The Order of the Phoenix Re-Read: Chapter 1

[slowfox]

Having boldly asserted that I'd kick off the re-read at 9pm this evening, I find that I've got to revise the schedule, because of work and cinema and dog-walking and stuff.

So, I'm posting this now, but in general chapter updates are going to be in the evenings from Monday onwards, generally some time around 9ish.


So, in this chapter we learn that Harry's been trapped at the Dursleys' for at least four weeks, and that we've missed his birthday.

Some hints of CAPSLOCK!Harry are evident in his confrontation with the Dursleys after he's cracked his head on the windowframe whilst attempting to listen to the evening news, and also with

In the past, his scar hurting had warned that Voldemort was getting stronger again, but now that Voldemort was back they would probably remind him that its regular irritation was only to be expected ... nothing to worry about ... old news ...

The injustice of it all welled up inside him so that he wanted to yell with fury.

This is, I think, a marked change to the Harry of the first four books, who, with hindsight, gets put into a lot of difficult situations, but comes out more or less unscathed each time. Also apparent in this chapter is the fact that he's not pleased with the idea that his so-called-best-mates are having lots of fun at the Burrow without him, and it pleases me that he doesn't immediately forgive them when they do all finally get together.

Some things stay the same, though, and I do like Harry's dry wit:

"Yes - yes, good point, Petunia! What were you doing under our window, boy?"

"Listening to the news," said Harry in a resigned voice.

His aunt and uncle exchanged looks of outrage.

"Listening to the news! Again?"

"Well, it changes every day, you see," said Harry.

and

"Not this brave at night, are you?" sneered Dudley.

"This is night, Diddykins. That's what we call it when it goes all dark like this."

Not that we know it at this point in the story, but we do get a hint as to what's coming up:

In the meantime, he had nothing to look forward to but another restless, disturbed night, because even when he escaped the nightmares about Cedric he had unsettling dreams about long dark corridors, all finishing in dead ends and locked doors, which he supposed had something to do with the trapped feeling he had when he was awake.

I had high hopes for the meaning of the moment where Harry casts Lumos without his wand and it works: I sort of assumed that this was some foreshadowing of wandless magic to come, but we seem to forget all about that as the story unfurls.

I do wonder how Mrs Figg knew there were two Dementors, since, being a Squib, she can't see them, and it seems she was out of sight for Prongs' defence.

Comments

First comments without the book in front of me

[cynthia_black]

One thing that struck me on this re-read was how the first chapter is a similar starting point to the four previous books, yet different in tone this time as well: It starts, as usual, at Privet Drive, with friction between Harry and the Dursleys, with the juxtaposition of their world and his. And yet in this book, unlike the others I think, Harry is much less passive, much less likely to take what they mete out, and much more likely to stand up for himself, as evidenced in his conversations with Dudley.

Like you, I do like Harry's sarcasm/dry wit - it's been there all the way through the series, but it's definitely coming to the fore here, probably as a release valve for his frustration.

I'd forgotten that the Dept of Mysteries corridors were mentioned so early on!

Mrs Figg knowing there were two Dementors is puzzling, I have to say - I would have said that Squibs *could* see Dementors, otherwise how could Argus Filch have managed at Hogwarts in PoA?

Re: First comments without the book in front of me

[slowfox]

Well, yes, it is similar in starting to the previous four, except that we've jumped Harry's birthday - it's only ever referred to in the past tense, although given that it's early August, it can only just have happened.

The other thing that struck me is the Apparation: I thought House-Elves went Crack! and humans went pop, but may be mis-remembering that. Certainly seems a bit weird if Apparation makes a sound like a car back-firing - doesn't really lend itself to stealth amidst the Muggles...

Re: First comments without the book in front of me

[carolanne5]

I was under the impression that the sound of apparation was related the skills of the apparatee. So a skilled wizard like Dumbledore could apparate with the lightest of pops but a new learner would appear with a loud bang.

After reading so many fics though I have no idea if this thought evolved from canon or fanfic!

Re: First comments without the book in front of me

[slowfox]

I was under the impression that the sound of apparation was related the skills of the apparatee.

Oooh - that's a possibility. I don't recall it ever having been raised in canon, but my memory of OotP/HBP/DH is somewhat hazy, hence embarking upon the re-read.

