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July 10, 2003

Parry Hotter

Grumble, grumble, I have some nit-picks here. These are either loose ends of plot holes that annoy me. If you haven't read the book but are thinking of doing so, then DON'T read the extension to this article. I will probably give away some plot points in the process of discussing them.

If you have arrived at this via the RSS/XML feed or the archives then I must warn you that spoilers follow! So, if you keep reading, no complaints will be tolerated......

Last chance ....


  • The inquisitor attempts to eject a teacher from the school and fails because Bumblebee (that is apparently the closest word that the newton can find because it consistently tries to replace the word "Dumbledore") intervenes and makes a distinction between the role of a teacher and the right to live at Hogwash (newtonspeak for Hogwarts). When the Lord High Executioner becomes Queen Muck she apparently forgets to throw the person in question out of the grounds despite being a low down cunning vindictive witch (or something that rhymes with that last word but isn't in the newton vocabulary).
  • The flying horses apparently appear after "seeing death of a loved one". For Loony that would be her mother. For Harry it would also be his mother. Nope because otherwise he would have seen the horses before. Can't be Sirius because he is still alive so it must be Cedric (or Cecil or whatever). I didn't think Harry was that close to him and he had his eyes closed during the Abracadabra!
  • Where has Looney been? Was she a late starter in the school? Someone with that much reputation could not have avoided the radar prior to this point.
  • Why would Bumblebee keep a Hogwash teacher who is incompetent AS A TEACHER. Note he can keep them as a guest (see point above) but why inflict her on students at the possible risk to their grades. That doesn't seem like very good management.
  • Why couldn't Hagrid hide with his brother? Or in the Screaming Shack? There was no real reason for him to take off (he stood up for himself previously).
  • What exactly was the deal with the Dursleys - mentioned in the howler and referred to by Bumblebee. Note that we know what Harry gets out of it (protection) but what do they get?
  • Why didn't Harry use the magic mirror and save all that mucking around with the fireplace in the inquisitors room.
  • Why is the book called 'Order of Phoenix' instead of say 'Prophecy of Doom'? Really the order was not that significant to the storyline.
  • Now for the biggy - think about this! The prophecy is in a ball in a room and there are heaps of Breath Eaters in there. So entry is no big deal. Why doesn't old Volde (rhymes with Mouldy) pop in there and get it. It is clearly labeled and either of the subjects can retrieve it. Mind you the story would be a lot shorter! It can't be that Big V is frightened of the ministry because he turned up there at least twice (to bite someone and later to fight Harry)?

    • Posted by Ozguru at July 10, 2003 12:07 AM

    Comments

    I posted a response to this on my blog, here. It quickly grew way too long to inflict on your comments section, and it's fun to trade links around anyway, isn't it? ;)

    Posted by: Mollbot at July 10, 2003 12:07 AM