Chapter Fourteen: Percy and Padfoot
In chapter fourteen of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Harry finally has an interaction with Cho that doesn’t make him want to crawl under a rock, Sirius is kind of petty, and alright fine, I’ll admit Percy is kind of acting like a jerkface.
(Please be advised that this is a reread and I will be discussing book and movie spoilers.)
Harry’s still bothered by his tingling scar, and decides to write a coded letter to “Snuffles” about his problems. On the way out of the owlery he bumps into Cho Chang, and decides the way to go is to make super awkward chit chat about the weather. Oh, Harry!
Somehow he recovers because Cho is doing him a solid by acting like the pus incident, the Ron getting aggro incident, and the weather small talk is no big deal and then Cho is telling Harry that he was brave for telling Umbridge where to stick it about Cedric and I’m sorry, but I will never detest Cho. She got dealt a super shitty hand and she’s trying to handle it with grace and kindness.
She also lies her ass off to get Harry out of potential trouble with Filch, who is demanding to read his mail (again, how is all this shit legal) and I do not appreciate how Cho’s character gets assassinated to make room for Ginny.
PotzWeaz suffer through a horrendous Quidditch practice where the Slytherins show up to taunt them while Ron sucks and the twins almost kill Katie by bleeding her to death accidentally. Oh, and we find out Pansy Parkinson is down with a little casual racism when she mocks Angelina’s hairstyle as “worms” and good call making her a prefect, A-Dumbs!
Ron and Hermione bicker
but make up before they trigger Harry’s CAPSLOCK OF DEATH and then. Sigh. OK this pains me. Percy writes a letter to Ron that’s so tone deaf, so smug, so condescending, that even I, the one woman Percy Weasley fan club, can barely defend him. I will say I did think he intended this letter to be helpful because he loves Ron and I also think Percy is totally unaware of how Fudge is manipulating him but otherwise? This is some messed up stuff. Harry takes it pretty well that Percy, a guy who has known him for the past five years, is acting like he’s a maniac twelve seconds away from choking Ron to death, and Ron throws the letter into the fire….the fire that shortly holds Sirius’s head.
Because this book loves to hurt me, Sirius gets snippity when the trio try to convince him to be more cautious and not meet them for a Hogsmeade visit, and then says Harry’s less like James then he thought and WOW SIRIUS TAKE A CHILL PILL BRO.
Also? If Harry’s personality is like Lily Evans Potter, my auburn haired badass goddess, then that is the greatest compliment you can ever give the boy, Sirius.
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What are your thoughts on Cho?
How does Pansy keep her badge when she’s actively saying racist taunts?
Why do you think Percy sent this letter?
Why did Sirius get angry at Harry?
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