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That's just because Rowling couldn't figure out how to work cleverer magic in to the story, it does get mentioned regularly. Look at transfiguration for example, turning an inanimate object in to an owl, conjuring a live snake out of thin air, swapping objects' positions.. there's plenty of interesting magic just off camera
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Nov 20, 2020 14:56
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TheAardvark posted:That's just because Rowling couldn't figure out how to work cleverer magic in to the story, it does get mentioned regularly. Look at transfiguration for example, turning an inanimate object in to an owl, conjuring a live snake out of thin air, swapping objects' positions.. there's plenty of interesting magic just off camera True, most of my memories are of Harry himself who is canonically a terrible student. How he graduates on the strength of like three spells is astounding, kind of like if a physics student managed to get a master's degree by mostly remembering "force=mass x acceleration" and not much else.
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Nov 20, 2020 15:20
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TheAardvark posted:That's just because Rowling couldn't figure out how to work cleverer magic in to the story, it does get mentioned regularly. Look at transfiguration for example, turning an inanimate object in to an owl, conjuring a live snake out of thin air, swapping objects' positions.. there's plenty of interesting magic just off camera The final films are really loving bad about this. All the magic just becomes blasting each other with gun spells.
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Nov 20, 2020 16:39
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jojoinnit posted:True, most of my memories are of Harry himself who is canonically a terrible student. How he graduates on the strength of like three spells is astounding, kind of like if a physics student managed to get a master's degree by mostly remembering "force=mass x acceleration" and not much else. Harry is actually canonically supposed to be a really good student, the problem is that we're only told that and what we're shown is him learning like two or three spells on his own and then copying everything else from Hermione.
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Nov 20, 2020 20:26
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Good/talented wizard. Terrible student.
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Nov 20, 2020 20:26
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dordreff posted:Harry is actually canonically supposed to be a really good student, the problem is that we're only told that and what we're shown is him learning like two or three spells on his own and then copying everything else from Hermione. A point I've been saying since I first read the books Hermione does all the work, learns all the spells, and Harry just...well, look at it this way. Harry knows he has to go on a quest to find he soul jars of the greatest wizard ever. Does he prepare in any way? Learn some new spells or something? Nope. Lupin tells him they will be encountering magic they've never seen before or even contemplated but Harry makes zero effort to improve himself whatsoever.
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Nov 20, 2020 20:41
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Harry realises early on that advanced magic is only useful for stupid twee nonsense and you can do 99% of what's needed with "bring that here", "let go of that" and "gently caress off" spells. Why would you want to pour gravy out of your wand, just yell "accio bisto!"
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Nov 20, 2020 20:43
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If I have to explain to you why shooting streams of gravy out of your wand is desireable I have no faith that communication with you is possible.
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Nov 20, 2020 20:53
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I was very specific in my language here to avoid that precise reply.
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Nov 20, 2020 20:55
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That takes time, I need gravy now! 
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Nov 20, 2020 20:57
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josh04 posted:I was very specific in my language here to avoid that precise reply. I don't see how.
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Nov 20, 2020 20:58
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You know, I still feel like there was a missed opportunity for the “neither can live while the other survives” part of the prophecy. Namely, having it be a whole thing where as they go on destroying the Horcruxes (if not sooner), it starts sinking in for Harry that that means that he’s quite probably going to have to very deliberately kill Voldemort, which starts gnawing away at him in a “I’m becoming more and more like him” sense.
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Nov 20, 2020 20:59
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CainFortea posted:I don't see how. Ah poo poo, uh, uh Expelliarmus!
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Nov 20, 2020 21:03
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Personally I think that trope is awful and I'm glad Rowling didn't use it
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Nov 20, 2020 21:05
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Regalingualius posted:You know, I still feel like there was a missed opportunity for the “neither can live while the other survives” part of the prophecy. Namely, having it be a whole thing where as they go on destroying the Horcruxes (if not sooner), it starts sinking in for Harry that that means that he’s quite probably going to have to very deliberately kill Voldemort, which starts gnawing away at him in a “I’m becoming more and more like him” sense. if you want to see that, just watch any episode of post 2000 dr. who in which the doctor feels bad about hating the daleks and decides that saving the universe from genocidal evil is exactly like being genocidal evil somehow
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Nov 20, 2020 21:09
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The Order of the Phoenix: the worst evil in the world is painless instant execution The Order of the Phoenix: will dessicate your living flesh and then shatter your body
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Nov 20, 2020 21:16
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Regalingualius posted:You know, I still feel like there was a missed opportunity for the “neither can live while the other survives” part of the prophecy. Namely, having it be a whole thing where as they go on destroying the Horcruxes (if not sooner), it starts sinking in for Harry that that means that he’s quite probably going to have to very deliberately kill Voldemort, which starts gnawing away at him in a “I’m becoming more and more like him” sense. Harry was quite willing to murder Voldy as an 11 year old. Why would that change?
