HBP Chapter 18 re-read
Slughorn to Harry on the bezoar: “You’ve got nerve, lad, … you’re ***like your mother***!”
Apart from throwing herself to her death to save her infant son, what else have we seen Lily do that was nerveful? I guess reforming & marrying James could fall under that heading. The bottom line is that even though we have finished book six, Harry & we still know very, very little about Lily Potter.
A bit surprised that the Anglicism “something that looked like cat sick” made it through the Americanese translator, but I suppose changing it to “cat barf” wouldn’t have added much.
When Ron winces at the sound of the name “Voldemort”, Harry says impatiently to him, “Oh, will you get a **grip**!” This underlines for us that Harry is really a very, very advanced DADA student — Dd being the only adult DADA practitioner who can say “that name” with the same ease.
Awkward question, though: why don’t harry & Dd call Voldemort “Riddle”? Isn’t it giving lord V just the power he craves to even recognize this special and *completely made up* name that Tom Marvolo Riddle. coined for himself?
Harry points out that when he wants his friends to stand lookout, he tells them why. This respect for others is what differentiates him from Malfoy.
Slughorn can be a very pleasant man when he is in a good mood — it is really quite Christian of him to invite Malfoy into the party.
Again Harry is more perceptive than his elders when he realizes the vital split second before Slughorn that something is wrong with Ron on swallowing the mead. We see how Harry has been trained to hair-trigger perception and response.
And as the chapter ends we realize that the tragic death of Ron Weasley will be the centerpiece of book six …
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