kearie @ February 11 2004, 13:39:57 UTC

Ohhh, Walpurgis night and Draco's desire to have some small celebration then makes me wonder... I sure hope that all the DE activity that Narcissa hints about isn't Draco's initiation...

comava @ February 11 2004, 14:03:40 UTC

Am I the only one thinking Sirius has to do with Snape smelling like lilac? It must be Snape, right?

queeniefox @ February 11 2004, 14:05:20 UTC Re:

I'm thinking yes. Wonder what the retaliation will be?

pegkerr @ February 11 2004, 19:49:53 UTC Re:

Comments to Neville's latest entry shed some light.

dr_jekyl @ February 11 2004, 14:13:59 UTC Re:

*readies the popcorn and settles back in joyful anticipation of a week-long Snape/Black war*

laurac0re @ February 11 2004, 15:34:15 UTC

and the shit has now hit the fan.

chasingwhispers @ February 11 2004, 17:27:11 UTC Hufflepuff unrest

I did hear that one of the Hufflepuffs was told they ought to be in Gryffindor now, so I wonder what sort of trauma that caused.

Heh!. A would-be Gryffindor among the Hufflepuffs? The paranoia will sky-rocket! Though I wonder if Draco's just winding them up. But if it's true, Ernie will likely have some words, I bet. He's already assured us - "I'm still Hufflepuff of course!", so it must be Hannah, Susan or Justin. Or simply an unknown Hufflepuff. But it would be funnier if it was Justin or someone! Traitor!

Mwuhahahaa.

dry_your_eyes @ February 11 2004, 19:45:36 UTC Re: Hufflepuff unrest

I hope it's Justin. *anticipated lots of fun*

sistermagpie @ February 11 2004, 18:40:14 UTC

I'm so tempted to overanalyze Draco's paragraph about Harry. We know they did get together on Monday because Potter is so needy. It sounds like Harry was very very happy when they were together. Draco must be "the greatest person he knows." I am dying to know what Harry said on the subject of the golf clubs, or if he just danced around knowing ps likes him, he really likes him.

Then there's the other bits, how Draco is around until June but wonders if Potter's life will be ruins after that. Thus bringing up the question of their relationship when school ends...with Nott lurking ominously nearby, perhaps.

Then there's the last affectionate declaration that Potter's just off his rocker. I want to see some happy Harry replies!

Interesting that ps is suggesting a big party and a more intimate gathering the night before the Slytherin/Gryffindor game.

I wonder which Hufflepuff it is...which one's been particularly heroic lately?

And I love the way the students seem to be dealing with this week relatively calmly so far while Sirius and Snape act like...Sirius and Snape.

oconel @ February 11 2004, 21:49:54 UTC Re:

Then there's the other bits, how Draco is around until June but wonders if Potter's life will be ruins after that. Thus bringing up the question of their relationship when school ends...
I was thinking the whole time "Draco is thinking about himself and how much he's going to miss Harry if they're not together"

hezzabeth @ February 11 2004, 23:34:27 UTC Re:

I think its Hannah.
Remember what Dumbledore said that bravery included having the courage to stand up to your friends? well Hannah prooved that during the outing incident when she stood up to Justin and her own boyfriend when they were being homophobic.

sistermagpie @ February 12 2004, 14:46:47 UTC Re:

Good call! I can't really think of other Hufflepuffs who seem at all at odds with the house.

hezzabeth @ February 12 2004, 22:50:47 UTC Re:

Thanks, I agree with you the others all still seem really Hufflepuffish unless you count Justin's constant threats to " take it outside".

black_dog @ February 13 2004, 03:39:15 UTC Re:

Oh he is so transparent, only talking about Harry after he's pretended to have nothing else to say, as if he's just annoying Nott.

I completely agree with oconel below, that he's projecting his own worry about what happens in June onto Harry. What's he going to do without Harry and the whole support network at Hogwarts?

I want to see some happy Harry replies!

Looks like the best we get is Harry pointing out that Draco "hasn't been attending any protest rallies." Which is probably as close to ecstatic as Draco gets. As usual, some of the best stuff is happening offstage! (Although the "onstage" stuff is an absolute blast this week.) Of course PS has been wonderfully giddy on other threads, especially the Seamus/Dean thread and trying to talk M.B. down from her bad Cheering Charm trip by insulting her.

But actually, what's fascinating me here is the timing of his birthday party -- April 10th. I really do think it's related to a significant anniversary with Harry. If you look back at the second week of April a year ago -- here, I'm lazy and just linking to "skip 70" on PS' journal -- early in the week, he's desperately and apparently seriously going through his list of potential girlfriends, and preparing for the duel with Terry by constructing "dirty tricks" banners. Right after the 10th, he loses interest in the duel, after staying up all night allegedly comforting a crying first-year Slytherin, and shortly after is the trip to London, where he plays Gulf with Harry and (I think) drools on his shoulder riding back to Diagon Alley.

On the tenth itself, he has a rather odd entry where he seems bored with the girlfriend business, discusses death with Sir Cadogan, and wonders "when we slipped into an alternate reality."

So, this week in April 2003 is maybe the week where he comes to terms, in his own head, with the kiss. (The attempted kiss itself happened March 22, I think.) There have been three weeks where he avoided Potter, who was stalking him about algae and whatnot, and desperately tried to find himself a new girlfriend, but on the 10th he seems to step back from it, and a few days later they reconcile in London -- at least until the infamous outing two weeks later.

