• Board 2 April 08 - 8:18 pm

Again, these books rock the world of children's literature! But...

1) I'm a bit puzzled by Mr. Dursley’s rage at the beginning of this book. His intent is to lock up his nephew, iron bars on the window and all, and starve him into submission. Wouldn't he and his wife go to Muggle jail for child abuse if their plan were discovered?

2) Why does Hedwig bother the family so much over this summer? They had to put up with the bird for an entire month the previous summer, between Harry’s birthday and the day they shipped him off to school. I didn’t hear any complaints in book 1.

3) Hagrid explains that Gilderoy Lockheart was the only applicant for the Defense-Against-the-Dark-Arts post. What about Professor Snape, who was angling for the job both in books 1 and 3?

4) Due process of law seems strangely absent from the wizarding world. While we can assume that Hagrid was given a fair hearing 50 years ago when he was first accused, now all everyone needs to know is that _somebody_ has opened the Chamber, and whap bang Hagrid is immediately shipped off to Azkaban.

5) By the end of the term, everyone on the staff seems to know that Gilderoy Lockheart is a fraud. Why hasn't he been dismissed for incompetence?

6) I'm still mystified as to why Dumbledore has to advertise for a new D.A.D.A teacher. Severus Snape wanted the job, and you can’t deny that he’s very well qualified for it. Think about it. Severus Snape is the likeliest candidate for a Dark wizard on the Hogwarts faculty: he's a Slytherin, holds a grudge against Harry Potter, and is gernerally nepotistic, shifty, nasty, and vengeful. Yet Prof. Snape remains steadfastly anti-Voldemort, risking his life to save the Sorcerer's Stone. Defense Against the Dark Arts sounds like his specialty!

7) Tom Riddle's memories provide Harry with evidence that it is possible for ill-fated students to remain at the castle over the summer holidays. Given that Harry's last view of Privet Drive was being illegally rescued from an airless, supperless, iron-barred prison, why isn't he badgering Dumbledore to stay at school? Think of how much fun he'd have living with Hagrid for a summer!

Colin Creevey says that he didn't know that he was a wizard until the letter came from Hogwarts just before term started. His father is a milkman and therefore, I assume, a Muggle. Presumably his mother is also a Muggle, otherwise she would have told Colin of his heritage before the letter arrived. But Colin tells Harry that he wants to take a photo of him to send home to prove that he (Colin) has really met Harry. How would Colin's parents know who Harry Potter is or why he's famous?

I thought Colin Creevey's mother was a witch.

Any way let that be as it is...

Looks like Gilderoy Lockhart got the punishment
he finally deserved.After all he DID wipe out the
memories of those other wizards and witches that he used to puff up his own fame.:)

Aragog must be a homage to all those giant spiders in Tolkien.

Interesting that Voldemart used to be Head Boy at
Hogwarts.

The part about the Weasley farm sounded like it
could have been taken from one of the old Pa and
Ma Kettle movies.(That is the description of the farm.:))

How come no-one told Harry that he could have stayed at Hogwarts over the Summer holidays?

Finally:How could Nearless Headless Nick be turned to stone when he is after all a ghost?

Firing antinits. First Shira's:

1.If the possibility of going to jail was such a universal deterrant for child abuse, there would be no child abuse. Sadly, this is not the case. Child abusers generally manage to convince themselves that they won't get caught.
2. Rowling kind of skimmed over that part in Book 1, so maybe they were aggravated by Hedwig then as well.
3.Yeah, but who's going to be the Potions professor? Both are required courses for all students, like English and Math are in American Muggle schools. Snape would probably crack under the workload. Maybe Dumbledore also had an ad for a Potions professor but nobody applied because, I imagine, Potions is like calculus in that most students aren't wild about it and very few care for teaching it.
4.Mostly agree with this one, though it was probably due to the fact that Fudge is easily pressured.
6.See number 3.
7.Possibly something that happened during Riddle's stay at Hogwart's over the summer has something to do with why students aren't allowed to stay over the summer, no exceptions.
Scott: Nearly Headless Nick was not turned into stone, but petrified in some manner. Read the text and you'll find that McGonagall has one of the students fan him to the infirmary. Not something you can do with regular stone.

Re: Gordon's #7

True, but why hasn't Harry asked at least?

The word is that the reason for students not staying at Hogwart's during the summer will be explained in Book 5.

Maybe he figured that with the trouble he gets into, he thinks that asking to stay for the summer would be pushing it.

mmm... this was better than the first book, but I still don't see why tout le monde think its the best piece of literature since Shakespeare. Its nice, but so incredibly obvious.

Why don't they have the characters carry signs around saying "Good" and "Evil"... everyone is either, and very extreme. There doesn't seem to be anyone who's simply selfish or something.

So this magician, whatever his name is, preasures an entire council to suspend the principle. Then the principle gets premission to return in some ten seconds... what's wrong with this picture? the other councillors claim to have been threatened... what made the threats go away? and why isn't this guy( forgot his name again) prosecuted for it?

