's very likely that the possible candidates for the role have been reduced to just two: Dumbledore and Snape.
Chapter 10
Abuse breeds abuse, misuse breeds misuse. This is probably the most stark depiction of casual family abuse we've seen in the books so far -- the Dursleys always aware they're mistreating Harry and probably thinking it his due. But Marvolo probably doesn't even think of how he treats his daughter as abusive in any manner -- a psychopath to the core.
So far the HP books have shown us how people grown in awful circumstance end up awful -- though there've always been exceptions like Sirius (and he wasn't exactly a saint either). But this is possibly the first time there's hints in the books of possibly even a genetic cause to Voldemort's violence and psychopathy - his family's inbreeding over centuries. This kind of dispute of nature vs. nurture has existed throughout the books -- from the House Elves to the Giants, and now lastly to human beings -- and it's possibly one of the deepest, most convoluted and most discussion-worthy themes of the books.
The first continuity nitpick I found in this chapter, since I believe Voldemort was once mentioned to have been the first Parselmouth since the time of Salazar Slytherin. But these are just nitpicks over tiny background facts, and I hardly mind them.
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Date: 2005-08-01 07:47 pm (UTC)