The Order of the Phoenix Re-Read: Chapter 19

[slowfox]

It's clear from the outset that Harry's really taking heart from the DA sessions, and I have to concede that life would surely be pretty miserable without them.

Picking up a point that aome raised a couple of posts ago, it seems that there really isn't much inter-house socialisation at the school:

Hermione soon devised a very clever method of communicating the time and date of the next meeting to all the members in case they needed to change it at short notice, because it would look suspicious if people from different Houses were seen crossing the Great Hall to talk to each other too often.

They're kinda big on segregation, aren't they? Between wizards and Muggles, between purebloods and mixed, and between Houses themselves; it's practically institutionalised...

We finally get acknowledgement that it might have been logical for Hermione to have been Sorted into Ravenclaw:

"Well, the Sorting Hat did seriously consider putting me in Ravenclaw during my Sorting," said Hermione brightly, "but it decided on Gryffindor in the end."

In the build up to The Match, I do like Fred's admission that he and George were seriously considering admitting [Ron] was related to them... classic Twin stuff again. And we get to see a bit of Luna again (yes, she's in the DA, but she actually gets a mini-scene in the Great Hall this time, with that fantastic Lion hat).

And there's Ron/Hermione kissage, kinda, and a long, ambiguous hyphen for Harry. Did she kiss Harry on the cheek too, or not?

The game with Slytherin does underline how ridiculously biased the scoring system for Quidditch is - with only 10 points for a goal, but a whopping 150 point for catching the Snitch, it's a system that's guaranteed to turn the Seeker into hero-material.

I'm surprised that Harry let Malfoy's goading get to him as much as it did, Umbridge's unwelcome 'assistance' with McGonagall's punishment is magnificently biased: banning Fred because he looked like he would've got involved too is a lovely bit of pre-emptive justice.

I did wonder at 'banned for life', though: did she mean simply their Hogwarts years, or literally their entire 150 years or so of life? 'cos that would seem to be a pretty hefty sentence.

One thing that strikes me as curious is the chapter title itself - the Lion and the Serpent. Is this a reference to Luna's hat and... something else? Or a metaphor for the Quidditch match? Or is the Serpent specifically Malfoy? Or Umbridge (what House was Umbridge - do we ever find out?)?

About the only good piece of news in the chapter is that we learn that Hagrid's back right at the close...

Comments

[aome]

I can only imagine that "banned for life" means "Hogwarts life" because the Ministry wouldn't have any jurisdiction over private play once he leaves school. I suppose they could block him from any official national teams, but that's about it.

I also assumed that Hermione did not kiss Harry, because it would likely have come up somewhere - ie "Harry was amused at Ron's reaction - after all, Hermione had kissed him, too" or "And Harry -- she reached up to give him a friendly peck as well". Since Harry does not really need the emotional boost that Ron does, it seems more like her "And you, Harry" was just to make sure he knew she was supporting them both, so he didn't feel more left out that he often already does.

I would guess Umbridge is Slytherin - she certainly does not seem to possess qualities that would easily represent the other houses, and she also seems naturally disposed to favoring the Slytherins, as Snape does.

I hate hate hate the cruelty of "Weasley is our King". I find that almost as hard to read as Umbridge's detention.

[slowfox]

the Ministry wouldn't have any jurisdiction over private play

But there's a Quidditch office at the Ministry of Magic, isn't there? I wouldn't be that surprised to learn that there's a register administered by the Ministry that Quidditch players have to sign up with if they turn professional... I do also wonder what right Umbridge has to confiscate the boys' brooms... she is on quite the power trip.


I hate hate hate the cruelty of "Weasley is our King".

That just sort of rolled over me, but that's probably because I had pretty much constant abuse throughout school, and as Harry notes, its effectivenes diminishes after a while.

[aome]

And see, I had plenty of abuse in middle school (age 12-13), and for me, the idea of having nearly the entire school so publicly against me - that's too painful. Having small groups against me was hard enough.

[cynthia_black]

I think the 'banned for life' really did mean that: only garden practice with family members allowed, no playing in organised teams or leagues of any kind, ever - the Ministry now sees no difference in jurisdiction between Hogwarts and the rest of the Wizarding world. And as we see so clearly with Educational Decree Number 25, if they don't like a rule or law, they'll simply change it to fit...

And there's Ron/Hermione kissage, kinda, and a long, ambiguous hyphen for Harry. Did she kiss Harry on the cheek too, or not?

Left nicely ambiguous for the H/Hr shippers, methinks :-)

[slowfox]

I think the 'banned for life' really did mean that

That's how I read it, too. Just banning him from Hogwarts matches wouldn't have been enough for Umbridge, I'm sure. Although I do wonder whether Harry could've possibly taken up a place at an overseas professional team. There must be limits to the Ministry's jurisdiction, surely?