The Order of the Phoenix Re-Read: Chapter 20

[slowfox]

Here's a question: did Fang go with Hagrid and Olympe to find the giants, or has he been at Hogwarts all this time?

They beamed at each other under the Cloak; they could tell by Hagrid's voice that he was pleased. "Bin home three seconds... out the way, Fang... out the way, yeh dozy dog..."

Having asked that, Hagrid states it was 'jus' the pair of us' a little later on, but then I wonder about who was taking care of Fang. We know that it can't be 'just magic', because in CoS, Hagrid specifically asks Ron and Harry to look out for his dog...

Just love Hermione's dental training coming to the fore with this bit:

He bent down and tugged the dragon steak out of Fang's mouth.

"Oh, Hagrid, don't, it's not hygien-" Hermione began, but Hagrid had already slapped the meat back over his swollen eye.

Accepting that Olympe and Hagrid 'stick out a bit', it seems, surely, that pretending to pass themselves off as Muggles was perhaps a less discreet option that Apparating across France and Poland? Although maybe they wanted to make sure that they arrived at the giants' stronghold under as Muggle-steam-powered conveyance as possible.

Hagrid rules out a Portkey on the grounds that they were being watched. Does this mean that the Ministry knows every Portkey activation that goes on? If so, could they not have investigated matters at the end of the Third Task? Would they not have been alerted? Or is it more likely that the Ministry only set up an active watch for Portkey activity after Harry came back from the graveyard?

Oddly enough, Hermione displays a certain amount of tact in asking whether Hagrid had heard anything relating to his mother - of course that would have made him more interested in seeking out the giants. 'tis a shame that she'd died, although as Hagrid notes, she perhaps wasn't a great mother to him.

I didn't think it would've been possible to cultivate an even greater dislike for Umbridge, but JKR manages it effortlessly:

"So," she said slowly and loudly, as though speaking to somebody deaf. "You're Hagrid, are you?"

This is horrible, where Umbridge talks down to Hagrid on the assumption that he's thick, and Hagrid responds in kind, on the assumption that Umbridge is speaking in such a manner for her benefit (Oh, I wish) rather than his.

That said, I have to concede that Umbridge displays a certain element of wit here:

"I - I've been away for me health," he said.

"For your health," repeated Professor Umbridge. Her eyes travelled over Hagrid's discoloured and swollen face; dragon blood dripped gently and silently on to his waistcoat. "I see."

"Yeah," said Hagrid, "bit o' - o' fresh air, yeh know -"

"Yes, as gamekeeper fresh air must be so difficult to come by," said Umbridge sweetly.

We get a further hint about the Thestrals:

"But tha's not very interestin', Hermione," said Hagrid. "The stuff I've got's much more impressive. I've bin bringin' 'em on fer years, I reckon I've got the on'y domstic herd in Britain."

I do like Hermione's determination at the close of the chapter, when they don't seem to be getting through to Hagrid that it would safest to study... tame-ish beasts in Care of Magical Creatures:

"Then I'll go back again tomorrow," said Hermione determinedly. "I'll plan his lessons for him if I have to. I don't care if she throws out Trelawney but she's not getting rid of Hagrid!"

Well, we all know how this plays out as the story progresses, of course; Hermione's Inner Eye is clearly in fine fettle.

Comments

[aome]

Are you keeping a list of the various details that Are Best Left Not Thought About Too Deeply? Like Fang? :P Perhaps, knowing he would be gone for the summer (when no students - or perhaps even other teachers - would be about, Hagrid made arrangements for Fang to be cared for elsewhere, and retrieved him on the way home?) On the other hand, "Just the two of us" implies "just the two of us sentient beings" - I don't know if it would have occurred to Hagrid to include Fang in the mention, no matter how much he loves him.

Hagrid rules out a Portkey on the grounds that they were being watched. Does this mean that the Ministry knows every Portkey activation that goes on?

And yet the Weasleys (and Harry) use a Portkey to escape Umbridge a few chapters on, a Portkey Dumbledore created, mind. If the Ministry was aware of their use, that closely, surely they would have known where the children went. Or is it because they went to an Unplottable destination that the Ministry was NOT able to track them, even if they were alerted?

I wonder if a glamour or some other sort of disguising magic would be considered safe to use as they traipsed across the Continent, or if even that was considered too dangerous.

Did I mention that I hate Umbridge? Feeling discredited and condescended to is just awful.

Am I the only one left participating? *looks around*

[cynthia_black]

I'm participating, but I'm a few chapters (5 days' worth, actually) behind

[carolanne5]

I'm lurking and enjoying but sadly often too tired for intelligent comment!

[slowfox]

Are you keeping a list of the various details that Are Best Left Not Thought About Too Deeply? Like Fang? :P

I know, Deep Thought was probably not meant to be applied to HP, but these are the things that cross my mind as I re-read, and hence make it into my posts :-)

I think the destination being Unplottable must have something to do with the safety of the later Portkeying. But I do wonder back to the Hearing, and the Ministry knowing where Harry was (how did the school owls know where to deliver the Hogwarts letters?); surely if they noticed that he was at an Unplottable location, they would have made enquiries as to exactly what he was doing there? (or perhaps they tasked Kingsley with that?).

Sometimes you just get the impression that, ironically, wizards just aren't that good at the cloak and dagger stuff...

[cynthia_black]

'Jus' the pair of us' might not necessarily exclude Fang - people often don't refer to their pet in that context. Though Hagrid is very likely to be an exception there. And the giants might have seen Fang as a nice, tasty morsel. In which case, I wouldn't be surprised if Professor Grubbly-Plank had been taking care of Fang.

And re Portkeys: Maybe the use of them leaves magical traces that can be detected by other wizards, and if they'd used them, then they could have been tracked at exit and entry points? Even if the chance of being found directly that way was slim, it would still have given the Ministry a way of checking up on Hagrid and Olympe to see which direction they were going in.

[slowfox]

Maybe the use of them leaves magical traces that can be detected by other wizards, and if they'd used them, then they could have been tracked at exit and entry points?

So if that were the case, the Aurors should've immediately tracked the GoF portkey to the graveyard to see what they could learn about Cedric's demise, and look for corroborating evidence for Harry's story! *grumps*