Old Book Reactions

[author_by_night]

Reading an LJ I had way back when, amayla. It's sort of interesting; I was still in High School, and ranting about "teh ebil pom-pom mafia" and calling my classmates communists. (Which is a bit strange, but I was a bit strange.) 

So now I'm reading my reaction of OoTP... it's tres interesting. 

So you guys are warned, this post contains spoilers..

Of course, I didn't cut it, because I didn't know how... which was pretty dumb, oh well.

Well, as I said, I finished the book last night. I am somehow both completely impressed and dissapointed at the same time. While I liked the way it was written, and a lot of the OC's were good, as well as the twists (Arabella, a Squib?!?!?), some stuff was just a little off. 

Take the whole Umbridge issue. I mean, I know that Fudge wasn't letting Dumbledore do stuff, but surely he could've found a way to put a stop to Umbridge before he was on his way to being sacked. He is supposed to have power and all-but it doesn't seem he does. Shouldn't he notice, at some point or another, how abusive Umbridge is really being?

I'm beginning to wonder if I realized the whole point of OoTP was that Fudge is an idiot who, naturally, was not capable of noticing...

The death of Sirius ticked me off. I really liked Sirius, and I thought that it was sad. And yet, there was no actual emotion. Maybe it was partly because I'd accidentally found out he dies, but I think it was mainly since it was too fast. There was no drama or suffering, no real reason for him to die. He'd just run in and was killed. It was almost more ironic than anything; Sirius was one of my favorite characters, and the fact that he was just killed because he'd happened to be in the wrong place was a huge dissapointment. I mean, there could've at least been people acting sad-even Harry seemed more angry than sad at first. I understand not as many people knew about Sirius, like they knew Cedric, so there wasn't going to be a lot of mourning, but still. You'd think someone would've shed a tear, or said something to Harry, besides Dumbledore. 

Younger Amy, the whole point of is that nobody loved Sirius more than Harry.</s>


Also, the fact that so many plot twists were just thrown up in the air. Like Arabella being a Squib. I just hope it's brought up again, or I'm going to be really annoyed. Oh, and the fact that Harry finds out how his Dad was to Snape, and then has no second thoughts about the answer he's given. 

Okay, still agree with my old self, but this time I think JKR does those things entirely on purpose. Plus, Arabella being a Squib wasn't supposed to serve a functiion other than her finding Harry and Dudley.

Actually, Harry's behavior in general was annoying. He ranged from overly immature to very depressed. I understand that he went through a lot and all, and I knew he would definitley not be happy. But not caring that Hermione's hands had been scratched, just because she couldn't get to him because she wasn't *allowed*? I understood the prefect thing-what I didn't get was why it was all okay for him once he heard his Dad hadn't been one. He does seem to feel uncomfortable on the Compartment, but is it just me or does he get over it really quickly?

If I had to choose between worrying that Umbridge was taking over, or that I didn't make Prefect... of course, this is the same guy who forgot he nearly killed Draco as soon as Snape said "don't play Quidditch."

I'm not trying to bash the book. I really did enjoy it. I just had to get stuff out of my system. Now, for what I DID like:

-Tonks. She was a great character! She was the type you'll know you're going to like. And she is very interesting!

Ah, yes, my beginnings as a Tonks writer.

-The whole thing with seeing Neville's parents. I think that was just a wake up call for Harry, and that it might be helpful later, when he's still upset about losing Sirius. There are always things worse than death, and Neville's family is proof. Plus, it also went well with a fanfic I wrote! ;)

-Molly seeing her sons being killed as Boggarts. Poor thing.

-Fudge finally realizing he was a git-and getting onto his feet. While it was a bit adrupt, I really feel it shows that Fudhe isn't an evil guy, because truthfully, I don't think he is. I think that he's just power hungry, and a little bit confused. I don't think he had any clue what he was really doing.

-Snape's "I'll-be-good-when-I-have-to" attitude. It is totally how I see him-I don't think that Snape's the greatest person, but I think that he really is a hero, and that as Hermione said, if Dumbledore trusts him than he can be trusted.

*Starts coughing very loudly* Um... I was just a litle off on that one.

-The brother/sister thing with Hermione and Harry. Okay, maybe it was just bme, but there seemed to be a lot of development there. Hermione giving Harry all the 411 on girls was just too cute, and Harry asking her for advice was good. I honestly think that Hermione is the sister Harry never had-one of the reasons I don't like the Harry/Hermione ship all that much.

My beginnings as a <s>snobby elitist</s> Quiller.

-The R/Hr in the book. Okay, it's possible you have to be a R/Hr shipper to see that, but still! 

And then an anvil fell through the ceiling and knocked me unconcious.

