Rereading/Rewatching the Harry Potter Series
Honestly, I'm just looking forward to Snape knocking Lockhart in his backside with a disarming charm
Oh, absolutely. The dueling club is a bright spot in both the book and the movie. Seeing Lockhart get knocked on his ass is great, but what makes it that much better is knowing how thoroughly satisfying that moment must've been for Snape.
I'm near the end of that chapter (11), and I'm thoroughly annoyed by Peeves. I always forget to mention him in "least favorite characters", but for me, he definitely is. I actually think that he's worse than Umbridge, for no other reason than he does nothing to advance the plot.
Finished with Chamber of Secrets, and it's still my least favorite book. For me, the confrontation in the Chamber strains credulity even more than what happened in the Sorcerer's Stone… too much negligence on Dumbledore's part/too many things left to chance. I'm now watching the movie, which translates to "only half paying attention unless Snape is on screen".XD
HP series, ranked from my most to least favorite:
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
So I get to go from my least to my most favorite. The next one (which I'll be starting later this afternoon) should be fun. 🙂
See, rereading this book made me realize that Hagrid is a liability, but in a different way. He, in his third year, harbored an Acromantula while at Hogwarts, and then, later on, brought said Acromantula a mate to populate the Forbidden Forest.
Acromantula are:
- native to Southeast Asia, and do not belong in a British environment, making them an invasive species.
- known as man-eaters, in that they have been known to specifically target humans for food.
- seemingly sentient, as Aragog is capable of higher thought and speech. Meaning that, should they hunt humans, they are knowingly and intentionally killing and eating fellow sentient beings
- cannibals, which is probably the only thing that limits their numbers.
And Hagrid allowed a colony of Acromantula to breed in the Forbidden Forest, which hosts (or hosted, depending on how much Acromantula hunt) a variety of creatures. This forest is next to:
- a village
- a SCHOOL. for CHILDREN.
I realize that Hagrid was framed for Myrtle's death through negligence, but even if he wasn't, harboring such a dangerous animal inside the castle, where it was in danger of escaping (WHICH IT DID), is grounds for expulsion. And I would wager that developing a colony of Acromantulas next to a village and SCHOOL would be grounds for prison.
If I seem passionate about this, it's because I hate spiders.
I don't have a problem with spiders, but I still agree with all your points. Hagrid may not be malicious, but he is and always has been dangerous. Hell, just based on what we've already seen, it's absolutely wild that he's allowed to teach Care of Magical Creatures. D:
One more thing about CoS before I move on… I have different opinions on various casting choices, but to me, the casting of Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy is perfection. He's one of the few where (at least to me) the film representation seamlessly matches his depiction in the books. That's something that not even Alan Rickman can pull off… while I love him as Snape, I can't help seeing the book and movie version as two different characters.
Okay, enough Chamber of Secrets for now. Onto The Prisoner of Azkaban!
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Having reached chapter 7, I have a few thoughts/observations.
On Hagrid:
The thing about Hagrid, and what makes him so dangerous, is that he's fundamentally selfish. He's not selfish in a cruel or malicious way, but he does prioritize his own wants/needs/feelings, to the extent that it blinds him to other people's well-being. This is evident in multiple examples that have already been cited, such as him minimizing or outright ignoring how dangerous his creatures can be. Hagrid likes/wants them, and that is the priority – "this thing could kill someone" doesn't seem to concern him.
One could chalk this up to ignorance. Hagrid is a half giant, creatures are less a threat to him, so he genuinely doesn't realize how dangerous they could be for others. Personally though, I call bullshit on that. He has a habit of hiding said creatures, which means he knows he's doing something wrong. He knew that owning a dragon was illegal, but he tried anyway, up to and including getting Harry, Hermione, and Ron (i.e. children) involved.
In the previous chapter, Hagrid has his first class where Draco is injured. Yes, I know that Draco was the instigator, but frankly, it was stupid to start off with a creature that dangerous. Again, Hagrid certainly wasn't thinking about what was best/safest for the students. I don't know whether he was trying to show off or what, but yeah… this is yet another situation where someone could've easily been killed.
As for what happens afterwards… the trio visits Hagrid's hut to comfort him, only to find him drunk. I won't judge him for that considering that it is his off time, but it is another example of "Hagrid's feelings come first". He goes on and on about how miserable he is and that he's afraid of being fired. It's not until he's finished venting that he realizes that Harry shouldn't even be there (e.g. wandering the grounds alone is a bad idea considering that there's a murderer on the loose).
I do think Hagrid means well and genuinely cares about Harry and his friends. But caring doesn't mean he's not selfish, someone who definitely prioritizes his own interests.
On Snape:
Snape is the opposite of Hagrid in two respects (countless more, I'm sure, but I'm focusing on two for now). Both are a paradox – Hagrid is caring and friendly yet selfish, while Snape is cold and unpleasant, but has no trouble putting others first. Snape might not like Harry, but he would never expose him to unnecessary risk, even for his own benefit.
It's an interesting contrast, one that also applies to characters like Dumbledore, Remus, and Sirius. All four are likable (at face value) and nice to Harry, but none seem to take his safety as seriously as Snape does.
