We're a quarter of the way into Order of the Phoenix, and SO MUCH is happening already.
Dudley has friends (?); Harry continues to take Hedwig for granted (dude, at least let her eat her frog in peace); Moody advises against stowing one's wand in one's back pocket due to the possibility of blowing off one's butt cheek (which makes me think of all the times Harry tucked his wand in his FRONT waste band . . . HE-llo); someone finally hints at the fact that Ginny is kind of a bad ass ("Yeah, size is no guarantee of power. Look at Ginny."); Ron bites the heads off chocolate frogs RIGHT in front of Trevor (rude, Ron, really rude); the Sorting Hat proves that Hufflepuff is officially the only House without a superiority complex; and Rowling secretly wishes she were named Nymphadora.
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| No one is surprised, you dirty bird. |
We get to see a lot more of Mrs. Weasley in this part, which is fantastic. But she's stuck with the job of Den Mother to all these unruly witches and wizards, in addition to caring for the actual children and cleaning the Noble House of Black. She puts on a brave face, but the cracks start to show when Sirius wants to involve Harry in the doings of the Order of the Phoenix. And just in case that wasn't clue enough of her distressed mental state, the Boggart cleared up any remaining confusion by posing as one dead loved one after another and reducing Mrs. Weasley to a sobbing, ineffectual-against-a-Boggart mess. What a dick move, Boggart.
ALSO kind of a dick? Kreacher. He's gone completely batty after years of isolation in that awful house, his only company the unpleasant portrait of Mistress Black and the mounted heads of his fellow house-elves. But lest you feel anything akin to sympathy for him,
Kreacher fixed him with a watery stare and said, "Master must do as Master wishes," before turning away and muttering very loudly, "but Master will not turn Kreacher away, no, because Kreacher knows what they are up to, oh yes, he is plotting against the Dark Lord, yes, with these Mudbloods and traitors and scum. . . ." (p. 118)
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| FILTHY HOBBITSES. |
Also, Kreacher was caught snogging his dead master's trousers. That seemed important to mention.
I know everyone will probably be talking about Luna and Umbridge this week. I can't REALLY talk about Umbridge because I stopped reading right before her big chapter, but I am interested to know how one wears a cardigan sweater OVER a robe.
And as for Luna, well . . . I'm just so glad she's finally here and WHY HAVEN'T WE BEEN FRIENDS WITH HER SINCE SECOND YEAR? Now I can finally get going on this Neville/Luna ship.
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| Anchors aweigh! |