-Remus. Mmmm. I know he didn't act very caring about Sirius, 

Note to Younger Amy: What was he going to do, start sobbing and let his students get killed?!


and at first I was a little disturbed by that, but I then formed my own theory on it, that as a Werewolf, Remus trained himself not to get upset over hardships. 

Or he's just not angsty by nature?

Plus, I think that the book did imply he was upset-it said that he seemed to be in pain when taking Neville and Harry away, and that he was pale. Plus, he couldn't exactly burst into tears when he had to take on the role of authority. (Of course, I am a bit annoyed he never said anything to Harry about it, but hey, he might later anyway).

Er... not exactly...

-The MWPP. Okay, so it showed us James's bad side-I'm still not sure we can really trust that anyway, as it was Snape's interpretation.
 If we went into Draco's memory, and saw something Harry did to Draco, Harry would look like a prat. (Well, actually, I think Harry still is a prat, but still). The only problem is that it makes some of my fics and fic ideas really wrong now.. ah well.

Meanwhile, HBP worked insanely well for my ficverse... mostly the Remus/Tonks. ;) 

Okay, so I guess I might as well look at my HBP reactions, too, to see how much my views have changed. I just wish I could find my old GoF ones... 
oh well.

Perks:

1. The three ships, because they were cute. And H/G... whether it sunk or not, I don't care, it was cute while it lasted. The only thing that bugged me was how Hermione and Ron used other people to make one another jealous.

And the Bill/Fleur... argh. :( HE BELONGS WITH ARTEMIS! 

*Headdesk* I hope I wasn't serious. I like to think I wasn't.


(My OC, who is Remus's sister and Tonks's best friend... she hasn't been completely debunked yet, though). The thing is though, I also kinda like Fleur now... yikes. Sorry Artemis, I think we have to find you another lover.

2. The scene with Bellatrix and Narcissa (even though "Cissy" doesn't flow well with me).

3. Draco being a DE, and yet... I don't know. I don't think he has any signs of redemption, but he didn't go full-scale either. Rather, I see him as a kid who has been brought up wrongly, and isn't inherently evil - he's just messed up (and definitely deserves prison, though I don't think anyone deserves the Dementors, but they aren't there anymore).

4. Dumbledore's comment about Dudley being mistreated - that needed to be said.

5. The fact that there's a *reason* the DADA post has only lasted a year; I'd always figured it was overly convenient.

Peeves:

1. The lack of a lot of flow. I'm not sure I felt I ever fully took in everything, because one thing happened after another. That was good in OoTP, but not in HBP.

But rushing probably didn't help.

2. Ron and Hermione. Especially Hermione; hexing people so the man of your dreams does well is *not* cool.

Yeah, but not OOC, sadly. Almost wish I hadn't seen her hurting a friend like that since GoF.

3. The brief way Sirius's innocence was mentioned; no surprise was voiced. I mean... what the...?

I still think it was odd, but I think we really only saw Harry, and he already knew. I doubt his thoughts when he saw the article were any more than "no 
shit" at that point.

Things I'm iffy about:

1. Snape ending up as a DE. I mean, I never liked the man, but it would've been nice if Dumbledore had been right. I liked the idea that he'd truly been redeemed - sort of. 

Now I don't know if I think he's a DE, but I don't care either way at this point.

2. Tonks's cheering up after getting with Remus. 

ACK!!!!!!

I really, really hope JKR doesn't mean that Tonks's mopeyness wasn't because of a death that had just occured at all,  but because of a break up (or did they just not get together?) I'm pretty sure JKR meant that it just hadn't helped, though, and that's what I'm settling for... I just hope I'm right, you know?

You are. Now go about your ship.

3. The lack of... plot. I'm just going to assume that HBP was a backdrop.

Oh, no, no plot at all... except the Gaunts, the Horcruxes, Harry dealing with Sirius, Harry realizing he had to go on his own, Snape killing Dumbledore, Draco trying to kill Dumbledore... nope, absolutely no plot whatsoever.

Other stuff:

1. Fern, I'm so sorry Elizabeth got debunked. :( I liked that version better than my own theories. However, I did see how Shifts could still work, so that's good, at least.

(I forgot to mention that my friend and I had thought up a scenario in which there was a Werewolf biting people on purpose, and I'd toyed with the idea of him having bitten Remus. Spooky).

2. Artemis is still plausible; she's never been canon, but she's not completely implausible now. (I might have to adjust my Bill/Artemis plot, but that's all right). And I already have reasons in mind for her absence.

I forget what exactly those reasons were, but I have different ones now. (And Bill is just a friend).