How come Harry and co. are the only ones who seem to be able to figure out why anything is going on? there are tons of students and teachers around there, some great magicians, and no one figures out anything?

what about those people from Sylthorn house? aren't there any decent chaps around? that evil kid brags about the stuff ALL the TIME.

I don't get why Dobi toled Harry Voldmart had nothing to do with it. He obviously had. LAter he says it was a hint - its a pretty dumb hint, if you ask me.

Finally, why don't thei shut down the Sylthorn house? Its seems to me like they're building a collection of the most evil kids and stick them all together... must be trouble!

anyone else thinks that it would have been more fun had Harry gone to Sylthern and not Greypouder?

Omer, I think you need to remember that this is essentially a book for children, which is probably why everything is so black and white. Children aren't going to understand subtle hints about who's evil and who's good - they need it made very clear to them. That's also why there are other very obvious and cliched situations, like all the bad guys (or potential bad guys) being in Slitherin.

Shira: yes, I was wondering also why Snape hasn't been switched from Potions to DADA. Surely there are more people wanting to teach (and able to teach) potions than Defense Against the Dark Arts. Besides, I like Prof. Snape.

Re: the evil kids in Slytherin--maybe putting the bad kids together is a good way to keep an eye on them. And Snape, who supervises Slytherin House, is good. Now if Lucius Malfoy was over Slytherin....

It *was* nice to see that someone from Griffyndor could be •••••• enough that Riddle could get her under his Dark influence. I don't think the black/white line is quite as fine as some people think. Although I've only read the 1st two books, so it's purely MHO.

It *was* nice to see that someone from Griffyndor could be •••••• enough that Riddle could get her under his Dark influence. I don't think the black/white line is quite as fine as some people think. Although I've only read the 1st two books, so it's purely MHO.

I think that Dumbledore refuses to give Snape Defence againsd Dark Arts as a way of keeping him out of temptation. Snape is more or less a good guy, but he does seem to have some definite nasty tendencies.

I think we can safely assume that back in the first millenium when Salazar Slytherin constructed the Chamber of Secrets, Hogwarts did not have indoor plumbing. Therefore we can also assume that the sink-pipe entrance to the Chamber was built by Tom Riddle in the 40's after he discovered the Chamber's location; the sink-entrance was a way of taking a very easy shortcut to the Chamber and giving the basilisk easy access to the plumbing so it could travel around the school undetected.

However... thanks to Moaning Myrtle, we know that the bathroom where the entrance was built was still in use in the 1940's, not deserted the way it is now! (People don't use the bathroom now because Myrtle creeps them out.) What on earth possessed Riddle to build a secret entrance to the Chamber in the Gryffindor main girls' bathroom?! And since he wasn't himself in Gryffindor, how did he get into the tower where MM's haunts are in teh first place?

IIRC, Moaning Myrtle's bathroom is a public girl's bathroom, and not in any house's dormitory.

Really? OK then, that makes it even dumber of Riddle to build a secret entrance in a public restroom!

Omer, are the names different in your edition? It's "Gryffindor" and "Slytherin", not "Greypouder" and "Sylthorn". Also, "Voldemort" and "Dobby". What are the other Hogwarts school houses called in your version?

At the end, when Dumbledore is talking to Harry, he says that Riddle/Voldemort/You-Know-Who is the last remaining ancestor of Salazar Slytherin.
He should have said that he was the last remaining heir of Slytherin. (Page 332).

Kira, the passageway to the Chamber of Secrets was probably built the same time as the Chamber, that is before plumbing was developed. Since only a Parseltongue can open it, I doubt that the people that added the bathroom detected it.

The passageway, yes. The _entrance_ to the passageway, no. (In other words, we agree.)

ScottN, I think Omer has the Hebrew translation. (Ah, what I wouldn't give to get my hands on that. Alas, they fly off the shelves of Rosenblum's World of Judaica so fast I can't catch one.) In Hebrew, you can't start a sylable with the letter "F," so "Gryffindor" would come out "Gryppendor."

Kira, that would be Padawan, not me.

Bad Kira. Back to "Reading For Comprehension 101."

Kira, I had to think this one over a bit because your response had seriously confused me (as well as others, I'd imagine). Of course the entrance was built the same time the passageway was. It's kind of ztupid to have a passageway that you can't enter. Also consider this line from page 312 of my hardcover copy of Chamber of Secrets: "It had taken me five whole years to find out everything I could about the Chamber of Secrets and discover the secret entrance". (Emphasis mine.) If there was some other way to enter it, I'm sure Riddle would have used it.

That's my point! There was a secret entrance built by Salazar Slytherin a thousand years ago. It was seriously made difficult to access with the addition of modern plumbing to Hogwarts. Tom Riddle discovered the old secert entrance, got himself all dirty and icky opening it up, and entered the chamber. Then Riddle modified a little bit of plumbing and enchanted the most convenient sink to make a NEW entrance to the old passageway, one that you could use to enter the Chamber without ruining your robes. This also had the advantage of providing a transit network for the Basilisk.

