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Nostalgia moments with the Trio in Deathly Hallows
I probably won't be posting anything in-depth about Harry Potter for a while, simply because I knew after finishing the book that I'd want to write a review, something about Ron, something about R/Hr, and something about the Trio, and this is the last of those posts. If you friended me for my HP essays, and start getting increasingly alarmed by the Heroes content *G*, feel free to defriend anytime. Every day is Defriending Amnesty Day over here. :-)
OK, now on to the Trio goodness.
yahtzee63: There were a number of places in DH were JKR went back to the Trio's earliest hijinks and recast that adventure in a new, darker light. It worked like gangbusters every time, I think.
I read this and I thought, "It's so true." I think one of the reasons why the Trio was so enjoyable in this book was because JKR was enjoying it as much as we were: taking one last trip down memory lane with these three characters, revisiting their adventures, glorying in their friendship with each other, marveling at how far they've come both as individuals and as a team. I could feel her fondness for them, her pride in them. There were so many times in the book when I thought, "Hey! That's just like what they did in their first year! Only now they're all grown up!"
So I thought I'd make a list of some of my favorite "Nostalgia moments" from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. You've come a long way, kids.
A note: I would like to point anyone who was upset/puzzled/annoyed by anything in the body of, or the comments to, my Ron/Hermione essay to this, which is a public apology from me to Harry/Ginny shippers. I've given the link to 2 or 3 people whom I knew were upset, but since I am new to the HP fandom on LJ I know there are a lot of people who will have missed it, so I wanted to give the link here, too.
And a final note: I would really appreciate it if anyone who wants to comment on either of the 2 entries linked above could do it there, instead of in the comments to this post. Thanks!
I probably won't be posting anything in-depth about Harry Potter for a while, simply because I knew after finishing the book that I'd want to write a review, something about Ron, something about R/Hr, and something about the Trio, and this is the last of those posts. If you friended me for my HP essays, and start getting increasingly alarmed by the Heroes content *G*, feel free to defriend anytime. Every day is Defriending Amnesty Day over here. :-)
OK, now on to the Trio goodness.
yahtzee63: There were a number of places in DH were JKR went back to the Trio's earliest hijinks and recast that adventure in a new, darker light. It worked like gangbusters every time, I think.I read this and I thought, "It's so true." I think one of the reasons why the Trio was so enjoyable in this book was because JKR was enjoying it as much as we were: taking one last trip down memory lane with these three characters, revisiting their adventures, glorying in their friendship with each other, marveling at how far they've come both as individuals and as a team. I could feel her fondness for them, her pride in them. There were so many times in the book when I thought, "Hey! That's just like what they did in their first year! Only now they're all grown up!"
So I thought I'd make a list of some of my favorite "Nostalgia moments" from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. You've come a long way, kids.
- Harry and Ron vs. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, Round 243
I love that moment when Harry's about to get the Diadem at last, and he thinks, "OK. I've destroyed almost all the Horcruxes, faced off against Voldemort and the Death Eaters, found Ravenclaw's Diadem, and I'm going to get foiled at the last minute by Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle? You have got to be kidding me."“We’re gonna be rewarded,“ said Crabbe. His voice was surprisingly soft for such an enormous person: Harry had hardly ever heard him speak before. Crabbe was speaking like a small child promised a large bag of sweets. “We ‘ung back, Potter. We decided not to go. Decided to bring you to ‘im.“
“Good plan,“ said Harry in mock admiration. He could not believe that he was this close, and was going to be thwarted by Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. He began edging slowly backward toward the place where the Horcrux sat lopsided upon the bust. If he could just get his hands on it before the fight broke out…
Harry and Ron have faced off against Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle approximately 50 bazillion times by now. Most of the time, the encounters are comic, with Crabbe and Goyle getting jinxed into sea urchins or Malfoy being turned into the Amazing Bouncing Ferret. But now the stakes are higher, the spells are darker, and everyone's deadly serious. When Malfoy stomped on Harry's face in Book 6, I got the feeling that the old schoolboy rivalry had become something much more serious--and the change is even more apparent, and sinister, here. - Harry and Ron's last Quidditch Match
The boys don't play Quidditch in this book...or DO they? The most exhilarating Quidditch match of all--but this time, the Snitch is the Diadem, and Hermione gets to join in! I love that the Trio went back and rescued Malfoy and Goyle. And Ron somehow still managed to make me laugh, even in that dangerous scene. "IF WE DIE FOR THEM, I'LL KILL YOU, HARRY!"“What are you doing, what are you doing, the door’s that way!“ screamed Malfoy, but Harry made a hairpin swerve and dived. The diadem seemed to fall in slow motion, turning and glittering as it dropped toward the maw of a yawning serpent, and then he had it, caught it around his wrist –
The image of the boys, ducking and weaving between the flames seeking to devour them, and Harry's final capture of the Diadem...it harks back to their very first adventure, when they have to catch the flying key to get to the Philosopher's Stone. I also got flashbacks to Harry catching Neville's Remembrall in Book 1, to Harry facing the Hungarian Horntail in Book 4: "Just another ugly opposing team." I can't wait to see it in the movie. Oh, and Malfoy was screaming and holding Harry so tightly it hurt. I giggled. I'm twelve. - Mudbloods and Murmurs...and the Muggle-born Registration Comission:
Ron glanced at Hermione, then said, “What if purebloods and halfbloods swear a Muggle-born’s part of their family? I’ll tell everyone Hermione’s my cousin – “
Hermione covered Ron’s hand with hers and squeezed it.
