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Okay, so Arthur gave David the “Siege Perilous” (perilous seat). In Arthurian legend Merlin reserved it for the knight who would one day find the holy grail. Malory has Sir Galahad in the seat (older versions have Perceval sitting there) but according to legend it’s fatal to anyone else who is unworthy and sits there. Now, are writers going with legend and having this as foretelling that Charming is in mortal peril?
They really aren’t going to go into the whole holy grail myth because it is a religious tale. I can’t see Charming going in search of the cup of Christ. We do have a savior figure, though, and objects. Will Charming be the one to unite Excalibur? Erase Emma’s name from the daggar?
I don’t know why I’m postulating because they write this show by adhering to the Mad Libs school of writing. *sigh*
[adrotate group="5"]Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.
My question is why will Rumpel obey her? Whats he getting out of it? He may not be the dark one but surely he’ll still have magic. What can Emma offer him? The chance to be a hero? He can do that by not helping her do her little evil goal of snuffing out the light.
I really don’t know if I am just being really cynical tonight or if this episode was just THAT bad for me to have all this hate for it.
Adam and Eddy revealed at NYCC that Rumple no longer has his magic: http://tvline.com/2015/10/11/once-upon-a-time-season-5-emma-hook-breakup/
He can still carry a cane. #CaneOfPain
Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.
Instead of a Yankee in King Arthur’s Court we have King Arthur in Yankee town. 😛
The “yankee” in the story duped King Arthur and Merlin by his knowledge of real world science and technology at the time. So I can see that current technology being used against Arthur in this instance.
Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.
Okay, so to wake Rumple they needed something he touched before he became the Dark One.
So here is a major plot hole. To do the healing spell, Belle said, “I need an object that touched him as a man. Before he became the Dark one.” She can’t find anything in the place. But she does know an object! Bae’s baby shawl. She knows that Rumple kept it from when Bae was a baby and he even used it to leave town to find his son. There is also his ball on the shelf and his spinning wheel.
But can’t have Belle actually waking him up. Have to have Emma use Hook’s sword to do the job. Heck, even Emma knew about the shawl, too.
*sigh*
Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.
Does nobody like CoS or are we all watching too much new tv?
I guess I’ll go and answer my own questions. 😉
1. What was your opinion of the Burrow the first time you read the novel?
I, like Harry, thought it was fantastic. Our first glimpse into how witches and wizards live in the real world. Yes, we have life at Hogwarts, but even in real life, school doesn’t portray necessarily how things are done outside of the institution. Again, like Harry, the reader is just soaking up every description we can get, from the clocks on the wall, the rusted cauldron on the stoop, or how Mrs. and Mrs. Weasley interact as a couple. This new dimension of the wizarding world is one of the reasons I love CoS so much.
2. Why is Vernon so set on keeping Harry in his room instead of letting him leave and not having to see him for another year?
Seeing that the Dursleys despised Harry so much, a rational reaction would be to just leave him alone, do his homework, and have minimal contact with him. In the previous chapter, Harry even touches on this. Why don’t the Dursleys just leave him alone and realize that everything would be easier all around since he’s only in the household for a short duration each school year? But the Dursleys aren’t rational. They pride themselves on their normality to the point that it’s abnormal. For Petunia I think it’s a combination of jealousy and resentment. Her own sister had abilities that she never had and I can imagine that could lead a complex sibling relationship. On top of that she now is raising her deceased sister’s child, who also has these abilities. I despise Petunia immensely but it doesn’t take a degree in Psychology to see some of her issues. For Vernon, I think part of it is fear. He can’t control magic, he has no knowledge of it, and it’s foreign. So therefore it’s something to fear. And for someone who wants to be the Jones, not just better than them, any deviation from the norm is denounced. So you try to suppress and deny those who are different. In this instance, it’s Harry being the target.
3. Although mentioned quite briefly, what does Ginny’s behavior when contrasted with her brothers’ descriptions of her tell you about her personality?