My main point is that Salazar Slytherin didn't build the sink, and you agree with it!

Those Nimbus 2001's must be really something. Harry is so upset about it that after Ron accidentally curses himself, Harry and Hermione take him to Hagrid's, and Harry has forgotten all about his Nimbus 2000, still out on the practice field.

NANJAO: Does Colin remind anyone else of that little dog in the Warner Brothers cartoons... you know, the one who hangs out with the bulldog?

I wonder if all those "pure-blood" advocates realize that Tom Riddle, aka Voldemort, is only a half-blood? Wouldn't he still be considered "tainted" by his father's blood?

Pretty darn foolish for Riddle's mother to keep her witch background from Riddle's father until after they were married. Of course, Samantha did the same thing....

Right there with you, D.K. I'm sure the author did it on purpose. What's more, Riddle is terribly eager to label Harry a "half-blood" like him, although both Harry's parents were wizards and therefore Harry is technically "purer" than he is!

I want to know whether or not the Sorting Hat sorts people who aren't pure-blooded into Slytherin. It's got to be really rough when your house-password is "pure-blood" and you have a Muggle paernt or two.

Obviously, it does -- after all, it put Riddle in there!

Was Riddle in Slytherin? I've been assuming he was, too, but now that I think about it, I can't think of anywhere in the books that says it. I know Hagrid says, "There's never been a witch or wizard that went bad who wasn't [in Slytherin]," but Hagrid's notoriously unreliable on the subject. And he probably didn't know that Riddle was Voldemort (Dumbledore said that very few people knew). If Riddle hadn't been in Slytherin, he probably wanted to keep that fact away from his Death Eaters, like the fact that he's half-blood.

I'm not saying that he wasn't in Slytherin, I just don't remember a reference in the books. Wouldn't it be interesting if he had been a Gryffindor?

Remember, he's considered the "Heir of Slytherin." And Harry certainly thought that he was from Slytherin. Harry was worried because Riddle commented that they were so much alike, added to the fact that the Sorting Hat suggested that Harry would be good in Slytherin. Dumbledore pointed out that because Harry conciously CHOSE not to be in Slytherin, that proved that he was not really like Riddle.

Was the orphanage that Riddle was put in a Muggle institution? Considering how miserable Riddle claimed he was when he was there, it would seem to be. How would a Muggle orphanage react to a letter saying that one of its wards was invited to attend a school for witchcraft and wizardry? And considering that Riddle's father refused to acknowledge him, who paid for the schooling? From his mother's estate? I got the impression that she was not well off, although there's nothing definite about it.

I really wish that Rowling would explain just how Muggle-born wizards and witches are informed about Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, Platform 9 3/4, etc. Petunia Dursley said that her parents were "so proud" the day Lily got her letter--"We've got a witch in the family!" Surely a more logical reaction would be "What lunatic asylum did this person write from?" There was nothing in Harry's letter telling him "You get your supplies in Diagon Alley. You go to the Leaky Cauldren on ____street in London, go through into the back, tap on a certain brick with the wand that you don't have yet...." You see how confusing it would be for those who didn't have a Hagrid along?

Did not Hagrid comment that "You-Know-Who" was in Slytherin? (when saying there isn't any bad wizard who did not go to Slytherin)

Just finished the book.

Whoa. It BLEW ME AWAY.

It was even better than Sorcerer’s Stone, not simply because everything was already established, but Chamber had more mystery, it was scarier, and J.K. Rowling’s ability to set up things for a later payoff without telegraphing it—Lucius Malfoy taking Ginny’s Transfiguration book at Flourish and Blotts, Ron’s broken wand, Moaning Myrtle, Hagrid’s dead chickens, Colin Creevey’s camera, the letters in the name "Tom Marvolo Riddle," hell, even stuff from a previous book (Harry speaking to the Brazilian snake in the beginning of Sorcerer’s Stone)!—ASTOUNDS me. My hats off to her. I couldn’t figure out who the Heir to Slytherin was. I didn’t think Rowling wanted to get rid of Draco or Snape. I considered it to be possibly Percy (figuring maybe the Heir didn’t really have to be a Slytherin), or perhaps Ernie.

JUST A FEW NITS ‘N NOTES:

When escaping from the Uncle Vernon’s clutches in the Weasley car, Harry calls to him, "See you next summer!" What? What, is this kid on crack? Putting aside the question of why he doesn’t call child welfare and report the Dursleys to them, Harry is rich. Why doesn’t he just go to Gringott’s, withdraw some money, and get his own place? Sure he’s a kid, but he could be emancipated. It certainly doesn’t seem the Magic World cares that much about the legal status of children. They never checked up on Harry during his ten years with the Dursleys to make sure they were raising him properly, or telling him about his past, they don’t bother verifying that the spell used by Dobby on the violet pudding was actually used by Harry, etc., they don’t seem to care that he’s abused, imprisoned and starved during the summer. So why doesn’t Harry just shack up somewhere in the Magic World? And why does Ron let him go home at the end of the year again? Why does he ask Harry if his aunt and uncle will be proud of him for what he did in the past year? Didn’t he clue in to what the Dursley’s were like when he discovered bars on Harry’s window, and Harry told him how they treated him?

