Eating Disorders and the Media Essay - 1287 Words

Eating Disorders and the Media American writer Allen Ginsberg once said: Whoever controls the media-the images-controls the culture. Nothing could be truer, the media has always influenced fashion and body shape. But whats remarkable now is how much the media affects body image, and how willing and eager people are to mess with Mother Nature. (Underwood, par.2) Although there are other factors that contribute to eating disorders the media can partially be blamed for the millions of people with eating disorders because it promotes and glamorizes being thin to the public. A healthy newborn child eats when it is hungry and stops when it is full. But there are factors that combat against a normal relationship with food from the†¦show more content†¦In most television ads, thin and flawless models grace the screen to sell products. These ads portray woman who have a weight that is way below average, and unhealthy. It is impossible to attain this look, and the women watching these ads at home dont realize that. Ads like these are shown during shows that teenage girls watch, and this is the age when women are most vulnerable to develop an eating disorder. The more that a person is exposed to these ads, the greater their desire to be thin is. According to Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention Incorporated a study of 4,294 networked television commercials revealed that one out of every 3.8 commercials send some sort of attractive message, telling viewers what is or is not attractive. These researchers estimate the average person sees over 5,260 attractiveness messages per year, and that is only from television advertisements. (The Media, par.3) Women resort to eating disorders because it is the only way to achieve their goal of looking like the women in the television advertisements. Womens magazines routinely show two sides of the same story; a gooey, fattening cake recipe placed next to an advertisement for Slim Fast or diet tips from the television stars across the page from an articl e on bulimia. This type of advertising in magazines sends very mixed signals toShow MoreRelatedEating Disorders And The Media799 Words   |  4 Pages Eating Disorders and Their Relationship to Images in the Media: Anorexia and Bulimia People around the world are suffering from different eating disorders. Some people simply can’t stop eating which causes overweight. Others, controversially, don’t eat at all causing themselves to end up with hardly treatable eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. Such eating disorders are mainly caused by the mass media including advertisements, magazines television and internet. In today s existenceRead MoreMedia Eating Disorders1607 Words   |  7 Pagesreview is to describe the main causes of eating disorders among teenagers aged 12 to 18 years old in high schools globally, and to also explain to what extend do some of these causes influence eating disoders. Recent studies have indicated a major increase in the eating disorder habits and body dissatisfaction in adolescence over the past few decades. This crisis seems most prevalent in females`` than males with 20 percent high school females exhibiting poor eating habits and about 60 percent undergoneRead Mo reEating Disorders and the Media941 Words   |  4 PagesAccording to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, â€Å"the body type portrayed in advertising as the ideals is possessed naturally by only 5% of American females.† (â€Å"ANAD†) Body image has been a controversial theme because of the influence of the media. It is a widely known fact that eating disorder cases are on the rise. The concept of body image is a subjective matter. The common phrase, â€Å"Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder,† holds true meaning in this sense. One’sRead MoreEating Disorders And The Media3374 Words   |  14 PagesEating Disorders and the Media Eating disorders have become a major problem throughout the world, specifically in the United States. The key factor that has an influence on eating disorders is the media. Including people of all ages and genders, up to twenty-four million people suffer from an eating disorder in the United States (ANAD np). This is a huge problem in the world today but what makes it so much worse is the fact that it can be prevented and it is in our control to change it. Young adultsRead MoreMedia Is The Blame For Eating Disorders844 Words   |  4 Pagesfacebook, snapchat. Today’s media has dominated the way young women see themselves. Young women are constantly comparing themselves to Kendall Jenner, Kim Kardashian, or even their best friend. b. Relevance statement: i. Many people can relate to media being the blame for eating disorders because they’ve either dealt with this or know someone who has had an eating disorder due to what the media says you should look like. c. Thesis statement: i. When thinking of how the media can manipulate your ideaRead MoreThe Effects Of Media On Eating Disorders1034 Words   |  5 Pagesmeal will be. This being said, an estimated 70 million people worldwide suffer from some sort of eating disorders as of 2015 with 30 million being made up of Americans. Eating Disorders can be defined as any eating habit that negatively affects ones overall health. Media has had a large impact on how both males and females see their bodies. A majority of the people who suffer from eating disorders are young adults and teenagers. This can be linked to the pressure put on them to have what societyRead MoreEssay on Eating Disorders and the Media2815 Words   |  12 PagesEating Disorders and the Media Question: How does the media alter the perceptions of adolescents body image? How does this exposure to the ideal body lead adolescents to develop eating disorders? Hypothesis: Media exposure creates an ideal body image that is not easily maintained by most adolescents and causes adolescents to be dissatisfied with their bodies and leads to unhealthy diet habits and other more sever eating disorders. Logic of Study: What if the media was limitedRead MoreMedias Influence On Eating Disorders1767 Words   |  8 Pages â€Å"Dying to be Perfect†: Medias’ Influence on Eating Disorders Poet Allen Ginsberg once said that â€Å"whoever controls the media-the images-controls the culture†, and nothing could be truer than this. Media plays a larger role in society within this generation more than many of us are aware of. It can easily impact people’s lives through aspects such as sports, fashion, movies or hobbies, but unfortunately, one of these impacts is how we view our body. Media constantly posts images and messagesRead MoreEssay on Eating Disorders and the Media6828 Words   |  28 PagesEating Disorders and the Media Doctors annually diagnose millions of Americans with eating disorders. Of those diagnosed, ninety percent are women. Most of these women have one of the two most common types of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa (National Council on Eating Disorders, 2004). People with anorexia nervosa experience heart muscle shrinkage along with slow and irregular heartbeats and eventually heart failure. Along with their heart, their kidney, digestiveRead MoreThe Media Is Responsible For The Increase Of Eating Disorders1452 Words   |  6 Pagesdemonstrate different viewpoints on how the media plays a role in today’s era. My research will study the influence of media on eating behaviors and the significant studies regarding this topic. My paper will also cover the outcomes of media portraying unhealthy body images, weight loss ads, and the influence of the internet encouraging eating disorders. Based on the research, it can be clear that the media is responsible for the increase of eating disorders in today’s society. Therefore, it is important

The Color Purple Free Essays

Thesis: â€Å"The Color Purple† is more than just entertainment because the story shows what poverty in the old days was like, especially among the colored people and the hardship way of life created from the White man. This novel is dealing with real life situations that no one would talk about. Alice Walker’s prize winning novel â€Å"The Color Purple,† turned into motion picture in 1985. We will write a custom essay sample on The Color Purple or any similar topic only for you Order Now In the beginning, the film caused a wide range of controversy. People who wrote hate letters and organization’s who threatened to boycott the whole production. The Black women’s story was told to millions of people by Hollywood. Another explanation for the movie was how many black people were illiterate, and some did not go to school. The movie influences the audience by showing how what can happen behind closed doors and expresses how that color is the same no matter what the color may be. The film also shows how men over powered women. In a movie-based novel there is always question of becoming a Hollywood movie. Hollywood is notoriously insensitive to the concerns of women and people of color. Years after the release of the movie â€Å"The Color Purple,† Alice Walker expressed her opinion on the movie in the book â€Å"The same river twice† published in 1996. The book includes a draft of Alice Walker’s original screenplay, and some aspects and thoughts on the making and the reception of the film, which became the original story of â€Å"The Color Purple. † How to cite The Color Purple, Essay examples

Essay on The Weakness Of High College Tuition Essay Example For Students

Essay on The Weakness Of High College Tuition Essay The Weakness that is High College Tuition Opportunity is one of those intangible things that we are constantly reminded to pursue. Perhaps it can be viewed as an actual object or a path to follow. The fact is that no one truly knows what it can be, but we can all agree that an education has led many to a successful life filled with opportunities. However a high valued education comes at a price and it’s usually a high one, but most people are willing to pay this price no matter the cost. Higher education or college, is infamously known for having these high prices, and having such prices have numerous negative effects such as driving students into dangerous profession, driving valuable students away, and negatively affecting stability of finances and health. First, this essay begins with some essential background information on how we have arrived at such high rates for college tuition. Colleges have indeed reached some quite alarmingly high tuition rates, and according to the National Center for Education Statistics: â€Å"Between 2002–03 and 2012–13, prices for undergraduate tuition, room, and board at public institutions rose 39 percent, and prices at private nonprofit institutions rose 27 percent, after adjustment for inflation† (9). These high rates could have countless reasons behind them. Some speculations have been made that federal financial aid is responsible. The numbers of faculty present and their performance have also been blamed. In addition cuts done in public funding for higher education could also hold some responsibility for high tuition rates. Even competition among colleges can be liked to higher tuition rates. To differentiate the elite colleges from the â€Å"ordinary† or two year colleges, the elite colleges increas. .ning that colleges are truly paying for the quality of their staff, and that is completely reasonable. However some of the more affordable, lower pricing colleges or community colleges offer the same educational content for reasonable costs. Thus making the expenses of some colleges for â€Å"higher† quality staff, to some extent unnecessary since in the long run could potentially drive possible students away through higher rates. There are far too many reasons why high college tuition is a major weakens in a fully developed nation. People are being robbed off their opportunities, by allowing such high rates to be present, and these people include future educators and professionals. We cannot stand to be the generation, which perhaps sets back the cure for a deathly disease or a trip to an unexplored planet, and it all should start though making colleges more affordable.

