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amanuensis1I don't usually do memes, but the OotP questions one is the closest I will get to posting a review. And it is a review, I guess, both of the book and how it'll affect fanfiction. And it's... helping me past the hard stuff. So here it is...
1. Describe in five words or less how you feel about Order of the Phoenix. (your initial reaction)
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGOD NOT SIRIUS PLEASE NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
2. What are your feelings on Harry's personality? Do you think he is overly cynical, depressed, etc. . . .?
He is what those around him have made him. Through 5 books, Harry has been shown, over and over, "You can't trust adults. Adults don't believe you. Authority figures aren't there when you need them, or they conveniently have their hands tied by rules. YOU are all there is, YOU have to make it right, and you cannot count on the adults."
Does anyone pay attention to their insistance that someone's trying to steal the Stone? No, and that's why it's three children facing the Dark Lord and his minion, with their lives at risk.
The adults are wringing their hands and cringing when Ginny is taken into the Chamber, and Hagrid goes to Azkaban and Dumbledore allows himself to be removed from Hogwarts and it all falls on Harry and his friends.
Dumbledore isn't going to even try to make anyone listen to him about Sirius and Buckbeak; he's going to sit by and push a time-turner into the hands of two KIDS and let two innocent figures live or die on the basis of their success alone.
The Goblet of Fire is a trap for Harry; Dumbledore knows it, everyone knows it, and yet Harry must compete because "it's the rules." Harry's in the bloody cemetary with a dead Cedric and two dozen Death Eaters and Voldemort the Dark Lord and no one, no one is coming to save him, and he knows this, because of the track record.
And he's sent back to a place where he is despised every summer, a place where he grew up in a CUPBOARD. IN. A. CUPBOARD.
The cupboard was funny back when it was just a kids' series.
It ain't funny any more.
Is Harry impulsive, is he rash? Of course he is, he's FIFTEEN. Does he have a savior thing? Hell, yes, that's why we love him. That's why he's so good; that's why Dumbledore loves him like a son. Dumbledore could easily feel pity for this kid, and that would be enough for him to want to protect him, but he said it: he fell in love with this kid when he was eleven, and it made it impossible for him to reveal the secrets that he should have.
He is neither overly cynical nor depressed at the beginning of OotP. He has just seen death, he has seen the ressurrection of the Dark Lord, and once AGAIN he's being disbelieved by so many, and once AGAIN he's being left out of the loop. And even worse, this time he knows that something is going on, being planned... the "we can't tell you yet, sit tight" messages from his very best friends would break the friendship if Harry were any less a noble soul. Ron and Hermione both being made prefects inspires a jealousy he didn't know he could feel for people he cares for, and that is an awful, awful thing for Harry to carry. When Hermione says, "If we can't trust Dumbledore, we can't trust anyone, " I had pretty much decided what Harry had: that the forces of evil had even gotten to those he thought he trusted.
Bite me, Dumbledore, just bite me. I'm glad that well-meaning old coot is beating himself up for it, because he fucking well should be.
And I have no idea what happiness there can be for the kid in the next book. Oh, goody, he got the Quidditch ban lifted. Yeah, that'll feel great. That'll really make up for the fact that Sirius is DEAD and DEAD BECAUSE OF HIM BECAUSE NO ONE WOULD TELL HIM ANYTHING. Grrrrraaaaaaaarrrrrr.
3. Do you think Order of the Phoenix is appropriate for children 13 and younger? Why or why not?
Harry is writing the words, "I will not tell lies." In BLOOD. In HIS OWN BLOOD. As the words are being CUT INTO THE BACK OF HIS HAND. As a teacher MAKES HIM DO IT. OVER AND OVER UNTIL THE WORDS WILL LEAVE A LASTING MARK.
Jesus H. Christ.
There's a fine line between NOT understanding just how bad that is because you're too young, and so not being horrified by it, and being adult enough TO get it and being quite horrified and yet strong enough to handle it because you're an adult. And I don't know where that is, to be honest. Maybe it's younger than 13.
All I know is, that's the chapter where I dropped the book in horror and buried my fingers in my hair, moaning, "Oh dear god not a kids' book not a kids' book jesus h. christ not a kids' book NOT a kids' book anymore never will be again..."
4. List your five most hated characters (either in Book 5 or the whole series, non-humans can be included).
1. Umbrage. Whole effing series. I would poison her and sleep like a babe every night for the rest of my life.
2. Fudge. He needs to be beaten up good, at least.
3. Voldemort. He ranks below the others because he's straightforward about his evil.
4. Hagrid. For not being the one to die instead of Sirius. God, wasn't he completely unforgivable for that, what with the warnings from Firenze and all? Was he not an utterly marked man? Shouldn't he have been? Gah.
5. Dumbledore. Not for screwing up-- I can forgive him for that; I love Harry too, and understand not being able to bear stripping all innocence from him completely-- but for that godawful "Sirius wasn't as nice as he could have been" crap he was whipping on Harry. Drop-kick him through the Quidditch hoops, I will.
5. Percy turned away from his family. Will he come crawling back to them now or . . .?
Hell, no. Not the way the Potterverse has gone this dark. Percy's an example of "how the people you like turn into people like Voldemort and Fudge and Umbrage." Villains are made, not born, and JKR's going to want to let us see that.
6. What did you think of the new DADA's punishment? Why didn't Harry nor Lee complain?
Because Harry's learned not to go blubbering to professors. It doesn't help, it doesn't help, it doesn't help. And because it was deep down too humiliating to go whining, at age 15, "Look what the mean old DADA bitch made me do, Professor McGonagall!" And because if he could not bear it, then that meant that bitch could break him. As long as he could bear it, she could not break him.
7. What do you think of James and Lily now?
I love it! The idea that James was a total ego-monger and a little shit besides, who-- I assume-- decided to change because someone else tore into him for being a jerk, and made him reevaluate himself (or maybe he just wanted to impress her, and got used to being nicer as a matter of habit), is far more interesting than the idea of Saint James Potter. Between that and the Sorting Hat song, I'm hoping we start to see some change in the attitudes of/towards the Slytherins. Pity there was none of it this time, but I'm hoping that's because the book was full enough, and that that is the focus of the books to come.
