Pieces and Bits

[kerravonsen]

I just finished listening to "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" this week, read by the delectable Stephen Fry.

I noticed a few things this time around that I had either forgotten or not noticed before.

A lot more things hinge on Hagrid's "winning" the dragon's egg than I had realized. It wasn't just that Quirrell discovered how to get past Fluffy, but the Trio's efforts to smuggle Norbert out of the school meant that they lost credibility with McGonagall. Which meant that when Harry tried to do the right thing and inform Dumbledore of the immanent theft of the stone, McGonagall refused to listen to them. It wasn't that Harry was arrogantly heroic, it was that he had tried all the sensible things and been thwarted.

I laughed again at Hermione's line earlier in the story: We could all have been killed -- or worse, expelled!

I hated the way Dumbledore "explained" to Harry that Snape hated James because James saved his life. I mean, it was sort of true, but the way Dumbledore said it cast Snape into a much worse light than a more straightforward explanation would have. Sure, we find out in DH that Snape doesn't want people to know that he's motivated by his love for Lily, but even so...
Looking back from the last book to the first, Dumbledore is a more complex character than I thought. I mean, yes, he can be a manipulative bastard, and a dotty old codger, but his wisdom isn't all surface either.

Another interesting thing I noticed supports a scene I wrote in my Draco AU; to wit, that none of the three people (Dumbledore, McGonagall, Hagrid) who were there when Harry was left at the Dursley's made any remark about him being left on the doorstep. McGonagall protested that the Dursleys weren't suitable, but that was the only objection anyone made.

And this is the relevant bit from my story:

"I had a fascinating conversation with Minerva," Snape drawled, "in which she revealed that you left Potter in a basket on their doorstep. With a note. No wonder they treated him like a piece of unwanted trash."

Dumbledore looked puzzled. "Isn't that how it's usually done with Muggles?"

Snape rolled his eyes. "No." He didn't say anything further, but Sirius could easily translate Snape's expression to mean No, you Pureblood idiot, that's not how it's done.

---

I've also started re-reading "Mouse And Dragon" by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, in preparation for (re)reading the Theo Waitley books, since I acquired "Ghost Ship" this week!

Comments

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

I love the extract from your own story. :)

I suspect that JK Rowling didn't know as much about either Snape or James at this stage as she did by the time she was writing the later books.

[kerravonsen]

8-)

I suspect that JK Rowling didn't know as much about either Snape or James at this stage as she did by the time she was writing the later books.

Good point.

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

I'm intrigued by the extract.

[kerravonsen]

I was writing it for the au_bigbang but I didn't manage to finish it by the deadline, not because I hadn't written enough (I did 20,000 words) but because there was another 20,000 words of story left to be written. (!)

I will get back to it at some point, but this month I'm participating in naarmamo so I'm arting instead of writing.

[sue-bursztynski.livejournal.com]

When you go back again and look at Dumbledore, it's not unlike going back to Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars movie. Back then, you trusted him utterly when he said that Darth Vader had killed Luke's father. Then he made excuses in the third movie... I'd sit there thinking, "You lying bastard!"

But Dumbledore is indeed a complex character and far from perfect. We think he's Gandalf for the first few books, but by OOP, he's starting to be human and flawed.

There are certainly glitches along the way. For example, in the first chapter of the first book, Hagrid says he has to be going, to return the motorbike to Sirius. Then, in the third book, he says Sirius told him to keep it when he came to borrow it and this should have told him something strange was going on.

There are other errors, but this is the one that comes to mind. I believe they're called "Flints" in Potter fandom? :-)

[kerravonsen]

Oh, there are a lot of problems with Sirius. His bike is only one of them. What about the broom he got for Harry? How is a wanted fugituve going to purchase and post a very expensive broom?

I believe they're called "Flints" in Potter fandom?

I haven't come across that term, but I don't consider myself to be well-versed in Potter fandom; I've only touched the edges of the actual community.