So, I say we make this a meme, or at least a discussion. Anyone have old opinions? GoF and earlier would be even better! I don't really have those reactions written anywhere I can access, and I can't remember a lot of my initial reactions, though I know after PoA, I still wasn't entirely sure we should trust Sirius.

*Ducks*  Sorry!

Comments

[tipsytoe.livejournal.com]

I remember the first time I read PoA, and when I came to the part where Harry met Cho, I was immediately a H/C supporter. I liked the whole idea that finally, young Harry seems interested in a girl as a more than a friend/just a girl. I was still rooting for Ginny (she just had me in CoS), but I supported whichever girl Harry seems interested in at the same time. Okay, that was part of my shipping thoughts.

Other than that, I actually really like Sirius after PoA. My most favourite of the series is of course, PoA because we get to know more about the Marauders, and it was the only time where Harry didn't meet Voldermort. So that was a refreshing change. I didn't like how Sirius was killed off too. It seems so... abrupt.

[petitecrivan.livejournal.com]

See, I was so stupid. I didn't think H/G would happen because Ginny was so obviously over him! *headdesk*

I actually liked that Sirius's death was so sudden. It worked well, and was very Sirius-like. Though I know I wasn't the only one who was like "WTF just happened???" and reread it three times before understanding. I had to do that with HBP, too. Surely Snape didn't just kill Dumbledore! Surely it was the other way around!!

I didn't keep an LJ until after HBP, but I had a real diary. I found my entries for OotP and HBP. The OotP one is basically telling what happened in the story, but the HBP is mostly me writing in shock about what happened. And anger. Much anger. I had to get it all out.

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

After OoTP, I figured H/G was plausible. I just figured Ginny was over Harry, but would like him "that way" again on a more mature level.

And yeah, I don't mind Sirius's death as much now - I see it as JKR's way of showing what death really is. It's not tragic Viola music and such, you know?

[katieay.livejournal.com]

Hee, I love that Last Year!You thought HBP had no plot... I've read five times now and the plot and subplots are so intricate that I learn something new every time.

Alas, I didn't have my LJ when OotP came out.

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I learn something new every time I read any book. There's a lot of value in re-reading; it's a lost art!

[ani-bester.livejournal.com]

Well I can't find any coherent write up on my LJ. It hink I ahve some, but there's too much to wade through.

I recall being *mad* when Sirius died. Not at JKR thogh, just in general, that the one perosn Harry needed more time with died.
But I thought she killed him in an important way, which I liked.

I also loved Cho Chang and I still do. I thought the whole Cho Chang issue in OotP was actually interesting and well written. For whatever reason Hr/R in HBP jsut got tidious.

MWPP James I loved. I had written a comic in which Siirus and James are somewhat assholish (which I sitll have not put up 0.o) and I was owrried peple would see it as OOC and totlaly biased toward PEter on my part. So to have canon back my story up made me happy.

I was not happy that Peter coudln't even be portrayed somewhat decently though. That's where I figured Peter was doomed and not likely to redeem himself any better than Gollum did, because it seems she jsut doens't see him has having a decent likeable persona ever. :(

I had issues with screaming Harry, but on reflection, it's nice to see he acted like real abused child with actula emotional issues and such from that. In retrospect, it was good characterization for him.

Dumbledore's single tear . . . what is that vally girls say? *Gag me with a spoon*

I thought that whole prophecy bit was poorly handled poorly written, and made Dumbledore look like an ass. And I still do. That's where I decided my roommate might be right and Dumbledore is a either exceedingly clueless aobut actual human emotions or just a manipulative jerk.

A lot of the things I picked up in OotP prepped me for how I reacted to HBP. Dumbledore's a good example. The ending of ootP had relaly bugged me, and then to see him AND Harry act like that ending didn't happen . . . well the only thing worse I've seen is the opening of the third season of Millenium in which they try and pretend they don't need to deal with the emotional impact of the main characters wife being killed 0.o

And actually, I would still agree with your old self that HBP was largely plotless. It was a huge amount of backstory that, honestly, could have been condensed. That wasn't plot to me. The only *plot* I felt existed was in the last chapter. It seemed more like a collection of short stories about various people. Some were interesting, some weren't.

I think it set up important things, but it felt clunky and well . . overlong. OotP, reading back doesn't bother me that much. In fact, when I re-read OotP I like it a little bit more.

It's the opposite with HBP, everytime I re-read it . . I dislike it a little bit more.

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

I thought that whole prophecy bit was poorly handled poorly written, and made Dumbledore look like an ass.

I think Dumbledore, while normally very well meaning and extremely powerful, does have huge flaws. Unfortunately, he is a true Gryffindor in several ways. He does what he is sure will work, and worries about how happy the people/person is, not what might really be best.