Personally, that's why I prefer Snape (one of many reasons). If it's a choice between "pleasant yet reckless" and "unpleasant yet cautious", I'll take the latter every single time.
Speaking of unpleasant…
I just finished the scene with Trevor, which is often cited in anti-Snape arguments. I'll admit that it isn't exactly flattering, though it's also not as bad as I remembered. For some reason, I thought Trevor had been poisoned, then given an antidote. I'd forgotten that Hermione helped Neville fix his potion, so Trevor wasn't poisoned at all.
Call me an apologist, but I think this was Snape's intention all along. He knew that Hermione was more than willing to help Neville, and (though he mocked her for it), he made no attempt to stop her either. There's a comment about her muttering instructions out of the corner of her mouth so Snape wouldn't see, but I call bullshit on that. Snape notices everything, even if he pretends not to.
My theory is that he wanted her to help. That gave him an excuse to punish her, while ensuring that the toad wouldn't actually be poisoned. It also accomplished what (I believe) he was trying to do in the first place… scare the hell out of Neville.
As for why he was trying to scare him… I think there were multiple reasons. Yes, some of it was pure spite, but I think there's a legitimate side to it, too. A student who is negligent and/or incompetent with potions poses a danger to himself and others. While it's fair to question Snape's methods (again, not the best), he has every reason to call Neville out for that sort of thing.
Oh hell, I've made it to the Boggart scene. I'll be back to bitch about Lupin in a bit. 😉
On Hagrid: Originally, when I first came across this part of PoA, I put all the blame on Draco for being... well, Draco. And while I am a firm believer in "fuck about and find out", Hagrid is entirely responsible for the attack taking place; he is the professor and the only person there who can properly handle a hippogriff with minimal danger to himself. Two points:
- Hagrid was expelled for getting a girl killed (framed, but the point stands), and Tom would have mentioned the Acromantula. If Dumbledore knows that Hagrid snuck such a dangerous creature INSIDE THE CASTLE (I'm not even going to bring up Aragog's mate), and that he also smuggled a dragon egg onto Hogwarts grounds, why on Merlin's crusty pants would he give Hagrid full authority over the Magical Creature Care post?
- Sadly, Hagrid would probably be an exceptionally valuable animal handler on account of his physique and care, and he probably would've been better going off like Newt Scamander and exploring; funnily enough, I think Newt was also expelled for creature-related things.
On Snape: 100% with you. I've known people who were pleasant and friendly to be around but were unreliable and reckless. I've also known people who aren't too friendly but cared about what was going on and took precautions to get something done. I prefer the second sort of people. Everyone else tries to hide their ugly side, but Snape tries to hide his better side.
As for Neville and Trevor's scene.... I don't know why Trevor was there, to be honest; it's a little weird that Neville would bring his pet toad, an animal that is highly susceptible to chemical substances, to his worst class (which happens to have a crap-ton of chemical reactions going on in every class).
I can buy that Snape let Hermione help Neville so he could punish her and keep the toad from dying.
On the Boggart scene.... I'll comment when you get to that
The Boggart scene… after rereading, it's even more obvious to me now that Lupin deliberately targeted Snape. I get that Snape was Neville's Boggart (e.g. necessary to turn him into something amusing), but it was 100% Lupin's idea to dress him up as Neville's grandmother. The way he immediately comes up with that feels very calculated to me. Like, it had more to do with humiliating Snape than helping Neville conquer his fear.
To be fair, I am biased. Lupin has always struck me as passive aggressive, so that fits my version of his character. If you have a different take (or a similar one) I'd love to hear it. But yeah, that scene bothers me.
Quote from Heatherlly on January 5, 2023, 11:28 pmThe Boggart scene… after rereading, it's even more obvious to me now that Lupin deliberately targeted Snape. I get that Snape was Neville's Boggart (e.g. necessary to turn him into something amusing), but it was 100% Lupin's idea to dress him up as Neville's grandmother. The way he immediately comes up with that feels very calculated to me. Like, it had more to do with humiliating Snape than helping Neville conquer his fear.
To be fair, I am biased. Lupin has always struck me as passive aggressive, so that fits my version of his character. If you have a different take (or a similar one) I'd love to hear it. But yeah, that scene bothers me.
I was gonna say that the entire concept of exposing a child's greatest fear in front of a crowd of their peers is fucked up. Like imagine if someone comes from a broken household, and their Boggart takes the form of said abuse. Or imagine if someone was terrified of being naked in front of a crowd. You get the idea; this is a horrible idea for a lesson. This would honestly be better-suited for in-school counselling (but it's Hogwarts, so that's not likely).
I never really thought about it in a more general sense, but yes, you're absolutely right. Those poor kids… D:
Chapter 14 - Snape's Grudge
I'd forgotten that McGonagall refused to let Neville have the new password after Sirius broke in with a knife. Jesus, what an awful punishment… if Sirius had been a real murderer, she could've easily gotten Neville killed.
Not only was it awful, but it was completely unnecessary. Do you honestly think Neville would've been careless with another password after what happened?
Also… I know I've been dumping on Hagrid a lot, so I wanted to give credit where credit is due. Good on him for calling Harry and Ron out for treating Hermione like shit. It's nice to see that someone was in her corner.
