Delightful Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 So J.K. Rowling just wrote and published a new Harry Potter short story, taking the form of a newspaper article written by Reeter Skeeter, with Harry, Ron and Hermione in their thirties. It's available so far as I can tell exclusively from Pottermore.com. Has anyone read it? What did you think?? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 I hate it. Not out of anything to do with the quality, you understand. I just hate it because I can't find the Braize-ing thing. Is it exclusive to people who have membership on Pottermore? If not, would you mind copying the link to it here? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delightful Posted July 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 I hate it. Not out of anything to do with the quality, you understand. I just hate it because I can't find the Braize-ing thing. Is it exclusive to people who have membership on Pottermore? If not, would you mind copying the link to it here? I think it's only for Pottermore members, but I don't remember it being a pain to sign up. Sorry. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 I shall hold you personally responsible for my mild inconvenience. Thanks though; that would explain a lot. I've been trying search engines for a loooong time trying to get it, and all I could find were news articles talking about it. Speaking of which... apparently the thing the news thinks is most relevant to this story is the fact that Harry is going gray? I admit, that's... an odd thing to focus on. I also read something about there being a series of articles leading up to the Quidditch world cup final, but... can't really vouch for the accuracy of that. Anyway, I'll get the story read and get back to you. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delightful Posted July 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 (edited) I shall hold you personally responsible for my mild inconvenience. YOU EVIL BRONY, YOU! It *is* a weird thing to pick up on, I hadn't conscously noticed that. Maybe they're trying to make all the reader feel young or something? Far more interesting is that Ginny's a reporter, Teddy Lupin has blue hair like his mother, and storm it but Ron left the Aurors to join George in Weasley's Wizard Wheezes!! Edited July 9, 2014 by Delightful 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreyPilgrim Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 I hate it. Not out of anything to do with the quality, you understand. I just hate it because I can't find the Braize-ing thing. Is it exclusive to people who have membership on Pottermore? If not, would you mind copying the link to it here? It can also be read here. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 Haha! Thought you had defeated me, Pottermore? Clearly you did not count on the Grey Pilgrim! Okay, I retract my earlier statement... the focus on grey hair is now hilarious. Of course Rita Skeeter, shallow persont hat she is, would seize upon any hint that she could to discredit the Trio, whether it's Ginny not being talented enough to play Quidditch, her snide insinuation that Ron is mentally ill, referring to Hermione as a femme fatale... or pointing out that Harry is graying. And that makes the fact that the different news outlets have jumped on some of those terms and repeated them as gospel even more hilarious. I was kind of annoyed when I heard Hermione was described as a femme fatale, but... yeah. This is perfect for Rita Skeeter. ...Though the Ron thing sounds like a retcon. Maybe an appropriate retcon, but still; it feels a little like J.K had changed her mind on what she wanted Ron to do after school. Which is not, of course, necessarily a bad thing; honestly, I'm just thankful she didn't go any further and actually have Harry and Hermione getting together at some point during the gap. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delightful Posted July 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 Particularly her line "Is this a euphemism for ‘too disturbed to be seen in public’? Surely only the unkindest would suggest so." just says everything about her. I hadn't thought of that, but I think you're right. It finally gives Ron something to do out of Harry's shadow, plus family bonding time with George plus George having help running the shop. The Weasley family is so adorable. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiLyghtSansSparkles Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 As a former student journalist and former aspiring reporter, I remain horrified at the terrible press standards of the Wizarding world. I mean, seriously. Were Skeeter a Muggle, she would've been sued for libel back in Goblet of Fire. Assuming she didn't have to fork over all her assets to pay court costs, she would've had trouble getting a job at a tabloid after that. Her antics during Deathly Hallows would have had judges and prosecution attorneys engaging in cage matches over who got the honor of sending her to prison. And now Rowling wants us to think she not only has her freedom, but a job at Wizarding Britain's only newspaper? I like fanon stories where she gets sent to Azkaban better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delightful Posted July 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 Fanon? Gosh I mean she's a terrible person but she's not exactly dementor-worthy! Leave that for Umbridge 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiLyghtSansSparkles Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 Fan + canon= fanon And the dementors were removed after the last war! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kobold King Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 Huh. There goes my glorious headcanon that Skeeter was devoured by acromantulas scarcely five minutes after the series ended. And the dementors were removed after the last war! Am I the only person who desperately wants to know what happened to the dementors? I mean, Azkaban was a horrible place--but at the very least, it kept hundreds, if not thousands, of soul-sucking abominations contained on a small island far away from human population. What happened when they were "removed"? Did depression and suicide rates skyrocket worldwide? Did aurors manage to keep them repelled from civilization? Were they destroyed in some sort of dementor genocide? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiLyghtSansSparkles Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 Huh. There goes my glorious headcanon that Skeeter was devoured by acromantulas scarcely five minutes after the series ended. Am I the only person who desperately wants to know what happened to the dementors? I mean, Azkaban was a horrible place--but at the very least, it kept hundreds, if not thousands, of soul-sucking abominations contained on a small island far away from human population. What happened when they were "removed"? Did depression and suicide rates skyrocket worldwide? Did aurors manage to keep them repelled from civilization? Were they destroyed in some sort of dementor genocide? I've wanted to know that, too. There was some offhanded remark about Aurors keeping their numbers "under control," but what does that mean? Are dementors sentient, either in actuality or under Wizarding law? What did they do after Azkaban? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kobold King Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 I've wanted to know that, too. There was some offhanded remark about Aurors keeping their numbers "under control," but what does that mean? Are dementors sentient, either in actuality or under Wizarding law? What did they do after Azkaban? The philosophical implications alone could fill another series. Are dementors sapient beings, with free will and choice concerning their actions? If so, then what can we think of the Ministry of Magic keeping them contained on Azkaban for so long? Did the dementors side with Voldemort because they're inherently evil, or because they were rebelling against an oppressive regime that treated them as subhuman monsters? Are they merely hostile specters deserving of no basic rights, or should Hermione's S.P.E.W. efforts have encompassed them as well? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiLyghtSansSparkles Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 The philosophical implications alone could fill another series. Are dementors sapient beings, with free will and choice concerning their actions? If so, then what can we think of the Ministry of Magic keeping them contained on Azkaban for so long? Did the dementors side with Voldemort because they're inherently evil, or because they were rebelling against an oppressive regime that treated them as subhuman monsters? Are they merely hostile specters deserving of no basic rights, or should Hermione's S.P.E.W. efforts have encompassed them as well? The way they were treated, I assumed they were the magical equivalent of predatory animals, which opens up a whole new can of worms. Was keeping them in Azkaban akin to keeping the majority of a wild alligator population in a zoo, or was it more like a wildlife refuge? Since they are parasitic on humans, is cutting them off from their only source of food akin to letting a species go extinct, or is it more like swatting mosquitoes? Would it be moral to allow them to go extinct, since their very existence threatens the well-being of any nearby humans, or do they fill a valuable niche in Wizarding ecology? What do they do, aside from make someone's life miserable? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kobold King Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 The way they were treated, I assumed they were the magical equivalent of predatory animals, which opens up a whole new can of worms. Was keeping them in Azkaban akin to keeping the majority of a wild alligator population in a zoo, or was it more like a wildlife refuge? Since they are parasitic on humans, is cutting them off from their only source of food akin to letting a species go extinct, or is it more like swatting mosquitoes? Would it be moral to allow them to go extinct, since their very existence threatens the well-being of any nearby humans, or do they fill a valuable niche in Wizarding ecology? What do they do, aside from make someone's life miserable? If we used a Time Turner to head back centuries before the installation of Azkaban Prison, what would we find dementors doing? Did they live on Azkaban before, naturally confined to a single island? Were they widespread? Did they have a culture or a society of their own? How did they become the guards of Azkaban? Was there some kind of pact? Was there a war? These are the questions I'm hoping the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie will answer. With any luck, Newt Scamander's studies will teach us a little bit about why Rowling's magical creatures behave the way they do. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiLyghtSansSparkles Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 If we used a Time Turner to head back centuries before the installation of Azkaban Prison, what would we find dementors doing? Did they live on Azkaban before, naturally confined to a single island? Were they widespread? Did they have a culture or a society of their own? How did they become the guards of Azkaban? Was there some kind of pact? Was there a war? These are the questions I'm hoping the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie will answer. With any luck, Newt Scamander's studies will teach us a little bit about why Rowling's magical creatures behave the way they do. Speaking of, any word on who's going to play Newt? Or when it'll be released? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kobold King Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 Speaking of, any word on who's going to play Newt? Or when it'll be released? I haven't been able to find much news on this. I keep seeing the year 2016 mentioned as a probable release date though. There's also this tease, which is kind of cool. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Left Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 I thought Percy went to help George??? What happened? And why on earth did Neville marry Hannah? There was zero interaction mentioned ever. As much as I love the Potter books I'm starting to wish that Rowling would let me finish the story by myself....... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kobold King Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 I thought Percy went to help George??? What happened? And why on earth did Neville marry Hannah? There was zero interaction mentioned ever. As much as I love the Potter books I'm starting to wish that Rowling would let me finish the story by myself....... Parallel universes. That's what I always assume when the author and I disagree. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamma Fiend Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 (edited) And still not one mention of the wizarding world as a whole -- with over half of them coming from muggle origins -- being able to properly pronounce the word "electricity". (or even understand modern technology)Things like arguing the philosophy and ethics of dementors running around or not are kind of silly in comparison to such blatant gaps world-building >.< While the idea of this being released specifically as a reward for all the Pottermore users is pretty cool, and bully for them for getting it, as someone who grew up reading and loving Harry Potter, my reaction is just, "Meh."Clearly J.K. Rowling just has nothing else going for her and is just going to keep milking Harry Potter with these little random, occasional tidbits. There was nothing exciting or groundbreaking revealed. It basically sounds like the Epilogue, in all of it's boring awfulness, just in a newspaper article form, written by one of the most insufferable characters in that universe. (I get the point that it had to be Rita Skeeter's PoV article to get those 'tabloid-esque' qualities and speculation going, but ugh. Not trying to just come on in here and be like, "BLAGH! Harry Potter sucks, screw you guys!" I just wanted to be able to share my opinion on it while it was being discussed. This is all my personal bias, and do not let that prevent you from personally enjoying it. Edit: Just went back and actually read it.... and yeah. That was pretty bad. Edited July 9, 2014 by Gamma Fiend 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaa Posted July 10, 2014 Report Share Posted July 10, 2014 (edited) I like fanon stories where she gets sent to Azkaban better. I like what happened to her in this story much better. HPMOR spoilers: She was "accidentally" crushed to death while in animagus form. It's in Chapter 26, but it's a bit subtle. You'll have to read Chapter 25 to see the clue that makes it much more obvious what happened. Edited July 10, 2014 by skaa 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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