darth_stitch (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
darth_stitch) wrote2005-08-20 06:40 pm
darth_stitch) wrote2005-08-20 06:40 pm
Stitch's SQUEE!-filled and SPOILER!-Happy Reactions, Obvservations Etc. On HBP
Yes, I finally got my furry blue little paws on the book, sat down and finished reading it.
WHEEEE!!! Thanks, Colleen!
*adores![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
murasaki99*
ETA: Added some more stuff under the Snape section. XP
Just for the record, I agree with a previous LJ post someone put out there - forget who it is - be happy if someone could remind me. The Harry Potter books are not 'shipping books. If they were, I'd pick up a copy of one of those old Sweet Dreams teen romance novels and have done with it. Plus, if they were, Harry would have ended up with Hermione and they'd be having bushy-haired green-eyed babies after they graduated from Hogwarts.
Plus, the Potter books were meant for children, even if said children are growing up with the books. JKR gets enough flak from the supposedly "Christian Right" for the magic in the books alone. I shudder to think of the circus that would ensue if she wrote slash in the books for any of the characters. So no, I don't really expect that my OTP Snarry or whatever slash pairing out there is actually going to sail. We'll just have loads of fun picking through canon for possibile subtext and writing fan fiction on it.
And if there ain't any - that's why we're having loads of fun writing fan fiction anyway! XP
Although, I was greatly entertained by the OMG! The Ship is Canon! things I kept seeing in the books. JKR must be reading more slash than we thought she was. *giggles*
a. OMG Filch/Madam Pince is CANON! - Hey, Harry said so!
invisiblesnitch: Too bloody right you are, mate! Saw 'em snogging in the corridors.. eurgh. And I thought "Won-Won" snogging "Lav-Lav" was bad enough!
Ron: OI!
b. OTP! Kreacher/Draco Malfoy! - Ah, Kreacher... how the unrequited love must kill you, working for the unsuitable Potter boy, deprived of your rightful master. Then again, the UST between Kreacher and Dobby was pretty scorching too. XP
c. Harry Potter - How do I love thee? Let me count the ways... Hehe. So he was an annoying little prat in OotP. Here, he redeemed himself. Like Morrie says, he's a stubborn, smart, snarky, ballsy little bugger and I adore him, I do. I thoroughly enjoyed Harry's inner Slytherin abilities coming to the fore - charming his way 'round Slughorn, boosting up Ron by pretending to put in Felix Felicis in his drink, making good use of the
things he got out of the Half Blood Prince's book.... so okay "mostly" good use. He's still at time both thoughtless and reckless and still easily distracted - using Sectusempra on Malfoy and then letting precious time go in getting the Horcrux memory from Slughorn - but he's not a perfect hero. This is where you still see that for all the shite he keeps getting, Harry's still very much a kid, who's done a lot of growing up in this book and will keep on doing so in his next adventure.
fates_caprice: (while reading HBP with Stitch) *silently adores his Dark Bunny Lord*
Morrie: Stick with me, kid. Together, we'll take over the universe!
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
invisiblesnitch: *is taking notes on Dark Lording*
Feanor: *is terrified*
I'm also greatly amused to have my suspicion of Harry being a better than average student confirmed. His grades, except for Divinations and History of Magic (not surprising, considering the teachers) are excellent. And he's not as abysmal a Potions student (not counting the help he got from the Prince) as one would think. He's actually pretty good at it... and better coaching confirms it. Maybe he's not a Potions Master, but he's not a Neville either.
d. For the record: I LOATHE Ginny Weasley - not because my OTP is of the slash variety. She's just plain irritating... suddenly set up to be this suitably fiery, spirited perfect match for Harry. *rolls eyes*
e. While we're on the subject: Hermione is COMPLETELY and UTTERLY annoying - I told my Mommy Duck - that's it, you ain't no Hermione, Mommy Duck. You're TONS better than she is. Her whole know-it-all schtick, opinionated and sanctimonious air completely irritated me all throughout the book, so much so that when the Ron/Hermione inevitably happened, I was all "Feh, who cares?" about it. Although Hermione hexing Ron with canaries was funny, especially with thepotterpuffs drawing I saw to go with it! XP
f. Harry/Ginny - What Harry/Ginny? *bats eyes innocently* Lalalalalalala....