I don't know if anything overt happened on the 10th, but there's a case that it marked at least an internal, mental watershed for him.

What about Walpurgisnacht, then? That's the night of April 30 going into May 1. Last year, April 30 was the first day back at school after the break that followed the "outing" -- possibly the first chance he had to talk privately with Harry. Draco appeared with his raincloud, though he'd already been serving some detention over the holidays, I think. On May 2, Millicent intercepts Harry being chased by Pigwidgeon and gives him some info about Draco. On May 8, Draco makes his "fine" post. Somewhere in there Harry must have made his post-outing "I'm back" post but I can't find it. May 10-11 is Sirius and Remus' wedding and Veritaserum night, where PS feels close enough to Harry to share his father's screened comment. Anyway, somewhere around Walpurgis night, Draco is in the middle of his raincloud penance and realizes that Harry is ready to forgive him; though again, it's hard to pick out an exact anniversary date.

So arguably, both these dates roughly work as significant emotional anniversaries for Draco and Harry. And I can see where the Walpurgis night anniversary evokes more complicated and intimate feelings, and would be suitable for "another smaller gathering," where he can celebrate "in some form." :)

Of course, maybe wizards just like to celebrate Spring. But I'm betting there's a reason why he chose these specific dates.

sistermagpie @ February 13 2004, 05:19:05 UTC Re:

BD comes through with the great analysis! And more importantly, clues me into two new posts (on the Draco thread) I'd missed!!

First, I completely agree on the projection bit too, though I wonder if Harry gets it. I wonder if on some level even Draco knows he's looking for some reassurance on that score.

Definitely April was an important time for Draco last year! We know that the golf clubs are his most prized possession, so I don't think it's over the top to say that that whole incident where he and Harry "made up" after the aborted kiss is very significant. After the outing Draco threw the clubs back at Harry, so presumably they've been loaded with meaning for a while. (He and Harry also played gulf together with them.) We also don't know when he asked for them back, but I can believe when Harry said he didn't think Draco wanted them he was telling the truth. Harry may have thought Draco was just being a charming brat when he asked for them back. April 10th might not be an exact date. If he's planning a party it would make sense to plan it on a Saturday and during Easter break, so it could just be in the general area of the right time.

Of course, Harry wasn't the only thing going on with Draco then. The duel was also when Lucius started pretending he didn't exist. And btw, let's just take a second here to applaud Lisa's picture of Draco!!! The little pointy angry boy with what looks to be a shadowy Lucius with cane in the corner behind all the red. Um, wow. I so hope we get some kind of real Draco/Lisa interaction! All of the portraits have been so great...I hope they do put up a gallery!!

Walpurgis night could mean a lot to Draco because he's a Pureblood, though he hadn't celebrated it before. The DEs were originally called the "Knights of Walpurgis" too. Though I wouldn't say his wanting to celebrate it is DE related. In fact, it might be a way of claiming wizardhood on his own terms rather than his father's. And since he says he's thinking of having a smaller celebration then because he would like to celebrate it, he could be just talking about his closest friends, or even just Harry. Interesting that he brings up the Gryff/Slyth match with no bragging attached to it. Looks like that Quidditch rivalry isn't quite as all-consuming as it once was!

But even if the exact dates don't match up to anything (and they might--that crying Slytherin has always seemed fishy and Harry and Draco were known to stay out at night a lot) completely specific the spring is still kind of Draco's "real" birthday. I almost feel like you can't overstate the importance of that whole outing as shock therapy. Without it I don't think he'd have been able to be what he is now (flawed person that that is!).

Though...let me throw this out. ps seems to me like somebody who makes a show of being popular but we've seen in the past he's not really happy at parties. I think he feels overwhelmed by them and maybe a little invisible? He's avoided most of the big ones and locked himself in the bathroom at the last one. (He also of course completely avoids any form of inebriation--I love how even now he's avoided Pansy's cookies.) His even throwing a party is a new thing that signals some new confidence, I feel like. But if Draco were seriously celebrating a personal thing, I feel like he'd do it either alone or with a very select group of people. I think that's why Walpurgis Night struck me as important. That to me, for some reason, seems pure ps. Like the party is something he's doing for a public reason, but Walpurgis Night is personally important to him. Of course he did start out wanting to have the party on that night, but I feel almost like he's not too upset to have to have it on a different night. I don't know...maybe I'm just overreading that. I just get this feeling the final(?) Gryff/Slyth match may be effected somehow by that private party.:-) I just feel like he has attached more importance to that date, but that it may be due to reasons personal to him, though he may not yet know why he feels this way now.

sistermagpie @ February 13 2004, 18:43:47 UTC Re:

BD comes through with the great analysis! And more importantly, clues me into two new posts (on the Draco thread) I'd missed!!


Two posts, and now several more.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this conversation.

lowi @ February 11 2004, 21:21:52 UTC

I love how Draco tries to scare Justin from handing Harry's "flesh-eating virus infected blanket" to Snape. No, he really doesn't like Harry at all, does he? *giggles*

vassilissa @ February 12 2004, 07:00:03 UTC Lilac

And Lupercus weighs in.

<3

mimulus_arbutus @ February 12 2004, 07:22:49 UTC oh yes

"I love this week"
agreed! this is so totally the goodNA! fix i needed, my immense gratitude and hugs to the players!!

mimulus_arbutus @ February 12 2004, 07:25:16 UTC clarifying....

err, and by "good" i mean high activity level, especially since so far it's all been fun and happy, not wibble-tastic
didn't mean to imply that NA is ever bad....