Current mood:	indescribable
Current music:	Breaking Benjamin - Breath
Entry tags:	art, canon, harry potter, hbp

[ART] The Far End (HBP H/Hr, background Rm/Tk, Rn/Lu)
The DH covers have me excited.

The OotP movie stills have me excited.

The fact that alchemy is on the UK children's cover has me really excited. After all, which ship in fandom has been most prolific with intelligent, fascinating, enlightening, and, best of all, evidence-filled essays on literary alchemy?

To be honest, I never cared for alchemy prior to Deathly Hallows. I admired it, but I generally prefer canon, character development, psychological analyses, and the principles that govern healthy relationships, as opposed to the seven-stage alchemical journey. But after reading a few Harmonian essays on the subject, supported by the glaring incongruity that is HBP, I do see the benefits of the alchemical viewpoint, especially in terms of understanding the plot and the necessity of craptastic!HBP.

I still strongly disagree with how the characters were portrayed in HBP from a development standpoint; almost none of the characters' behavior in HBP makes sense with respect to the first five books. I will concede, however, that HBP makes perfect sense from the alchemical perspective. Despite the author's claims to the contrary, plot simply takes precedence over character.

So kudos to the Harmonian alchemy theorists, particularly those who came out with their analyses years ago, even before HBP. I have a sneaking suspicion that their work will be validated when July rolls around.

Ah, H.M.S. Harmony, how I still adore this ship and its crew and its ability to weather storms. :D

Thus, I was inspired to sketch...





Medium: Mechanical pencil, paper
Software: Photoshop CS

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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Chapter 29: The Phoenix Lament


Ron, Hermione, Luna, Tonks, and Lupin were gathered around another bed near the far end of the ward. At the sound of the doors opening, they all looked up. Hermione ran to Harry and hugged him; Lupin moved forward too, looking anxious.

"Are you all right, Harry?"

"I'm fine.... How's Bill?"

Nobody answered. Harry looked over Hermione's shoulder and saw an unrecognizable face lying on Bill's pillow...

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A few noteworthy things about the first three pages of this chapter:

1) Trophy Girlfriend offers not a shred of comfort to Harry. She leads him by the hand to the hospital wing, and that's the extent of their interaction. She's like a bellboy at a hotel, except she doesn't make conversation and doesn't even wait for a tip.

WTF, Robot Fangirl #446D. WTF.

2) Hermione runs from the far end of the ward to hug Harry as soon as he steps inside. Hmm... I might as well have bolded the entire sentence.

See, Jenny Sue? Take notes! That is the instinctive reaction of someone who actually cares about Harry deeply. Now I suggest you and your fiery hair go dance down a sunlit brick road to find another wizard who can give you a heart and a personality beyond Potter Fangirl #446D.

3) Hermione and Harry remain in an embrace long enough for Harry to have a verbal exchange with Lupin (and it is Lupin he has the exchange with, not Hermione), a few moments of silence, and finally a look over Hermione's shoulder.

WTF, Harry "Legally Blind" Potter. WTF.

Point #3 actually made me snicker as I read that scene in HBP. It's not necessarily romantic, given the surrounding tragedy, but it's mind-boggling how the depths of Hermione's concern escape Harry's notice. Rowling's writing is deliberately subtle in this scene, and a reader could completely miss or even dismiss what's happening.

This subtlety accomplishes two things. Its first objective is to hide the fact that the H/Hr hug actually lasts quite a while longer than necessary, exactly like Hermione's over-enthusiastic greeting at Grimmauld Place in OotP. Its second objective is to show how utterly clueless Harry really is when it comes to Hermione. Evidence for Harry and Hermione's feelings exists right there on the page, but Harry just doesn't pay attention.

And like Jane Austen's Emma, this oversight (undersight?) will come back later to kick Harry's sorry behind. Harry has severe myopia regarding many issues, but nowhere is his cluelessness more facepalm-inducing than where it concerns Hermione and her relationship to him. It's pathetic, but as the plot warrants Harry's obliviousness... *shrug*

He's doomed to stay blind for now.

Oh well. DH should redeem the boy. ;)


As with my previous sketch, a larger version of the image is available on Harmony Forever. I apologize for the roughness, as my tablet remains quite dead. :(

So please don't ask me about coloring the sketch. There's already a line of rough drawings clamoring for my attention...