Ink and Stink: A Halloween Post-mortem

[zorb]

Whew! That was fun. I thought I'd start a new discussion post now that all the facts are available and the drama is done.

Notable events:
- Harry accidentally spilled indelible ink on the book Hermione copied for the LP, the Pretiosissimum Donum Dei, thus sending her off in tears. :-(
- Teddy showed off his Dark Mark (inked by Draco) to the Lord Protector, who was pleased to see a new generation of minions coming to life, as was Bellatrix.
- TROOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLL in the castle! MacNair was the rumored source, most likely by virtue of his announcing it. Sucks to be the messenger. (ETA: The troll belonged to him, so I guess that's more reason.)
- Even before the panic, boot realized Hermione was missing and told Neville, who also knew from Lavender that Hermione had gone off to cry. Harry put the pieces together and ran off after her with Ron, Neville, and a reluctant Draco.
- The battle with the troll seems to have played out much like it did in canon, with two extra people. Harry still ended up upended, prompting Neville to charge the troll (oh, Neville!). Ron wingardium leviosa'd the troll's club above its head, where it dropped for the KO, with a brief stop on Neville. Draco pulled Neville out of the way.
- Pansy is quoting things.

And finally, the LP left Harry a most devoted gift - welcome, Dennis Creevey! (I love him already.)

Thoughts? Theories?

Comments

[lapin-agile.livejournal.com]

1. I'm with you in wondering how Pansy's father died.

As far as I can tell, she gives Lucius too much credit if she thinks he's conflicted about his actions. I'd like to think her father merits the "Behind Blue Eyes" allusion; I don't see it for Lucius, and I suspect that Pansy is beginning to see Lucius more clearly, too.

3. Word. Hermione's not just a damsel in distress in this version; she's a Mudblood in distress, so Draco can't even believe Harry bothered. Bleurrgh. It's another of the heartbreaking things about this AU: if she'd showed any sign of knowing enough magic to get them out of that mess, she'd have been "destroyed" for sure. We've got to settle for Pansy (so healthy!) or Sally-Anne (so capitulating!) as a replacement for Hermione's central contribution to the story? That's going to be hard to take in the long run. Argue if you will that canon!Hermione doesn't fully provide gender balance to the books, but we're a step off that pace here, so far.

[brimtoast.livejournal.com]

Oh, wait! I just reread Pansy's post, and suddenly it seems REALLY clear that she does mean Behind Blue Eyes to be about her father. In fact, that's what "daddy's singing to me" must mean. She thinks of the narrator of that song as like her father, so listening to that song is like her daddy singing to her.

I think her father changed his mind about being a DE and was killed for it, like Regulus in the books.

[lapin-agile.livejournal.com]

I think her father changed his mind about being a DE and was killed for it, like Regulus in the books.

I'm not sure that Lucius would honor his role as Pansy's stepfather if her father had been an open traitor. Perhaps he would see a duty to train this pureblood child to be a true follower unlike her parent, but I think his attitude towards her would be different. (And I think Bella, at least, if not Lucius, would have mentioned Mr Parkinson's treachery if he had been a known blood traitor.)

We are certainly seeing some evidence that Pansy's father was more complicated and more broadly cultured than a good, unquestioning servant of the LP need be. I really like this piece of the emerging story. I hope that Mr and Mrs Parkinson turn out to have been as interesting as the early evidence hints hints they were/are.

[brimtoast.livejournal.com]

Well, maybe Pansy's father was killed immediately after he changed his mind, so that nobody except Lucius and Voldemort know about it. And that's why nobody would have mentioned it. In fact, I think Lucius has specifically said that Pansy's father died fighting for the current regime. But that could be a lie, since that version of the story puts Voldemort in a much better light than the other.