8. Has your opinion (which is probably not too good) of Petunia Dursley changed? If yes, how so?
Yeah, just a little bit! Even as soon as she heard the name "Azkaban" and knew what it was, I kinda went, "Whoa!" She feels... she feels like a resentful squib now, rather than just a Muggle. (And the fact that that even feels like a thing I can distinguish blows my mind, you know? God, I gotta find more interests outside of HP!) That sort of jealousy, I can sympathise with, just a bit. But I still can't forgive her. Harry's a child, for god's sake. I can nod, "I sympathise," at her while I'm tarring and feathering the bitch, okay?
9. What's the meaning of Snape's nickname in your opinion?
Um... it's insulting and sounds like his name. I didn't read anything else into it than that.
10. What do you think of the character death? Do you think s/he will return? The "death" of this person was vague and not very final; however, remember that JKR said she cried over this character's death.
*pauses for deep, gut-wrenching sob-fest that lasts ten minutes and is accompanied by hair-grabbing and screams of "Why, why, WHY?"*
*wipes face*
I think Sirius's death was not vague at all. JKR crying doesn't mean anything to me; even if it was meant to be a red herring, I'd have cried over having to make the characters react as though it were real.
But that death was as far from vague as I can imagine. Okay, okay, I know what you mean: no body, odd little veiled arch, what color was the bolt that hit him, etc. But I think... I think that the veil, with its whispers behind it, is simply JKR's analogy of the Unknown Beyond Death, the Afterlife in which we must all believe or go mad; not some cloud with winged harp players living some desireless eternity, but the place of which we cannot conceive, a curtain with one side only behind which there are whispers; you know that someone, many someones, are there, they wait for you to cross to them, but there is no way to get there without dying yourself.
Luna tells Harry of her conviction that she will see her mother again, but she means it the same way we say that about our dead. The wizarding world has proof of the afterlife, but they can in no way access it other than as the plainest muggle can. That doesn't mean they aren't working on that, there in the Department of Mysteries. Perhaps one day they'll find a way to see beyond the veil.They are wizards, after all.
As to why Sirius had to die... *takes deep breath* I do believe there is a reason. I have to. Why? Because I trust JKR. Every one of her books has been better than the last. She knows where she's going with this. She says she has the last paragraph of Book 7 written, has for a long time. She conceived the entire seven-year series from the beginning. Sirius's death MUST be necessary. It is there to shape Harry in some way. And not just because she couldn't figure out what to do with him (Pbbbbffftt. She kept him vaguely out of the way just fine in GoF), or figure out how to get his conviction reversed (Don't be silly. It could happen during this very next summer, even out of Harry's view, now that Dumbedore's finally acting), or intending to show Harry that the world's an unfair place (Oh, yeah, kill his godfather, the person he cares for most in the world, sure, he's expendable to the story and can be wasted on that kind of redundant lesson--I don't fucking THINK so), or to show that adults won't be there for you (HE KNOWS THAT!!! After 5 books, HE KNOWS THAT!!!).
No, I think that Sirius's death must be crucial. Will Voldemort try to tempt Harry by offering to bring Sirius back, a la Paul Atreides and Chani? Will Harry be prepared to turn Dark Lord, but for the voice of his godfather's ghost/shade, so much dearer-- and influential-- to him than even his parents' voices? Will it be thoughts of "Did Sirius die for nothing?" that drives Harry through every low point of the next two books?
I'm honestly hoping for something even bigger than those. Because I do believe it was necessary to the story that is planned. Sirius was supposed to be Harry's happy ending, goddammit; once he'd defeated Voldemort, he could begin to make something of the family he's always wanted. And it's not going to be with a bloody ROMANCE, for crying out loud. He'll be seventeen. Romance at seventeen isn't about family.
And if JKR only wanted to make a statement that war is awful and people die and life isn't fair, she'd have waited until the end of Book 7 to knock Sirius off. Meh.
I admit I am intrigued by some speculation that Sirius doesn't feel, not "not dead" exactly, but not entirely gone, either. Portraits have been cited as a possibility; my favorite is the idea that the classic Hero's Journey always includes a visit to the Underworld, to bring back/ask advice from a loved one or mentor. Damn, but I could go for that BIG time.
Oh, god, Sirius... I just want you back so much...
*returns to sobfest for another ten minutes*
*wipes face*
11. Do you think fanfiction will be hurt by Book 5? Do you see any new pairings arising? Do you see any huge ships falling apart?
Oh, god, where to start?
Fanfiction in general, hurt, no. I see the "I don't read the books" authors continuing on without a blip, I see most everyone else pausing, shaken a bit, wondering how to assimilate this new canon into their vision, and then slowly getting started again, whether that's with a pre- or post-OotP canon, and a number of people writing catharsis stories immediately as well as those who were not as deeply affected as I going "Cool! I got a bunch of plotbunnies!"
New pairings? *laughs* I'll tell you how I was affected by fanfiction, in reading this book-- it was not so much that I was looking for the slashy bits, as much as I had almost no interest in any of the new female characters, or in the development of any female characters except Hermione. Tonks was fun but she might as well be a man. Luna was an excellent plot device. But she's not anything resembling a character. Umbrage: A nazi is a nazi is a nazi, I don't care what gender they are. Ginny: I HATE Harry/Ginny so badly, so as soon as it was established that she was no longer keen on Harry, I found her easy to tolerate.
I think, and I could be wrong, but the largest population of slash fiction is Harry/Snape, followed by Harry/Draco. (Feel free to correct me. I'm just calling it as I've found it.) Those particular 'ships should not have a whit's discomfort. Both relationships stand almost as they did at the end of GoF: animosity, tension, ready to be slashed at most lustily. So, overall, I don't think that portion of slash will change.
And all those people who say that Sirius's death won't effect what they write that much... Ha. Garbage. Oh, so you didn't write Sirius much? The hell you didn't. Harry and Snape squabbled their way into bed and Harry and Draco were two boys discovering each other but meanwhile, it was good old Sirius telling Harry he'd always be proud of him, telling him not to be ashamed of being gay, yelling at Snape to get away from his goddamn godson, you greasy git. What the hell will you do without Sirius?