The book indicates that students have to buy different sets of books each year, but when Harry and the Weasley boys get the scrolls with the buying lists, Fred looks at Harry’s list and notes (page 44) that Harry has to get all of Lockhart’s books "too." And at Flourish and Blott’s, Lockhart has the store give Harry a copy of each of his books, and Harry gives them to Ginny (page 61), even though Ginny is only a first year student.

Given the way the book indicates that the Weasleys don’t have a lot of money, I was kinda hoping that Harry would withdraw some gold coins from his vault and buy all the books and materials the Weasley’s needed, as a thank you to them for their kindness, but—nope. Even odder, when Harry encounters the somber nearly Headless Nick on page 124, Nick asks him if there’s anything he can do for him, and Harry says, "Not unless you know where we can get seven free Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones for our match against Sly—." It doesn’t occur to him to get them himself. Nor does he get Ron a new wand for Christmas, or for that matter, ANY presents for Hermione or Ron. Hey, Harry! Ya ever think to stick a few Galleons in a pouch, and send Hedwig to Diagon Alley with a note ordering them? What a stingy dork.

Just what percentage of Slytherin is as bigoted toward Muggles as Draco? I mean, the pasword to the Slytherin common room is pure blood, which to me makes it sound as if the entire house is anti-Muggle. And yet, we find out that Penelope Clearwater—the Slytherin prefect, mind you—was Muggle born!

On page 158, Ron mouths off to Percy, who takes points away from Gryffindor. Why is Percy taking points away from his own house? Won’t the Gryffindors blame him if they lose the House Cup? Can’t he punish Ron in other ways?

Again, I have to ask, why don’t the School Administrators have any interest is intervening when they see that one of their students is becoming (or already is) a demonic little s**t? I can accept that Draco is jealous of Harry, bigoted and such, but on two occasions, (the second, I believe, in Potions class), he voices aloud that he is sympathetic to the Heir of Slytherin and the Monster from the Chamber of Secrets, hopes that he kills the next victim, and openly states that he wished it killed Hermione. This kid is advocating murder. Why isn’t he expelled, especially after his dad is sacked as a governor? Why doesn’t someone report this kid?

More of a nit with Mary GrandPre’s cover illustration for the U.S. edition than the story: The story indicates that the sword Harry uses is encrusted with rubies the size of eggs, and indeed GrandPre’s illustration of Dumbeldore holding it at the beginning of of Chapter 18 (Dobby’s Reward) shows it as such, but on the cover, it’s just an ordinary sword. Also, the hilt is a rounded one, as on a fencing saber, but in the Chapter illustration, it’s a thin one that lies abreast of the blade, and curves down. As for Fawkes, the story says his tail and talons are gold, but on the cover, they’re as red as the rest of him. Also, upon Harry’s return to McGonagle’s office with Ginny, Fawkes flies onto Dumbeldore’s shoulder. The illustration of Dumbeldore shows him holding his sword, which Harry hands to him after Fawkes goes to his shoulder, yet Fawkes isn’t on his shoulder in the illustration. Lastly, why does she depict Harry wearing jeans, sneakers and a red cape on the first two covers? Why not his black wizard robe?

After Harry returns Ginny to the Weasleys in McGonagle’s office and explains what happened, Dumbeldore says what interests him the most is that his sources tell him Voldemort is hiding in the forests of Albania. But wasn’t Voldemort’s corporeal form destroyed at the end of Sorcerer’s Stone? What part of him remains to hide in Albania?

Shira Karp: By the end of the term, everyone on the staff seems to know that Gilderoy Lockheart is a fraud. Why hasn't he been dismissed for incompetence?
Luigi Novi: Won’t he be? Dumbeldore said he had to get his memory back, and that they have to get a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

Scott McClenny: Finally:How could Nearless Headless Nick be turned to stone when he is after all a ghost?
Luigi Novi: The funny thing is, it book jacket uses the word "stone," but I don’t think the story itself ever did. It simply said "petrified," a more generic word meaning that the Basilisk could freeze anyone or anything in position.

Omer: I don't get why Dobby told Harry Voldemort had nothing to do with it. He obviously had. Later he says it was a hint - its a pretty dumb hint, if you ask me.
Luigi Novi: Maybe it was. Dobby’s rationalization was that it was Tom Riddle, before he became Voldemort. But then again, Dobby was only slightly less annoying than Draco. I’ll bet anyone here that "Dobby" is the Magic World translation for "Jar-Jar."

