The Not a Book Club Club discussion

Discuss Chapter 10 - Chapter 16

NOTE: While this section is meant to focus on the specified chapters of this book, this read is meant for people who have already read the entire series.

As a result, unlike most of our group reads, full spoilers for the series will be allowed without spoiler tags in every discussion post.

If you haven't read some/all of the books (What's wrong with you?) proceed at your own peril.

Ch. 10
-Seriously, be more irresponsible, Sirius.

-Dog-Sirius acts a lot like my own dog, particularly the chasing his tail bit.

-As someone mentioned in the other thread, why is Harry unescorted on the Hogwarts Express? It'd be so easy for a Death Eater to take Polyjuice potion and pose as a student and attack Harry or even hide out on the train.

-LUNA. I love Luna. She's so goofy and weird but no matter what, she's just herself. Doesn't care of people laugh. ROCK ON, LUNA.

-Neville is so geeked over his mimbulus mimbletonia. I love it.

-Sigh. Cho Chang makes her first appearance. Blah.

-Fudge has only been Minister for 5 years. I always thought he was on longer.

-Malfoy recognized Sirius on the platform. Seriously, Sirius...

-Thestrals are weird but kind of neat. I'm glad I wouldn't be able to see them, though.

Ch. 11
-Tell it, Luna. Hagrid isn't a very good teacher.

-Harry isn't too sharp. What other position could Umbridge be filling other than D.A.D.A. Teacher?

-The Sorting Hat knows what's up.

-At least Hermione listens. Pay attention, Harry and Ron.

-I always liked Dean. I imagine him to always on the verge of saying something but the main characters interrupt him.

Ch. 12
-Hermione, always dignified even when Harry is railing against her for no good reason.

-Angelina is a pain in the ass in this book.

-It seems like Fred is more of an instigator than George, George just goes along with it.

-How is Snape allowed to be so foul to Harry, like purposely failing him. Such bullshit.

-Harry telling off Ron and Hermione for bickering is actually quite nice. It would drive me nuts as well, even without a piece of Voldemort in my head.

-Use your head, Harry.

Ch. 13
-Tricking house elves into freedom crosses a line. As Hagrid said in GoF, it'd be doing them unkindness. I also think she'd get in trouble for doing it. It's not up to her to free them and they recognize Dumbledore as their master anyway so I doubt they'd be free.

-Umbridge's detention is sinister and downright cruel.

-Take a chill pill, Angelina.

-Ickle Ronnie the Prefect, trying out for Keeper!

-When Umbridge touches Harry and his scar hurts and he has that peculiar feeling around his midriff, he's feeling Voldemort's feelings.

Ch. 14
-Of course, Hermione is the only one keeping up with their schoolwork.

-There's an overabundance of Quidditch in this book.

-Percy is a pompous ass. That letter is infuriating.

-BE MORE IRRESPONSIBLE SIRIUS. TRY HARDER.

-Hermione says if Sirius made a little bit of an effort with Kreacher, she's sure that the elf would respond. She's right. When Harry is kind to Kreacher in book 7, Kreacher is grateful and ends up very loyal to Harry. A lot could have been avoided if Sirius tried to be nice. His own quote constantly comes back to me in this book: ''If you want the measure of a man, look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.'' Well, Sirius is never good to Kreacher.

Ch. 15
-I find it hard to believe Hermione didn't know O.W.L. grades before talking to Fred and George.

-Haven't you learned anything, Harry? Don't talk back to Umbridge.

-Harry when learning about Hermione's plan for him to teach: HARRY SMASH.

Ch. 16
-You would think Sirius's lack of the Dark Mark would be considerable evidence that he's not a Death Eater...

-Dumbledore's brother Aberforth runs the Hog's Head, which is why he looks vaguely familiar to Harry.

-Hermione's growing confidence in her speech in front of the future D.A. members reminds me of Emma Watson's recent speech to the UN for the He for She campaign. Emma was really nervous at first but gradually got more confident.

-It's been a while since I read this book, definitely before 2011, but now I imagine a heliopath to look like a flame atronach from Skyrim.

-Hermione jinxed the parchment they all signed. Good idea.

-Teenage romance. Oh, joy.

Dara wrote: "-There's an overabundance of Quidditch in this book."

No such thing!

It's too much for me in this book.

I wonder why Dumbledore made Malfoy a prefect. Hoping it will do him some good?

What were his other options? Crabbe and Goyle... Blaise Zabini (not seen until the next book). I have the impression that Malfoy is a decent student. I also think the Head of House has a say (Tonks mentions that her Head said that Tonks lacked the ability to behave herself) so you know Snape nominated him.

You would think Dumbledore would see that Malfoy would be likely to abuse the position though.

Chapter 11:

1. I forgot how horrible of a woman Umbridge is. I know I haven't gotten to her horribleness, but rereading this book reminds me of her horrible ways.

2. I love Luna Lovegood. She is a good comic relief, but also a very valuable character in the series. I love her odd-ball ways.

3. When reading the Sorting Hats new song he said Ravenclaw was for sharpest of minds. Hermoine has a sharp mind. How come she wasn't sorted into Ravenclaw?

Jessica wrote: "When reading the Sorting Hats new song he said Ravenclaw was for sharpest of minds. Hermoine has a sharp mind. How come she wasn't sorted into Ravenclaw? "

I brought that up in discussion for the first read. Why isn't Neville in Hufflepuff?