The Consensus Process Effects on the Decision Making

The decision making role of groups has been widely recognized and accepted from the time of the Greek empire that formed democratic voting structures and is still in use at the present day. Group decision making can be observed in group such as the legislatures, when they debate on the bill that are to be passed into law; juries, when they pass judgement on defendants and suggest the sentence, or amount of damages awarded to the plaintiff; and school boards decide on the structure of the school curriculum, among others.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Consensus Process Effects on the Decision Making specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The important decisions are observed to be dependent on the agreement of the involved parties in a group, as opposed to an individual (Satzinger, Garfield, Nagasundaram, 1999). Groups are observed to be greater than individuals when it comes to decision making. This is be cause groups represent a broader variety of perspectives, which makes their arguments fair through provision of numerous materials, upon which decisions can be made. In addition to this, group decision making is perceived to be better than making of vital decisions by individuals, as portrayed in the notion that â€Å"two is better than one†. A lot of research has been conducted on both the fairness and performance of group decisions, to investigate the processes via which groups reach consensus on a solution. The research was also aimed at finding out the effect of the consensus processes on the value and accuracy of the final response (Davis Hinsz, 1982). Information processing at group level Group decision making is a task that is based on individual member inclinations as the legal contribution for the choice of the group. Recent research has begun to observe groups as information processing systems, thereby viewing cognition as an extra legal level of aggregation. Accor ding to Hinsz et al. (1997) information processing at the group level refers to â€Å"the degree to which information, ideas, or cognitive processes are shared among group members. Kameda, Tindale, and Davis (2002) have suggested that social sharing is a phenomenon with various levels that are necessary for the understanding of group decision making at the response and cognitive level. The arguments of the authors above are all focused on one particular aspect of group decision processes and outcomes, and that is the magnificent influence of ideas shared among a majority of the group members. The aspect of social sharing is also dependent on various group features including preferences, information, group identities and metacognitions, among others (Brauner Scholl, 2000).Advertising Looking for research paper on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The three levels of social sharing are therefore preferences, cognitio ns and metacognitions. The magnitude of sharing is vital at each level, and is therefore a key factor in knowing how groups reach consensus as well as the decision alternative or judgement position of which the group eventually decides (Abrams, Marques, Bwon, Henson, 2000). One of the common forms of group decision making occurs in interacting groups, whereby the group members meet face-to-face and depend on both verbal and nonverbal interaction to communicate with each other. A study of group thinking showed that interacting groups whereby members meet face-to-face, thereby relying on communication by verbal and non verbal interaction are the most common. The study further indicated that interacting groups censor themselves a lot, and pressure individual members toward conformity of opinion (Davis Hinsz, 1982). Social Decision Scheme Theory One of the main problems with group-decision making has been the impact of individual member preferences on the final choice of the group, ma king individual preferences a main locus of group interaction. This theory suggests that small group interaction are observed to be combinatorial processes, whereby the preferred options by the group members are pooled together to allow the group to arrive at an agreement on one choice, acceptable to all members. This process of pooling suggestions is dependent on the task of the group, and the environment, among other factors. The theory is based on examining the aggregation process with a view to obtaining the most appropriate summary of the group’s ideas, in any particular setting. This analysis allows candidates of combinatorial processes that may operate in the decision setting to be represented as stochastic matrices referred to as decision schemes (Cannon-Bowers, Salas, Converse, 1993). According to the proportionality model, the probability that the members of a group will pick one specific option is the proportion of members favouring that option. The proportionalit y model assumes that divisions within the group are only as powerful as the relative size of that division (Davis, 1973). According to the majority-equiprobability otherwise model, whenever the majority of group members favour a particular decision alternative, then that alternative will be the one selected. In the event of an equal split is agreement between any two alternatives, then the selection of either is likely to be the choice of the group. The majority Group equiprobability otherwise model assumes that majority factions are quite powerful and typically define the group’s choice (Godwin Restle, 1974). Group decision making techniques Most of the problems in the traditional interacting group can be eliminated through a variety of ways including brainstorming, nominal group technique, and electronic meetings.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Consensus Process Effects on the Decision Making specifically for you for only $16. 05 $11/page Learn More Brainstorming Brain storming overcomes pressures for conformity in the interacting group that slow down the process of developing creative alternatives by using an idea generation procedure that motivates all the options, while keeping away any criticism of the options. The groups involved in brainstorming are observed to comprise six to twelve members, whereby one of them is the group leader, who informs the other members in a clear manner of the problem proposed. The next step involves the members providing a variety of alternatives within a limited time period. Criticism is not allowed, and discussions on the ideas are conducted much later to facilitate broad thinking. Brainstorming is more focused on generating ideas than arriving at a preferred solution (Godwin Restle, 1974). Nominal group technique The method requires the presence of all members, though discussions are restricted, so that the members can operate by themselves. Once the pr oblem is presented to the group, the individual members write down their opinions. The next step requires the members to present one idea to the other members, without any interruptions. The next step requires the members to discuss and evaluate the ideas, before voting for them by ranking them in order of most preferable. This method allows groups to meet formally without restricting independent thinking like the interacting groups (Hackman, 1987). Electronic meetings The process involves various people sitting around a horseshoe-shaped table, with nothing except computer terminals through which issues are presented to the members, allowing them to respond by typing. Personal comments and suggestions are shown on a projection screen in the room. The method allows the group members to anonymously provide their input. This promotes honesty, and speed of decision making, since people do not fumble with ideas, but present them for all to see, without much chit chat (Hogg, 2001). Choice of technique Based on the main objectives of a particular group, the group members can pick any kind of technique for the group decision making. Interacting groups are preferable where it is necessary to build group cohesion, whereas brainstorming would be appropriate to minimize social pressures. The nominal group technique is cost effective, and electronic meetings are fast. To control the behaviour of group members, it is necessary to have norms that establish standards of right and wrong. These norms should support high output by encouraging individual performance. Frustration can also kick in due to status inequities, therefore influencing productivity and willingness to remain with an organization (Hinsz, 1999). The task of the group decides its size, since activities requiring fact finding would appreciate larger groups while action-taking tasks would require smaller groups. According to research conducted on social loafing, it was suggested that measures should be introduce d to assess individual performance within a large group (Hastie, 1986).Advertising Looking for research paper on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Group conflict Conflicts within the group have been observed to arise during the interpretation of group task outcome, as well as the solution scheme. This conflict is usually greater for groups with more members due to more task interpretations. Such conflict is an obstacle that prevents the effective decision making due to disruption of the exchange of information. Researchers have observed the effective operations of groups based on conflict. Conflict can be used constructively to encourage detailed assessment of the available unique options from individual members by interrogating based on the assumptions made, and therefore arriving at solutions and recommendations (Henrich Boyd, 1998). According to (Godwin Restle, 1974) conflict is multi-dimensional, as opposed to monolithic. Researchers have observed the importance of managing conflicts productively as it affects the performance of the group. Godwin and Restle (1974) observed that cognitive conflict was task oriented, and w as as a result of differences in judgement, whereas affective conflict was based on personal disaffection or disagreement. Hackman (1986) noted that the latter was barrier to the effective functioning of group, though the former could be useful in moderation, and even resulting in improved group performance. Task conflict can be induced in groups via two methods namely devil’s advocacy and dialectical inquiry. The former refers to the critical scrutiny of the plan or proposal of a group, whereas dialectical inquiry implies the development of counter plans and therefore question assumptions underlying the proposal of the group. Induced task conflicts using the two methods has been observed to result in improved group performance as compare to consensus based groups (Schweiger, Sandberg, Ragan, 1986). Conflicts arise due to the divergence in goals and interests among the members even though their interests in the outcome are similar. Researchers have argued that conflict can m ake corporate groups more effective when used effectively. Use of organizational memory Group work in organization is nowadays supported by technology. Organizational memory (OM) has been observed to be a key element in the success of group work. OM stores information obtained from previous works of the group members, therefore, facilitates group learning, offers justification for group decisions and improves the efficiency of group decision makers. Organizational memory has been observed to have the limitation of being biased, since it provides references of past thoughts and suggestions, which may hinder the exploration of diverse viewpoints other than the ones presented. Conflict inducing mechanisms have been observed to solve this problem (Schweiger, Sandberg, Ragan, 1986). According to (Hinsz, Tindale, Vollrath, The emerging conception of groups asinformation processors., 1997), keeping track of previous solutions to organizational problems is beneficial as it saves on time, money and effort. Records can be useful in avoiding paths which have been explored previously and found inappropriate, though such records could result in routine responses to non-routine situations (Grofman, 1986). The over reliance of groups on knowledge in the memory may result in bias of judgements as a result of the frequency or likelihood of occurrence of an event. Constructive conflicts are effective in overcoming the bias, since the appropriateness of stored information would be debated on relevance with the present situation (Schwenk, 1990). Hypotheses It has been observed that conflict groups have a higher level of critical assessment and evaluation than consensus groups. Knowledge provided by the OM systems is beneficial in encouraging the group members to evaluate various options, including those evaluated before and recorded. In addition to this, the level of critical evaluation of the assumptions and recommendations is much higher than that of consensus groups. Dialect ical inquiry, DI groups develop counter-plans and seek clarification on assumptions, giving them higher levels of critical evaluation as compared to devil’s advocacy, DA groups, which make inquiries on the suppositions of other subgroups without developing counter plans (Satzinger, Garfield, Nagasundaram, 1999). The first hypothesis is that conflict-based groups with OM structures will indicate a higher level of evaluation than consensus-based groups with OM structures. In addition to this, groups that create conflict using dialectical inquiry will show higher level of critical evaluation than groups using evil’s advocacy approach. Conflict-based groups analyze a wider variety of options, examining all the suppositions of knowledge provided from memory, which helps such groups to comprehend the assignment much better and therefore build their confidence when implementing the strategy. Consensus groups relying on memory knowledge may not critically analyze the options, while DI groups are more critical than DA groups (Laughlin, 1996). This translates to another hypothesis; that conflict-based groups with OM will exhibit greater depth of perception of the decision quality than consensus groups with OM structure. Moreover, DI groups will exhibit greater depth of perception of the decision than DA groups. Induced task conflict is likely to result in arguments over the assumptions based on proof from memory knowledge, leading to improved perception of the decision that is arrived at, as compared to consensus groups, where the debates and evaluations are not as critical. DA groups are not as critical, leading to faster agreements as compared to DI systems, leading to the assumption that; conflict based groups with the support of OM will show lower levels of agreement than consensus based groups with OM support. Moreover, DI groups will show lower levels of agreement than DA groups (Kameda, Hulbert, Tindale, 2002). Research conducted on conflict based groups showed that the members had very low levels of satisfaction with their groups. This was not the case with consensus based groups. This is because the critical analysis in conflict groups creates disharmony and is time consuming, which is likely to cause undesirable effects on the satisfaction of the members, with the whole process. This effect is also likely to occur in DI groups, where the members have to critique suggestions and come up with new ones. This implies that the decision making process is more meticulous for DI groups than DA groups, implying that; conflict based groups with OM structure will exhibit lower levels of contentment with the decision making process than consensus based groups with OM support. In addition to this, there will be lower levels of contentment with the decision process in DI groups than DA groups (Hollingshead, 1996). References Abrams, D., Marques, J. M., Bwon, N., Henson, M. (2000). Pro-norm and anti-normdeviance within and between grou ps. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 78, 906-912. Brauner, E., Scholl, W. (2000). The information processing approach as a perspective for group research. Group Processes and Intergroup Relation , 3, 115-122. Cannon-Bowers, J., Salas, E., Converse, S. (1993). Shared mental models in teamdecision making. In Individual and group decision making (pp. 221-246). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Davis, J. H. (1973). Group decisions and social interactions: A theory of social decision schemes. Psychological Review , 80, 97-125. Davis, J. H., Hinsz, V. B. (1982). Current research problems in group performance and group dynamics. In Group decision making (pp. 1-20). London: Academic Press. Davis, J. H., Kameda, T., Parks, C., Stasson, M., Zimmerman, S. (1989). Some socialmechanics of group decision making: The distribution of opinion, polling sequence, andimplications for consensus. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 57, 1000 – 1014. Godwin, W., Restle, F. (1974) . The road to agreement: Subgroup pressures in small groupconsensus processes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 30, 500-509. Grofman, B. . (1986). Decision research (Vol. 2). JAI Press: Greenwich, CT. Hackman, J. (1987). The design of work teams. In Handbook oforganizational behavior (pp. 315-342). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Hastie, R. (1986). Experimental evidence on group accuracy. JAI Press: Greenwich, CT. Henrich, J., Boyd, R. (1998). The evolution of conformist transmission and the emergence of between-group differences. Evolution and Human Behavior , 19, 215-241. Hinsz, V. B. (1999). Group decision making with responses of a quantitative nature: The theoryof social decision schemes for quantities. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes , 80, 28-49. Hinsz, V. B., Tindale, R. S., Vollrath, D. A. (1997). The emerging conception of groups asinformation processors. Psychological Bulletin , 121, 43-64. Hogg, M. A. (2001). Social categorization , depersonalization, and group behavior. In Blackwell handbook of social psychology: Group processes (pp. 56-85). Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers. Hollingshead, A. B. (1996). The rank order effe ct in group decision making. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes , 68, 181-193. Kameda, T., Hulbert, L., Tindale, R. S. (2002). Procedural and agenda effects on political decisions by small groups. New York: Plenum Press. Laughlin, P. R. (1996). Group decision making and collective induction. In Understanding group behavior: Consensual action by small groups (pp. 61-80). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Satzinger, J., Garfield, M., Nagasundaram, M. (1999). The creative process: The effects of Group memory on individual idea generation. Journal of Management Information Systems , 15(4). Schweiger, D., Sandberg, W., Ragan, J. (1986). Group approaches for improving strategicdecision making: A comparative analysis or dialectical inquiry, devil’s advocacy and consensus. A cademy of Management Journal , 29(1). Schwenk, C. (1990). Conflict in organizational decision making: an exploratory study of its effects in for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Management Science , 36(4). This research paper on The Consensus Process Effects on the Decision Making was written and submitted by user Julieta Estes to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

