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dangermousieYup, my favorite secondary character in the Half Blood Prince, is the supremely tactless, rather oblivious, and in the final analysis, very truehearted Fleur Delacour, about to become the newest Weasley. (Btw, Fleur Weasley? That just...doesn't sound right.) She made me laugh. And her last speech is a truly romantic piece of writing, my favorite in the book.
I adored Fleur. She is basically really honest and forthright and says what she thinks. Really, is there anything for her to do at the Burrow other than cooking? Mrs Weasley is a very domestic woman, but Fleur doesn't strike me that way. And Celestina Warbeck's songs were awful.
Basically, the poor girl. She is spending ages with the family of her fiance, a whole bunch of people she doesn't know, and who are not French, and with whom she is like chalk and cheese :) No wonder she is delighted to see Harry, someone she knows. And she has no tact, and she is using a language not her own, so of course there are bound to be rough spots. And she is strong-willed and so is Molly. Of course they will clash. And how. The bit where Molly knits everyone a Weasley sweater but not for her future daughter in law...heh. Fleur takes the family dislike amazingly well, but you realize at the end she notices (when she retorts to Mrs. Weasley that she knows Molly hoped Fleur would ditch Bill).
I loved the bit where Bill just got some money for Harry, nothing special, and Fleur is all over him for being so thoughtful. It cracked me up (yay for PDAs!) She's pretty crazy about him. But if you think about it, she is remarkably unselfcentered for a 1/4 Veela. The girl is drop dead gorgeous. She is careful of her appearance, but she is not preening all the time. She is engaged to be married, to an attractive bloke, but still...She could get someone much more "important" OR hot if she wished. And she seems to have picked someone who is not affected by her Veela power but loves her the way a normal woman is loved (at least no descriptions of glassy eyes). All 'good for her' points.
I think her declaration at the end of the book is really my favorite moment. Because I was rather worried too, and I thought JKR was so setting the reader for "shallow Fleur ditches her fiance after he is mutilated" and I felt so bad for Bill. And then my expectations were put on their head. I loved how she thought it would be Bill ditching her, because it didn't even occur to her to not want him, face or not. The "I am beautiful enough for the both of us, I theenk" is a line I love. She really doesn't care what he looks like. And that's why I think she and Molly will be OK. Because, ultimately, what matters most to Molly, is that her son's wife really truly loves him, and Fleur proves it beyond all doubt. Everything else is details. They would probably still clash if they lived in the same house, but for family visits? They'll be OK.
I adore her practical approach to his new werewolfish chracteristics. He now likes raw meat? Great, British overcook their meat anyway. Gotta love the pragmatism.
And I don't think she is self-absorbed. A self-absorbed person is not really capable of truly loving anybody. Pushy and opinionated and tactless? Yes. But self-absorbed? No.
I adored Fleur. She is basically really honest and forthright and says what she thinks. Really, is there anything for her to do at the Burrow other than cooking? Mrs Weasley is a very domestic woman, but Fleur doesn't strike me that way. And Celestina Warbeck's songs were awful.
Basically, the poor girl. She is spending ages with the family of her fiance, a whole bunch of people she doesn't know, and who are not French, and with whom she is like chalk and cheese :) No wonder she is delighted to see Harry, someone she knows. And she has no tact, and she is using a language not her own, so of course there are bound to be rough spots. And she is strong-willed and so is Molly. Of course they will clash. And how. The bit where Molly knits everyone a Weasley sweater but not for her future daughter in law...heh. Fleur takes the family dislike amazingly well, but you realize at the end she notices (when she retorts to Mrs. Weasley that she knows Molly hoped Fleur would ditch Bill).
I loved the bit where Bill just got some money for Harry, nothing special, and Fleur is all over him for being so thoughtful. It cracked me up (yay for PDAs!) She's pretty crazy about him. But if you think about it, she is remarkably unselfcentered for a 1/4 Veela. The girl is drop dead gorgeous. She is careful of her appearance, but she is not preening all the time. She is engaged to be married, to an attractive bloke, but still...She could get someone much more "important" OR hot if she wished. And she seems to have picked someone who is not affected by her Veela power but loves her the way a normal woman is loved (at least no descriptions of glassy eyes). All 'good for her' points.
I think her declaration at the end of the book is really my favorite moment. Because I was rather worried too, and I thought JKR was so setting the reader for "shallow Fleur ditches her fiance after he is mutilated" and I felt so bad for Bill. And then my expectations were put on their head. I loved how she thought it would be Bill ditching her, because it didn't even occur to her to not want him, face or not. The "I am beautiful enough for the both of us, I theenk" is a line I love. She really doesn't care what he looks like. And that's why I think she and Molly will be OK. Because, ultimately, what matters most to Molly, is that her son's wife really truly loves him, and Fleur proves it beyond all doubt. Everything else is details. They would probably still clash if they lived in the same house, but for family visits? They'll be OK.
I adore her practical approach to his new werewolfish chracteristics. He now likes raw meat? Great, British overcook their meat anyway. Gotta love the pragmatism.
And I don't think she is self-absorbed. A self-absorbed person is not really capable of truly loving anybody. Pushy and opinionated and tactless? Yes. But self-absorbed? No.