Moreover, Sirius/Remus was your effing CONSTANT, most of you. They just weren't your focus. They were that lovely gay couple who let whatever half of your couple come sleep on their couch after a fight and get tea spiked with firewhiskey. You loved Sirius/Remus and you bleeding know it. (And I am now completely convinced that OotP proves Sirius/Remus as sub-textually canon... but that's another post.)
And then there's... the triangle. Sirius, Remus, Snape. Oh, but we love that. We love to fight over that one. It's Sirius/Remus and nothing can part them! No, it's Sirius/Snape because only that much hate can bring that much love! No, it's Remus/Snape because Sirius was always trying to come between them!
And we just lost that triangle, and with it, two of those pairings. No, I take it back; we lost all of them. What's Remus/Snape without Sirius there, I ask you?
Doesn't seem so trivial anymore, does it, you darn Snarriers?
I simply don't want to do without Sirius in my stories. He wasn't my focus all the time; my usual focus is Harry, because I identify deeply with him. But I will never forget when I began to (no pun intended) conceive As Sharp As Sunlight, a story intended to focus on Harry/Lucius, and suddenly Sirius Black was whispering into my ear, The first line of this story is He's only sixteen, and I am the one who is speaking it. I will tell you the entire story and you will write it down, from my viewpoint. And he told me the entire goddamn story. I didn't write it; he did. I still get weirded out thinking about that.
Oh, I am so glad Nimori inspired me to write No Happy Memories, before I read OotP. It is one of the greatest comforts I have, right now.
12. What was your favourite chapter in Order of the Phoenix? Why?
The Lost Prophecy. Harry's rage, my need to see it and grieve with him, to scream, "I WANT OUT, I WANT IT TO END, I DON'T CARE ANYMORE--" just slightly edges out Snape's Worst Memory. I needed to see that, I needed to see Dumbledore explain how terribly, terribly he had blown it. If that hadn't been there... well, it needed to be there, that's all. And it's the only part I can reread so far. Like therapy. Though Snape's Worst Memory was the coolest chapter. Loved what we saw of James, Lily, Sirius and Snape.
13. Talk about Fred and George's "flight."
What a statement Rowling made here. We're so used to Hermione's "We can't lose points, we can't be expelled, we must do well on our O.W.L.'s," and many of us were, are, total Hermiones ourselves, that this was such a shocker of a moment: the moment when Rowling said, "You know what? Sometimes there are things more important than the rules. More important than diplomas, than laws. There's not backing down in the face of evil, of wrong." In that moment, Fred and George were every Pole who sheltered a Jew in their house during WWII, every 1960's abortionist trying to save women from impaling themselves on knitting needles, every reporter who's ever gone to jail for contempt of court rather than name his/her sources. Fuck. It was amazing.
14. Give some thoughts on Ron.
Do you see what this book would have been if Ron had been the focal point? This book would have been a boy hero's story. Kid makes prefect. Kid makes Quidditch team, isn't all that great, but pulls off the great save to win the cup. Kid defends sister's honor. Kid thinks wistfully about romance. Oh, this hurts so poignantly. This is the only hero story that Harry wants for himself and he can't fucking have it. Oh, this hurts so much. It's exactly the sweet simplicity that Ron saw for himself in the Mirror of Erised. All a boy could want. Not, "Here's your fate: kill, or be killed, and watch those about you die." Wah.
15. What did you think of Dumbledore's explanation?
Didn't see the Neville coming. Now I wish more than ever Neville had been the one offed in this book. Would have worked and it WOULDN'T BE SIRIUS.
I'm very satisfied with the explanation. I find prophecies... generally... a lame plot device, but they can be handled well, and this one was. Using Trelawney, using Dumbledore, the glass balls that can only be handled by the subject, Voldemort only getting part of it ("They're digging in the wrong place!" says Indiana Jones), Voldemort forcing the prophesy to go a certain way with his choices, Harry doubly damned because he might have had a chance for it to go another way. The fact that Harry must become a killer to live. God.
A lot of people have mentioned the similarity to Cybele's sensational story If You Are Prepared, and some have said that JKR's set-up is kind of lame compared to IYAP's. Oh, come on, people. I agree, that Cybele's Why Voldemort Wants To Kill Harry idea is brilliant, and yes, even cleverer, IMHO, than Rowling's, but it's also more devastating. Those of you who have read it will know what I'm talking about; I will not spoil it for you here. Really, guys, you couldn't have THAT in canon. JKR's is a nice awful compromise.
(And yes, I'm quite, quite tired of "it wasn't as good as fanfiction" whines. The fanfiction would not even be here were it not for Rowling's sensational creation. Though I can be sympathetic to one point; at least if someone dies in fanfiction, you get over it faster, knowing that that isn't really the way it went. Wah...)
16. Do you feel satisfied by this book?
My heart is bleeding, man. How can you ask that question, you sick fucker? How?!
*weeps*
*wipes face*
... I think it's the best of the five. Every one just gets more and more gripping. But it's impossible for me to use the word "satisfying." I'm too devastated. Harry, my sweet Harry, what can be left for you?
17. How anxious are you now for Book 6?
I've got to know why Sirius had to die. I need Book 6 like, yesterday.
1. Describe in five words or less how you feel about Order of the Phoenix. (your initial reaction)
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGOD NOT SIRIUS PLEASE NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
2. What are your feelings on Harry's personality? Do you think he is overly cynical, depressed, etc. . . .?
He is what those around him have made him. Through 5 books, Harry has been shown, over and over, "You can't trust adults. Adults don't believe you. Authority figures aren't there when you need them, or they conveniently have their hands tied by rules. YOU are all there is, YOU have to make it right, and you cannot count on the adults."
Does anyone pay attention to their insistance that someone's trying to steal the Stone? No, and that's why it's three children facing the Dark Lord and his minion, with their lives at risk.
The adults are wringing their hands and cringing when Ginny is taken into the Chamber, and Hagrid goes to Azkaban and Dumbledore allows himself to be removed from Hogwarts and it all falls on Harry and his friends.
Dumbledore isn't going to even try to make anyone listen to him about Sirius and Buckbeak; he's going to sit by and push a time-turner into the hands of two KIDS and let two innocent figures live or die on the basis of their success alone.