ScottN; At the end, when Dumbledore is talking to Harry, he says that Riddle/Voldemort/You-Know-Who is the last remaining ancestor of Salazar Slytherin. He should have said that he was the last remaining heir of Slytherin. (Page 332).
Luigi Novi: I noticed that too, but if Rowling wanted to indicate that Voldemort was related to Salazar Slytherin, she should’ve said descendant, not "ancestor" or "heir."

Kira Sharp: In Hebrew, you can't start a sylable with the letter "F," so "Gryffindor" would come out "Gryppendor."
Luigi Novi: When a double consonant appears in a word in English, I believe they are split in syllabification so that the first is the last letter of one syllable, and the second is the first letter of the next one. I could be wrong, though.

Kira Sharp: Then Riddle modified a little bit of plumbing and enchanted the most convenient sink to make a NEW entrance to the old passageway, one that you could use to enter the Chamber without ruining your robes.
Luigi Novi: But didn’t Harry, Ron and Ginny’ and Lockhart’s robes get covered with slime anyway?

Kira Sharp: Does Colin remind anyone else of that little dog in the Warner Brothers cartoons... you know, the one who hangs out with the bulldog?
Luigi Novi: Oh yeah!

Spike: Hey, Chester, you wanna go see Hagrid, Chester, huh, Chester, huh, huh, huh?
Chester: WHAP!! Nah.
Spike, getting up: Oh. Okay, Chester, okay, of course you don’t wanna see Hagrid, Chester, hey Chester, can I take your picture Chester, can I, can I, huh, huh, huh?
Chester: WHAP!! Nuh.
Spike, getting up again: Oh. Hmph, course not, Chester, you don’t wanna have your picture taken, Chester, course not—hey Chester, you wanna play some Quidditch, Chester? Huh, Chester? A game of Quidditch, maybe, Chester? (covers his face with his arms)…
Chester, his face brightening: Quidditch! Yeah, let’s play some Quidditch!

Kira Sharp: I want to know whether or not the Sorting Hat sorts people who aren't pure-blooded into Slytherin. It's got to be really rough when your house-password is "pure-blood" and you have a Muggle paernt or two.
Luigi Novi: How about the Slytherin Prefect, Penelope Clearwater? She was Muggle-born.

Ray: Was Riddle in Slytherin? I've been assuming he was, too, but now that I think about it, I can't think of anywhere in the books that says it.
Luigi Novi: page 80 of Sorcerer’s Stone, right as Harry walks out of Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occassions to get fitted for his robes, where he meets Draco for the first time. Hagrid tells him.

Ray: I know Hagrid says, "There's never been a witch or wizard that went bad who wasn't [in Slytherin]," but Hagrid's notoriously unreliable on the subject.
Luigi Novi: His exact words are "There’s not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn’t in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."

Ray: And he probably didn't know that Riddle was Voldemort (Dumbledore said that very few people knew).
Luigi Novi: Well, Hagrid could be one of the few. He went to school with Tom Riddle, confronted him, and knows Voldemort was a Slytherin, so it’s possible he knows.

D.K. Henderson: Was the orphanage that Riddle was put in a Muggle institution?
Luigi Novi: Yes. The book said so. It was one of the parallels Riddle noted between himself and Harry: that they were both orphaned and raised by Muggles.

D.K. Henderson: I really wish that Rowling would explain just how Muggle-born wizards and witches are informed about Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, Platform 9 3/4, etc. Petunia Dursley said that her parents were "so proud" the day Lily got her letter--"We've got a witch in the family!" Surely a more logical reaction would be "What lunatic asylum did this person write from?"
Luigi Novi: ROTFLMAO!!

D.K. Henderson: There was nothing in Harry's letter telling him "You get your supplies in Diagon Alley. You go to the Leaky Cauldren on ____street in London, go through into the back, tap on a certain brick with the wand that you don't have yet...." You see how confusing it would be for those who didn't have a Hagrid along?
Luigi Novi: Perhaps those people are assigned someone like Hagrid to help them for that reason.

Well, time to get started on Prisoner of Azkaban….

The book indicates that students have to buy different sets of books each year, but when Harry and the Weasley boys get the scrolls with the buying lists, Fred looks at Harry’s list and notes (page 44) that Harry has to get all of Lockhart’s books "too." And at Flourish and Blott’s, Lockhart has the store give Harry a copy of each of his books, and Harry gives them to Ginny (page 61), even though Ginny is only a first year student.

This one is not a nit. Lockhard is such an incredible egotist that all of his DADA classes are using all of his books.

Kira Sharp: Does Colin remind anyone else of that little dog in the Warner Brothers cartoons... you know, the one who hangs out with the bulldog?
Luigi Novi: Oh yeah!

That was me. See November 21, 2001 - 01:29 am.

Luigi: Penelope Clearwater was a Ravenclaw prefect, not a Slytherin prefect.

