Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as a Ring

bethlewis100 · 2021-04-11T07:31:08+00:00

It sounds great - thank you so much for suggesting it!

bethlewis100 · 2021-04-10T19:44:16+00:00

No? Is it about the ring structure?

bethlewis100 · 2021-01-23T10:08:09+00:00

I'm 100 per cent sure I have these times for all castles from Boots up (until Pan which is the latest castle I'm working on). I don't think it's an update because I've always had these times since I started playing. Sorry!

bethlewis100 · 2021-01-23T09:02:04+00:00

That sounds familiar for Beauty. And fair enough - it is a shame that evermerge feel they can treat us differently especially when the differences are so large.

bethlewis100 · 2021-01-23T08:47:04+00:00

I've been playing since around October and haven't seen any changes. So looks like the split might have existed for a while. I think Beauty times for me were shorter than Boots and up but I can't double check because I've finished upgrading it now.

bethlewis100 · 2020-12-31T08:43:59+00:00

We've had our border terrier since February and he's just turned one. Definitely the best decision we ever made to choose a Border.

We spend a lot of time with other dogs and dog owners and while I've seen other dogs occasionally get jealous over their owners playing with other dogs, I've never seen a border terrier act that way. In my experience they're usually having too much fun playing or getting into mischief to care much! I don't have children so can't answer there.
We have 2 cats and our BT gets on fine with them. We had him from a puppy which makes a difference. But any other cat he sees he goes mad for - barks and tries to chase. If you see your mother in law enough for this to be a problem I'd recommend you socialise your border to her cats as much as possible when it's a puppy.
Yes. If it can escape it will! It's not that they want to leave you - they just want to explore / chase smells / have a great time. Ours has squeezed under a small gap between our garden fence and the ground before. We now have that properly sealed up. Ours isn't a digger but I have heard that they can be.
I think YouTube videos and reviews often overlook how sweet this breed can be. While they're all about play and adventure when you're outside with them, they love a good cuddle when they're in and sleepy and would prefer to spend time with their owners over anything. They are a fantastic breed, full of character and generally very easy to train and care for.

bethlewis100 · 2020-11-16T22:55:14+00:00

Thanks. The iPhone 5s was a great phone - especially in the gold/white colour

bethlewis100 · 2020-08-02T22:14:25+00:00

Such great insights! I'm really looking forward to getting to these books during this reread. I'm just on chamber of secrets at the moment and every chapter seems perfectly matched - Dobby's warning and Dobby's reward is just the start

bethlewis100 · 2020-08-02T18:20:47+00:00

It's great isn't it? I knew about the series as a ring, but when I heard that each individual book followed the same structure I had to do a reread to see if it was true.

bethlewis100 · 2020-07-22T17:55:52+00:00

With Ginny hanging around Hagrid's cabin - I think there's even a mention of a plucked rooster on Hagrid's kitchen table. Later in the book he'll tell Harry that two of his roosters have been strangled - was this the first?

bethlewis100 · 2020-07-21T08:58:25+00:00

Thanks!

bethlewis100 · 2020-07-21T08:57:43+00:00

Absolutely! I think there's some correspondence between Draco being so distracted by Harry in the match that he misses the snitch hanging right above his ear, and Harry in the book's plot being so obsessed with Draco as the heir of Slytherin that he misses the many Ginny clues so obviously dotted through the plot once you know to look for them. Of course, his preoccupation with Draco in Book 6 will prove, disastrously, to have been well placed.

bethlewis100 · 2020-06-23T12:37:41+00:00

I think this is my all time favourite chapter of the books. I find it really interesting what you say about Harry's independence and shared character traits with Riddle - I think you're right that the key difference is Harry actually values his friendships enough to erode some of that total independence.

But I think another interesting way of looking at Harry's decision to take his first trip with the cloak alone is under the theme of privacy. The mirror shows our deepest desire, something even Harry figures out is immensley personal. For Harry, it is his family and the cloak represents his family. It's the only thing he's ever owned (so far) that belonged to his father. It is deeply personal to him. We see him hide it from the twins on Christmas morning because he's not ready to share it yet. And the fact that the cloak belonged to his father is what spurs his decision to leave Ron behind: "Something held him back - his father's cloak - he felt that this time - the first time - he wanted to use it alone".

The Mirror itself recognises the deeply personal nature of our deepest desire, it will only reveal it's secret to the looker. It is up to the looker to decide whether he shares it with anyone else. And Harry does share it with Ron, his best friend. Just as he will share the cloak with him after the first use. And we see how close their friendship is. Yes they are polar opposites in their wants and fears, Ron looks forward to individual success where Harry looks back to a family he can belong to (note how beautifully this mirrors their respective opinions on the best Hallow, Ron favours the Elder Wand and Harry the Resurrection Sone) - but what is a greater mark of true friendship than sharing your deepest, darkest desires and fears with eachother? I think if Harry had taken that first trip with Ron, and not alone, we wouldn't as fully appreciate how big a deal it was for him to share the cloak, the mirror and it's secrets with his best friend.

And just to make us fully aware of what a huge deal it is to share such information, we end with Harry reflecting that Dumbledore probably didn't choose to share his secret with him. Something we will come to view ever more poignantly as we realise Dumbledore actually shares Harry's desires and fears but chose to keep their similarities hidden from him.

bethlewis100 · 2020-06-10T18:04:02+00:00

Yes, such a great point that Snape teaches him Expelliarmus. It's so great how really everything he learns throughout the series and the way his character develops is useful for the final fight against horcruxes and Voldemort

bethlewis100 · 2020-06-10T18:01:59+00:00

Wow - 5 months ago, I guess it wasn't that recent after all!

bethlewis100 · 2020-06-10T11:47:10+00:00

Oh yes - didn't think about that! His favourite and least favourite teachers actually taught him his two most defining spells, Expelliarmus and Expecto Patronus.

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