The Goblet of Fire is a trap for Harry; Dumbledore knows it, everyone knows it, and yet Harry must compete because "it's the rules." Harry's in the bloody cemetary with a dead Cedric and two dozen Death Eaters and Voldemort the Dark Lord and no one, no one is coming to save him, and he knows this, because of the track record.
And he's sent back to a place where he is despised every summer, a place where he grew up in a CUPBOARD. IN. A. CUPBOARD.
The cupboard was funny back when it was just a kids' series.
It ain't funny any more.
Is Harry impulsive, is he rash? Of course he is, he's FIFTEEN. Does he have a savior thing? Hell, yes, that's why we love him. That's why he's so good; that's why Dumbledore loves him like a son. Dumbledore could easily feel pity for this kid, and that would be enough for him to want to protect him, but he said it: he fell in love with this kid when he was eleven, and it made it impossible for him to reveal the secrets that he should have.
He is neither overly cynical nor depressed at the beginning of OotP. He has just seen death, he has seen the ressurrection of the Dark Lord, and once AGAIN he's being disbelieved by so many, and once AGAIN he's being left out of the loop. And even worse, this time he knows that something is going on, being planned... the "we can't tell you yet, sit tight" messages from his very best friends would break the friendship if Harry were any less a noble soul. Ron and Hermione both being made prefects inspires a jealousy he didn't know he could feel for people he cares for, and that is an awful, awful thing for Harry to carry. When Hermione says, "If we can't trust Dumbledore, we can't trust anyone, " I had pretty much decided what Harry had: that the forces of evil had even gotten to those he thought he trusted.
Bite me, Dumbledore, just bite me. I'm glad that well-meaning old coot is beating himself up for it, because he fucking well should be.
And I have no idea what happiness there can be for the kid in the next book. Oh, goody, he got the Quidditch ban lifted. Yeah, that'll feel great. That'll really make up for the fact that Sirius is DEAD and DEAD BECAUSE OF HIM BECAUSE NO ONE WOULD TELL HIM ANYTHING. Grrrrraaaaaaaarrrrrr.
3. Do you think Order of the Phoenix is appropriate for children 13 and younger? Why or why not?
Harry is writing the words, "I will not tell lies." In BLOOD. In HIS OWN BLOOD. As the words are being CUT INTO THE BACK OF HIS HAND. As a teacher MAKES HIM DO IT. OVER AND OVER UNTIL THE WORDS WILL LEAVE A LASTING MARK.
Jesus H. Christ.
There's a fine line between NOT understanding just how bad that is because you're too young, and so not being horrified by it, and being adult enough TO get it and being quite horrified and yet strong enough to handle it because you're an adult. And I don't know where that is, to be honest. Maybe it's younger than 13.
All I know is, that's the chapter where I dropped the book in horror and buried my fingers in my hair, moaning, "Oh dear god not a kids' book not a kids' book jesus h. christ not a kids' book NOT a kids' book anymore never will be again..."
4. List your five most hated characters (either in Book 5 or the whole series, non-humans can be included).
1. Umbrage. Whole effing series. I would poison her and sleep like a babe every night for the rest of my life.
2. Fudge. He needs to be beaten up good, at least.
3. Voldemort. He ranks below the others because he's straightforward about his evil.
4. Hagrid. For not being the one to die instead of Sirius. God, wasn't he completely unforgivable for that, what with the warnings from Firenze and all? Was he not an utterly marked man? Shouldn't he have been? Gah.
5. Dumbledore. Not for screwing up-- I can forgive him for that; I love Harry too, and understand not being able to bear stripping all innocence from him completely-- but for that godawful "Sirius wasn't as nice as he could have been" crap he was whipping on Harry. Drop-kick him through the Quidditch hoops, I will.
5. Percy turned away from his family. Will he come crawling back to them now or . . .?
Hell, no. Not the way the Potterverse has gone this dark. Percy's an example of "how the people you like turn into people like Voldemort and Fudge and Umbrage." Villains are made, not born, and JKR's going to want to let us see that.
6. What did you think of the new DADA's punishment? Why didn't Harry nor Lee complain?
Because Harry's learned not to go blubbering to professors. It doesn't help, it doesn't help, it doesn't help. And because it was deep down too humiliating to go whining, at age 15, "Look what the mean old DADA bitch made me do, Professor McGonagall!" And because if he could not bear it, then that meant that bitch could break him. As long as he could bear it, she could not break him.
7. What do you think of James and Lily now?
I love it! The idea that James was a total ego-monger and a little shit besides, who-- I assume-- decided to change because someone else tore into him for being a jerk, and made him reevaluate himself (or maybe he just wanted to impress her, and got used to being nicer as a matter of habit), is far more interesting than the idea of Saint James Potter. Between that and the Sorting Hat song, I'm hoping we start to see some change in the attitudes of/towards the Slytherins. Pity there was none of it this time, but I'm hoping that's because the book was full enough, and that that is the focus of the books to come.
8. Has your opinion (which is probably not too good) of Petunia Dursley changed? If yes, how so?
Yeah, just a little bit! Even as soon as she heard the name "Azkaban" and knew what it was, I kinda went, "Whoa!" She feels... she feels like a resentful squib now, rather than just a Muggle. (And the fact that that even feels like a thing I can distinguish blows my mind, you know? God, I gotta find more interests outside of HP!) That sort of jealousy, I can sympathise with, just a bit. But I still can't forgive her. Harry's a child, for god's sake. I can nod, "I sympathise," at her while I'm tarring and feathering the bitch, okay?
9. What's the meaning of Snape's nickname in your opinion?
Um... it's insulting and sounds like his name. I didn't read anything else into it than that.
10. What do you think of the character death? Do you think s/he will return? The "death" of this person was vague and not very final; however, remember that JKR said she cried over this character's death.
*pauses for deep, gut-wrenching sob-fest that lasts ten minutes and is accompanied by hair-grabbing and screams of "Why, why, WHY?"*
*wipes face*
I think Sirius's death was not vague at all. JKR crying doesn't mean anything to me; even if it was meant to be a red herring, I'd have cried over having to make the characters react as though it were real.