Given the way the book indicates that the Weasleys don't have a lot of money, I was kinda hoping that Harry would withdraw some gold coins from his vault and buy all the books and materials the Weasley's needed, as a thank you to them for their kindness, but nope.

Bingo! You took the words right out of my mouth, Luigi. Although Harry does suffer some twitches of conscience re: his wealth and the Weasleys (if not in this book, then in the next couple), the fact that he apparently doesn't consider even this most basic of ways to be generous seems out of character for the nice, thoughtful kid we met earlier.
The only (partial) defense I can come up with is that famous British 'stiff upper lip', ie. making the best out of whatever life hands you without stooping to charity. In that context, the Weasleys might actually be made uncomfortable and embarrassed by any gifts of Harry's.

When escaping from the Uncle Vernon?s clutches in the Weasley car, Harry calls to him, "See you next summer!" What? What, is this kid on crack?

LOL...but then again, he's still very much a young boy (again, thirteen is considered younger in the British tradition than the American, I think) and large sections of the magic world are still unknown - and a little scary - to him. The Privet Drive address, on the other hand, is the only home he's known his entire life.
That said, the evolution of the Harry/Dursleys relationship in the next couple of books should be more satisfying to you, Luigi.

Sorry, Scott. Thanks, Spectre and Kerrie.

Another thing about Mary GrandPre's cover for the U.S. book: She depicts Fawkes pulling Harry, Ron and Ginny out of the Chamber, but not Lockhart.

I've always had the impression that Harry would love to be able to do something financially for the Weasleys, but doesn't want to embarrass them. The quickest way to destroy their friendship would be for Ron and his family to feel beholden to Harry.
Wait till the end of Goblet of Fire....

Ah, yes, DK, I'd forgotten about that. Thanks.

And you make a good point about the Weasleys feeling beholden to Harry. (Although...would that apply so much to legitimate presents, or reciprocation for kindness, as Luigi suggests above?)
I guess Rowling just goes to such great lengths to demonstrate Ron's poverty in Chamber of Secrets that the North American reader just gets carried away with sympathy for this very likeable clan.

Another thing to consider is that Harry has to make his bank cash last through his time at school. Who knows what the rate of inflation will be for schoolbooks. He can't go about blowing it on a set of top-of-the-line brooms.

Gordon, the kid is rich. I don't think Christmas presents and Quidditch brooms will wipe the kid out.

And yes, I wasn't suggesting that Harry bankroll the Weasleys, just make some gesture like buying the books that year as a gift, even if only for Ron, so as to make the gift more modest.

What I meant was, Luigi, why isn't Lockheart dismissed before the end of the term?

Also, Voldemort is incorporeal by definition, at least until... you'll see.

Well, I think some people know he's a fraud, but not all, at least not until Harry tells them at the end about his taking credit for other's work, and his memory charms.

And Kira, please don't spoil the future books for me. I'm not even reading the blurbs on the book jackets at this point. I've already read spoilers on both the Sorcerer's Stone board and this one, and I didn't want to.

Kira --

They wouldn't have anyone to teach DADA if Lockhart was dismissed (he was the only one who applied to the job)[note here that it is only the children we ever hear saying that Snape wants the job, we never get the impression from him that he wants it]

Another thing--Harry gets a note from the Ministry of Magic immediately after Dobby uses a spell in the beginning of the story, warning him to use no further spells outside of school, because underage wizards aren't supposed to do so.

But Sorcerer's Stone mentions how unusual things happened to Harry throughout his childhood. His hair would grow back after being shaved, he'd be chased by Dudley and his pals, and then suddenly find himself on the roof, and of course, he makes the glass partition on the Brazilian snake's cage disappear at the zoo. These all sound like pretty sophisticated spells.

First, how could he do all these things by accident, without any training? These kids have to take classes for Transfiguration and such, and Harry and Ron don't do so well at first, but teleportation is so simple that you can do it without even knowing how?

Second, if doing magic in front of Muggles is so prohibited for underage wizards, and the Ministry apparently can sense such magic with crystal-ball pinpoint accuracy and speed, why didn't anyone ever intervene during Harry's childhood when he made these things happen?

Actually, in Philosopher's Stone, Hagrid seems to consider these episodes a very natural part of Harry's growing up - even prods him to remember them as something that happened automatically when he was mad or upset. (I'm thinking this is probably the way Muggle-born wizards in general are identified.)

Harry's blowups are fairly sophisticated, yeah, but not really all that complex as spells go. Maybe very young wizards-to-be just sorta manifest their power, without realizing it? As Monica Hughes described nascent telekinesis in The Dream Catcher: 'misdirected...like a baby's muscles, all over the place.' (Kinda like Carrie, only maybe not as spectacular.)

The Ministry couldn't very well punish them for something they had no control over. But later, once they'd achieved control - begun to understand exactly what they were, and more importantly realize the possibilities - the strictures against dabbling in spells on their own would make much more sense.