g. Snape/Draco - What Snape/Draco?
h. Draco - still an annoying, if pathetic little spaz. *sighs* He's more Hufflepuff than Slytherin - perhapscopperbadge hit it right on when he made Draco a Hufflepuff in his Stealing Harry AU. XP
i. Harry Potter/The Half Blood Prince - OTP Forever! I'm rather amused at Harry's crush on the Prince all throughout the book, the delicious irony in that "the Prince" was a better teacher than Snape and the fact that Harry thought the Prince was both clever and funny and worth looking up to. I was cackling with glee at the mental picture of teenage Snape and Harry probably being able to hit it off, had things been vastly different... and
possibly ending up in the sack together. Oooh, Plot Bunnies!
I'm also amused that Hermione was jealous of the Prince and that she thought/insisted he was a girl, especially with her crack about his handwriting.
fates_caprice; I do NOT have girlish handwriting! *sulks*
And if we want some Snarry UST in there - well, let's see, there's Snape's pointed cracks about Harry's "appearance" AND the fact that his detentions were deliberately set to cut in Harry's valuable Ginny time. XP How's that for subtext?
invisiblesnitch: Ha! Knew you were checking out my arse that last time, Snape.
fates_caprice: If you didn't want me to look at your arse, you shouldn't have been wearing those jeans, Potter. *sniffs*
invisiblesnitch: I wear baggy jeans - how'd you see my arse from there?
fates_caprice: How did you notice my arse underneath my robes, Potter?
invisiblesnitch: *blushes*
j. His Snarkiness, Severus Snape - What can I say? The Unbreakable Vow, the Half Blood Prince, the final moments between Snape and Dumbledore... Snape will spark more debates than ever in the last two years before Book 7 finally hits the shelves. I'm going to enjoy each and every one of them.
There's so many things that will swing Snape several ways. If he's been an evil bastard all along, I will be deeply disappointed because it's a waste of a wonderfully ambiguous character and my deeply-held belief that Snape should be that "one good Slytherin" to show Harry that House prejudice is just as ridiculous and hurtful as blood prejudice. Plus, Snape's been JKR's favorite red herring since the beginning - why change it now?
If Snape's simply a bastard looking out for number one - meaning, himself - well, that's another story and one more thing that won't surprise me. It's perfectly within his character, his driving need for recognition and respect and acclamation. Wouldn't surprise me if he too wanted to be a Dark Lord - he's got the balls for it, just like Harry does.
If he, like Harry, is Dumbledore's man through and through and that his killing of Dumbledore was not a cold-blooded act of murder but what Dumbledore was asking all along - then I pity the poor bastard. Bastard he remains, but I can only imagine the pain and the agony he's feeling now.
Several things I find most curious about His Snarkiness -
1. The Half Blood Prince - Harry misses the point of this entirely. Voldemort isn't proud of his being a half-blood. In fact, he's gone through great pains to hide that part of him - killing the Riddles and all. He prefers to think of himself as Slytherin's Heir - not as the half-blood offspring of the House of Gaunt. But Snape curiously puts an emphasis on that
title "Half-blood" - he's proud that he IS one. Because if he, like Voldemort, would prefer not to acknowledge his lack of blood purity, then why call himself the Half Blood Prince?
2. Snape's "remorse" over leading Voldemort to the Potters - Lame! Everybody else found it lame so I'm not buying it as the main reason for Severus going over to the "other side." Sigh. As much as it pains me to say it, I strongly suspect that there's Snape/Lily subtext somewhere in here. It's said that JKR mentions that Snape had been loved, unlike Voldemort - so who, aside from Snape's mother, loved ickle Snivellus? Is it entirely possible that Lily was Hermione (or Ginny) to Snape's Harry? Was Lily Evans the secret best friend of the Half Blood Prince and was her eventual relationship with James Potter the reason why their friendship fell apart? Veddy interesting.