But that death was as far from vague as I can imagine. Okay, okay, I know what you mean: no body, odd little veiled arch, what color was the bolt that hit him, etc. But I think... I think that the veil, with its whispers behind it, is simply JKR's analogy of the Unknown Beyond Death, the Afterlife in which we must all believe or go mad; not some cloud with winged harp players living some desireless eternity, but the place of which we cannot conceive, a curtain with one side only behind which there are whispers; you know that someone, many someones, are there, they wait for you to cross to them, but there is no way to get there without dying yourself.
Luna tells Harry of her conviction that she will see her mother again, but she means it the same way we say that about our dead. The wizarding world has proof of the afterlife, but they can in no way access it other than as the plainest muggle can. That doesn't mean they aren't working on that, there in the Department of Mysteries. Perhaps one day they'll find a way to see beyond the veil.They are wizards, after all.
As to why Sirius had to die... *takes deep breath* I do believe there is a reason. I have to. Why? Because I trust JKR. Every one of her books has been better than the last. She knows where she's going with this. She says she has the last paragraph of Book 7 written, has for a long time. She conceived the entire seven-year series from the beginning. Sirius's death MUST be necessary. It is there to shape Harry in some way. And not just because she couldn't figure out what to do with him (Pbbbbffftt. She kept him vaguely out of the way just fine in GoF), or figure out how to get his conviction reversed (Don't be silly. It could happen during this very next summer, even out of Harry's view, now that Dumbedore's finally acting), or intending to show Harry that the world's an unfair place (Oh, yeah, kill his godfather, the person he cares for most in the world, sure, he's expendable to the story and can be wasted on that kind of redundant lesson--I don't fucking THINK so), or to show that adults won't be there for you (HE KNOWS THAT!!! After 5 books, HE KNOWS THAT!!!).
No, I think that Sirius's death must be crucial. Will Voldemort try to tempt Harry by offering to bring Sirius back, a la Paul Atreides and Chani? Will Harry be prepared to turn Dark Lord, but for the voice of his godfather's ghost/shade, so much dearer-- and influential-- to him than even his parents' voices? Will it be thoughts of "Did Sirius die for nothing?" that drives Harry through every low point of the next two books?
I'm honestly hoping for something even bigger than those. Because I do believe it was necessary to the story that is planned. Sirius was supposed to be Harry's happy ending, goddammit; once he'd defeated Voldemort, he could begin to make something of the family he's always wanted. And it's not going to be with a bloody ROMANCE, for crying out loud. He'll be seventeen. Romance at seventeen isn't about family.
And if JKR only wanted to make a statement that war is awful and people die and life isn't fair, she'd have waited until the end of Book 7 to knock Sirius off. Meh.
I admit I am intrigued by some speculation that Sirius doesn't feel, not "not dead" exactly, but not entirely gone, either. Portraits have been cited as a possibility; my favorite is the idea that the classic Hero's Journey always includes a visit to the Underworld, to bring back/ask advice from a loved one or mentor. Damn, but I could go for that BIG time.
Oh, god, Sirius... I just want you back so much...
*returns to sobfest for another ten minutes*
*wipes face*
11. Do you think fanfiction will be hurt by Book 5? Do you see any new pairings arising? Do you see any huge ships falling apart?
Oh, god, where to start?
Fanfiction in general, hurt, no. I see the "I don't read the books" authors continuing on without a blip, I see most everyone else pausing, shaken a bit, wondering how to assimilate this new canon into their vision, and then slowly getting started again, whether that's with a pre- or post-OotP canon, and a number of people writing catharsis stories immediately as well as those who were not as deeply affected as I going "Cool! I got a bunch of plotbunnies!"
New pairings? *laughs* I'll tell you how I was affected by fanfiction, in reading this book-- it was not so much that I was looking for the slashy bits, as much as I had almost no interest in any of the new female characters, or in the development of any female characters except Hermione. Tonks was fun but she might as well be a man. Luna was an excellent plot device. But she's not anything resembling a character. Umbrage: A nazi is a nazi is a nazi, I don't care what gender they are. Ginny: I HATE Harry/Ginny so badly, so as soon as it was established that she was no longer keen on Harry, I found her easy to tolerate.
I think, and I could be wrong, but the largest population of slash fiction is Harry/Snape, followed by Harry/Draco. (Feel free to correct me. I'm just calling it as I've found it.) Those particular 'ships should not have a whit's discomfort. Both relationships stand almost as they did at the end of GoF: animosity, tension, ready to be slashed at most lustily. So, overall, I don't think that portion of slash will change.
And all those people who say that Sirius's death won't effect what they write that much... Ha. Garbage. Oh, so you didn't write Sirius much? The hell you didn't. Harry and Snape squabbled their way into bed and Harry and Draco were two boys discovering each other but meanwhile, it was good old Sirius telling Harry he'd always be proud of him, telling him not to be ashamed of being gay, yelling at Snape to get away from his goddamn godson, you greasy git. What the hell will you do without Sirius?
Moreover, Sirius/Remus was your effing CONSTANT, most of you. They just weren't your focus. They were that lovely gay couple who let whatever half of your couple come sleep on their couch after a fight and get tea spiked with firewhiskey. You loved Sirius/Remus and you bleeding know it. (And I am now completely convinced that OotP proves Sirius/Remus as sub-textually canon... but that's another post.)
And then there's... the triangle. Sirius, Remus, Snape. Oh, but we love that. We love to fight over that one. It's Sirius/Remus and nothing can part them! No, it's Sirius/Snape because only that much hate can bring that much love! No, it's Remus/Snape because Sirius was always trying to come between them!
And we just lost that triangle, and with it, two of those pairings. No, I take it back; we lost all of them. What's Remus/Snape without Sirius there, I ask you?
Doesn't seem so trivial anymore, does it, you darn Snarriers?
I simply don't want to do without Sirius in my stories. He wasn't my focus all the time; my usual focus is Harry, because I identify deeply with him. But I will never forget when I began to (no pun intended) conceive As Sharp As Sunlight, a story intended to focus on Harry/Lucius, and suddenly Sirius Black was whispering into my ear, The first line of this story is He's only sixteen, and I am the one who is speaking it. I will tell you the entire story and you will write it down, from my viewpoint. And he told me the entire goddamn story. I didn't write it; he did. I still get weirded out thinking about that.