World Bank and IMF

World Bank and IMF Introduction Often times, the world has suffered terrible financial crises. The most severe being the 2007-2008 global financial crisis. Every time, a financial crisis has struck, economic policy makers meet in a conference like they did in 1944 in Bretton Woods conference (Hellener, 2010, p. 1).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on World Bank and IMF specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, the crisis has been recurrent regardless of the many policies that have been formulated. The failure of the policies in implementation has more often been blamed on policy mistakes made by developing world where the crisis emerges from (Hellener, 2010, p. 10). Out of this, the solution in 1980s was perceived could originate from loaning the developing countries. International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank were given the role of protecting global market from sovereign defaults and promote the adjustment programs in developing cou ntries (Hellener, 2010, p. 9). This paper will seek to evaluate the effects of IMF and World Bank in the developing countries. IMF and World Bank effects on Developed and Developing Countries Both IMF and World Bank definitions of developed and developing counties are based on either high or low capital incomes which in turn depict the degree of interaction into the global financial system. Their definitions have created an aspect of losers and winners (Esty, 2002, p. 2) where the developed countries are the winners, and the developing countries are the losers. The developing world has been placed in a losing position; most often than not, they are in need of support as they do not meet the set standards of the definition. It has always been an unfair judgment as the benefits of global trade may not be fairly distributed because not in all countries people are able to access free trade and fair economic growth (Esty, 2002, p. 3). Therefore, the developing countries are the ones who have been utilizing the policy set in Bretton Woods conference of borrowing, and thereby, giving IMF and World Bank a great chance of influence as policy enforcers. The influence of IMF and World Bank has greatly â€Å"contributed to the strengthening of the macroeconomic framework of member countries, reducing the public sector deficits and public debt accumulation, improving monetary control and reducing the distortions and dislocation of resources brought about by high rates of inflation† (Buira, 2003, p. 1).Advertising Looking for essay on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This has set the developing countries at a vulnerable position where they are the ones always borrowing money from the developed countries in order to pull up their economies. The capital flow ceases to be from the developed to the developing as the developing repays the loan. Most countries, for instance, have tri ed to use the â€Å"theory of the second best† but have been greatly opposed by IMF. The theory works when a country in a crisis through government intervention improves its welfare by the introduction of another country that is performing better economically (Buira, 2003, p. 1). This move was criticized by IMF even after Asia blaming the crisis on the speculative global financial flows (Hellener, 2010, p. 10). With such a kind of interference, Asia was not in a position to fill up the economic gap that was there hence the reason for its continued deterioration in the economy. The idea of â€Å"market mechanism† developed in both IMF and World Bank operations have posed a very bad inequality problem for the countries that participate in the global financial markets. This is because, for a country to be considered as developed or developing there are factors like locality, population, and available resources that need to be considered. For example, it will be unfair to judge a country that does not participate in international trade for lack of resources to a country that has oil, gold and other minerals, which facilitate the same. There is, therefore, a global inequality as 20% of the world population takes 80% of the global resources while the rest is shared the remaining 20% of the world population. No wonder the gap between the 80% of the population that lacks even the basic amenities gets (Danaher, 2001, p. 25). However, time has revealed the hidden tricks played on developing countries. For example, in 2007-2008 during global financial crisis, China by market capitalization remained the only one that had the three largest banks. This exposed the U.S., having been one of the countries considered to be developed dependent on foreign support from China and elsewhere (Hellener, 2010, p. 11). This makes it illegitimate to consider US and Britain as having more economic power than China. There is a call to policy makers and financial analysts to q uestion the stability of the developed countries without the support of the developing countries. The cited example proved that financial flow is from the under developed to the developed world which leaves the developing world with more needs than the developed world yet they contribute a lot to the global economy.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on World Bank and IMF specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The policies of IMF and World Bank to rely on market solutions and international trade have been challenged with time. A country’s economic power cannot be categorized by what the market produces as the market only achieves certain goals. This has caused its fault in evaluating the market failures that cause limited resource circulation in the developing countries (Buira, 2003, p. 3). For example, in a continent like Africa with a stable local economy had not suffered a financial crisis before the global trade came in. Everything was traded locally and there was no lack. One did not need to have money as the mode of trade was barter trade. Global trade has brought everything to tumble as the currency stability cannot be predicted. The U.S. dollar being the standard global currency keeps on fluctuating in value hence affecting the countries whose currencies are weaker than the dollar. This causes a great inequality where the market favors those with money as they make more money from the people who do not have. To sum up, the poor get poorer and the rich get richer, finally making it difficult for the gap to be bridged (Danaher, 2001, p. 32). World Bank and the IMF are the most powerful enforcers of growth and a system of measurement that hides the social and environmental cost of market-led growth. Any eminent change from them will flow down to every other person and foster economic progress (Danaher, 2001, p. 32). To regain their position to the public that has lost trust in them as economic leaders, they will be needed to start by correcting the mistakes they have done in setting unrealistic policies, which at the end get challenged every time there is a crisis. They also need to get back to the public where they, together with the public, will look for solutions that will operate at all times without subjecting any given country to any more financial risk. Conclusion From the discussion, it is evident that IMF and World Bank have contributed greatly to the widening of the gap between the developed and the developing counties. This comes about from their definition of the two, creating a superiority factor whereby, and countries with highest global finance interaction are being considered as developed.Advertising Looking for essay on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The consideration has created financial inequality where the developed countries, which have the least population, enjoy the biggest share of the global economy while the rest remains to share the remainder. The results of this are that the rich countries continue becoming richer, and the poor countries get poorer. However, this has been challenged as it was analyzed in 2007-2008 that the developed countries actually depend on the developing counties. There is, therefore, a need for the World Bank and IMF to revise their policies and get back to re-establishing the developing countries’ economy. They should device a way where the resources in the developing countries will remain with them to help them further in development. References Buira, A 2003, Challenges to the World Bank and IMF: developing country perspective, Wimbledon Publishing Company, London. Danaher, K 2001, 10 Reasons to Abolish The IMF and World Bank, Seven Stories Press, Washington, D. C. Esty, D 2002, †˜The World Trade Organization’s legitimacy crisis’, World Trade Review, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 7–22. Hellener, E 2010, ‘A Bretton Woods Moment? The 2007-2008 crisis and the future of global finance’, International Affairs, vol. 86, no. 3, pp. 619–636.

Althea Gibson - Biography of Tennis Pioneer

Althea Gibson - Biography of Tennis Pioneer Tennis, which first came to the United States in the late 19th century, by the middle of the 20th century had become part of a culture of health and fitness. Public programs brought tennis to children in poor neighborhoods, though those children couldnt dream of playing in the elite tennis clubs. Dates:  August 25, 1927 - September 28, 2003 Early Life One young girl named Althea Gibson lived in Harlem in the 1930s and 1940s. Her family was on welfare. She was a client of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children. She had trouble in school and was often truant. She ran away from home frequently. . She also played paddle tennis in public recreation programs. Her talent and interest in the game led her to win tournaments sponsored by the Police Athletic Leagues and the Parks Department. Musician Buddy Walker noticed her playing table tennis  and thought she might do well in tennis. He brought her to the Harlem River Tennis Courts, where she learned the game and began to excel. A Rising Star The young Althea Gibson became a member of the Harlem Cosmopolitan Tennis Club, a club for African American players, through donations raised for her membership and lessons. By 1942 Gibson had won the girls singles event at the American Tennis Associations New York State Tournament. The American Tennis Association - ATA - was an all-black organization, providing tournament opportunities not otherwise available to African American tennis players. In 1944 and 1945 she again won ATA tournaments. Then Gibson was offered an opportunity to develop her talents more fully: a wealthy South Carolina businessman opened his home to her and supported her in attending an industrial high school  while studying tennis privately. From 1950, she furthered her education, attending Florida AM University, where she graduated in 1953. Then, in 1953, she became an athletic instructor at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. Gibson won the ATA womens singles tournament ten years in a row, 1947 through 1956. But tennis tournaments outside the ATA remained closed to her, until 1950. In that year white tennis player Alice Marble wrote an article in American Lawn Tennis magazine, noting that this excellent player was not able to participate in the better-known championships, for no reason other than bigotry. And so later that year, Althea Gibson entered the Forest Hills, New York, national grass court championship, the first African-American player of either sex to be allowed to enter. Gibson Takes on Wimbledon Gibson then became the first African-American invited to enter the all-England tournament at Wimbledon, playing there in 1951. She entered other tournaments  though at first winning only minor titles outside the ATA. In 1956, she won the French Open. In the same year, she toured worldwide as a member of a national tennis team supported by the U.S. State Department. She began winning more tournaments, including at the Wimbledon womens doubles. In 1957, she won the womens singles and doubles at Wimbledon. In celebration of this American win and her achievement as an African American New York City greeted her with a ticker tape parade. Gibson followed up with a win at Forest Hills in the womens singles tournament. Turning Pro In 1958, she again won both Wimbledon titles and repeated the Forest Hills womens singles win. Her autobiography, I Always Wanted to Be Somebody, came out in 1958. In 1959 she turned pro, winning the womens professional singles title in 1960. She also began playing professional womens golf and she appeared in several films. Althea Gibson served from 1973 on in various national and New Jersey positions in tennis and recreation. Among her honors: 1971 - National Lawn Tennis Hall of Fame1971 - International Tennis Hall of Fame1974 - Black Athletes Hall of Fame1983 - South Carolina Hall of Fame1984 - Florida Sports Hall of Fame In the mid-1990s, Althea Gibson suffered from serious health problems including a stroke, and also struggled financially though many efforts at fund-raising helped ease that burden. She died on Sunday, September 28, 2003, but not before she knew of the tennis victories of Serena and Venus Williams. A Lasting Legacy Other African American tennis players like Arthur Ashe and the Williams sisters followed Gibson, though not quickly. Althea Gibsons achievement was unique, as the first African American of either sex to break the color bar in national and international tournament tennis at a time when prejudice and racism were far more pervasive in society and sports.