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Nov 20, 2020 21:16
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Hermione is the real hero of the franchise it's just a shame she ends up with Ron and not on some Auror watch list after sparking off a goblin revolution.
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Nov 20, 2020 22:26
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Hermione goes on to be the head of Magical Law Enforcement because we need to hit all the various flavors of cop.
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Nov 20, 2020 22:31
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Harry is that kid you knew in HS that never studied, kept forgetting there was homework due, and drew doodles instead of taking notes but still somehow got solid B's because they had just enough natural intelligence to skate by as long as the subject matter was low level. The kind of person who - if they go on to university - either washes out or recognizes that once you get beyond basic 101 poo poo that's not enough unless you're a mega genius and actual effort needs to be put in. I have a hunch at what type Harry would ultimately be.
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Nov 20, 2020 22:35
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VanSandman posted:Harry was quite willing to murder Voldy as an 11 year old. Why would that change? He decides in book 7 that killing is never acceptable, even killing nazis, luckily voldy kills himself so he never has to content with the implications of this choice.
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Nov 20, 2020 22:36
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reignofevil posted:Hermione is the real hero of the franchise it's just a shame she ends up with Ron and not on some Auror watch list after sparking off a goblin revolution. I'm on book 4 of my re-read and Hermione has yet to feel like a decently written character who deserves respect. Even now, Jo is presenting stupid poo poo like, "Oh you hate the house-elf slavery but you're still eating food from the Great Hall? Ha. Guess you aren't that determined." Shrieking Cast podcast brought up some pottermore list saying that that the Time Turner chapter was Hermione's best in the series. YIKES. I'd hate to think it's all downhill from there.
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Nov 20, 2020 22:50
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I liked the part in the podcast where they got the end of book 4 and realised that SPEW doesn't even fizzle out, it just stops halfway through the book and no-one mentions it again.
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Nov 20, 2020 23:04
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Hodgepodge posted:if you want to see that, just watch any episode of post 2000 dr. who in which the doctor feels bad about hating the daleks and decides that saving the universe from genocidal evil is exactly like being genocidal evil somehow That would mean watching something from the British, though.
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Nov 20, 2020 23:06
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Hermione has to spend a lot of time as a plot device/exposition character to keep the story moving along, so she doesn't get that much space to actually breath as a character outside her superficial traits of being the clever straight man. Harry is the POV character so we get a ton of his inner thoughts to inform his character and Ron has an ongoing inferiority complex issue with both his brothers and Harry that he struggles with through basically the entire series until he symbolically over comes it by rejecting the locket's vision and destroying it. With Hermione though almost everything loops back around to school work or her intelligence. The house elf thing is interesting and a lot more could have been done with it but that plot mostly gets dropped after OotP outside of a mention or two per book, usually as a gag. She does get a somewhat interesting mini-arc in the sixth book where she's clearly hurt by Ron dating Lavender, and for once Hermione is actually written her age and resultingly doesn't know how to communicate her emotions over the whole thing properly. Which leads to her doing stupid hormonal teenager stuff like siccing her magical bird companions on Ron or inviting a guy she knows is a colossal blowhard out on a date because he's conventionally attractive and she hopes it'll tick off Ron.
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Nov 20, 2020 23:09
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Like 90% of what people remember of Hermione is headcanon and liking grown-up Emma Watson
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Nov 21, 2020 00:11
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Regalingualius posted:You know, I still feel like there was a missed opportunity for the “neither can live while the other survives” part of the prophecy. Namely, having it be a whole thing where as they go on destroying the Horcruxes (if not sooner), it starts sinking in for Harry that that means that he’s quite probably going to have to very deliberately kill Voldemort, which starts gnawing away at him in a “I’m becoming more and more like him” sense. I guess statistically speaking, killing Hitler does make you Hitler.
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Nov 21, 2020 00:36
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mossyfisk posted:I guess statistically speaking, killing Hitler does make you Hitler. I mean, no argument that Voldy had earned his fate a thousand times over, though it could have still held some weight for Harry.