ETA:
3. Why would Snape even care about Harry calling him a coward? - "DON'T CALL ME COWARD!" Snape roars and why is Harry's opinion so important to him? Draco would have spat some insult, Lucius would have said something suitably sarcastic and Voldemort would have laughed in Harry's face had Harry said something like that. So why would Snape care about the opinion of a 16 year old boy wizard on his courage? Heh.
4. And like Bellatrix pointed out, Snape's had a lot of opportunities to betray and hurt Dumbledore AND Harry, why didn't he do it? He had time, he had opportunity, he had the power and the cunning and the courage to pull it off. But he didn't. Again, veddy interesting. XP
k. Voldemort - GREAT backstory - I know there's whole loads of fodder here for some pretty terrifying and horrific fan fiction, especially with that bit about Voldie leading those two little children to the cave.
Morrie: *sniffs* He's still a pretty, pretentious wanker. Like Sauron. Horcruxes! Rings! Don't they ever learn?
invisiblesnitch: Well, that's why they get taken down by hobbits and snotty teenagers, Morrie. Unlike you, of course. It took the combined might of Valar, elves and men to take you down.
Morrie: *sniffles* That was a grand old time, wasn't it?
Feanor: *rolls eyes*
l. Won-Won and Lav-Lav - *dies laughing* 'Nuff said.
m. Tonks and Lupin - WHOOOOOT!!!! And for Lupin fans - what a great werewolf backstory to work with!
n. "Phlegm" - *snorts* So not surprised about the Bill, the Fleur and the inevitable Molly and Ginny reaction.
Anyway, here's to the fan fiction and the debates and the long wait to Book 7. WHOOOT! *dances*
WHEEEE!!! Thanks, Colleen!
*adores
murasaki99*ETA: Added some more stuff under the Snape section. XP
Just for the record, I agree with a previous LJ post someone put out there - forget who it is - be happy if someone could remind me. The Harry Potter books are not 'shipping books. If they were, I'd pick up a copy of one of those old Sweet Dreams teen romance novels and have done with it. Plus, if they were, Harry would have ended up with Hermione and they'd be having bushy-haired green-eyed babies after they graduated from Hogwarts.
Plus, the Potter books were meant for children, even if said children are growing up with the books. JKR gets enough flak from the supposedly "Christian Right" for the magic in the books alone. I shudder to think of the circus that would ensue if she wrote slash in the books for any of the characters. So no, I don't really expect that my OTP Snarry or whatever slash pairing out there is actually going to sail. We'll just have loads of fun picking through canon for possibile subtext and writing fan fiction on it.
And if there ain't any - that's why we're having loads of fun writing fan fiction anyway! XP
Although, I was greatly entertained by the OMG! The Ship is Canon! things I kept seeing in the books. JKR must be reading more slash than we thought she was. *giggles*
a. OMG Filch/Madam Pince is CANON! - Hey, Harry said so!
invisiblesnitch: Too bloody right you are, mate! Saw 'em snogging in the corridors.. eurgh. And I thought "Won-Won" snogging "Lav-Lav" was bad enough!Ron: OI!
b. OTP! Kreacher/Draco Malfoy! - Ah, Kreacher... how the unrequited love must kill you, working for the unsuitable Potter boy, deprived of your rightful master. Then again, the UST between Kreacher and Dobby was pretty scorching too. XP
c. Harry Potter - How do I love thee? Let me count the ways... Hehe. So he was an annoying little prat in OotP. Here, he redeemed himself. Like Morrie says, he's a stubborn, smart, snarky, ballsy little bugger and I adore him, I do. I thoroughly enjoyed Harry's inner Slytherin abilities coming to the fore - charming his way 'round Slughorn, boosting up Ron by pretending to put in Felix Felicis in his drink, making good use of the
things he got out of the Half Blood Prince's book.... so okay "mostly" good use. He's still at time both thoughtless and reckless and still easily distracted - using Sectusempra on Malfoy and then letting precious time go in getting the Horcrux memory from Slughorn - but he's not a perfect hero. This is where you still see that for all the shite he keeps getting, Harry's still very much a kid, who's done a lot of growing up in this book and will keep on doing so in his next adventure.
fates_caprice: (while reading HBP with Stitch) *silently adores his Dark Bunny Lord*Morrie: Stick with me, kid. Together, we'll take over the universe!