Health care crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Health care crisis - Essay Example Health insurance is a crucial component in the health care system of Americans for unusual, expensive, and unpredictable events. It poses problems if it is used as a payment method for the everyday health care. Americans have been forced to pay more for health insurance but in return are receiving less. Kaiser Family Foundation (2010) states that, â€Å"American families arent only paying higher deductibles, but higher copayments as well; in 2004, only one in five people with health insurance through an employer had a copayment of more than $25; in 2008, that number was one in three and in 2009, it was nearly one in two.† Many researches and stakeholders argue that the current state of primary health in America care is unfair, corrupt, and devious and thus requires dire need of reformation. Statistics indicate that over 47 million of Americans lack health care insurance because of the high costs involved. For instance, about 2.4 trillion dollars was spent on health care in the year 2008 but it is estimated to rise to 4.3 trillion dollars by 2016. This is said to be four times the National Defense budget. This thus implies that every time the tax rates increase the unemployed people are injured and their medical costs need to be paid. Kaiser Family Foundation (2010) argues that, â€Å"The costs of employer-based health insurance premiums have  risen 114% since 2000; Americans are paying higher deductibles with the average family deductible increasing from $1,034 in 2006 to $1,518 in 2010.† Either the middle income families with individual health care insurance coverage spends about 22% of their household income while middle income families with employer based health insurance coverage spends about 8% of their household income. Thus, many Americans families are going without health care insurance coverage because of the escalating costs, gaps in quality and in access to health care. These rising cost are making innocent

Physical security Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Physical security - Term Paper Example How these threats occur and what techniques an intruder may use to enter into and hack a system, has been given a consideration. Next, the approaches that can be used for the determent of physical attacks and the security measures that can be taken to secure the hardware, network and the power supply, have been discussed in detail. Suggestions have been given to improve measures to deter political security threats which are growing in today’s world of increasing violence. Proper monitoring of physical security systems is also very important and has been talked about. This report provides a good and basic understanding of the field of physical security and its importance in sustaining livelihood and success of an organization or a home-made business with a foolproof system to avoid physical access of the enemy. Physical security is generally defined as the measures taken to ensure the security of workforce, system devices and equipment, resources, documents and sensitive information stored on physical media (like hardware programs and networks) from damaging proceedings like unauthorized access, fire, espionage, burglary, theft, vandalism, accidental loss or intentional crime that could cause severe harm to an activity, organization or establishment. In addition to this, physical security also provides assistance on scheming of such structures which help in deterring hostile operations. In terms of computers and internet, physical security is defined as a blockade placed about a computing system using secured operating systems and other protective measures to prevent unauthorized access to the information stored on it. This kind of physical security can also be referred to as computer security or cyber security or logical security in which information is protected by operating systems and special softwares from unauthorized access. Moreover, the physical security of hardware has to be made

Capital Account Convertibility Essay Example for Free

Capital Account Convertibility Essay Capital Account Convertibility. Should India adopt full convertibility? Capital Account Convertibility-or a floating exchange rate-is a feature of a nations financial regime that centers around the ability to conduct transactions of local financial assets into foreign financial assets freely and at market determined exchange rates. It is sometimes referred to as Capital Asset Liberation or CAC. CAC is mostly a guideline to changes of ownership in foreign or domestic financial assets and liabilities. Tangentially, it covers and extends the framework of the creation and liquidation of laims on, or by the rest of the world, on local asset and currency markets. Current account convertibility allows free inflows and outflows for all purposes other than for capital purposes such as investments and loans. In other words, it allows residents to make and receive trade-related payments receive dollars (or any other foreign currency) for export of goods and services and pay dollars for import of goods and services, make sundry remittances, access foreign currency for travel, studies abroad, medical treatment and gifts, etc. Capital account convertibility is considered to be one of the major features of a developed economy. It helps attract foreign investment. It offers foreign investors a lot of comfort as they can re-convert local currency into foreign currency anytime they want to and take their money away. At the same time, capital account convertibility makes it easier for domestic companies to tap foreign markets. At the moment, India has current account convertibility. This means one can import and export goods or receive or make payments for services rendered. However, investments and borrowings are restricted. But economists say that Jumping into capital account convertibility game without considering the downside of the step could harm the economy. The East Asian economic crisis is cited as an example by those opposed to capital account convertibility. Even the World Bank has said that embracing capital account convertibility without adequate preparation could be catastrophic. But India is now on firm ground given its strong financial sector reform and fiscal consolidation, and can now slowly but steadily move towards fuller capital account convertibility. CAC has 5 basic statements designed as points of All types of liquid capital assets must be able to be exchanged freely, between any two nations, with standardized exchange rates. The amounts must be a significant mount (in excess of $500,000). Capital inflows should be invested in semi-liquid assets, to prevent churning and excessive outflow. Institutional investors should not use CAC to manipulate fiscal policy or exchange rates. Excessive inflows and outflows should be buffered by national banks to provide collateral. Prior to its implementation, foreign investment was hindered by uneven exchange rates due to transactions, and national banks were disassociated from fiscal exchange policy and incurred high costs in supplying hard-currency loans for those few local companies that wished to do business abroad. Due to the low exchange rates and lower costs associated with Third World nations, this was expected to spur domestic capital, which would lead to welfare gains, and in turn lead to higher GDP growth. The tradeoff for such growth was seen as a lack of sustainable internal GNP growth and a decrease in domestic capital investments. When CAC is used with the proper restraints, this is exactly what happens. The entire outsourcing movement with Jobs and factories going oversees is a direct result of the foreign investment aspect of CAC. The Tarapore Committees recommendation of tying liquid assets to static assets (i. e. investing in long term government bonds, etc) was seen by many economists as directly responsible for stabilizing the idea of capital account liberalization. The Reserve Bank of India has appointed a committee to set out the framework for fuller Capital Account Convertibility. The Committee, chaired by former RBI governor S S Tarapore, was set up by the Reserve Bank of India in consultation with the Government of India to revisit the subject of fuller capital account convertibility in the context of the progress in economic reforms, the stability of the external and financial sectors, accelerated growth and global integration. Economists Surjit S Bhalla, M G Bhide, R H Patil, A V RaJwade and Alit Ranade were the members of the Committee. The Reserve Bank of India has also constituted an internal task force to re-examine the extant regulations and make recommendations to remove the operational impediments in the path of liberalisation already in place. The task force will make its recommendations on an ongoing basis and the processes are expected to be completed by December 4, 2006. The Task Force has been set up following a recommendation of the Committee. The Task Force will be convened by Salim Gangadharan, chief general manager, in- harge, foreign exchange department, Reserve Bank of India, and will have the following terms of reference: Undertake a review of the extant regulations that straddle current and capital accounts, especially items in one account that have implication for the other account, and iron out inconsistencies in such regulations. Examine existing repatriation/ surrender requirements in the context of current account convertibility and management of capital account. Identify areas where streamlining and simplification of procedure is possible and remove the operational impediments, especially in espect of the ease with which transactions at the level of authorized entities are regulations are consistent with regulatory intent. Review the delegation of powers on foreign exchange regulations between Central Office and Regional offices of the RBI and examine, selectively, the efficacy in the functioning of the delegation of powers by RBI to Authorised Dealers (banks). Consider any other matter of relevance to the above. The Task Force is empowered to devise its work procedure, constitute working groups in various areas, co-opt permanent/special invitees and meet various trade ssociations, representative bodies or individuals to facilitate its work.

The Other Fort Knox :: Personal Narrative Papers

The Other Fort Knox The first Wednesday in July found me crammed into a fourteen-passenger van with enough adolescents to fill it to capacity. Actually, it was only four girls and three boys, plus the three other leaders, but stuffed in the very back with three smelly boys – Jonathan, Andrew, and Aaron – it seemed like the van was about to burst. They could have had more room if they had chosen to spread out, but then they would have been forced to occupy seats adjacent to girls, a horrible situation for any ten year old boy. We were headed to Bucksport, Maine, a two-hour trip from my house, to tour and explore Fort Knox. It is probably not the Fort Knox that one immediately thinks of; there are actually two Fort Knox’s in the United States. James Bond was never at this Fort Knox, nor was any gold. Just in case, though, I told the boys that I would give my car to anyone who found gold. This would have been a threat to person over the age of eighteen, but their eyes got quite large at the prospect of winning something that had four tires. This Fort Knox was built for protecting the independence newly won from the British in the mid nineteenth century. Located at the mouth of the Penobscot River, Fort Knox is a heavily fortified defensive point. The fort boasts of remarkable engineering and a fascinating labyrinth of passageways. With thirty foot high walls of huge granite blocks, and cannons that could fire a four hundred and fifty pound ball a distance of three miles, Fort Knox would have been a brutal foe for the British navy. When we arrived, two of the group leaders, Sarah and Josh, went to go set up lunch, while my wife, Mary Ella, and I took the kids on a brief pre-tour. Since it was only half an hour before lunch, we decided to go down to explore one of the batteries. A battery is a small point outside the fort for artillery. Fort Knox is on a large hill overlooking the mouth of the river. At Fort Knox, there are two batteries located a little way down the hill from the fort. This allows the fort to fire on an enemy from multiple locations, and it allows for more artillery than the fort alone could hold.

Which Film Director Deserves to be voted into your personal `Movie making Hall of Fame?`

If George Lucas can be considered the father of the science-fiction blockbuster movie, Ridely Scott, a brilliant film-maker in his own right, who professes to have been deeply influenced by Lucas, might be rightly considered the father of the modern space-gothic movie. This distinction comprises only a slice of Scott's overall career, but it is a significant slice.While Lucas defined what many consider to be the epitome of America's romantic imagination and optimism, Scott at least partially defines American romanticism and optimism tempered by an existential awareness, and by an unflinching confrontation with the â€Å"real world† which exists in tandem and in conflict with the dreams-capes as represented in Scott's films. This tension is present in the four films which concern our present discussion and finds application in both genre and non-genre concepts.In this way, Scott's real world/fantasy world conflict bridges a gap between science fiction films, Alien and Bladerunn er, and â€Å"mainstream† films Thelma & Louise and Black Hawk Down. Scott's contribution to American film-making can be summarized by five central qualities which are evident throughout his film-making career and are evidenced in the four films relevant to the present discussion. These qualities are: anti-commerciality, social relevancy, strong (and violent) female characters, a blending of realism and surrealism, and an existentially driven romanticism which stresses the human capacity to overcome adversity and tragedy.Scott is often an overlooked â€Å"answer† to the grandiose films of his era. That he was inspired by Star Wars to make films of a dramatic and spectacular quality, but that he does so more with story and conflict and theme than with special effects is a testament to his boldness but it is also a centerpiece of his overall aesthetic which unites realism with ideal imagery, surrealism, and dream-scape imagery.By examining each of the points ore closely in relation to the four films, it becomes much easier to appreciate the full thematic and aesthetic accomplishments of Scott's masterpiece, Bladerunner, which can be considered a â€Å"signature† work which embodies Scott's art at its highest expression. Despite Bladerunner's poor box-office performance, Scott's anti-commercial tendencies are likely to be disputed or outrightly dismissed by many; however, a film like Thelma & Louise has little in the way of a genuine predecessor, least of all one with a track-record of enormous commercial success.Similarly, Black Hawk Down is the story of a failed American military mission in Somalia and bucks the strong Hollywood tradition of showing an heroic vision of war. Alien was released at a time when Star Wars had redefined the science-fiction genre in film, exerting a massive influence toward science-fantasy and spectacle on the screen. Scott's film is a meditative, spooky, mostly silent voyage in space. The tag-line for the film wa s â€Å"In space no-one can hear you scream.† Scott's masterwork Bladerunner was a box-office and critical flop upon its release and stood as a radical reworking of an obscure science-fiction novel titled â€Å"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? † The anti-commercial aspects of Scott's work extend beyond box-office revenue to cultural commentary and social critique. Of the four films under discussion, Scott's social relevancy is most evident in his non-genre films, Thelma & Louise and Black Hawk Down.In the latter film, Scott examines the true-life story of â€Å"the loss of a â€Å"mere eighteen soldiers†; his film is â€Å"designed to get us beyond[†¦ ] academic abstractification, to give us moral proximity to suffering, to the physicality of violence† and his searching directorial eye finds excellent use for realism in this film. Scott's movie takes the viewer into the â€Å"events, exploring the interactions between humans and technology in t he battlefield,† and this intimate view brings Scott's recurrent theme of strength beyond tragedy into hard-edged almost documentary-style focus, (Lacy, 27).While Black Hawk Down examines the impact of violence on social harmony and on the individual lives of male combatants, Thelma & Louise, no less violent nor less socially relevant than Black Hawk Down, envisions the modes of violent conflict in society from the perspective of strong female characters. Although criticized in many quarters for fashioning a tale which is not true to womens' experience, Thelma & Louise is intentionally non-realistic and represents a mode of near-fantasy, where reality and heroic myth merge.Scott's own comments on modern film-making reveal some of the logic behind his wide-ranging techniques and approaches, blending acute realistic detail with mythic fantasy: â€Å"I think movie making has just become more expert in the face of these subjects, with different camera angles and different techniq ues: they demand a more detailed way of looking at things,† (Lacy, 27). Where the violence of Black Hawk Down was received by critics and audiences as an unflinchingly realistic appraisal of the consequences (and futility) of certain kinds of military interventions , the violence in Scott's earlier film Thelma & Louise was viewed negativelyas fantasy wish-indulgence. Critics failed to recognize the film's underlying motifs; instead, â€Å"Thelma and Louise which was judged, and found wanting, as an account of women’s lives. The standards of truth against which popular films have been judged, standards which rarely admit the complexity of terms like fantasy, can also operate to silence the other stories to which they attempt to give a voice,† and this ability to fuse fantasy with realistic detail is Scott's great genuis as a filmmaker, (Tasker, 8).This fusion is evident at its most profound expression in Scott's most accomplished film Bladerunner. As in Thelma &Lo uise, Scott brings elements of the action-film to Bladerunner but like Thelma & Louise the action paradigm is given a twist by the pairing of a male-female â€Å"buddy† team in Deckert and Rachel. Similarly, there is a question as to whether Deckert is himself a replicant. To this extent, Scott's â€Å"action cinema depends on a complex articulation of both belonging and exclusion, an articulation which is bound up in the body of the hero and the masculine identity that it embodies.These dramas of belonging and exclusion mobilise discourses of national, racial and gendered identity through intimate fictional groupings such as the platoon, the police squad or the buddy relationship,† and in the case of Bladerunner and Thelma & Lousie, the â€Å"intimate† fictional groupings indicate a social awareness of those whom society may have tried to forget or overlook. (Tasker, 8). Scott's ability to weave a dream-scape of images through his â€Å"realistic† aesthe tic is brought to it greatest height in Bladerunner.This space-gothic masterpiece shows that Scott is basically what might be termed as an existentialist romantic as a film-maker, an unusual combination and one which fuels his films with unparalleled tension between wished-for fantasy and seemingly unchangeable reality. In each of the four films discussed, the line between fantasy and reality is crossed usually indicated by a tragedy or crises, so that Scott's ultimate vision includes characters heroically attempting to snatch their dreams from a dystopian or near-dystopian world, where tragedy becomes a catharsis to the attainment or partial attainment of individual happiness.