There is a contradiction going on with Ginny that will eventually cover a few books. And really, one thing I’d change about the series is I’d want to see more of Ginny. But here we see her brothers discuss about how outgoing she usually is. She’s talkative and not shy or backward. But Harry sees the opposite. She’s been told stories of baby Harry for most of her life and has a bit of hero worship for him. The fact that he becomes her brother’s best friend doesn’t lessen it. As any young girl with a crush, you usually get shy, quiet and withdrawn, or you try to beat him up. 😛 Ginny has taken the former route. She’s so in awe that she can’t be herself. This dichotomy of her personality is interesting and will come up further along.
Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.
Chapter 3: THE BURROW
SUMMARY
Harry is awoken in the middle of the night by a noise that turns out to be Ron Weasley floating outside his window. After not hearing from him all summer, Ron and his brothers decide to go get Harry themselves with the use of their dad’s enchanted car which is floating outside of Harry’s bedroom. Although they’re not permitted to do magic being underage, they have a loophole because the car was enchanted and they’re just using it, not actually performing magic themselves. Harry tells them he can’t leave because of the bars on the window so the Weasleys use the car to rip them out. They tell Harry to get in the car, but he informs them his stuff is locked away in the closet under the stairs. Fred and George have no trouble, having learned how to pick locks the Muggle way and soon have Harry’s trunk freed and with Harry’s help carry it up the stairs without waking anyone. Soon the trunk is loaded into the car and Harry is ready to leave but forgets his Hedwig, his owl. Climbing back into the room, he gets the owl but his Uncle Vernon hears the ruckus and barges in and grabs Harry’s ankle. Harry is able to escape and drives away with the Weasleys. Harry’s yells out to the Dursleys, “See you next summer.”
On the drive, Harry tells the boys about the strange creature that visited him. The Weasley tells him that house elves have powerful magic of their own but can’t use it without their master’s permission usually. Only wealthy and old wizarding families usually have house elves. They come to the conclusion that Dobby belongs to the Malfoys since Draco is the logical person to come from a rich family who hates him.
They arrive at Weasleys’ home, called The Burrow as dawn arrives. Thinking they got away with using the car without their mother knowing, the boys attempt to sneak in the house, but they are caught by an irate Mrs. Weasley. She punishes her sons, but quickly informs Harry she’s not angry with him and they were planning on getting him if he hadn’t contacted them soon. As they eat breakfast, Ginny, the youngest Weasley sees Harry and disappears. The twins tease Harry that she might ask for his autograph. After they’ve finished eating, the Weasley boys are forced to de-gnome the garden, a process by which you spin tiny potato-like creatures around until they become dizzy and can’t find their way back. Harry joins in, too wide awake to go back to sleep.
After the boys are done with their de-gnoming punishment, Arthur Weasley returns home from a night or raids. He works for the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office at the Ministry. The Weasley patriarch is fascinated by all things Muggle, has a shed filled with Muggle things , and even wrote a loophole into Ministry law that allows him to collect Muggle objects. Mrs. Weasley informs her husband about their sons’ misdeeds but he seems more interested in the enchantments on the car working than chastising his boys.
Ron then decides to show Harry his room. One the way up the many flights, they pass Ginny, who is spying through a crack in her door. Ron replies that her behavior is strange. She isn’t shy and never shuts up normally. Upon reaching his bedroom, Ron is embarrassed by how small it is, but Harry declares it’s the best house he’s ever been in.
ANALYSIS
A Home: Muggle vs. Magical
But Harry, grinning widely, said, “This is the best house I’ve ever been in.”
–CoS, p. 41
Once again we have our transitional chapter from the non-magical world to the wizarding world. Throughout the series, Harry (and Hermione, too) straddles the divide between two different worlds. Although he goes to a magical school and is a wizard, he must continue to live with his Muggle relatives.
He may have to live with the Dursleys for a set period of time each year, but the house on Privet Drive is not a real home to Harry. It’s just a place he has to go for a few months after school. In the Muggle world he’s not famous. He’s not considered exceptional. He’s just Harry. But he’s also not nurtured. He’s locked in his bedroom, treated worse than a prisoner, and forced to suppress his true self. Harry lives in a nice house, with new things, and large rooms, yet he’s not able to enjoy any of it.