Oh, I am so glad Nimori inspired me to write No Happy Memories, before I read OotP. It is one of the greatest comforts I have, right now.
12. What was your favourite chapter in Order of the Phoenix? Why?
The Lost Prophecy. Harry's rage, my need to see it and grieve with him, to scream, "I WANT OUT, I WANT IT TO END, I DON'T CARE ANYMORE--" just slightly edges out Snape's Worst Memory. I needed to see that, I needed to see Dumbledore explain how terribly, terribly he had blown it. If that hadn't been there... well, it needed to be there, that's all. And it's the only part I can reread so far. Like therapy. Though Snape's Worst Memory was the coolest chapter. Loved what we saw of James, Lily, Sirius and Snape.
13. Talk about Fred and George's "flight."
What a statement Rowling made here. We're so used to Hermione's "We can't lose points, we can't be expelled, we must do well on our O.W.L.'s," and many of us were, are, total Hermiones ourselves, that this was such a shocker of a moment: the moment when Rowling said, "You know what? Sometimes there are things more important than the rules. More important than diplomas, than laws. There's not backing down in the face of evil, of wrong." In that moment, Fred and George were every Pole who sheltered a Jew in their house during WWII, every 1960's abortionist trying to save women from impaling themselves on knitting needles, every reporter who's ever gone to jail for contempt of court rather than name his/her sources. Fuck. It was amazing.
14. Give some thoughts on Ron.
Do you see what this book would have been if Ron had been the focal point? This book would have been a boy hero's story. Kid makes prefect. Kid makes Quidditch team, isn't all that great, but pulls off the great save to win the cup. Kid defends sister's honor. Kid thinks wistfully about romance. Oh, this hurts so poignantly. This is the only hero story that Harry wants for himself and he can't fucking have it. Oh, this hurts so much. It's exactly the sweet simplicity that Ron saw for himself in the Mirror of Erised. All a boy could want. Not, "Here's your fate: kill, or be killed, and watch those about you die." Wah.
15. What did you think of Dumbledore's explanation?
Didn't see the Neville coming. Now I wish more than ever Neville had been the one offed in this book. Would have worked and it WOULDN'T BE SIRIUS.
I'm very satisfied with the explanation. I find prophecies... generally... a lame plot device, but they can be handled well, and this one was. Using Trelawney, using Dumbledore, the glass balls that can only be handled by the subject, Voldemort only getting part of it ("They're digging in the wrong place!" says Indiana Jones), Voldemort forcing the prophesy to go a certain way with his choices, Harry doubly damned because he might have had a chance for it to go another way. The fact that Harry must become a killer to live. God.
A lot of people have mentioned the similarity to Cybele's sensational story If You Are Prepared, and some have said that JKR's set-up is kind of lame compared to IYAP's. Oh, come on, people. I agree, that Cybele's Why Voldemort Wants To Kill Harry idea is brilliant, and yes, even cleverer, IMHO, than Rowling's, but it's also more devastating. Those of you who have read it will know what I'm talking about; I will not spoil it for you here. Really, guys, you couldn't have THAT in canon. JKR's is a nice awful compromise.
(And yes, I'm quite, quite tired of "it wasn't as good as fanfiction" whines. The fanfiction would not even be here were it not for Rowling's sensational creation. Though I can be sympathetic to one point; at least if someone dies in fanfiction, you get over it faster, knowing that that isn't really the way it went. Wah...)
16. Do you feel satisfied by this book?
My heart is bleeding, man. How can you ask that question, you sick fucker? How?!
*weeps*
*wipes face*
... I think it's the best of the five. Every one just gets more and more gripping. But it's impossible for me to use the word "satisfying." I'm too devastated. Harry, my sweet Harry, what can be left for you?
17. How anxious are you now for Book 6?
I've got to know why Sirius had to die. I need Book 6 like, yesterday.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
The Prophecy
Date: 2003-06-24 07:50 pm (UTC)Lovely review madam ::bows::
India A.
Re: The Prophecy
Date: 2003-06-24 08:09 pm (UTC)And Harry still has some choice, doesn't he? Sadly, it looks like it's kill or be killed. Yeesh.
Thank you, India!
no subject
Date: 2003-06-24 07:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-06-24 08:06 pm (UTC)With wonderful people like you, I'll get better. But I really am responding to it like Harry would respond.
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2003-06-24 08:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-06-24 08:27 pm (UTC)NHM gives me the chance to imagine they had time for a proper goodbye. It helps a lot.
I will see where I can find the music, it sounds just like what I need to hear..!
Re:
From:no subject
Date: 2003-06-24 08:30 pm (UTC)Sirius´ death crushed me as well, but I´m beginning to see a bit of light on the horizon. A few people have pointed out some things, (Stubby Boardman!), that have now convinced me that our beloved Padfoot is coming back, one way or the other. JKR is too clever to just leave plot holes in the book, and she never mentions anything without it serving a purpose later.
Gah! I love OotP!
no subject
Date: 2003-06-24 08:38 pm (UTC)Please, do keep convincing me that he'll be back. It's starting to work, slowly but surely. (Though I'm not sure the "Stubby Boardman" bit is what's doing it. ^_^)
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2003-06-24 08:45 pm (UTC)the largest population of slash fiction is Harry/Snape, followed by Harry/Draco...
Well, what I've found is that in the section of the fandom that you write in and that I read, Harry/Snape is the biggest 'ship. I guess by that section I mean good writers who write very adult, mostly angst or drama fics with a big emphasis on characterization and writing quality and who stick as close as possible to canon. In this section, I'd say Sirius/Remus and maybe even Harry/Lucius, Harry/Sirius, Snape/Sirius and Snape/Remus are bigger than Harry/Draco. Because of the very nature of Harry/Draco, though, and the characterization changes it requires, not many of the authors in this section write it. In the fandom in general, though, Harry/Draco is much, much bigger than any other ship, followed by Sirius/Remus, and Harry/Snape, Harry/Lucius, and Harry/Sirius are seen as too squicky by most readers. There was a poll on FictionAlley in January or so and an insane majority--somewhere around 70%, I think--thought Harry/Draco was the best pairing (if I'm remembering the poll right). With as many ships as there are in the fandom, that's incredbile.