Chapter 23 The Yule Ball

Despite the very heavy load of homework that the fourth years had been given for the holidays. Harry was in no mood to work when term ended, and spent the week leading up to Christmas enjoying himself as fully as possible along with everyone else. Gryffindor Tower was hardly less crowded now than during term-time; it seemed to have shrunk slightly too, as its inhabitants were being so much rowdier than usual. Fred and George had had a great success with their Canary Creams, and for the first couple of days of the holidays, people kept bursting into feather all over the place. Before long, however, all the Gryffindors had learned to treat food anybody else offered them with extreme caution, in case it had a Canary Cream concealed in the center, and George confided to Harry that he and Fred were now working on developing something else. Harry made a mental note never to accept so much as a crisp from Fred and George in future. He still hadn't forgotten Dudley and the Ton-Tongue Toffee. Snow was falling thickly upon the castle and its grounds now. The pale blue Beauxbatons carriage looked like a large, chilly, frosted pumpkin next to the iced gingerbread house that was Hagrid's cabin, while the Durmstrang ship's portholes were glazed with ice, the rigging white with frost. The house-elves down in the kitchen were outdoing themselves with a series of rich, warming stews and savory puddings, and only Fleur Delacour seemed to be able to find anything to complain about. â€Å"It is too ‘eavy, all zis ‘Ogwarts food,† they heard her saying grumpily as they left the Great Hall behind her one evening (Ron skulking behind Harry, keen not to be spotted by Fleur). â€Å"I will not fit into my dress robes!† â€Å"Oooh there's a tragedy,† Hermione snapped as Fleur went out into the entrance hall. â€Å"She really thinks a lot of herself, that one, doesn't she?† â€Å"Hermione – who are you going to the ball with?† said Ron. He kept springing this question on her, hoping to startle her into a response by asking it when she least expected it. However, Hermione merely frowned and said, â€Å"I'm not telling you, you'll just make fun of me.† â€Å"You're joking, Weasley!† said Malfoy, behind them. â€Å"You're not telling me someone's asked that to the ball? Not the long-molared Mudblood?† Harry and Ron both whipped around, but Hermione said loudly, waving to somebody over Malfoy's shoulder, â€Å"Hello, Professor Moody!† Malfoy went pale and jumped backward, looking wildly around for Moody, but he was still up at the staff table, finishing his stew. â€Å"Twitchy little ferret, aren't you, Malfoy?† said Hermione scathingly, and she, Harry, and Ron went up the marble staircase laughing heartily. â€Å"Hermione,† said Ron, looking sideways at her, suddenly frowning, â€Å"your teeth†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"What about them?† she said. â€Å"Well, they're different†¦I've just noticed†¦.† â€Å"Of course they are – did you expect me to keep those fangs Malfoy gave me?† â€Å"No, I mean, they're different to how they were before he put that hex on you†¦.They're all†¦straight and – and normal-sized.† Hermione suddenly smiled very mischievously, and Harry noticed it too: It was a very different smile from the one he remembered. â€Å"Well†¦when I went up to Madam Pomfrey to get them shrunk, she held up a mirror and told me to stop her when they were back to how they normally were,† she said. â€Å"And I just†¦let her carry on a bit.† She smiled even more widely. â€Å"Mum and Dad won't be too pleased. I've been trying to persuade them to let me shrink them for ages, but they wanted me to carry on with my braces. You know, they're dentists, they just don't think teeth and magic should – look! Pigwidgeon's back!† Ron's tiny owl was twittering madly on the top of the icicle-laden banisters, a scroll of parchment tied to his leg. People passing him were pointing and laughing, and a group of third-year girls paused and said, â€Å"Oh look at the weeny owl! Isn't he cute?† Stupid little feathery git!† Ron hissed, hurrying up the stairs and snatching up Pigwidgeon. â€Å"You bring letters to the addressee! You don't hang around showing off!† Pigwidgeon hooted happily, his head protruding over Ron's fist. The third-year girls all looked very shocked. â€Å"Clear off!† Ron snapped at them, waving the fist holding Pigwidgeon, who hooted more happily than ever as he soared through the air. â€Å"Here – take it, Harry,† Ron added in an undertone as the third-year girls scuttled away looking scandalized. He pulled Sirius's reply off Pigwidgeons leg. Harry pocketed it, and they hurried back to Gryffindor Tower to read it. Everyone in the common room was much too busy in letting off more holiday steam to observe what anyone else was up to. Ron, Harry, and Hermione sat apart from everyone else by a dark window that was gradually filling up with snow, and Harry read out: Dear Harry, Congratulations on getting past the Horntail. Whoever put your name in that goblet shouldn't be feeling too happy right now! I was going to suggest a Conjunctivitus Curse, as a dragon's eyes are its weakest point – â€Å"That's what Krum did!† Hermione whispered – but your way was better, I'm impressed. Don't get complacent, though. Harry. You've only done one task; whoever put you in for the tournament's got plenty more opportunity if they're trying to hurt you. Keep your eyes open -particularly when the person we discussed is around and concentrate on keeping yourself out of trouble. Keep in touch, I still want to hear about anything unusual. Sirius â€Å"He sounds exactly like Moody,† said Harry quietly, tucking the letter away again inside his robes. â€Å"‘Constant vigilance!' You'd think I walk around with my eyes shut, banging off the walls†¦.† â€Å"But he's right, Harry,† said Hermione, â€Å"you have still got two tasks to do. You really ought to have a look at that egg, you know, and start working out what it means†¦.† â€Å"Hermione, he's got ages!† snapped Ron. â€Å"Want a game of chess, Harry?† â€Å"Yeah, okay,† said Harry. Then, spotting the look on Hermione's face, he said, â€Å"Come on, how'm I supposed to concentrate with all this noise going on? I won't even be able to hear the egg over this lot.† â€Å"Oh I suppose not,† she sighed, and she sat down to watch their chess match, which culminated in an exciting checkmate of Ron's, involving a couple of recklessly brave pawns and a very violent bishop. Harry awoke very suddenly on Christmas Day. Wondering what had caused his abrupt return to consciousness, he opened his eyes, and saw something with very large, round, green eyes staring back at him in the darkness, so close they were almost nose to nose. â€Å"Dobby!† Harry yelled, scrambling away from the elf so fast he almost fell out of bed. â€Å"Don't do that!† â€Å"Dobby is sorry, sir!† squeaked Dobby anxiously, jumping backward with his long fingers over his mouth. â€Å"Dobby is only wanting to wish Harry Potter ‘Merry Christmas' and bring him a present, Sir! Harry Potter did say Dobby could come and see him sometimes, sir!† It's okay,† said Harry, still breathing rather faster than usual, while his heart rate returned to normal. â€Å"Just – just prod me or something in future, all right, don't bend over me like that†¦.† Harry pulled back the curtains around his four-poster, took his glasses from his bedside table, and put them on. His yell had awoken Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville. All of them were peering through the gaps in their own hangings, heavy-eyed and tousle-haired. â€Å"Someone attacking you, Harry?† Seamus asked sleepily. â€Å"No, it's just Dobby,† Harry muttered. â€Å"Go back to sleep.† â€Å"Nah†¦presents!† said Seamus, spotting the large pile at the foot of his bed. Ron, Dean, and Neville decided that now they were awake they might as well get down to some present-opening too. Harry turned back to Dobby, who was now standing nervously next to Harry's bed, still looking worried that he had upset Harry. There was a Christmas bauble tied to the loop on top of his tea cozy. â€Å"Can Dobby give Harry Potter his present?† he squeaked tentatively. â€Å"‘Course you can,† said Harry. â€Å"Er†¦I've got something for you too.† It was a lie; he hadn't bought anything for Dobby at all, but he quickly opened his trunk and pulled out a particularly knobbly rolled-up pair of socks. They were his oldest and foulest, mustard yellow, and had once belonged to Uncle Vernon. The reason they were extra-knobbly was that Harry had been using them to cushion his Sneakoscope for over a year now. He pulled out the Sneako-scope and handed the socks to Dobby, saying, â€Å"Sorry, I forgot to wrap them†¦Ã¢â‚¬  But Dobby was utterly delighted. â€Å"Socks are Dobby's favorite, favorite clothes, sir!† he said, ripping off his odd ones and pulling on Uncle Vernon's. â€Å"I has seven now, sir†¦.But sir†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he said, his eyes widening, having pulled both socks up to their highest extent, so that they reached to the bottom of his shorts, â€Å"they has made a mistake in the shop, Harry Potter, they is giving you two the same!† â€Å"Ah, no, Harry, how come you didn't spot that?† said Ron, grinning over from his own bed, which was now strewn with wrapping paper. â€Å"Tell you what, Dobby – here you go – take these two, and you can mix them up properly. And here's your sweater.† He threw Dobby a pair of violet socks he had just unwrapped, and the hand-knitted sweater Mrs. Weasley had sent, Dobby looked quite overwhelmed. â€Å"Sir is very kind!† he squeaked, his eyes brimming with tears again, bowing deeply to Ron. â€Å"Dobby knew sir must be a great wizard, for he is Harry Potter's greatest friend, but Dobby did not know that he was also as generous of spirit, as noble, as selfless -â€Å" â€Å"They're only socks,† said Ron, who had gone slightly pink around the ears, though he looked rather pleased all the same. â€Å"Wow, Harry -† He had just opened Harry's present, a Chudley Cannon hat. â€Å"Cool!† He jammed it onto his head, where it clashed horribly with his hair. Dobby now handed Harry a small package, which turned out to be – socks. â€Å"Dobby is making them himself, sir!† the elf said happily. â€Å"He is buying the wool out of his wages, sir!† The left sock was bright red and had a pattern of broomsticks upon it; the right sock was green with a pattern of Snitches. â€Å"They're†¦they're really†¦well, thanks, Dobby,† said Harry, and he pulled them on, causing Dobby's eyes to leak with happiness again. â€Å"Dobby must go now, sir, we is already making Christmas dinner in the kitchens!† said Dobby, and he hurried out of the dormitory, waving good-bye to Ron and the others as he passed. Harry's other presents were much more satisfactory than Dobby's odd socks – with the obvious exception of the Dursleys', which consisted of a single tissue, an all-time low – Harry supposed they too were remember ing the Ton-Tongue Toffee. Hermione had given Harry a book called Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland; Ron, a bulging bag of Dungbombs; Sirius, a handy penknife with attachments to unlock any lock and undo any knot; and Hagrid, a vast box of sweets including all Harry's favorites: Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, and Fizzing Whizbees. There was also, of course, Mrs. Weasley's usual package, including a new sweater (green, with a picture of a dragon on it – Harry supposed Charlie had told her all about the Horntail), and a large quantity of homemade mince pies. Harry and Ron met up with Hermione in the common room, and they went down to breakfast together. They spent most of the morning in Gryffindor Tower, where everyone was enjoying their presents, then returned to the Great Hall for a magnificent lunch, which included at least a hundred turkeys and Christmas puddings, and large piles of Cribbage's Wizarding Crackers. They went out onto the grounds in the afternoon; the snow was untouched except for the deep channels made by the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students on their way up to the castle. Hermione chose to watch Harry and the Weasleys' snowball fight rather than join in, and at five o'clock said she was going back upstairs to get ready for the ball. â€Å"What, you need three hours?