Contrast that with the Burrow. The first description we have of the Weasley house is:
It looked as though it had once been a large stone pigpen, but extra rooms had been added here and there until it was several stories high and so crooked it looked as though it were held up by magic (which, Harry reminded himself, it probably was). Four or five chimneys were perched on top of a red roof. A lopsided sign sticking the ground near the entrance read, THE BURROW. Around the front door lay a jumble of rubber boots and a very rusty cauldron. Several fat brown chickens were pecking their way around the yard.
“It’s not much, said Ron.
“It’s wonderful,” said Harry happily, thinking of Privet Drive.
–CoS, p. 32For a boy who has never truly felt like he belongs anywhere other than Hogwarts, Harry’s experience with the Burrow is…well…magical. We know from the previous book that the Weasleys are not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination. They have seven children and little money. Ron is very embarrassed by his family’s lack of wealth. Even showing Harry to his room for the first time he points out the smallness and the sound of the ghoul in the attic banging on the pipes.
Having grown up in the sterile, unfriendly environment of Privet Drive, Harry find the Burrow fascinating. The clock on the wall lists tasks to do and not the time of day, real living gnomes infiltrate the garden, and the house is filled with magical things. The exact opposite of anything Petunia Dursley would tolerate. It’s also has a mother who is scared and worried when her children go off in middle of the night for their safety and takes in Harry as if he was one of their own. It’s everything a home should be.
And yet even though magic is everywhere at the Burrow, the household is not that different than that of the average Muggle family’s. The children have chores, there are consequences for breaking rules, parents who care and have mundane jobs.
FORESHADOWING
–Flying Ford Anglia might show up again
–Mention of Gilderoy Lockhart (names always come back up)DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What was your opinion of the Burrow the first time you read the novel?
2. Why is Vernon so set on keeping Harry in his room instead of letting him leave and not having to see him for another year?
3. Although mentioned quite briefly, what does Ginny’s behavior when contrasted with her brothers’ descriptions of her tell you about her personality?
Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.
We probably won’t get it until next summer, like this year. It airs as PBS Masterpiece (I have the urge to say Masterpiece Theater but the Theater got chopped off years ago).
Masterpiece usually airs certain things at certain times of the year so I predict next June for season two for us in the States.
Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.
I thought the first Care Bear Movie with the magician and the head coming out of the book was bit more frightening as a child than the second one.
Watcher, the Cabbage Patch Kids, Strawberry Shortcake, Transformers, He-Man/She-Ra were all 80s things. Even Jem and Holograms movie coming up was 80s originally. 😛
Does nobody respect history. :))
Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.
I don’t feel bad being behind. Everyone else is, too. Must be the start of the new tv season.
1) If you were Harry, would you stop to think about Dobby’s warnings and consider not going back to Hogwarts? And do you think Harry should have thought it through a bit more?
I would definitely stop and think about the warnings. I wouldn’t be able to not stop thinking of them. Someone warning me that terrible things will happen if I go back to school. It would be a little worrying. However, Harry’s current situation is horrible. He’s being held prisoner by his aunt and uncle. He has no freedom, no contact with his outside world. The thought of facing Voldemort, something he’s done already, might seem not as horrible as what it would mean to stay at Privet Drive.
2) Dobby’s actions: foolhardy, gallant, or both?
Both. Dobby does what he can to protect someone he admires. He doesn’t have the power or ability to act like witches or wizards have, so he uses what can to protect Harry. It’s gallant because he’s defying direct orders from his family. He’s a slave and yet he thinks it’s worth the punishment to warn this young boy about what might happen in the future. The thing people don’t realize and underestimate about Harry is that you don’t give him a little bit of information. He’s like a hound on the scent. Nothing is going to stop him when he gets something in his head.
3) The plight of the House Elves in general will eventually take up part of the narrative in this series. Thinking broadly, for a brief moment, is it okay for Wizards to keep House Elves?
Big question. House Elves are sentient beings therefore would be logical to be granted certain rights. An interesting read is the beginning chapter of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. It discusses the classification of beasts vs. beings and what rights are granted to different divisions.
Looking at it from a real life historical perspective, it’s abhorrent to enslave another group. But then this is in a fantastical context. It’s hard to come up with a hard and fast solution, something even Hermione in the future will wrestle with.
As for the next chapter. Hope to get it up tonight. If not, then in the morning it will be available.
Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.
