Chapter Ten: Mayhem at the Ministry
In chapter ten of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Mr. Roberts and his family continue to get a raw deal, Hermione is brave, and I feel really sad for Ron.
(Please be advised that this is a reread and I will be discussing book and movie spoilers.)
The Weasleys plus PotzGrang make their way out of the campsite and discover Mr. Rogers, the innocent Muggle that was tormented the day before, has had so much memory modification on him he’s completely out of it, and look NONE OF THIS IS OK. This poor man has had his mind tampered with, had his family tormented, and is now totally out of it over a freaking game. #JusticeforMrRoberts
Mrs. Weasley is feeling a lot of guilt over shouting at Fred and George, when what she should feel guilt over is those shitty dress robes she bought Ron, but let’s get to that later.
Percy tries to commiserate with how much Rita Skeeter sucks, and is roundly told to shut up by Bill, because no one except Mrs. Weasley values Percy at all.
Harry tells Hermione and Ron about his dream, and about writing Sirius, which is frankly one of the most responsible things Harry has ever done.
Percy immediately undoes all the good will I had just praised him for when he defends Mr. Crouch over how abominably he treated Winky, and my girl Hermione does me proud again when she stands up for Winky in front of the whole Weasley family, in the Weasley home, and look this is not an easy thing to do and I admire anyone who has such courage.
The end of the chapter leaves me with one of my most unpopular opinions swirling about my brain: *whispers* Mrs. Weasley kind of sucks on occasion in this book. Here me out! I love Mrs. Weasley overall. She seems like a kind person and a generous, nurturing soul. But no one is perfect, and Mrs. Weasley has some bad moments in Goblet of Fire. (and one big one in Order of the Phoenix, IMO.) For full disclosure, if you’ll forgive the very personal digression, I grew up poor. Very poor. Poorer then the Weasley’s. And while I don’t identify with Ron on most things, I painfully get his feelings on his own poverty. I too have been bullied as a kid for my clothing being uncool. One of the first things I did with my money I earned as a sixteen year old was buy some nicer clothes. So when Ron finds out his mother bought him second hand robes that are moldy and unflattering, I don’t blame him for being a little bratty. Yes Mrs. Weasley is in a rough position, she really is and I have sympathy. But she bought Ron maroon robes, even though he always tells her he hates maroon. She bought robes so ugly there’s no way he won’t get bullied for them, without attempting to fix them. And there’s no mention of Fred, George, or Ginny getting ugly, unflattering robes. Why? did she get lucky with their robes and unlucky with Ron’s? All of that is forgivable, like I said it’s not like she was being stingy. But when Ron complains, she shows no sympathy. And she mocks him, telling Harry to take a picture of Ron going naked. I know she said this from a place of hurt, but she’s an adult woman and should show her son, who is genuinely always getting the short end of the stick in this family, a little understanding for his attitude. It’s an interesting reminder for Harry that although he’s an orphan and would trade that for anything, Ron, who seems to have the perfect life to Harry, has occasionally got it rough in an entirely different way.
On that downer of a note, here’s a kitten being adorable!
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We’ve already talked about it, but how sad is Mr. Robert’s memory modification?
A question I’ve always wondered: do Harry or Hermione ever give Mrs. Weasley money for their upkeep when they are over, considering they are both well off?
How do you feel about the Mrs. Weasley/Ron confrontation over the dress robes?
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