Petunia Dursley seemed to imply in HP&tSS that her sister Lily would come back from Hogwarts with "pockets full of frog spawn" and performing magic. I was wondering--did the rule about no magic during summer holidays come up after Lily had graduated, or is Petunia having a false memory of what her sister did during the summers?

I noticed that too. I figure the rule was in place; Petunia's memory is just a combination of Lily actually bringing her magic apparatus home to show off (not to use) and Petunia later adding from imaginiation - she's supposed to be near-hysterical as she's relating the story, remember - what she figured Lily would be doing with it.

The snake is said to be a Basilisk. While there is a myth that Basilisks can hypnotize prey with a single stare, Basilisks are not snakes. They're lizards.

But who says that the legends are completely accurate?

Basilisks aren't mythical. They're real.

You're joking, right? Or are you referring to the Potterverse?

Ah, never mind. You're referring to the iguana-like creatures, not the ones that petrify people.

Just to add my bit (-=

"The basilisk is . . . the king of serpents--so much so, that people who see it run for their lives, because it can kill them merely by its smell. Even if it looks at a man, it destroys him"

From T. H. White's translation of a 12th century Latin bestiary.

Basilisks are also said to be born of rooster's eggs that have been hatched by toads.

Scott, my point was that if you're using a real-life animal in a story, even if it's a fantasy story, why make it the wrong animal? The Basilisk is a lizard that can supposedly hypnotize its prey with a stare. Why use a snake in a story and call it a Basilisk.

On the other hand, Jessica has shed light on this, as it appears that there is a mythical version of the animals that is a serpent.

The mythical basilisk is a snake/chicken. There is a real animal, a lizard, known as a basilisk, but I have never heard of a mythical lizard-like basilisk.

http://www.tyshadragon.co.uk/html/basilisk.html

You're not going to believe this...but I have confirmation for the snake/chicken thing (and, incidentally, proof that omnivorous reading does eventually come in handy) from a wonderful quote-book I have called They Got It Wrong!.

At one point it mentions the following entries from a medieval bestiary:

"Basilisk: A Serpent call'd a Cockatrice (or, presumably, chicken.)

Cockatrice: A Serpent call'd a Basilisk."

In Sorcerer’s Stone, Ollivander tells Harry that you’ll never get results using someone else’s wand. So why does Lockhart even try using Ron’s wand to use the memory charm? Now I figured that there is a skill for using another person’s wand, otherwise, Ollivander himself wouldn’t be able to test everyone’s wand as he does in Goblet of Fire. But is it really likely that Lockhart has devoted himself to studying this skill, given what a fraud he is?

Luigi, The exact quote is "'And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand.'" (pg 84) So, magically inclined people can use other wizard's wands, it just does not work as well as his or her own wand would.

Thanks, Harry. I stand corrected.

SPOILER WARNING!
Incidentally, I just finished Chapter 20 of Goblet of Fire. I'm glad you and Ron are talking to one another again. But Hermione was right. Sometimes you two can really stupid.

47 alert! At one point, Harry and Ron are grumbling about a report they have to do for a class. The report is to be three feet long. Ron gripes that he's eight inches short, and Hermione already has four feet, seven inches, even though her handwriting's tiny.

Shira,

Wouldn't he and his wife go to Muggle jail for child abuse if their plan were discovered?

Sadly enough, child abuse as ruled by courts or juvenile offical bureaus, is not defined very strictly and easily disproven. I don't know much about british laws, except that beating in school was okay for a longer time than in germany. So how will harrys room arrest, which is how uncle vernon would explain, be considered child abuse? When Uncle vernon tells of how harry ruined an important business meeting, but he didn't lay a hand on him, the dursleys will be considered quite restrained. The bars on the windows can be for protection or a last resort for a rebellious juvenile almost-delinquent (which is how harry would appear). They wouldn't really starve him to death, and everything else can't be proven. The authorities didn't intervene when harry was living in a cupboard under the stairs, so why should he expect help from them now?

Lamenting that Uncle Vernon locked all his things in the cupboard, it says, "What did the Dursleys care if Harry lost his place on the House Quidditch team because he hadn’t practiced all summer? What was it to the Dursleys if Harry went back to school without any of his homework done?" The first years were given homework for the summer? I don’t recall this at the end of the first book. But even if it happened off-scene, why is Ron so shocked on Page 45 (Chapter 4) when Hermione mentions schoolwork in her letter to him? It says, "I’m very busy with schoolwork, of course’—How can she be?" said Ron in horror. "We’re on vacation!"

Obviously, Uncle Vernon isn’t the sharpest drill in the factory. After receiving the letter of reprimand for Dobby’s stunt with the pudding, Vernon tells Harry he will lock him up, that he’s never going back to that school, and that if Harry magics his way out of there, he’ll be expelled. Vernon should know from what happened last year that he’d get a flood of letters inquiring into Harry’s absence, and that eventually Hagrid or someone else would come for Harry. Harry also is a bit irrational in this fear, not thinking that he can make a break for it during a bathroom break, or that he might be able to teleport himself, as he did inadvertantly before finding out he was a wizard.