“Thank you, Ron, but I couldn’t let you – “
“You won’t have a choice,“ said Ron fiercely, gripping her hand back. “I’ll teach you my family tree so you can answer questions on it.“
We're first introduced to the word "Mudblood" in that unforgettable scene in Book 2 when Ron tries to curse Malfoy for using it, and ends up belching slugs. :-) Back then, the danger was confined to Hogwarts: now it's back, and every Muggleborn is in danger. And Rowling revists these themes mainly through Ron and Hermione, the Pureblood and the Muggleborn, and their reactions to the situation. The issue of Hermione being Muggleborn has never really come up within the Trio, because it's the last thing on Harry's and Ron's minds. But I bet Hermione's thought about it once or twice--about the fact that she's part of the group being targeted. And in this book, for the first time, it's forced upon Ron's attention in a way that makes him afraid for her. Look at how quickly he reacts when he learns about the new laws Umbridge has put in place, or how he notices that Hermione's name has been listed in The Daily Prophet with the Muggleborns who failed to present themselves for questioning. The Cattermoles, and Bellatrix's torture of Hermione at Malfoy Manor, really hammer it into them that in the current environment, Hermione is not safe. The subplot of the Cattermoles, in particular, was genius. I'll let the text speak for itself:“Blimey, I hope they escaped,“ said Ron, leaning back on his pillows. The tea seemed to be doing him good; a little of his color had returned. “I didn’t get the feeling Reg Cattermole was all that quick-witted, though, the way everyone was talking to me when I was him. God, I hope they made it…. If they both end up in Azkaban because of us…“
Harry looked over at Hermione and the question he had been about to ask – about whether Mrs. Cattermole’s lack of a wand would prevent her Apparating alongside her husband – died in his throat. Hermione was watching Ron fret over the fate of the Cattermoles, and there was such tenderness in her expression that Harry felt almost as if he had surprised her in the act of kissing him. - Polyjuice Potion Hijinks
Of course, this is connected to the aforementioned theme of "Mudbloods and Murmurs" in Book 2, when the Trio also had to go undercover as Slytherins in order to find out who the Heir of Slytherin was, and end the persecution of Muggleborns. I love the tiny little detail that Hermione, once again, gets her Slytherin's hair when it snags on her sweater during a fight--but instead of Millicent Bulstrode's cat, this time she actually uses Bellatrix's hair. They'd have been in big trouble if the hair belonged to Bellatrix's monkey, or something. - The Dragon/Hippogriff Ride
Just as Hermione got to join in on the Quidditch-esque hijinks with Harry and Ron for the first time, Ron gets to experience a dragon ride, which presumably makes up for him missing the Hippogriff ride in Book 3. *G* And whereas it was Sirius who was on the run, escaping on Hippogriff in Prisoner of Azkaban, this time it's our beloved Trio escaping from the authorities on the back of a dragon. How cool is that? The image of them flying away over England, Ron swearing at the top of his voice, just made me smile. I loved it. - The House-Elf Liberation Front
S.P.E.W. is back with a vengeance in this book, even if it's not called by that name. Ron and Hermione have been at loggerheads over this issue for a few years now, but we see both of them begin to change their views (Ron more so than Hermione) in this book. Ron "shifts uncomfortably" when Hermione tells Griphook that they've been campaigning for equal rights for Elves. Harry begins to see that Sirius may have been in the wrong in his treatment of Kreacher. And while burying Dobby, all of the kids appear to understand what is due to him as a friend and a person. That was just lovely. And it was simply awesome that Ron and Hermione's first kiss happened because Ron genuinely began to care about the Elves and take their welfare into consideration. Awesome, awesome character moment for both of them. - Expecto Patronum!