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
invisiblesnitch: *is taking notes on Dark Lording*Feanor: *is terrified*
I'm also greatly amused to have my suspicion of Harry being a better than average student confirmed. His grades, except for Divinations and History of Magic (not surprising, considering the teachers) are excellent. And he's not as abysmal a Potions student (not counting the help he got from the Prince) as one would think. He's actually pretty good at it... and better coaching confirms it. Maybe he's not a Potions Master, but he's not a Neville either.
d. For the record: I LOATHE Ginny Weasley - not because my OTP is of the slash variety. She's just plain irritating... suddenly set up to be this suitably fiery, spirited perfect match for Harry. *rolls eyes*
e. While we're on the subject: Hermione is COMPLETELY and UTTERLY annoying - I told my Mommy Duck - that's it, you ain't no Hermione, Mommy Duck. You're TONS better than she is. Her whole know-it-all schtick, opinionated and sanctimonious air completely irritated me all throughout the book, so much so that when the Ron/Hermione inevitably happened, I was all "Feh, who cares?" about it. Although Hermione hexing Ron with canaries was funny, especially with the
potterpuffs drawing I saw to go with it! XPf. Harry/Ginny - What Harry/Ginny? *bats eyes innocently* Lalalalalalala....
g. Snape/Draco - What Snape/Draco?
h. Draco - still an annoying, if pathetic little spaz. *sighs* He's more Hufflepuff than Slytherin - perhaps
copperbadge hit it right on when he made Draco a Hufflepuff in his Stealing Harry AU. XPi. Harry Potter/The Half Blood Prince - OTP Forever! I'm rather amused at Harry's crush on the Prince all throughout the book, the delicious irony in that "the Prince" was a better teacher than Snape and the fact that Harry thought the Prince was both clever and funny and worth looking up to. I was cackling with glee at the mental picture of teenage Snape and Harry probably being able to hit it off, had things been vastly different... and
possibly ending up in the sack together. Oooh, Plot Bunnies!
I'm also amused that Hermione was jealous of the Prince and that she thought/insisted he was a girl, especially with her crack about his handwriting.
fates_caprice; I do NOT have girlish handwriting! *sulks*And if we want some Snarry UST in there - well, let's see, there's Snape's pointed cracks about Harry's "appearance" AND the fact that his detentions were deliberately set to cut in Harry's valuable Ginny time. XP How's that for subtext?
invisiblesnitch: Ha! Knew you were checking out my arse that last time, Snape.fates_caprice: If you didn't want me to look at your arse, you shouldn't have been wearing those jeans, Potter. *sniffs*invisiblesnitch: I wear baggy jeans - how'd you see my arse from there?fates_caprice: How did you notice my arse underneath my robes, Potter?invisiblesnitch: *blushes* j. His Snarkiness, Severus Snape - What can I say? The Unbreakable Vow, the Half Blood Prince, the final moments between Snape and Dumbledore... Snape will spark more debates than ever in the last two years before Book 7 finally hits the shelves. I'm going to enjoy each and every one of them.
There's so many things that will swing Snape several ways. If he's been an evil bastard all along, I will be deeply disappointed because it's a waste of a wonderfully ambiguous character and my deeply-held belief that Snape should be that "one good Slytherin" to show Harry that House prejudice is just as ridiculous and hurtful as blood prejudice. Plus, Snape's been JKR's favorite red herring since the beginning - why change it now?
If Snape's simply a bastard looking out for number one - meaning, himself - well, that's another story and one more thing that won't surprise me. It's perfectly within his character, his driving need for recognition and respect and acclamation. Wouldn't surprise me if he too wanted to be a Dark Lord - he's got the balls for it, just like Harry does.