I think some people could be in multiple places, but in the end they both are brave when it really counts.

Indeed. The only one that truly made no sense to me was Peter Pettigrew. How did that worm get in Gryfindor?

Well, you're not sorted on one quality alone. Hermione is also incredibly brave (Gryffindor). She's also ambitious (Slytherin). She's loyal and hard-working (Hufflepuff). The person being Sorted also has a say in it, as Harry found out when he chose Gryffindor instead of Slytherin. Hermione actually says in a later chapter that the Sorting Hat seriously considered putting her in Ravenclaw.

I like it when Hermonine breaks bad. Taking Umbridge to task for not teaching them practical defense.

So great, that scene.

I also love McGonagal's reaction to Harry getting detention. Basically "come on, man. Get it together"

I don't understand how Umbridge can get away with corporal punishment like that.

And Harry continues to be an idiot. Apart from her clothes for house elves crap, Hermoine is the only thing getting me through these parts. I don't identify with Harry or Ron very much.

I feel like I talk about Hermione too much in my notes but on this read, she is my hands down favorite character. I can't help it.

Random thought.

I want year 7 at Hogwarts as told by Nevelle, Luna and Ginny.

Seconded, Rob. Would be pretty awesome!!

Thirded

Oh and, Hermoine's elf clothes keep disappearing and she thinks it's working, but it's just Doby taking them all.

I liked how kind Ginny was to Luna and Neville on the train. Ginny really is a minor character in these books but I liked how she treated them both with respect and didn't avoid them.

Once Ginny got over being so shy around Harry, she became pretty rad. Feisty little bugger

Ginny get more amusing and rounded in this book. I think she spent a lot of time with Fred and George.

-I hate coffee.

-I think Malfoy is a few years older than Snape, James, and Sirius. I think James and Lily had Harry at like, 20 so Snape, James, and Lupin should be around 35/36.

-I just don't get the Cho thing.

Alex wrote: ""Progress for progress's sake must be discourage, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering." I am so against this with every fibre of my cliche. Question everything. Assume nothing. Be a skeptic. And fuck tradition.

(Now, this is all probably on purpose so we hate Dolore-bags right out of the gate)"

Well said! and lol @ Dolore-bag

You know, I never got the Prefect thing either. Are Ron and Hermione the only Prefects for Gryfindor? Are there six total, 2 for each year after 5? It's never really explained well. We know Percy was a Prefect all the way up till year 7 so do they only have 2 and the first year you're eligible is 5th and new ones are chosen every year? It's all very confusing.

Yeah, Malfoy senior is older than James, Sirius, Snape. In the 7th book, during Snape's memories, it shows Malfoy as a Prefect congratulating Snape on being put in Slytherin.

I started drinking it high school. Maybe 16? Hell I worked at a Tim Hortons (coffee & donuts for you non Canadians out there).

But I didn't drink it very often/regularly until college, and I had a real caffiene addiction during my summer internship in my Junior year.

1-3 cups of coffee in the morning, a can of soda at lunch, 1-2 cups of coffee in the afternoon, a glass of soda with dinner, and 2-3 more during gaming sessions at night.

On weekends I'd wakeup with the worst headaches from withdrawal until I had a few cups. In my defense though, the best discussions happened around the coffee pot while it was brewing at the place I interned.

Now I have 16oz of coffee in the morning and that's it. I quit soda 3-4 years ago.

I love coffee. Even when I was pretty young, I'd have a cup here and there, but it never became a serious addiction until late high school years.

Trying to kick the soda, too. Stuff is no bueno and gives me the "beer gut without drinking beer."

I think the prefect system works like this:
1 boy and 1 girl chosen in each house in 5th year. They remain prefect in 6th and 7th year. So 6 prefects per house. Head Boy and Head Girl are chosen 7th year from the 7th year prefects. 1 boy, 1 girl, any house but only 1 boy and 1 girl total.

No, I'm from Buffalo. Tim Hortons is huge there.

Canada was never more than 30 minutes from me though.

I could be wrong about the prefects but that's my understanding of it.

I drink iced tea and a coke every day. Then water. I like Mexican coke in glass bottles. It's delicious and probably eating my insides.

From the Harry Potter wikia:

"One male and one female student are chosen from each house in their fifth year to act as prefects, and would continue to be prefects in their sixth and seventh years until they leave school. Thus, there are approximately six prefects per house, and twenty-four prefects in the whole school at one time. The Head Boy and Head Girl may be chosen from among this number and may not be replaced, but, like with James Potter, the Head Boy or Girl does not have to be a prefect."

I am having a hard time with this part because of Umbridge. Her corporal punishment and Vendetta against Hogwarts. This just drags on and on.

I love Hermoine in this book. She turns all rad and breaks the rules. She really shows her colors.

I agree on both counts - and this time Sirius is annoying me as well. I think Dara summed it up beautifully earlier - he is just so irresponsible. Wow and throwing it in Harry's face that JAMES would have thought it was neat for him to risk going to Hogwarts....bad!

I love Hermione here - loved how she'd read the whole book, had informed opinions, and then came up with a plan to learn regardless of the teacher.

Dara wrote: "I could be wrong about the prefects but that's my understanding of it.

I drink iced tea and a coke every day. Then water. I like Mexican coke in glass bottles. It's delicious and probably eating m..."

That makes the most sense. I just don't ever remember it being explained in the books so I was never quite sure how it worked, just had my own assumptions.