† said Ron, looking at her incredulously and paying for his lapse in concentration when a large snowball, thrown by George, hit him hard on the side of the head. â€Å"Who're you going with?† he yelled after Hermione, but she just waved and disappeared up the stone steps into the castle. There was no Christmas tea today, as the ball included a feast, so at seven o'clock, when it had become hard to aim properly, the others abandoned their snowball fight and trooped back to the common room. The Fat Lady was sitting in her frame with her friend Violet from downstairs, both of them extremely tipsy, empty boxes of chocolate liqueurs littering the bottom other picture. â€Å"Lairy fights, that's the one!† she giggled when they gave the password, and she swung forward to let them inside. Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville changed into their dress robes up in their dormitory, all of them looking very self-conscious, but none as much as Ron, who surveyed himself in the long mirror in the corner with an appalled look on his face. There was just no getting around the fact that his robes looked more like a dress than anything else. In a desperate attempt to make them look more manly, he used a Severing Charm on the ruff and cuffs. It worked fairly well; at least he was now lace-free, although he hadn't done a very neat job, and the edges still looked depressingly frayed as the boys set off downstairs. â€Å"I still can't work out how you two got the best-looking girls in the year,† muttered Dean. â€Å"Animal magnetism,† said Ron gloomily, pulling stray threads out of his cuffs. The common room looked strange, full of people wearing different colors instead of the usual mass of black. Parvati was waiting for Harry at the foot of the stairs. She looked very pretty indeed, in robes of shocking pink, with her long dark plait braided with gold, and gold bracelets glimmering at her wrists. Harry was relieved to see that she wasn't giggling. â€Å"You – er – look nice,† he said awkwardly. â€Å"Thanks,† she said. â€Å"Padma's going to meet you in the entrance hall,† she added to Ron. â€Å"Right,† said Ron, looking around. â€Å"Where's Hermione?† Parvati shrugged. â€Å"Shall we go down then, Harry?† â€Å"Okay,† said Harry, wishing he could just stay in the common room. Fred winked at Harry as he passed him on the way out of the portrait hole. The entrance hall was packed with students too, all milling around waiting for eight o'clock, when the doors to the Great Hall would be thrown open. Those people who were meeting partners from different Houses were edging through the crowd trying to find one another. Parvati found her sister, Padma, and led her over to Harry and Ron. â€Å"Hi,† said Padma, who was looking just as pretty as Parvati in robes of bright turquoise. She didn't look too enthusiastic about having Ron as a partner, though; her dark eyes lingered on the frayed neck and sleeves of his dress robes as she looked him up and down. â€Å"Hi,† said Ron, not looking at her, but staring around at the crowd. â€Å"Oh no†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He bent his knees slightly to hide behind Harry, because Fleur Delacour was passing, looking stunning in robes of silver-gray satin, and accompanied by the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, Roger Davies. When they had disappeared, Ron stood straight again and stared over the heads of the crowd. â€Å"Where is Hermione?† he said again. A group of Slytherins came up the steps from their dungeon common room. Malfoy was in front; he was wearing dress robes of black velvet with a high collar, which in Harry's opinion made him look like a vicar. Pansy Parkinson in very frilly robes of pale pink was clutching Malfoy's arm. Crabbe and Goyle were both wearing green; they resembled moss-colored boulders, and neither of them, Harry was pleased to see, had managed to find a partner. The oak front doors opened, and everyone turned to look as the Durmstrang students entered with Professor Karkaroff. Krum was at the front of the party, accompanied by a pretty girl in blue robes Harry didn't know. Over their heads he saw that an area of lawn right in front of the castle had been transformed into a sort of grotto full of fairy lights – meaning hundreds of actual living fairies were sitting in the rosebushes that had been conjured there, and fluttering over the statues of what seemed to be Father Christmas and his reindeer. Then Professor McGonagall's voice called, â€Å"Champions over here, please!† Parvati readjusted her bangles, beaming; she and Harry said, â€Å"See you in a minute† to Ron and Padma and walked forward, the chattering crowd parting to let them through. Professor McGonagall, who was wearing dress robes of red tartan and had arranged a rather ugly wreath of thistles around the brim other hat, told them to wait on one side of the doors while everyone else went inside; they were to enter the Great Hall in procession when the rest of the students had sat down. Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies stationed themselves nearest the doors; Davies looked so stunned by his good fortune in having Fleur for a partner that he could hardly take his eyes off her. Cedric and Cho were close to Harry too; he looked away from them so he wouldn't have to talk to them. His eyes fell instead on the girl next to Krum. His jaw dropped. It was Hermione. But she didn't look like Hermione at all. She had done something with her hair; it was no longer bushy but sleek and shiny, and twisted up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. She was wearing robes made of a floaty, periwinkle-blue material, and she was holding herself differently, somehow – or maybe it was merely the absence of the twenty or so books she usually had slung over her back. She was also smiling – rather nervously, it was true – but the reduction in the size of her front teeth was more noticeable than ever; Harry couldn't understand how he hadn't spotted it before. â€Å"Hi, Harry!† she said. â€Å"Hi, Parvati!† Parvati was gazing at Hermione in unflattering disbelief. She wasn't the only one either; when the doors to the Great Hall opened, Krum's fan club from the library stalked past, throwing Hermione looks of deepest loathing. Pansy Parkinson gaped at her as she walked by with Malfoy, and even he didn't seem to be able to find an insult to throw at her. Ron, however, walked right past Hermione without looking at her. Once everyone else was settled in the Hall, Professor McGonagall told the champions and their partners to get in line in pairs and to follow her. They did so, and everyone in the Great Hall applauded as they entered and started walking up toward a large round table at the top of the Hall, where the judges were sitting. The walls of the Hall had all been covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling. The House tables had vanished; instead, there were about a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones, each seating about a dozen people. Harry concentrated on not tripping over his feet. Parvati seemed to be enjoying herself; she was beaming around at everybody, steering Harry so forcefully that he felt as though he were a show dog she was putting through its paces. He caught sight of Ron and Padma as he neared the top table. Ron was watching Hermione pass with narrowed eyes. Padma was looking sulky. Dumbledore smiled happily as the champions approached the top table, but Karkaroff wore an expression remarkably like Ron's as he watched Krum and Hermione draw nearer. Ludo Bagman, tonight in robes of bright purple with large yellow stars, was clapping as enthusiastically as any of the students; and Madame Maxime, who had changed her usual uniform of black satin for a flowing gown of lavender silk, was applauding them politely. But Mr. Crouch, Harry suddenly realized, was not there. The fifth seat at the table was occupied by Percy Weasley. When the champions and their partners reached the table, Percy drew out the empty chair beside him, staring pointedly at Harry. Harry took the hint and sat down next to Percy, who was wearing brand-new, navy-blue dress robes and an expression of such smugness that Harry thought it ought to be fined. â€Å"I've been promoted,† Percy said before Harry could even ask, and from his tone, he might have been announcing his election as supreme ruler of the universe. â€Å"I'm now Mr. Crouch's personal assistant, and I'm here representing him.† â€Å"Why didn't he come?† Harry asked. He wasn't looking forward to being lectured on cauldron bottoms all through dinner. â€Å"I'm afraid to say Mr. Crouch isn't well, not well at all. Hasn't been right since the World Cup. Hardly surprising – overwork. He's not as young as he was – though still quite brilliant, of course, the mind remains as great as it ever was. But the World Cup was a fiasco for the whole Ministry, and then, Mr. Crouch suffered a huge personal shock with the misbehavior of that house-elf of his, Blinky, or whatever she was called. Naturally, he dismissed her immediately afterward, but – well, as I say, he's getting on, he needs looking after, and I think he's found a definite drop in his home comforts since she left. And then we had the tournament to arrange, and the aftermath of the Cup to deal with – that revolting Skeeter woman buzzing around – no, poor man, he's having a well earned, quiet Christmas. I'm just glad he knew he had someone he could rely upon to take his place.† Harry wanted very much to ask whether Mr. Crouch had stopped calling Percy â€Å"Weatherby† yet, but resisted the temptation. There was no food as yet on the glittering golden plates, but small menus were lying in front of each of them. Harry picked his up uncertainly and looked around – there were no waiters. Dumbledore, however, looked carefully down at his own menu, then said very clearly to his plate, â€Å"Pork chops!† And pork chops appeared. Getting the idea, the rest of the table placed their orders with their plates too. Harry glanced up at Hermione to see how she felt about this new and more complicated method of dining – surely it meant plenty of extra work for the house-elves? – but for once, Hermione didn't seem to be thinking about S.P.E.W. She was deep in talk with Viktor Krum and hardly seemed to notice what she was eating. It now occurred to Harry that he had never actually heard Krum speak before, but he was certainly talking now, and very enthusiastically at that. â€Å"Veil, ve have a castle also, not as big as this, nor as comfortable, I am thinking,† he was telling Hermione. â€Å"Ve have just four floors, and the fires are lit only for magical purposes. But ve have grounds larger even than these – though in vinter, ve have very little daylight, so ve are not enjoying them. But in summer ve are flying every day, over the lakes and the mountains -â€Å" â€Å"Now, now, Viktor!† said Karkaroff with a laugh that didn't reach his cold eyes, â€Å"don't go giving away anything else, now, or your charming friend will know exactly where to find us!† Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling. â€Å"Igor, all this secrecy, one would almost think you didn't want visitors.† â€Å"Well, Dumbledore,† said Karkaroff, displaying his yellowing teeth to their fullest extent, â€Å"we are all protective of our private domains, are we not? Do we not jealously guard the halls of learning that have been entrusted to us? Are we not right to be proud that we alone know our school's secrets, and right to protect them?