Just my two cents.

[ella-menno.livejournal.com]

Oooh, this was fun. I had a couple of really long entries on both books, so I'll just mention some stuff -

from OotP:

Dear God, we have woobie!Snape, and it's canonical. *faints*

That one stood out because, pre-OotP, poor little abused friendless Snape was one of my pet peeves in fic. Hm.
*
And yet, I am not compelled to read HP fanfic. Theories for what will happen next, certainly, but not the fic.

*snort* No, really. That's my whole comment.
*
And now, finally, after several days and nights worth of thought – I think I can sort of explain what it is about OotP that bothered me so very much.

I’ve only read it once, so forgive me for not quoting chapter and verse. At the end, Dumbledore tells Harry “I’m going to tell you everything, it’s time, I should’ve told you this years ago.”

DD reveals the prophecy and Harry’s part in it, and explains why he waited to do so. “When you first got here, you were eleven, and I thought that was too young. That year, you fought off LV about the stone. The next year, you were twelve, and you fought LV again in the CoS. Still too young, I thought.”

What it boils down to is that DD was making a judgment call on when to share that information about the prophecy with Harry. He didn’t want to burden the kid with even more distressing news, and because of that protective impulse, DD ended up making a wrong decision.

That’s what bugs me. I can see myself in Dumbledore right there. I kind of think of it (in a more general sense, of course) as being every parent’s dilemma. It is a parent’s imperative to protect and nurture the child – however, part of that impulse to nurture includes the need to let the child go.

Am I going to notice when [my kids] aren’t babies/toddlers/kids anymore? Am I going to be futilely trying to protect them when they don’t need my protection anymore? Am I going to stifle their emotional growth by mothering them too much?

Or am I going to accept the changes gracefully and know when to step out of their way, even if it’s painful for me?

That’s what I see in that scene with DD: he’s a parental figure, and he didn’t even realize the child he was shielding had grown up right in front of his eyes, and that willful blindness caused him to make a grave error in judgment.

That hasn't changed - that scene with Harry in DD's office chokes me up every time. The headmaster has his faults, yes, but it's difficult for me to blame him for loving Harry too much, y'know?
*
From HBP:

Snape killed Dumbledore. *Snape* killed Dumbledore.

Snape Avada Kedavra'd Dumbledore.

Leading up to it, I thought I saw where JKR was going. I knew DD had to go; I knew Snape had made the Unbreakable Vow, but I thought Snape was going to die saving Dumbledore. I was wrong - I guess I was a closet Snape-redemptionist, without knowing about it. I really thought he was on “our” side. I thought he respected DDore. I thought…perhaps I’ve been too influenced by all the fic with good!Snape, where he mourns Ddore and reflects on him as his savior, his one chance, his father figure.

This is so obviously me stunned after a first, very superficial reading, as I'm now even more convinced that Snape is a white hat.
*
How about things, plotlines I was expecting to see and didn’t? Neville’s memory. The mimbulus mimbletonia. A prolonged period of mourning for Sirius. Luna, or her snorkacks. The goblins. Ron’s brain-inflicted injury.

Still a bit miffed about those, really.
*
The Horcrux idea is, quite simply, genius. Quite similar to the Changeling theory in many parts, but having seven parts of his soul – and I’ll say this only here, where nobody else will see, but if Harry’s Very Important Scar is NOT one of those Horcruxes, I’ll be absolutely shocked.

I didn’t think she’d kill off Harry before this. Now I don’t see how he can live….

(I guess I should've scratched the part about "where nobody else will see," hm?) Anyway. I still believe the scar is a horcrux, and that Harry figuring it out is going to take place rather far into the book.

Heh. Watch me be SO wrong on that one....

(Erm. Sorry for hijacking so much space. This was fun, though!)

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

Agreed about the plotlines (it won't let me copy for some reason). Though I'm glad that so far, she hasn't made it that Neville is under a memory charm - I like the idea of him just needing encouragement and confidence. And I think Harry did mourn Sirius, but it was a private mourning he didn't have time to share with us. (Maybe not even JKR herself - characters can do odd things like that).

The whole MWPP thing had been the embodiment of one of my pet peeves. Outoftheloop!Peter, love/hate!Lily and James, braniac!Snape... etc. In my ficverse, I do have that some of all of those things were direct results of seeing them on an extremely bad day. I mean, how could they have trusted Peter, for instance, if he were completely nonchalant and such? How could Lily have loved James if he was always a bully?

But at the same time, I liked seeing the weaknesses. And maybe that was the real function of the memory - had we seen a happy, normal day, we wouldn't have seen them all being like that.