CONSTANT VIGILANCE

Another Harry Potter Day! I assume at this point you know the drill. Except I'll repeat it again or else I don't have an intro.

So first THANK YOU Alice for hosting this readalong which is so much fun and I'm glad we focus on the important things like work for squibs and wizard taxes.

Next, there will be spoilers so, heads up.

Thirdly I ended up listening to the majority of this section as an audiobook because the fourth one is where Rowling decided to triple the size of her books. Plus this is the copy I have in hardback, just to make it that much heavier. And since I do most of my reading on the subway I decided screw that. I'll do any actual reading when I'm at home and anything while commuting is audio.

Oh as with last week, I still can't upload gifs like I used to, so I have to make due with the ones I already have, which unfortunately isn't THAT many since I normally just find them as I'm writing this deal. If anyone would like to offer advice on how they do this, I am ALL EARS because Photobucket is frustrating the hell out of me.

And with that, onto my random thoughts!

Hermione, Hermione, Hermione. You named your cause S.P.E.W.?
S.P.E.W. is an awful name. She really needs to think how these things sound if she wants to get people on her side. It's been pretty well establish that the wizarding community is TERRIBLE towards anyone that's not a magical human, so already she's fighting an uphill battle. No need to shoot herself in the foot. That said, I do appreciate her suggest to retitle Hogwarts, A History to A Highly Biased and Selective History of Hogwarts, Which Glosses Over the Nastier Aspects of the School. Still not a great name, (and certainly not a fun acronym) but it's at least funnier.

Last week I wanted to give Harry a big hug after he was thinking how much he wanted a parent to talk to. This week it's Neville right after Moody's class. Or when he's still sitting up late, even though Harry totally doesn't notice this because Harry is not the most observant of other people. Neville needs a big hug almost more than Harry, cos Harry is at least SUPER beloved and amazing at Quidditch and has lots of money and other wonderful things that happened to him. Poor Neville is mostly a bumbling mess.

Speaking of hugs, I was recently watching Pushing Daisies and Chuck has a great quote about hugs. PLUS that show is narrated by Jim Dale, who also narrated the HP audiobooks so see, it's all connected. Anyway that quote:
Chuck: I can't even hug you? What if you need a hug? A hug can turn your day around.
Ned: I'm not a fan of the hug.
Chuck: Then you haven't been hugged properly. It's like an emotional Heimlich. Someone puts their arms around you and they give you a squeeze and all your fear and anxiety come shooting out of your mouth in a big wet wad and you can breath again.

Chien-Po gets hugs

I love seeing the other wizarding schools. Do the students who came have to take all of their classes in English? That seems difficult, but I guess everyone just speaks English?

Rita Skeeter is an amazing/terrible character, just behind Umbridge in characters you most wish would die in a fire. But as a reporter, Skeeter is terrible. She's not actually the one writing her stories, her magic floaty pen deal does that. And she makes shit up constantly. I mean going beyond manipulating the story to just flat our writing stuff that never happened, quotes that were never said. I'm not saying this doesn't happen in the real world, but I'd like to think it's less obvious. The Daily Prophet needs to up their standards.

Ron and Harry fighting is so sad. Almost sadder than Harry and Ron being mean to Hermione, except that was way worse and they were way doucheier. But since the story is from Harry's POV and we see how sad he is, that makes it seem worse. Poor guy, getting yelled at for something he didn't even do.

Yay Sirius is back! Kinda! Head in the fireplace but good enough.

How much do you want one of those little dragon things the Champions pulled out of the bag? So much? So much.

I'm really glad Harry didn't outfly Krum in the first task. I know Harry's a great flyer and all, but being better than a professional Quidditch player would have been a bit much.

Poor Winky. I'm glad Dobby is doing well, with his one Galleon a week and one day off a month. Quite the negotiating skills, that one. Although I don't know what to do about Hermione's S.P.E.W. Cos on the one hand (other than the name) it's obviously a good thing to make sure the house elves have rights and are treated respectfully. But then there's the fact that they don't seem to want everything Hermione is trying to give them. And then I don't really know what to think.

Well I don't really know how to end this, so let's go with some great advice from Metatron
Till next week!

Title quote from page 217

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Scholastic, 2000