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AKA: "In which a whole castle hunts a Black man down".

 

I've been following along the book club via audio book, so it is sort of a bother for me to make direct quotations. Anyway, chapter 10.

Near the end, when Fudge, McGonagall, Hagrid, Flitwick, and Rosemarta are discussing the particulars of Black's capture Fudge says that only a group of trained Hit Wizards would have been equipped to take on Black. I recall that hitwizards were kind of popular for a bit in the fandom, I dont remember what the general consensus was as far as their place in the DMLE and relation to Aurors. From that particular line, I get the impression that Aurors are your Detectives (which is how I've typically seen them portrayed) and hitwizards are more so your SWAT guys.

Also, when Harry goes through the hunchback witch secret honeydukes passage way it involves 200ish stairs and an hour or so long walk. I always assumed that that passage way was a bit shorter than that.

 

Clearly conjuration lasts for a while, since it lasts the entire night.

"Enchantments", not wards. Important difference? You decide.

Heh.

I'd honestly forgotten Diggory was mentioned at this point.

Riiight.

I'd forgotten the Map did this, to be honest.

So it's not just a location, it's any secret. It's also interesting that it isn't clear if it concealed the Potter's residence, or concealed that it was the Potters'.

Apparently it's Hit Wizards, not Aurors, that are the ones that bring people (dark wizards?) in.

Dumbledore: banterminator extraordinaire.

As a pet owner, I must say Hermione's continual refusal of the idea that her pet might eat Ron's proves she is a cunt of the highest possible order.

Oh, Percy.

SAVAGE

Huh. Wonder how that works.

This bit's quite remarkable. Not only for the "master", but that this appears to confer actual magical authority on Snape.

Hermione keeping the pimp hand strong.

Either outside visitors can come see Hogwarts Quidditch games or Slytherin's a hell of a lot larger than I thought.

The Quidditch match against Slytherin reminds me that Derrick and Bole are two separate characters, and not one person named Derek Bole (or Derrick Bole.)

 

It's a pity Flitwick never taught them to keep students inside the school.

 

I am not a huge fan of Mary GrandPre but I love the artwork for Chapter 9 (Grim Defeat)

 

I did up to chapter eight in the last thread for some reason, so repeating myself a little:

Chapter 8: Flight of the Fat Lady

Quote:
Crookshanks slowly chewed up the spider, his yellow eyes fixed insolently on Ron
Hard to argue that Crookshanks was anything other than a dick to Ron, really. Also: I named my late cat Crookshanks, and this is exactly the sort of thing he would have done.

Quote:
Well, look at it logically,' said Hermione, turning to the rest of the group.
It wasn't just HBP she was tactless.

Chapter 9: Grim Defeat

What, precisely, would Filch have done if he had found Sirius? Beaten him up with a broom? Soaked him in magical bleach?

Actually one of the few possible crimes suggested for Sirius that he might have been tempted to carry out.

I'd always pictured Dementors as floating rather than walking about or standing. Probably because of the PoA film, which I love.

Chapter 10: The Marauder's Map

I'm intrigued by the fact that Fudge just casually drops into the Three Broomsticks with no guards, and clearly knows Madame Rosmerta pretty well, and knows about her business. You'd think the leader of the wizarding community would have at least a bit of security with him, particularly when a known terrorist has been seen in the area very recently. You can handwave that by the fact that he's accompanied by McGonagall - very talented witch in general - Flitwick - former Duelling Champion - and Hagrid - half-giant badass - but still. With his friendly discussion with Rosmerta, it contributes to the idea that the wizarding world, on a national scale at least, is actually pretty small.

Couple of things here. Firstly, I wonder whether Hagrid actually would have stood a decent chance against the type of magic Pettigrew was slinging around. We know he's resistant to magic, after all, and generally rather more resilient than even other wizards.
Secondly, it occurs to me that there's a decent character motivation for Fudge's refusal to acknowledge Voldemort's return - we all know he's scared, of course, but I'd forgotten that he had first hand experience of some of those attacks. He's seen what it can be like. It's a nice little bit of nuance to him.

 

Chapter 11: The Firebolt

Remember a few chapters ago, when she tries to tell Harry he shouldn't practice after dark but she was swayed by the thought of winning the Cup?

Chapter 12: The Patronus

I'd always thought, and I think it's usually portrayed in fanfic as being a common Wizarding drink, but this suggests it's a speciality of the Three Broomsticks.

Chapter 13: Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw

This seems a very Muggle reference for Draco to be making. Perhaps it's something he's picked up from Martin Miggs the Mad Muggle (or whatever it's called)? Or maybe he has a stash of Muggle Studies textbooks tucked discreetly under his mattress.

Chapter 14: Snape's Grudge

This suggests that trolls have at least some level of intelligence, and aren't just mindless monsters.

As a Post Office employee myself, I can't help but wonder what it would be like working there. Customers spicing up their complaints about lost mail with a few hexes? What's the compensation on lost mail? How much mail gets sent, given that an owl can probably only carry one parcel at a time, dependent on size? Etc etc.

So...does the Map simply insult anyone in this fashion if they try to use it without the activation phrase, and it addresses Snape by name/title because he's identified himself? Or did they hate him so much that they programmed this in specially for him?

Chapter 15: The Quidditch Final

Given that she predicts one death per class per year, how likely is it that someone just gives up around the same time every year?

Given the events of the First Task, this is eerily prescient.

 

I wish we could have seen the conversation Ron and Hermione had by themselves after it was revealed in chapter 10 that Sirius was the one who supposedly betrayed Harry’s parents especially as Harry even recognised that they must have rehearsed their conversation beforehand. It would also be interesting to know exactly how Hermione coped with the estrangement from her best and probably only friends. My guess is that she became more focused on her schoolwork to compensate.

With regards to the cat-rat fight here, it is amazing how many in the fandom continue to claim she did nothing wrong here at all and it was all that horrible Ron’s fault. Hermione even saw herself how her cat was chasing after that rat and presumably trying to eat it and all she said was that, then she got angry that Ron tried to kick Crookshanks to stop it from going after Scabbers any further.

In chapter 12-14 I am constantly amazed at how little Harry appear to miss Hermione’s company considering they were estranged for around two months if not longer.

The twins have also been rather negligent in another way namely by consistently failing to spot Peter Pettigrew on the Map even though he was in their brother’s dormitory the whole time.

Agreed. It’s also unclear how the secret is concealed? What exactly happens when someone else attempted to divulge the secret?

I wonder what kind of fallout Percy would have with his girlfriend if Ravenclaw won?

Hermione can be extremely nasty when angered.

Agreed it seems that everyone in the wizarding world is obsessed with Quidditch. However McGonagall never went to the same extreme as Wood and insist that Harry die trying to catch the Snitch.

It’s probably because of the Muggle magazine. However I think the Malfoy family knows more about the Muggle world then they let on considering their family history as revealed on Pottermore that showed them mixing with Muggles to preserve family wealth and status.

I think it’s the former but then maybe this is just another example of the confusion of Hogwarts student number within the books. Alternatively it might be that some Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs was supporting Slytherin as well?

I never thought about this before but now I realised this explanation makes perfect sense.