Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
I CAN HAS EDITOR PLEASE?! What. A. Mess. In GOF, the mystery is so intricate, it borders on convoluted. Oh what the hell, it IS convoluted, and not always plausible. Barty Crouch’s personality doesn’t jive with his actions. You’re a hardass and a TOTAL stickler for the rules, you’ve renounced your son for his death eater ways, but you let your wife convince you that it’s a good idea to break him out of Azkaban? IS THIS FOR REAL? His wife takes polyjuice potion the entire year she’s in Azkaban under the guise of her son. Um… doesn’t polyjuice potion need to be brewed once it’s finished? What the hell, did Barty stick her in there with a cauldron’s worth? I’m supposed to believe Winky the House Elf would actually have the gumption to make suggestions regarding Barty Crouch, Jr.? Why did Voldemort need to wait until the final round of the Triwizard tournament to use Harry? I mean wasn’t that kind of risky? Despite Fake Moody’s efforts, Harry might not have won. What then? Really, couldn’t you have just turned Harry’s comb into a portkey and called it a day? Oh wait, my bad. Storylines have to take an entire school year or else they’re no good. SORRY FOLKS, GO BACK TO YOUR READING.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Oddly enough, OOTP seems to suffer from the opposite problem of GOF. Still entirely too long but with very little information contributing to the central plot. Hundreds of pages go by before we’re reminded that Oh, right! there’s a SECRET WEAPON out there. Our clues never go beyond Harry walking and reaching toward a door. Oddly enough this is exactly how I felt sitting in the movie theater. I enjoyed the film and even went to see it a second time, but the prophesy, once revealed, is sort of anti-climactic (in fact, I find it utterly ridiculous that Harry couldn’t figure out for himself that he’d probably have to kill Voldemort himself IF ONLY because this guy keeps coming after you again and again. I mean really, WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING TO HAVE TO HAPPEN?!). Also, um, why wasn’t anyone from the Order patrolling the ministry after dark? Or was that whole fight a lot earlier in the day than I thought? Also, I’m not buying the excuse for why Voldemort didn’t just go get the prophesy himself. One of the greatest wizards of all time can’t figure out how to get in and out of the ministry after dark without being seen? I can just see Voldemort being all like BITCH, PLEASE! Meanwhile, the rest of the novel is just…SO MUCH, and could also use a good dose of editing. I find myself interested, but not entirely sure why X, Y, or Z matters or moves the plot forward, even over the stretch of the series.
In other news, Snape continues to be an insufferable asshole. And here’s hoping CAPSLOCK!Harry is gone for good.
Despite my criticisms, I did enjoy both books, but I do think they would have been a lot stronger if they had been trimmed down.
I loved GOF! Lol
though you probably can’t tell from my ranting about both books (lol), I actually liked GOF better than OOTP.
To be fair, in regards to Voldie going to the ministry himself. While he could appear, it’s not his style unless Potter himself is present. He is a villain who doesn’t want to get his hands dirty until he’s sure. You’ll see in the last two how he gets uber pissed off when Death Eaters keep calling him somewhere and they screw up or it turns out to be a false alarm. Secondly the prophesy can only be heard by whomever the prophesy is about. While it is about Voldemort the fact that it’s labeled Harry Potter means that only he can physically retrieve it and hear what it has to say. This is why he kept having the dreams because Voldemort was manipulating Harry to retrieve the prophesy because he was the only one who could.
I’m a HUGE Potter fan and I love debating/analyzing it with people.
PS: Capslock Harry is officially gone, he actually becomes quite cheeky in the next two books.
Hooray! I don’t mind discussing the book either as long as I don’t get attacked like my poor friend did for not liking HP XD
The prophesy is labeled with both Voldemort and Harry’s names, so Voldie could retrieve it if he weren’t busy being too far up his own ass to think clearly XD. The explanation offered is that Voldemort didn’t want the ministry to find out that he was back, which I’d be willing to believe if this were anyone but Voldemort. But he’s too good at being elusive for me to believe that he couldn’t find a way to slip in and out unseen. I actually like your explanation of not wanting to get his hands dirty better because I think that makes more sense in terms of his personality.
Isn’t it ironic though? The prophesy is really about Voldemort and an unnamed kid born at the end of the month of July. Harry’s name is only on it because Voldemort singled him out after hearing (part of) the prophesy. If Voldemort had never gotten wind of it, would anyone have had the power to vanquish him? It reminds me a bit of Macbeth (have you read it?). Would Macbeth have gone on that killing spree if the Witches hadn’t prophesized that he would become King? But then, would it be a prophesy if he didn’t? Damn Fate with its bizarre circularity.
Hmm I always took it to be just Harry’s name because of the fact I didn’t think the Ministry would give Voldemort the satisfaction of having something “belong” to him at the Ministry, whether it mentions him or not. I could be wrong though, or she was just not entirely clear on the spell that protects the prophesies.
Yeah Dumbledore even makes mention of the fact that all of this mess could have happened to Neville Longbottom instead. I can say though it is never fully explained in the books why exactly Voldemort marks Harry instead. Neville comes from a long line of pure blood wizards on both sides, while Harry is mixed. Both families are in the order; Neville is even a day older than Harry! All logic would point to him going after Neville over Harry. I do have a theory as to why but I don’t want to spoil a plot point in later books. I’ve never made that connection between Macbeth before but it’s totally true! Voldemort is responsible for marking his own enemy but if he never got wind of the prophesy would there have been anyone to stop him?
PS: Wasn’t it so tragic when Harry finds the mirror that he never bothered to open? Sirius is my favorite character and it absolutely crushed me when I found out that his death could have been averted if Harry had opened the present. UGH!
Yeah, it definitely has his name on it in the book (not in the film though)…I’m actually surprised the prophesy didn’t say “He Who Shall Not Be Named” on it instead, which would have been pretty funny. Next to Harry’s name on the prophesy there’s actually a question mark, I guess because officially it could’ve been anyone.
OK, I’m going to have to remind you to tell me what your theory is when I read the last 2 books (later this fall, I’m on an HP break for now lol). I was thinking because Voldemort is also a half blood though his half-bloodness is a bit different from Harry’s. Funny how the same term applies to both though. I get it but at the same time think maybe Rowling should’ve come up for a different term for those with one Wizard and one Muggle-born parent.
The mirror thing really upset me too! I couldn’t believe that Harry wasn’t at least CURIOUS to see what Sirius had given him from the beginning. I know he said he wouldn’t use it (because he didn’t want Sirius to put himself in any danger) but if it were me, I’d totally have wanted to at least SEE what Sirius gave me. Bah! I wanted to go all CAPSLOCK on Harry at that moment. On another note, LOL at that mirror shard showing up in the 7th film without any explanation as to where the damn thing came from or what it does.