Re: First comments without the book in front of me

[cynthia_black]

That certainly is feasible - I can see I'm going to have to look up the Apparition lessons parts of the books to see if it says anything about the noise. But it would figure that Mundungus Fletcher wouldn't be that skilled.

Re: First comments without the book in front of me

[cynthia_black]

I haven't found the Apparition classes bit yet, but reading on a couple of chapters, when Gred & Forge have just passed their Apparition exam, they both appear with loud cracks, so it's definitely not just house elves.

Re: First comments without the book in front of me

[slowfox]

But Gred and Forge are pretty skilled wizards, when it comes down to it. They just choose to focus on endeavours of their own choosing, rather than the prescribed curriculum... which, to me, suggests that if they could Apparate quietly, I'm quite sure that they'd invest the effort to so do, since the potential applications of such a skill would be... manyfold :-)

Re: First comments without the book in front of me

[cynthia_black]

Though in that passage they're using Apparition to annoy the rest of the household - I wonder if the noise can be varied? (That's just wishful thinking though, methinks)

Re: First comments without the book in front of me

[aome]

Except that later on, when Mrs Figg is called upon to testify, it's clear that her description of the Dementors is memorised and coached, not based on first-hand knowledge.

Re: First comments without the book in front of me

[slowfox]

Yes, but at the close of the chapter, Mrs Figg is telling Harry not to put his wand away, there may be more of them about... how does she know what the threat was?

Re: First comments without the book in front of me

[aome]

Just another plot hole the size of a Ford Anglia. :P

Perhaps she just recognised Harry and Dudley's behaviour? She might be a squib and yet still know how people react to them, or know what a Patronus does.

Re: First comments without the book in front of me

[slowfox]

Just another plot hole the size of a Ford Anglia. :P

Indeed so! But I s'pose that we could rationalise it by arguing that Mr Tibbles told Mrs Figg everything, and thus she came to Harry's aid forewarned, if not exactly forearmed...

[aome]

I believe we miss Harry's birthday in GoF, too - going solely on memory here, but didn't he have some leftover birthday cake to eat after the wholly unsatisfying grapefruit breakfast?

Also, Harry begins showing some spine against the Dursleys in PoA, where he leverages his good behavior with Marge (plus sticking to the St Brutus' story) against getting his permission slip signed. In GoF, he refuses to let Vernon cow him in the apoplexy over the over-stamped envelope and invitation to the World Cup. So, his attitude toward the Dursleys at the beginning of OotP, while stepped up a notch, is not new. It also better reflects, I think, the way many teenagers feel - resentful toward their elders (particularly if those elders are treating them like youngsters, not like young adults) and feeling they know better than anyone. And he's got to have some PTSD going as well.

I never did have a problem with CAPSLOCK!Harry in this book. Yes, I missed the innocence of earlier stories, but I felt it was well-suited to Harry's age, the events of the past, and the way people treated him in this book. I would probably have been angry, too.

I do love the witty comments, though - about the news, night, etc. It did definitely help break up the more painful bits.

[slowfox]

Yep, Harry's wit is definitely appreciated in its bid to lighten the tone of these opening chapters.

, his attitude toward the Dursleys at the beginning of OotP, while stepped up a notch, is not new.

I s'pose so... although it still feels like something of a step-change, but there again, Voldemort's risen anew, Cedric's been killed, and he's being deliberately kept out of the loop by all his so-called friends and mentors, so you can see how this might get to him...

[cesy]

The first thing I noticed on this is how she starts off in the middle of the series, on the first page, explaining too much for someone who's read the first four books (we know what Harry looks like by now), but not enough for someone who hasn't. Given the popularity of the first four books, she would have been somewhat justified in writing for people who had read at least some of the earlier books, or seen the films or something. Equally, many authors would put an explanation of the whole world at the beginning of every book in the series (e.g. Animorphs, Anne McCaffrey's Pern series, etc.). But J K Rowling does neither - we get an in-between worst of both worlds.

This time round, the CAPSLOCK is both still annoying, but I can see how it's kind of justified, at least from his point of view.

[slowfox]

The first thing I noticed on this is how she starts off in the middle of the series, on the first page, explaining too much for someone who's read the first four books (we know what Harry looks like by now), but not enough for someone who hasn't.

That's a good point - there has to be a point, surely, where there's too much backstory to try and bring new readers up to speed, and methinks we passed that with GoF.