I wonder if the mystery conventions come into play as well. For instance, I was thinking about the Polyjuice scene in CoS. In most books about kids a body switch would be used to foster understanding. In The Ogre Downstairs two stepbrothers spend a day in each other's bodies and I remember one really being struck by the experience and coming to understand his brother much more. Stuck inside his stepbrothers mannerisms and voice he saw maybe he was reading him wrong, and also he suddenly understood what it was like to go to school as a person not-widely liked. His stepbrother, iirc, was a lot more likable in his brothers body too.
What's interesting about the polyjuice scene is there's literally nothing like that. Not only do Harry and Ron gain no new understanding or compassion for the Slytherins, or learn about themselves, they also don't get thwapped for what they did. For instance, Harry hears Malfoy's "cruel but accurate" imitation of Colin Creevey--if Colin were there he would have been humiliated. But neither Harry nor Ron hear anything as Crabbe or Goyle that would make them feel stupid. There's no reason for them to think maybe it's not such a good idea to disguise yourself to hear what people say when you're not around.
Now, I assume there's plenty of reasons for not playing the scene that way, especially since it's a mystery. They've only got an hour, etc. So the polyjuice scene is treated as a straightforward fact-finding/eavesdropping spy mission. The boys gather information (Malfoy's not the heir, an he's got Dark Arts in in his living room floor) and then leave. Since it's a mystery, maybe the Slytherins need to be one-note for some reason. But still, there's an interesting clash there between kid's book convention and mystery, where two kids literally step into other boys' shoes and still can't relate to them in any way. And Malfoy in private almost acts like a charicature of how Harry would expect him to act.
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Date: 2004-11-17 12:48 pm (UTC)What's interesting about the polyjuice scene is there's literally nothing like that. Not only do Harry and Ron gain no new understanding or compassion for the Slytherins, or learn about themselves, they also don't get thwapped for what they did. For instance, Harry hears Malfoy's "cruel but accurate" imitation of Colin Creevey--if Colin were there he would have been humiliated. But neither Harry nor Ron hear anything as Crabbe or Goyle that would make them feel stupid. There's no reason for them to think maybe it's not such a good idea to disguise yourself to hear what people say when you're not around.
Now, I assume there's plenty of reasons for not playing the scene that way, especially since it's a mystery. They've only got an hour, etc. So the polyjuice scene is treated as a straightforward fact-finding/eavesdropping spy mission. The boys gather information (Malfoy's not the heir, an he's got Dark Arts in in his living room floor) and then leave. Since it's a mystery, maybe the Slytherins need to be one-note for some reason. But still, there's an interesting clash there between kid's book convention and mystery, where two kids literally step into other boys' shoes and still can't relate to them in any way. And Malfoy in private almost acts like a charicature of how Harry would expect him to act.