† â€Å"Oh I would never dream of assuming I know all Hogwarts' secrets, Igor,† said Dumbledore amicably. â€Å"Only this morning, for instance, I took a wrong turning on the way to the bathroom and found myself in a beautifully proportioned room I have never seen before, containing a really rather magnificent collection of chamber pots. When I went back to investigate more closely, I discovered that the room had vanished. But I must keep an eye out for it. Possibly it is only accessible at five-thirty in the morning. Or it may only appear at the quarter moon – or when the seeker has an exceptionally full bladder.† Harry snorted into his plate of goulash. Percy frowned, but Harry could have sworn Dumbledore had given him a very small wink. Meanwhile Fleur Delacour was criticizing the Hogwarts decorations to Roger Davies. â€Å"Zis is nothing,† she said dismissively, looking around at the sparkling walls of the Great Hall. â€Å"At ze Palace of Beauxbatons, we ‘ave ice sculptures all around ze dining chamber at Chreestmas. Zey do not melt, of course†¦zey are like ‘uge statues of diamond, glittering around ze place. And ze food is seemply superb. And we ‘ave choirs of wood nymphs, ‘oo serenade us as we eat. We ‘ave none of zis ugly armor in ze ‘alls, and eef a poltergeist ever entaired into Beauxbatons, ‘e would be expelled like zat.† She slapped her hand onto the table impatiently. Roger Davies was watching her talk with a very dazed look on his face, and he kept missing his mouth with his fork. Harry had the impression that Davies was too busy staring at Fleur to take in a word she was saying. â€Å"Absolutely right,† he said quickly, slapping his own hand down on the table in imitation of Fleur. â€Å"Like that. Yeah.† Harry looked around the Hall. Hagrid was sitting at one of the other staff tables; he was back in his horrible hairy brown suit and gazing up at the top table. Harry saw him give a small wave, and looking around, saw Madame Maxime return it, her opals glittering in the candlelight. Hermione was now teaching Krum to say her name properly; he kept calling her â€Å"Hermy-own.† â€Å"Her-my-oh-nee,† she said slowly and clearly. â€Å"Herm-own-ninny.† â€Å"Close enough,† she said, catching Harry's eye and grinning. When all the food had been consumed, Dumbledore stood up and asked the students to do the same. Then, with a wave of his wand, all the tables zoomed back along the walls leaving the floor clear, and then he conjured a raised platform into existence along the right wall. A set of drums, several guitars, a lute, a cello, and some bagpipes were set upon it. The Weird Sisters now trooped up onto the stage to wildly enthusiastic applause; they were all extremely hairy and dressed in black robes that had been artfully ripped and torn. They picked up their instruments, and Harry, who had been so interested in watching them that he had almost forgotten what was coming, suddenly realized that the lanterns on all the other tables had gone out, and that the other champions and their partners were standing up. â€Å"Come on!† Parvati hissed. â€Å"We're supposed to dance!† Harry tripped over his dress robes as he stood up. The Weird Sisters struck up a slow, mournful tune; Harry walked onto the brightly lit dance floor, carefully avoiding catching anyone's eye (he could see Seamus and Dean waving at him and sniggering), and next moment, Parvati had seized his hands, placed one around her waist, and was holding the other tightly in hers. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. Harry thought, revolving slowly on the spot (Parvati was steering). He kept his eyes fixed over the heads of the watching people, and very soon many of them too had come onto the dance floor, so that the champions were no longer the center of attention. Neville and Ginny were dancing nearby – he could see Ginny wincing frequently as Neville trod on her feet – and Dumbledore was waltzing with Madame Maxime. He was so dwarfed by her that the top of his pointed hat barely tickled her chin; however, she moved very gracefully for a woman so large. Mad-Eye Moody was doing an extremely ungainly two-step with Professor Sinistra, who was nervously avoiding his wooden leg. â€Å"Nice socks. Potter,† Moody growled as he passed, his magical eye staring through Harry's robes. â€Å"Oh – yeah, Dobby the house-elf knitted them for me,† said Harry, grinning. â€Å"He is so creepy!† Parvati whispered as Moody clunked away. â€Å"I don't think that eye should be allowed.† Harry heard the final, quavering note from the bagpipe with relief. The Weird Sisters stopped playing, applause filled the hall once more, and Harry let go of Parvati at once. â€Å"Let's sit down, shall we?† â€Å"Oh – but – this is a really good one!† Parvati said as the Weird Sisters struck up a new song, which was much faster. â€Å"No, I don't like it,† Harry lied, and he led her away from the dance floor, past Fred and Angelina, who were dancing so exhuberantly that people around them were backing away in fear of injury, and over to the table where Ron and Padma were sitting. â€Å"How's it going?† Harry asked Ron, sitting down and opening a bottle of butterbeer. Ron didn't answer. He was glaring at Hermione and Krum, who were dancing nearby. Padma was sitting with her arms and legs crossed, one foot jiggling in time to the music. Every now and then she threw a disgruntled look at Ron, who was completely ignoring her. Parvati sat down on Harry's other side, crossed her arms and legs too, and within minutes was asked to dance by a boy from Beauxbatons. â€Å"You don't mind, do you, Harry?† Parvati said. â€Å"What?† said Harry, who was now watching Cho and Cedric. â€Å"Oh never mind,† snapped Parvati, and she went off with the boy from Beauxbatons. When the song ended, she did not return. Hermione came over and sat down in Parvati's empty chair. She was a bit pink in the face from dancing. â€Å"Hi,† said Harry. Ron didn't say anything. â€Å"It's hot, isn't it?† said Hermione, fanning herself with her hand. â€Å"Viktor's just gone to get some drinks.† Ron gave her a withering look. â€Å"Viktor?† he said. â€Å"Hasn't he asked you to call him Vicky yet?† Hermione looked at him in surprise. â€Å"What's up with you?† she said. â€Å"If you don't know,† said Ron scathingly, â€Å"I'm not going to tell you.† Hermione stared at him, then at Harry, who shrugged. â€Å"Ron, what -?† â€Å"He's from Durmstrang!† spat Ron. â€Å"He's competing against Harry! Against Hogwarts! You – you're -† Ron was obviously casting around for words strong enough to describe Hermione's crime, â€Å"fraternizing with the enemy, that's what you're doing!† Hermione's mouth fell open. â€Å"Don't be so stupid!† she said after a moment. â€Å"The enemy! Honestly – who was the one who was all excited when they saw him arrive? Who was the one who wanted his autograph? Who's got a model of him up in their dormitory?† Ron chose to ignore this. â€Å"I s'pose he asked you to come with him while you were both in the library?† â€Å"Yes, he did,† said Hermione, the pink patches on her cheeks glowing more brightly. â€Å"So what?† â€Å"What happened – trying to get him to join spew, were you?† â€Å"No, I wasn't! If you really want to know, he – he said he'd been coming up to the library every day to try and talk to me, but he hadn't been able to pluck up the courage!† Hermione said this very quickly, and blushed so deeply that she was the same color as Parvati's robes. â€Å"Yeah, well – that's his story,† said Ron nastily. â€Å"And what's that supposed to mean?† â€Å"Obvious, isn't it? He's Karkaroff's student, isn't he? He knows who you hang around with†¦.He's just trying to get closer to Harry – get inside information on him – or get near enough to jinx him -â€Å" Hermione looked as though Ron had slapped her. When she spoke, her voice quivered. â€Å"For your information, he hasn't asked me one single thing about Harry, not one -â€Å" Ron changed tack at the speed of light. â€Å"Then he's hoping you'll help him find out what his egg means! I suppose you've been putting your heads together during those cozy little library sessions -â€Å" â€Å"I'd never help him work out that egg!† said Hermione, looking outraged. â€Å"Never. How could you say something like that – I want Harry to win the tournament. Harry knows that, don't you, Harry?† â€Å"You've got a funny way of showing it,† sneered Ron. â€Å"This whole tournament's supposed to be about getting to know foreign wizards and making friends with them!† said Hermione hotly. â€Å"No it isn't!† shouted Ron. â€Å"It's about winning!† People were starting to stare at them. â€Å"Ron,† said Harry quietly, â€Å"I haven't got a problem with Hermione coming with Krum -â€Å" But Ron ignored Harry too. â€Å"Why don't you go and find Vicky, he'll be wondering where you are,† said Ron. â€Å"Don't call him Vicky!† Hermione jumped to her feet and stormed off across the dance floor, disappearing into the crowd. Ron watched her go with a mixture of anger and satisfaction on his face. â€Å"Are you going to ask me to dance at all?† Padma asked him. â€Å"No,† said Ron, still glaring after Hermione. â€Å"Fine,† snapped Padma, and she got up and went to join Parvati and the Beauxbatons boy, who conjured up one of his friends to join them so fast that Harry could have sworn he had zoomed him there by a Summoning Charm. â€Å"Vare is Herm-own-ninny?† said a voice. Krum had just arrived at their table clutching two butterbeers. â€Å"No idea,† said Ron mulishly, looking up at him. â€Å"Lost her, have you?† Krum was looking surly again. â€Å"Veil, if you see her, tell her I haff drinks,† he said, and he slouched off. â€Å"Made friends with Viktor Krum, have you, Ron?† Percy had bustled over, rubbing his hands together and looking extremely pompous. â€Å"Excellent! That's the whole point, you know – international magical cooperation!† To Harry's displeasure, Percy now took Padma's vacated seat. The top table was now empty; Professor Dumbledore was dancing with Professor Sprout, Ludo Bagman with Professor McGonagall; Madame Maxime and Hagrid were cutting a wide path around the dance floor as they waltzed through the students, and Karkaroff was nowhere to be seen. When the next song ended, everybody applauded once more, and Harry saw Ludo Bagman kiss Professor McGonagall's hand and make his way back through the crowds, at which point Fred and George accosted him. â€Å"What do they think they're doing, annoying senior Ministry members?† Percy hissed, watching Fred and George suspiciously. â€Å"No respect†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Ludo Bagman shook off Fred and George fairly quickly, however, and, spotting Harry, waved and came over to their table. â€Å"I hope my brothers weren't bothering you, Mr. Bagman?† said Percy at once. â€Å"What? Oh not at all, not at all!† said Bagman. â€Å"No, they were just telling me a bit more about those fake wands of theirs. Wondering if I could advise them on the marketing. I've promised to put them in touch with a couple of contacts of mine at Zonko's Joke Shop†¦.† Percy didn't look happy about this at all, and Harry was prepared to bet he would be rushing to tell Mrs. Weasley about this the moment he got home. Apparently Fred and George's plans had grown even more ambitious lately, if they were hoping to sell to the public. Bagman opened his mouth to ask Harry something, but Percy diverted him. â€Å"How do you feel the tournament's going, Mr. Bagman? Our department's quite satisfied – the hitch with the Goblet of Fire† – he glanced at Harry – â€Å"was a little unfortunate, of course, but it seems to have gone very smoothly since, don't you think?† â€Å"Oh yes,† Bagman said cheerfully, â€Å"it's all been enormous fun. How's old Barty doing? Shame he couldn't come.† â€Å"Oh I'm sure Mr. Crouch will be up and about in no time,† said Percy importantly, â€Å"but in the meantime, I'm more than willing to take up the slack. Of course, it's not all attending balls† – he laughed airily – â€Å"oh no, I've had to deal with all sorts of things that have cropped up in his absence – you heard Ali Bashir was caught smuggling a consignment of flying carpets into the country? And then we've been trying to persuade the Transylvanians to sign the International Ban on Dueling. I've got a meeting with their Head of Magical Cooperation in the new year -â€Å" â€Å"Let's go for a walk,† Ron muttered to Harry, â€Å"get away from Percy†¦.