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Nov 21, 2020 01:01
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Sydin posted:Harry is that kid you knew in HS that never studied, kept forgetting there was homework due, and drew doodles instead of taking notes but still somehow got solid B's because they had just enough natural intelligence to skate by as long as the subject matter was low level. The kind of person who - if they go on to university - either washes out or recognizes that once you get beyond basic 101 poo poo that's not enough unless you're a mega genius and actual effort needs to be put in. i'm in this post and i don't like it 
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Nov 21, 2020 01:23
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GodFish posted:He decides in book 7 that killing is never acceptable, even killing nazis, luckily voldy kills himself so he never has to content with the implications of this choice. Killing Nazis is no good for Harry. Now mind-controlling and torturing them? That's fair game.
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Nov 21, 2020 05:48
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I forget: McGonnagal never even so much as lightly rebuked Harry, let alone chewed him the hell out for using Cruciatus on the guy who spit on her, right? broke: using magical torture powers to try to get information from your target woke: using magical torture on a guy for the crime of being a prick to an authority figure
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Nov 21, 2020 07:08
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It really is all just the english upper class
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Nov 21, 2020 09:01
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If Harry had used any spell—literally any iother spell—that scene would have worked. Having him torture one of the Carrow with Cruciatus and getting told he's noble for trying to protect McGonagall's dignity is quite weirdly offputting, especially since we've been told by Bellatrix that the Cruciatus only works properly if you really mean it and want the other person to suffer.Regalingualius posted:I forget: McGonnagal never even so much as lightly rebuked Harry, let alone chewed him the hell out for using Cruciatus on the guy who spit on her, right? Yeah, it's not like her back was turned or she was knocked out. She literally saw and heard harry use one of the Unforgivables, and Harry's excuse for using it was about as cop as you can get.
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Nov 21, 2020 13:56
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The easy answer is that Harry Potter is a loving psycho - which is perfectly understandable if you assume that he is a child soldier on war footing. Teenage boy, told he's the most special and important boy after growing up in an abusive house hold? Given incredible powers and loads of money? That's not a recipe for making any kind of altruist. So either Jo Ro is a better writer than you'd ever give her credit for or she has full on loving brainworms and this is just "the way things are". It is ofc the latter.
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Nov 21, 2020 15:58
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Sydin posted:Harry is that kid you knew in HS that never studied, kept forgetting there was homework due, and drew doodles instead of taking notes but still somehow got solid B's because they had just enough natural intelligence to skate by as long as the subject matter was low level. The kind of person who - if they go on to university - either washes out or recognizes that once you get beyond basic 101 poo poo that's not enough unless you're a mega genius and actual effort needs to be put in. Nah, that's not quite Harry. He does study plenty, but it's usually only ever enough to get through the tests, and then it exits his brain. There are a few times when he really put his nose to the grindstone to really learn something, and then he actually grows as a person and learns skills that really stay with him long-term, but for the most part, his education doesn't do him any favors. Although it's not like we see the adults being thankful for anything they learned in school either; school is more of a trial to overcome than an experience to make you better.
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Nov 21, 2020 16:33
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He spent a frankly absurd amount of time studying and writing essays compared to me in school, even with the stuff he doesn't care about, I'll say that.
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Nov 21, 2020 16:43
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Southpaugh posted:The easy answer is that Harry Potter is a loving psycho - which is perfectly understandable if you assume that he is a child soldier on war footing. Teenage boy, told he's the most special and important boy after growing up in an abusive house hold? Given incredible powers and loads of money? After a long, unfulfilling career, Harry abruptly quit his post and left the wizarding world entirely, taking on a new muggle identity: John Galt.
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Nov 21, 2020 17:26
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SlothfulCobra posted:Although it's not like we see the adults being thankful for anything they learned in school either; school is more of a trial to overcome than an experience to make you better. MikeJF posted:He spent a frankly absurd amount of time studying and writing essays compared to me in school, even with the stuff he doesn't care about, I'll say that. again, literally just a british boarding school
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Nov 21, 2020 18:21
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VanSandman posted:Harry was quite willing to murder Voldy as an 11 year old. Why would that change? He doesnt even hesitate in the movie. As soon as he realises his touch burns Quirrell he just grabs his face. Ice cold.
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Nov 21, 2020 19:13
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amigolupus posted:If Harry had used any spell—literally any iother spell—that scene would have worked. Having him torture one of the Carrow with Cruciatus and getting told he's noble for trying to protect McGonagall's dignity is quite weirdly offputting, especially since we've been told by Bellatrix that the Cruciatus only works properly if you really mean it and want the other person to suffer. In fairness Bellatrix is a complete psychopath.
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Nov 21, 2020 19:17
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