Summary: in the section of the fandom you write/socialize in, Harry/Snape is the biggest ship. But this section of the fandom is relatively small (even though most of the good writers are in it *g*), and pretty much everyone who's not in it *hates* all the major ships of it, so the actual biggest ship is H/D. Make sense?
no subject
Date: 2003-06-24 09:00 pm (UTC)Goddamn it, I was getting SO addicted to Harry/Sirius...! And Snape/Sirius already had me big time... *more waterworks*
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2003-06-24 09:23 pm (UTC)A-fucking-men.
Although, I personally never found the cupboard funny.
He's a boy who was seriously emotionally abused as a child, and given an extreme distrust of authority figures. An extreme distrust which was shown to be true and reinforced throughout his years at Hogwarts. And now he's a young adult, at a stage where one's opinions and personality are starting to show the glimmers of what they'll be as an adult, where he isn't a child anymore and the distrust of authority figures (all authority figures) has pretty much cemented.
And all the authority figures around him want him to sit on his ass and wait? Have they absolutely no knowledge of psychology at all?
Also, as someone who is rather extremely multi-ship, Harry/Draco is bigger. Harry/Snape may have a higher percentage of adults, but Harry/Draco is bigger. Much, much bigger. Although both are bigger than Sirius/Remus, dispite the fact that most people acknowledge that one as boderline canon. Who knows.
no subject
Date: 2003-06-25 11:46 am (UTC)And thank you for the multi-ship perspective-- I too refuse to have One True Pairing; there are too many interesting things to be said about too many of them...
*pats Promiscuous!Harry*
Re:
From:Your icon...
From:no subject
Date: 2003-06-24 09:44 pm (UTC)Wow, you really see it that way?
Let me preface my comments with: "I've only read the book once through so far..."
But to me, their actions seemed motivated less by altruism and fighting for what was right and more by pulling "the ultimate prank and getting away with it."
They had nothing to lose by doing it, after all. They were of age, they were trained wizards, they had a couple of OWLS under their belts already, and they didn't give a flying fig about their NEWTS. What was the worse that could happen? They might open their business (that was clearly going to be a success) a few months sooner.
Whereas Harry's defense group was literally risking their futures. They were mostly underage, some of them Muggle-born (i.e. few if any immediate prospects in *either* world), had taken no official exams, and had no job possibilites lined up. If they got expelled, they could literally be screwed. I guess to me, those kids, who risked their futures every single time they sought out that hidden room to train, they were the unsung heroes and behind the scenes warriors. After all, what did Fred and George really accomplish with their pranks? Whereas members of Harry's group actually proved their mettle in real fire-fights against The Enemy (TM).
Now, perhaps I'm not being quite fair to Fred and George. They did certainly boost morale and raise the war banner against the Ministry's Minions of Mediocrity so to speak, which was necessary. But...I dunno. I think I'm just having difficulty wrapping my brain around the idea that they did something ultimately noble.
no subject
Date: 2003-06-24 09:57 pm (UTC)So, yes. I'm impressed by their guts.
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2003-06-24 10:23 pm (UTC)That is all.
no subject
Date: 2003-06-25 11:47 am (UTC)Ourloveissofangirly.
(no subject)
From:<3
Date: 2003-06-24 10:43 pm (UTC)Your smarts and passion make me smile :D
I had no idea Sirius' death would hit people so hard. I must be heartless... (I was far more bothered by the fact that we had 800 pages of text for a 400 page story)
*offers condolences*
Alice
Re: <3
Date: 2003-06-25 11:50 am (UTC)Condolences can be sent to the Harry Must Now Get A Pony Charity Foundation.
hmm
From:no subject
Date: 2003-06-25 12:09 am (UTC)But I am grieving for Sirius. Definitely. He'll live on in AU for me though. I *could* have lived with it being Neville offed instead of Padfoot - I do agree with you about that...
My biggest disappointment after you-know-what was getting Grawp instead of Fridwulfa though. Unless someone writes some incest fics about him & Hagrid...
Love & Serpents' Kisses,
Anath.
no subject
Date: 2003-06-25 11:54 am (UTC)Grawp/Hagrid.
Grawp/Hagrid.
...Okay, I'm officially squicked. Yeesh.
Please, Aman, please...
From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2003-06-25 02:53 am (UTC)Meanwhile I have a story plotted that will bring Sirius back, nothing related to Stubby Boardman though. And I will kill Dumbledore in that story, rather painfully too. That'll teach him for manipulating Harry, allowing him to be mistreated by the Dursleys and imprisoning Sirius and being his annoying self. I hope that he will die in canon too, although we'll probably have to wait until book 7 for that to happen.
no subject
Date: 2003-06-25 12:01 pm (UTC)Kill anyone you like in fanfiction. Over and over. That's the beauty, those are the RULES.
Damn, she better have an effing INCREDIBLE reason for killing Sirius...
Words of a keening Dogger...
Date: 2003-06-25 05:25 am (UTC)I'm inclined to say this was the best OotP review I have seen. Ever. No one else has had his/her points so poignant and stingy like you have baby.
I'd call this: "Amanuensis laments Sirius and tells the whole effing truth"
I love you baby, come and weep if you want. *smooch*
Loony Moony
PS: The fact that Harry must become a killer to live. God.
That line had me shuddering. Shuddering. So true. So effing true. Brilliant.
Harry is writing the words, "I will not tell lies." In BLOOD. In HIS OWN BLOOD. As the words are being CUT INTO THE BACK OF HIS HAND. As a teacher MAKES HIM DO IT. OVER AND OVER UNTIL THE WORDS WILL LEAVE A LASTING MARK.
Jesus H. Christ.
That particular chapter in OotP had me recoiling from the book like a snake tried to bite me. So utterly sadistic, you wouldn't believe JKR had it in her. I'd say she has great potential in becoming a bonafied BDSM-er. She already has proven that she can do violence to high extent better than any other fanfic writer. (well, Inky might give her a good round for her money.;D)
GAH.
Re: Words of a keening Dogger...
Date: 2003-06-25 12:10 pm (UTC)And I'm hoping that the "I will not tell lies" thing will at least prevent Harry from getting into cutting as a way of showing his disturbed psyche, this upcoming summer. Not that I REALLY thought JKR would do that, but...