If he, like Harry, is Dumbledore's man through and through and that his killing of Dumbledore was not a cold-blooded act of murder but what Dumbledore was asking all along - then I pity the poor bastard. Bastard he remains, but I can only imagine the pain and the agony he's feeling now.
Several things I find most curious about His Snarkiness -
1. The Half Blood Prince - Harry misses the point of this entirely. Voldemort isn't proud of his being a half-blood. In fact, he's gone through great pains to hide that part of him - killing the Riddles and all. He prefers to think of himself as Slytherin's Heir - not as the half-blood offspring of the House of Gaunt. But Snape curiously puts an emphasis on that
title "Half-blood" - he's proud that he IS one. Because if he, like Voldemort, would prefer not to acknowledge his lack of blood purity, then why call himself the Half Blood Prince?
2. Snape's "remorse" over leading Voldemort to the Potters - Lame! Everybody else found it lame so I'm not buying it as the main reason for Severus going over to the "other side." Sigh. As much as it pains me to say it, I strongly suspect that there's Snape/Lily subtext somewhere in here. It's said that JKR mentions that Snape had been loved, unlike Voldemort - so who, aside from Snape's mother, loved ickle Snivellus? Is it entirely possible that Lily was Hermione (or Ginny) to Snape's Harry? Was Lily Evans the secret best friend of the Half Blood Prince and was her eventual relationship with James Potter the reason why their friendship fell apart? Veddy interesting.
ETA:
3. Why would Snape even care about Harry calling him a coward? - "DON'T CALL ME COWARD!" Snape roars and why is Harry's opinion so important to him? Draco would have spat some insult, Lucius would have said something suitably sarcastic and Voldemort would have laughed in Harry's face had Harry said something like that. So why would Snape care about the opinion of a 16 year old boy wizard on his courage? Heh.
4. And like Bellatrix pointed out, Snape's had a lot of opportunities to betray and hurt Dumbledore AND Harry, why didn't he do it? He had time, he had opportunity, he had the power and the cunning and the courage to pull it off. But he didn't. Again, veddy interesting. XP
k. Voldemort - GREAT backstory - I know there's whole loads of fodder here for some pretty terrifying and horrific fan fiction, especially with that bit about Voldie leading those two little children to the cave.
Morrie: *sniffs* He's still a pretty, pretentious wanker. Like Sauron. Horcruxes! Rings! Don't they ever learn?
invisiblesnitch: Well, that's why they get taken down by hobbits and snotty teenagers, Morrie. Unlike you, of course. It took the combined might of Valar, elves and men to take you down. Morrie: *sniffles* That was a grand old time, wasn't it?
Feanor: *rolls eyes*
l. Won-Won and Lav-Lav - *dies laughing* 'Nuff said.
m. Tonks and Lupin - WHOOOOOT!!!! And for Lupin fans - what a great werewolf backstory to work with!
n. "Phlegm" - *snorts* So not surprised about the Bill, the Fleur and the inevitable Molly and Ginny reaction.
Anyway, here's to the fan fiction and the debates and the long wait to Book 7. WHOOOT! *dances*
no subject
no subject
I think that Snape cared that Harry called him a coward because Snape had, arguably just done the bravest thing of his life: killing his mentor and blowing his cover. Sketchy, yes. Turncoat, yes. Wimp, not so much.
And to #4: I don't think Snape's ever really wanted to hurt Dumbledore. (Harry's a whole 'nother kettle of fish.) The Unbreakable Vow forced his hand. He couldn't have Draco kill Dumbledore, and he's too much of a preservationist to allow himself to die... so Dumbledore's a goner.
no subject
yes, i'm cilnging to the Snape is not really eeebil! Raft on the River Denial. XP
no subject
no subject
no subject
Morrie: Hey when you've got it...
Feanor: You haven't learned *anything*, have you?