One of my favorite scenes in The Battle of Hogwarts happens when Luna, Ernie, and Seamus save The Trio from Dementors by conjuring Patronuses.He saw Ron’s silver terrier burst into the air, flicker feebly, and expire; he saw Hermione’s otter twist in midair and fade, and his own wand trembled in his hand, and he almost welcomed the oncoming oblivion, the promise of nothing, of no feeling…
And then a silver hare, a boar, and fox soared past Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s heads: the dementors fell back before the creatures’ approach. Three more people had arrived out of the darkness to stand beside them, their wands outstretched, continuing to cast Patronuses: Luna, Ernie, and Seamus.
The scene reminded me so strongly of the passage in The Prisoner of Azkaban, when Harry and Sirius are attacked by Dementors, and are saved by someone whom Harry believes is his father, although of course we know that it's really Harry himself, Time-Travelling.
I loved the differences between the two scenes as much as the similarities. Before, Harry was on his own--he had to save himself. But now, he has friends--loyal friends who will risk their own lives to help him. Ron's right. "They can help." And whereas in Book 3, Harry could no longer resist the Dementors, and fainted in the clearing, here it's Luna who helps him conjure his Stag Patronus by telling him that he *does* have something to feel happy about. He's not alone anymore. - The Shrieking Shack Revisited: Are you a witch, or are you not?
“How--how’re we going to get in?“ panted Ron. “I can--see the place--if we just had--Crookshanks again--“
“Crookshanks?“ wheezed Hermione, bent double, clutching her chest. “Are you a wizard, or what?“
“Oh--right--yeah--“
Ron looked around, then directed his wand at a twig on the ground and said “Wingardium Leviosa!“ The twig flew up from the ground, spun through the air as if caught by a gust of wind, then zoomed directly at the trunk through the Willow’s ominously swaying branches. It jabbed at a place near the roots, and at once, the writhing tree became still. “Perfect!“ panted Hermione.
One of their very first spells, one of their very first adventures--only amped up by a factor of a billion. *G* And this time, it's Hermione not losing her head in a crisis, and Ron carrying out the spell. How satisfying is that? This just brought back a flood of memories: Ron being disgruntled by Hermione's perfect wandwork, waving his arms like windmills; the Trio defeating the Troll and awkwardly saying "Thanks" to each other afterwards; all of them going off to save the Stone, come what may.
I think Rowling really loves the scene where they defeat the Troll. She insisted that it should be included in the first movie, because it's really the moment when the Trio becomes The Trio. Harry reminisces over it during his Charms O.W.L. Exam in Book 5, and it resurfaces here. Wingardium Leviosa!
And then, of course, they enter the Shrieking Shack as they did in Book 3--only this time, it's not Sirius Black they're after, but Voldemort himself. And once again, Ron provides the final impetus for Harry to go in, not by being dragged into the tunnel, but by pushing Harry forward. I love how Harry notices that they're too big to fit properly in the tunnel, now. And I love how this time, they're watching Snape in the Shack through the Invisibility Cloak, instead of Snape watching them. Brilliant. - Walking out to face the world. Again
They do it at the end of every book, and they always do it together. But before, that was the point when Harry had to return to the Muggle world, leaving his friends. Return to the protection of the Dursleys, so that he'd be safe from Voldemort. Now, he's walking back into the Wizarding World, flanked by Ron and Hermione, ready to face it: together. I thought it was entirely appropriate that the book should end on this note, with just the three of them shoulder to shoulder, walking out of the door. Just perfect.
A note: I would like to point anyone who was upset/puzzled/annoyed by anything in the body of, or the comments to, my Ron/Hermione essay to this, which is a public apology from me to Harry/Ginny shippers. I've given the link to 2 or 3 people whom I knew were upset, but since I am new to the HP fandom on LJ I know there are a lot of people who will have missed it, so I wanted to give the link here, too.
And a final note: I would really appreciate it if anyone who wants to comment on either of the 2 entries linked above could do it there, instead of in the comments to this post. Thanks!