Re: Words of a keening Dogger...
From:Re: Words of a keening Dogger...
From:Re: Words of a keening Dogger...
From:no subject
Date: 2003-06-25 06:42 am (UTC)And therefore, well, yum.
And Harry is fun but he might as well be a girl, so what's your point?
(ducks) Just kidding! Didn't mean it! Full of post-OotP bitterness!
A thought that came to me this morning: one of the things Rowling does so well is play with historical archetypes, not just mythological ones. For instance, when Sirius is talking to Harry about his family as they gaze at the tapestry, and tells him about his brother Regulus and his brief stint as a quasi-Death Eater, she invokes the aristocratic German families who were initially all on board with Hitler, despite reservations, but whose reservations and distaste grew as his use for them waned. Of course the parallels that might be drawn with European politics in the 30s are manifold, and I like the idea that a kid encountering this stuff in school for the first time will say, hey, this is familiar. I get it. I know what's going to happen next. In fact, Rowling's books may be the first example of how western literature has acquired and fully assimilated a new archetype for political evil, to the point where the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich can now be a children's book.
no subject
Date: 2003-06-25 12:35 pm (UTC)Yes, see? The more the new female characters act like males, they more I like them! Sad.
*pats Girly!Harry, then gives him a little push* Go apologize to the bitter lady, pumpkin.
I noticed that I evoked Nazi Germany twice in the meme, and almost changed the bit about Umbrage to "McCarthy" instead of Nazi, but then thought, "No, leave it; we all know perfectly well what JKR's been evoking for this whole series."
I love this picture of Alice's:
http://www.geocities.com/mediumice/HP/JustAs.html
Seems so right.
Girly!Harry
From:Goodness, Fabula....
From:no subject
Date: 2003-06-25 09:15 pm (UTC)And Harry's rage was well done in these books. Everyone's been bitching about how Harry's a whiny little bitch the whole time. He's realizing just how shitty his life has been, and now he's starting to react to it. Seriously, I'd be much worse than him.
Anyway, I'm agreeing with you...too much. I'm adding you to my friend's list. Yes. *sobs*
no subject
Date: 2003-06-26 02:00 pm (UTC)*hugs, shares back pats with you*
no subject
Date: 2003-06-26 12:47 am (UTC)4. Hagrid. For not being the one to die instead of Sirius. God, wasn't he completely unforgivable for that, what with the warnings from Firenze and all? Was he not an utterly marked man? Shouldn't he have been? Gah.
Talk about a marked man. Hagrid had bullseye on his back throughout the whole book. Even before we knew where he was, we suspected (or hoped) whatever he was doing might get him offed.
I hated Hagrid by the end of this book. I would gladly trade Hagrid and Ron (although, I hated him much less in this book) ... for the safe return of Sirius.
no subject
Date: 2003-06-26 02:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-06-26 05:56 pm (UTC)you're getting me all emotional, man. you HAVE gotten me all emotional. i had to pause and snuggle my plush!harry. *giggles* i'm totally with you-- because of my similar extreme love for (and identification with) harry, i suspect.
i also have really been thrown and affected by ootp, mostly because of harry and how much more emotional it was than the others.
my take on it is that sirius had to die so that harry can break away, can be completely alone in the darkness. he's entering the phase where he has to make decisions all over again, re-evaluate things. he needs sirius too much, as voldemort showed him. he also needs dumbledore too much, and i suspect that'll be dealt with halfway through seventh book.
ron & hermione-- he needs them a lot, too, but i think it's different because he can shut them out, he can get angry and them and doubt them without having to totally freak out-- he can get pissed at ron and not speak to him and think ron's a prat without it really -changing- anything major about his worldview. he knows they're all prats in some ways, and it's okay 'cause they're mates. or something. but sirius wasn't allowed to get hurt. sirius wasn't allowed to be one of them-- he was both a father and a brother, yes, but harry would never be able to be fearless with the amount of over-protectiveness and vulnerability the father bit inspires in him.
so at this point he's stripped naked of everything-- completely in darkness. in a way, he fell through the veil along with sirius, this book. order of the phoenix, you know... phoenix feather is the thing in harry's wand... harry is the phoenix. he will come back, but not before... well... not before he thinks he won't, or can't, probably.
It's exactly the sweet simplicity that Ron saw for himself in the Mirror of Erised. All a boy could want. Not, "Here's your fate: kill, or be killed, and watch those about you die."
....yes. ron can't be the hero because ron has a support system, he wants simple things (just like harry), but he can -get- simple things. harry, on the other hand, sees death-- knows death. harry's knowledge isn't the knowledge of a normal 15-year-old boy-- not anymore. ron is his tie to that normality, but i think as of ootp, harry has left it behind. and he -has- to, he has to, if he's going to win. he needs the armor only passing through the veil in some metaphorical sense, and surviving can give him. he needs to transcend if he's going to live through destroying voldemort, if he's going to ever let go of his hatred for draco, if he's ever going to forgive himself for sirius and cedric and more to come, i'm sure.
none of this makes it easier, of course, or sweeter. but harry can do it. harry, to the contrary of the somewhat common hypothesis that he doesn't know what love is-- does, in fact, know. if there's anything he knows-- it's how to feel love. this saves him, does it not? over and over, love saves him. i think once again-- in some way-- sirius' death, like his mother's, will end up saving him. i believe it, because it has to be true. because while his mother's sacrifice and his mother's life and death have been largely fantasies, almost theoretical to harry-- sirius was real. sirius can guide harry because he lives in harry's heart. and it may sound horribly cheesy, but that doesn't make it untrue.
*hugs*
no subject
Date: 2003-06-29 04:05 pm (UTC)Just so you know, this hurt SO much. I mean, I'm glad you said it, because it needed to be said. It's a take that hurts so very much, but it's honest and likely.
while his mother's sacrifice and his mother's life and death have been largely fantasies, almost theoretical to harry-- sirius was real.
And for that, I particularly thank you. Not enough people have been seeing that, or at least SAYING it. Yes. Sirius's death is the hardest death he could experience, IMHO. Not that Ron and Hermione's would have been minor; they would have been dreadful beyond belief-- but we were getting set up to see Harry and Sirius drawn closer into a familial relationship and I mourn that so, so very much.