Morrie: Certainly I have! The best coffee comes from Kona, Hawaii. *smirks*
Feanor: *facepalms*
Yep, agree with you on the Severus comments, and so much fodder for fanfic it's wonderful.
I am wondering about the Lilly thing... Severus would care about Harry's opinion if Harry was his child. 0_0
Wasn't Won-Won to gag over? Blech! SO glad Ron got that out of his system! Phew!
I'm also glad Fleur eventually made her way into the Weasley family's hearts by caring for Bill after he got hurt. I think she'll be a great fighter if necessary when things finally come to open battle.
Tom Riddle - one of those few cases where even as a kid, I'd say he was 'bad to the bone'. Too bad, since I'm sure his mother wanted him to be happy and loved him.
Morrie: I hate to say it, but some mortals don't need love, they need Orome to kick their asses and keep them in line.
Feanor: *goggles at Morrie* I don't believe I just heard you say that!
Morrie: Don't spread it around, ok?
no subject
I distinctly remember that this theory was debunked by JKR herself somewhere. Personally, I rather like reading about Snape-as-Harry's-father fics - I got into this way before I actually got into the slash side of the relationship. But now, I hope JKR doesn't pull the rug out from under us with THAT plot doozy.
Without any slash-y subtext, I'm beginning to believe that Snape may hold some wizard's debt or something very similar to an unbreakable vow to Lily Evans, which explains his protection of Harry. Or at the very least, Lily was, one way or the other, very dear to him, and thus, he's kept an eye on her son for her sake.
Why is Harry's opinion so important to him? That's a question I'd like answered. I mean, you just kill your mentor/the guy who kept you out of Azkaban for nearly 2 decades and a 16 year old you're supposed to despise calls you coward, I'd think the first thing you'd do is say something suitably scathing and/or just plain kill the kid, right? Why even CARE what Harry thinks of your courage?
Why did Dumbledore REALLY trust Snape? I know we can say Dumbledore naturally makes mistakes and his mistakes can be monumentally disasterous. But telling us that he was simply convinced of Snape's remorse over Harry's parents doesn't wash. I'd like to know that too.
Heh. I'm beginning to think that in a perfect universe, Snape might just have been Harry's other godfather or simply his "cranky but cool Uncle Sev." XP
no subject
Yep, killing Dumbledore was the bravest thing Snape has ever done that we know about. *Especially* if it was done under Dumbledore's prior orders. As far as Snape knows, he's dead himself, since if the headmaster had commanded him to kill him "if necessary" no one else knows about it. If Voldemort falls, Snape is left a criminal in a worse state than Sirius as far as the Wizarding world is concerned.
Heh-heh, I'm also not convinced Dumbledore is entirely gone... did you see the phoenix fly up from his funeral pyre? That wasn't Fawkes. JKR has never said *how* phoenixes are made... could it be that an act of self-sacrifice can spawn them? That would be SO cool.
no subject
Don't you go spawning Plot Tiggers on my head! Phoenixes! Severus! AIEEEEEE!!!!
*is siezed by a GINORMOUS Plot Tigger and must now write*
no subject
Nice bit of commentary there, especially about Snape's reaction to being called a coward.
I think the best bit however was your enthusiasm on how much we're going to enjoy the time until the next book. So many people read Bk 6 and said "I can't wait till the next one!" - You brought to mind how we should be glad for the wait and the goodies we'll read until then. It reminded me of one of the speaches from the movie Groundhog Day: "...But standing here among the people of Punxsutawney and basking in the of warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn't imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter." Thanks!!!
no subject
Call me off the mark... but I'm also beginning to think that Snape sekritly craves Harry's approval and acceptance, the way Harry's done for all the adults around him like Lupin, Tonks and McGonagall. But he also knows at the same time that's NEVER going to happen because of his own intolerable attitude.
But he wants it anyway.
Maybe if Lupin sees Harry as another James or is constantly reminded of James, Severus actually sees Lily in Harry. And the whole Harry=James thing is his close-to-the-truth cover.
Heh. God, I love theory-spinning. I believe it was
no subject