† Pretending they wanted more drinks. Harry and Ron left the table, edged around the dance floor, and slipped out into the entrance hall. The front doors stood open, and the fluttering fairy lights in the rose garden winked and twinkled as they went down the front steps, where they found themselves surrounded by bushes; winding, ornamental paths; and large stone statues. Harry could hear splashing water, which sounded like a fountain. Here and there, people were sitting on carved benches. He and Ron set off along one of the winding paths through the rosebushes, but they had gone only a short way when they heard an unpleasantly familiar voice. â€Å"†¦don't see what there is to fuss about, Igor.† â€Å"Severus, you cannot pretend this isn't happening!† Karkaroffs voice sounded anxious and hushed, as though keen not to be overheard. â€Å"It's been getting clearer and clearer for months. I am becoming seriously concerned, I can't deny it -â€Å" â€Å"Then flee,† said Snape's voice curtly. â€Å"Flee – I will make your excuses. I, however, am remaining at Hogwarts.† Snape and Karkaroff came around the corner. Snape had his wand out and was blasting rosebushes apart, his expression most ill-natured. Squeals issued from many of the bushes, and dark shapes emerged from them. â€Å"Ten points from Ravenclaw, Fawcett!† Snape snarled as a girl ran past him. â€Å"And ten points from Hufflepuff too, Stebbins!† as a boy went rushing after her. â€Å"And what are you two doing?† he added, catching sight of Harry and Ron on the path ahead. Karkaroff, Harry saw, looked slightly discomposed to see them standing there. His hand went nervously to his goatee, and he began winding it around his finger. â€Å"We re walking,† Ron told Snape shortly. â€Å"Not against the law, is it?† â€Å"Keep walking, then!† Snape snarled, and he brushed past them, his long black cloak billowing out behind him. Karkaroff hurried away after Snape. Harry and Ron continued down the path. â€Å"What's got Karkaroff all worried?† Ron muttered. â€Å"And since when have he and Snape been on first-name terms?†said Harry slowly. They had reached a large stone reindeer now, over which they could see the sparkling jets of a tall fountain. The shadowy outlines of two enormous people were visible on a stone bench, watching the water in the moonlight. And then Harry heard Hagrid speak. â€Å"Momen' I saw yeh, I knew,† he was saying, in an oddly husky voice. Harry and Ron froze. This didn't sound like the sort of scene they ought to walk in on, somehow†¦.Harry looked around, back up the path, and saw Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies standing half-concealed in a rosebush nearby. He tapped Ron on the shoulder and jerked his head toward them, meaning that they could easily sneak off that way without being noticed (Fleur and Davies looked very busy to Harry), but Ron, eyes widening in horror at the sight of Fleur, shook his head vigorously, and pulled Harry deeper into the shadows behind the reindeer. â€Å"What did you know, ‘Agrid?† said Madame Maxime, a purr in her low voice. Harry definitely didn't want to listen to this; he knew Hagrid would hate to be overheard in a situation like this (he certainly would have) – if it had been possible he would have put his fingers in his ears and hummed loudly, but that wasn't really an option. Instead he tried to interest himself in a beetle crawling along the stone reindeer's back, but the beetle just wasn't interesting enough to block out Hagrid's next words. â€Å"I jus' knew†¦knew you were like me†¦.Was it yer mother or yer father?† â€Å"I – I don't know what you mean, ‘Agrid†¦.† â€Å"It was my mother,† said Hagrid quietly. â€Å"She was one o' the las' ones in Britain. ‘Course, I can' remember her too well†¦she left, see. When I was abou' three. She wasn' really the maternal sort. Well†¦it's not in their natures, is it? Dunno what happened to her†¦might be dead fer all I know†¦.† Madame Maxime didn't say anything. And Harry, in spite of himself, took his eyes off the beetle and looked over the top of the reindeer's antlers, listening†¦.He had never heard Hagrid talk about his childhood before. â€Å"Me dad was broken-hearted when she wen'. Tiny little bloke, my dad was. By the time I was six I could lift him up an' put him on top o' the dresser if he annoyed me. Used ter make him laugh†¦.†Hagrid's deep voice broke. Madame Maxime was listening, motionless, apparently staring at the silvery fountain. â€Å"Dad raised me†¦but he died, o' course, jus' after I started school. Sorta had ter make me own way after that. Dumbledore was a real help, mind. Very kind ter me, he was†¦.† Hagrid pulled out a large spotted silk handkerchief and blew his nose heavily. â€Å"So†¦anyway†¦enough abou' me. What about you? Which side you got it on?† But Madame Maxime had suddenly got to her feet. â€Å"It is chilly,† she said – but whatever the weather was doing, it was nowhere near as cold as her voice. â€Å"I think I will go in now.† â€Å"Eh?† said Hagrid blankly. â€Å"No, don go! I've – I've never met another one before!† â€Å"Anuzzer what, precisely?† said Madame Maxime, her tone icy. Harry could have told Hagrid it was best not to answer; he stood there in the shadows gritting his teeth, hoping against hope he wouldn't – but it was no good. â€Å"Another half-giant, o' course!† said Hagrid. â€Å"‘Ow dare you!† shrieked Madame Maxime. Her voice exploded through the peaceful night air like a foghorn; behind him. Harry heard Fleur and Roger fall out of their rosebush. â€Å"I ‘ave nevair been more insulted in my life! ‘Alf-giant? Moi? I ‘ave – I ‘ave big bones!† She stormed away; great multicolored swarms of fairies rose into the air as she passed, angrily pushing aside bushes. Hagrid was still sitting on the bench, staring after her. It was much too dark to make out his expression. Then, after about a minute, he stood up and strode away, not back to the castle, but off out into the dark grounds in the direction of his cabin. â€Å"C'mon,† Harry said, very quietly to Ron. â€Å"Let's go†¦.† But Ron didn't move. â€Å"What's up?† said Harry, looking at him. Ron looked around at Harry, his expression very serious indeed. â€Å"Did you know?† he whispered. â€Å"About Hagrid being half-giant?† â€Å"No,† Harry said, shrugging. â€Å"So what?† He knew immediately, from the look Ron was giving him, that he was once again revealing his ignorance of the wizarding world. Brought up by the Dursleys, there were many things that wizards took for granted that were revelations to Harry, but these surprises had become fewer with each successive year. Now, however, he could tell that most wizards would not have said â€Å"So what?† upon finding out that one of their friends had a giantess for a mother. â€Å"I'll explain inside,† said Ron quietly, â€Å"c'mon†¦.† Fleur and Roger Davies had disappeared, probably into a more private clump of bushes. Harry and Ron returned to the Great Hall. Parvati and Padma were now sitting at a distant table with a whole crowd of Beauxbatons boys, and Hermione was once more dancing with Krum. Harry and Ron sat down at a table far removed from the dance floor. â€Å"So?† Harry prompted Ron. â€Å"What's the problem with giants?† â€Å"Well, they're†¦they're†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Ron struggled for words. â€Å"†¦not very nice,† he finished lamely. â€Å"Who cares?† Harry said. â€Å"There's nothing wrong with Hagrid!† â€Å"I know there isn't, but†¦blimey, no wonder he keeps it quiet,† Ron said, shaking his head. â€Å"I always thought he'd got in the way of a bad Engorgement Charm when he was a kid or something. Didn't like to mention it†¦.† â€Å"But what's it matter if his mother was a giantess?† said Harry. â€Å"Well†¦no one who knows him will care, ‘cos they'll know he's not dangerous,† said Ron slowly. â€Å"But†¦Harry, they're just vicious, giants. It's like Hagrid said, it's in their natures, they're like trolls†¦they just like killing, everyone knows that. There aren't any left in Britain now, though.† â€Å"What happened to them?† â€Å"Well, they were dying out anyway, and then loads got themselves killed by Aurors. There're supposed to be giants abroad, though†¦.They hide out in mountains mostly†¦.† â€Å"I don't know who Maxime thinks she's kidding,† Harry said, watching Madame Maxime sitting alone at the judges' table, looking very somber. â€Å"If Hagrid's half-giant, she definitely is. Big bones†¦.the only thing that's got bigger bones than her is a dinosaur.† Harry and Ron spent the rest of the ball discussing giants in their corner, neither of them having any inclination to dance. Harry tried not to watch Cho and Cedric too much; it gave him a strong desire to kick something. When the Weird Sisters finished playing at midnight, everyone gave them a last, loud round of applause and started to wend their way into the entrance hall. Many people were expressing the wish that the ball could have gone on longer, but Harry was perfectly happy to be going to bed; as far as he was concerned, the evening hadn't been much fun. Out in the entrance hall, Harry and Ron saw Hermione saying good night to Krum before he went back to the Durmstrang ship. She gave Ron a very cold look and swept past him up the marble staircase without speaking. Harry and Ron followed her, but halfway up the staircase Harry heard someone calling him. â€Å"Hey-Harry!† It was Cedric Diggory. Harry could see Cho waiting for him in the entrance hall below. â€Å"Yeah?† said Harry coldly as Cedric ran up the stairs toward him. Cedric looked as though he didn't want to say whatever it was in front of Ron, who shrugged, looking bad-tempered, and continued to climb the stairs. â€Å"Listen†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Cedric lowered his voice as Ron disappeared. â€Å"I owe you one for telling me about the dragons. You know that golden egg? Does yours wail when you open it?† â€Å"Yeah,† said Harry. â€Å"Well†¦take a bath, okay?† â€Å"What?† â€Å"Take a bath, and – er – take the egg with you, and – er – just mull things over in the hot water. It'll help you think†¦.Trust me.† Harry stared at him. â€Å"Tell you what,† Cedric said, â€Å"use the prefects' bathroom. Fourth door to the left of that statue of Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor. Password's ‘pine fresh.' Gotta go†¦want to say good night -â€Å" He grinned at Harry again and hurried back down the stairs to Cho. Harry walked back to Gryffindor Tower alone. That had been extremely strange advice. Why would a bath help him to work out what the wailing egg meant? Was Cedric pulling his leg? Was he trying to make Harry look like a fool, so Cho would like him even more by comparison? The Fat Lady and her friend Vi were snoozing in the picture over the portrait hole. Harry had to yell â€Å"Fairy lights!† before he woke them up, and when he did, they were extremely irritated. He climbed into the common room and found Ron and Hermione having a blazing row. Standing ten feet apart, they were bellowing at each other, each scarlet in the face. â€Å"Well, if you don't like it, you know what the solution is, don't you?† yelled Hermione; her hair was coming down out of its elegant bun now, and her face was screwed up in anger. â€Å"Oh yeah?† Ron yelled back. â€Å"What's that?† â€Å"Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!† Ron mouthed soundlessly like a goldfish out of water as Hermione turned on her heel and stormed up the girls' staircase to bed. Ron turned to look at Harry. â€Å"Well,† he sputtered, looking thunderstruck, â€Å"well – that just proves – completely missed the point -â€Å" Harry didn't say anything. He liked being back on speaking terms with Ron too much to speak his mind right now – but he somehow thought that Hermione had gotten the point much better than Ron had.