It’s essentially the first time reading these books since their initial release, and this was the first one I had to wait for (I thought HP was a trilogy when I picked up the first book), so I can say for sure it’s been 19 years since I first read what I remembered as my favorite installment.
The story has the perfect blend of actual surprises and familiarity in a world with increasing stakes. Rowling has been rightly praised for having the series grow with the readers, and the big death in this book is foreshadowed by opening the book with a few redshirts introduced to be snuffed out by You-Know-Who. Rowling is subtly letting the reader know that the dangers of Voldemort are no longer abstract, and our heroes are in real danger. We are warned out of complacency, but Voldemort’s mole in Hogwarts and that Big Death both manage to be surprising.
But you guys, those house elves.
Maybe because my more recent memory of GoF is the 2005 film, maybe it’s because I effing HATED Dobby and read over those parts quickly the first time through, or maybe my teenage brain realized “oooh, problematic” and refused to let the house elf stuff stick (I’d love to give young me credit but it’s probably the first two), but MAN are the house elves capital P Problematic.
They’re sentient creatures forced to do menial labor for their masters. Sure, Dobby was in the last book, but house elves were apparently only for wealthy wizards obsessed with pure blood – aka people we are expected to hate anyway and kinda like IRL slave owners – and granted his freedom at the end.
In this book, they are employed by Hogwarts and everyone is fine with it but Hermione (ok, sure, J.K, maybe you’re setting this up for a “systemic racism isn’t just a tool of the obviously malicious” gray area…), speak in sub-Jar-Jar patois (…that’s ….concerning…), and DON’T WANT TO BE FREE BECAUSE THEY LOVE WORKING AS SLAVES (WHAT THE ACTUAL ZIP-A-DEE-DO-DAH EVER LOVING SONG OF THE SOUTH FUCK, ROWLING?!).
I am now torn. I still love this, but GIRL. NO. Sorry to all my black friends that I didn’t make the conscious connection the first time through but god damn, how did an actual set of adults read this, edit it, copyread it, have the legal team go through it, and NO ONE thought to say “maybe this is a little close to actual terrifying racism like you’re disneyfiying in Voldemort, but here you’re implying that slaves liked it. You know, like the actual damaging systemic racism has done for ever? Maybe rethink that section, Joanne?”
90% of book – 10 stars.
10% of book – negative all the stars
I guess that averages to a begrudging four.
