The Order of the Phoenix Re-Read: Chapter 3

[slowfox]

Chapter 3: The Advance Guard

Well, it seems a bit odd to go to the trouble of breaking into (and just plain breaking, Tonks) the Dursleys' house, to then unlock Harry's door from distance before announcing one's presence. I would've thought that Lupin might've come up with a better security question than asking what form his Patronus took, though: isn't that a bit public? Especially when you consider that someone set the Dementors after Harry, and it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that said person was on hand, somewhere, to ensure they did what they were supposed to...

"I'm a Metamorphmagus," she said, looking back at her reflection and turning her head so that she could seeher hair from all directions. "It means I can chage my appearance at will."

Why oh why did JKR introduce the concept of a Metamorphmagus to then singularly fail to do anything with it? Tonks' introduction mainly reminded me of Harry's introduction waaaaaaaaay back in PS/SS, where we're told about that time his Aunt cut his hair and it all grew back. I assumed that that would prove to be foreshadowing of Harry's own Metamorphmagic abilities, but as we know, not to be. Which then leads us to wonder why Tonks needed to be a Metamorphmagus at all.

"...If they take out all of us and you survive, Harry, the rear guard are standing by to take over; keep flying east and they'll join you."

"Stop being so cheerful, Mad-Eye, he'll think we're not taking this seriously," said Tonks...

Moody does seem to be taking things awfully seriously :-)

Nice to see the Put-Outer get another outing, although I can't help thinking that had any Muggles been looking out, they'd have noticed a gaggle of wizards arriving by broomstick before they turned out the streetlights.

And finally, despite all the directions that we're quoted in the text being south, southeast and southwest, we land in London (Little Whinging is in Surrey, a county that lies to the southwest of this green and pleasant land's fair capital).

I know that the text says that the Floo's being watched, that they can't make an illegal Portkey (although Wormtail managed, didn't he?) and Harry's too young to Apparate, but we know that it's possible to Apparate under someone else's power, as it were, and surely Kingsley would've been able to do that, even if it was beyond Tonks or Moody or Lupin? Broomsticks made... well, a journey, I guess, out of what could've been a hop, but it seemed awfully involved, and rather risky.

Comments

[aome]

I suppose the "point" of including a Metamorphmagus was just to expand the magical world a little bit. There have been other things which didn't really seem to have a real plotty purpose, like Neville's plant, the one he'd lovingly cared for over summer, but which squirted foul-smelling stuff. No purpose, really, just expanding our knowledge of HP-verse. But, yeah, there could have been so much more done with it.

Frankly, the thing that threw me off most about Tonks in this chapter and the one that follows was her incessant clumsiness. I thought surely this was a ruse, designed to throw us off the track and make her appear charmingly nonthreatening, when in reality she was going to turn out to be one of the Bad Guys. I was actually faintly disappointed when Tonks turned out to be just ... Tonks. On the other hand, I like Tonks a WHOLE lot better in this book than in the next two. Her being a Metamorphmagus might not have been terribly significant, but her wit and changeable faces did provide more much-needed levity, especially early on.

I, of course, have no way of knowing exactly how much JKR had plotted out in advance, but the inconsistencies of getting Harry out by massively-guarded broomstick instead of side-along Apparation or some other method might simply be that she hadn't thought of those things yet. :P

What, do you suggest, could Lupin (who, of the group, knew Harry best) have asked instead of the Patronus question? It does have those potential security gaps as you've mentioned, but I wonder if there's anything else he could have asked instead. "What brand of chocolate did I feed you after Dementor practice?" ;-)

[slowfox]

Lupin could've picked any random element from his DADA lessons. Or, since he's in contact with Sirius, he could've asked something about Pig or Buckbeak or somesuch. But to ask what form your ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE, SILVER, SHINY Patronus takes when you've just used it, in an environment they're assuming is being watched just feels... lacking in vigilance ;-P

I was disinclined to like Tonks purely for the Mary-Sueish-ness of a special ability that no-one else has. And it strikes me that you really wouldn't miss that aspect of Tonks if it wasn't there - her character didn't really need bolstering that much.