The clock in the Weasley kitchen has one hand with no numbers, but things like "Time to make tea," "Time to feed the chickens," and "You’re late." What, no one in the Magic World uses numbered hours? Or is this clock just a decoration?

In Chapter 4, getting reading to go to Diagon Alley, Harry feels a bit guilty that the Weasleys are so poor and he has all that money in his Gringott’s vault. The last paragraph on page 46 reads, "Of course, it was only in the wizarding world that he had money; you couldn’t use Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts in Muggle shops. Well, maybe not, but you could exchange them at banks for gold and silver, couldn’t you? Maybe the Knuts weren’t worth much, but gold is gold, regardless of whatever mark of currency is embossed on them. Indeed the very next sentenced confirms this: "He had never mentioned his Gringotts bank account to the Dursleys; he didn’t think their horror of anything connected with magic would stretch to a large pile of gold."

During the confrontation at Flourish and Blotts, Lucius Malfoy grabs Ginny’s second-hand book out of her cauldron, which is said to be very battered. This is one of the things meant to underscore how poor the Weasleys are, but just as the transporters, replicators, and stasis chambers in Star Trek make certain plot points difficult to buy, so too do all the different spells in the magic world make a tattered book a difficult premise to accept. Someone could just use the Reparo spell to restore battered books, or for that matter, battered anything.

Professor Sprout emphasizes the importance of making sure the students’ earmuffs cover their ears entirely and are securely in place. (In the movie, she even says to make sure that they’re tight.) But earmuffs aren’t tight. They’re made for warmth, not sound protection, and can be easily dislodged. Earplugs would’ve been better.

Just out of curiosity, how long are middle school classes in the U.K.? (Can we assume Hogwarts class are that length?) I ask, because in Chapter Six, the Gryffindors start the day with double Herbology, then Transfiguration, and then Defense Against the Dark Arts. I’m assuming that the classes occur weekly rather than daily, like in college. (Is that also how it is in the U.K.?) My college classes were three hours long, and certain ones like Freshman Year Drawing or Painting were six. If the students have double Herbology, then Transfiguration, and then DADA, just how many hours is this?

I know people have mentioned the oddity of not having extra members of Quidditch teams before, but here’s another question about that that I’m not sure anyone else mentioned: How do they practice? Given how enthusiastic Wood is about practicing, you’d think he of all people would realize the need for a more well-rounded team. Sure, there are things the seven can do alone. The chasers could throw the Quaffle at the Keeper, and the Seeker can practice alone, I guess, but while the beaters can keep the bludger’s away from the players, there’s no opposition to throw them at them, nor compete with the Seeker for the Snitch, thus severely limiting the realism of the practice.

In Chapter 7, the last paragraph on page 107 reads, "The rest of the Gryffindor team were already in the changing room. Wood was the only person who looked truly awake. Fred and George Weasley were sitting, puffy-eyed and tousle-haired, next to a fourth year Alicia Spinnet, who seemed to be nodding off. Is there only one changing room? Is it a co-ed changing room?

Nearly Headless Nick’s deathday cake establishes that he died in 1492. That would mean this story is set in 1992, and the first book in 1991. But that story came out (in the U.S., at least) in 1997. Why did Rowling set it back then?

Heading from Nick’s party to the Halloween feast, Ron says the pudding might not be finished yet. Don’t the plates in the Great Hall magically refill when dwindled, just as the plate of sandwiches McGonagall made for Harry and Ron when confined to Snape’s office for arriving at the school by car?

How did Mrs. Norris get her tail wrapped around the torch if she was petrified?

Interesting that in the magic world, the back of a camera can be opened to remove film, exposing the film to normal light, without ruining the images, as Dumbeldore attempts to do with Colin Creevey’s film after he is petrified.

How in the world could Harry lob a firecracker into the air and into Goyle’s cauldron, with NO ONE in the room noticing?

Preparing to use the Polyjuice Potion, Harry and Ron take Crabbe and Goyle’s shoes, and Hermione procured large robes out of the laundry. But what about the rest of Harry and Ron’s clothes? Won’t turning into Crabbe and Goyle cause them to rip too? And why doesn’t Harry take off his shoes and clothes before drinking the potion? He allows his robes to rip and shoes to tighten, rather than take them off.

In the bathroom, when Harry points out that the three of them won’t fit in one stall as they change into Crabbe, Goyle and Millicent, Ron agrees, and says they’ll use separate stalls. What do they need stalls for? They’re just drinking the potion. There’s not a big need for an entrance in a non-visual medium like the novel, and in the movie, they have Ron and Hermione dash off to the stalls because the potion makes them sick.

After drinking the potion, Harry and Ron’s vocal chords seem to mutate along with the rest of them, so that they sound just like Crabbe and Goyle, but Hermione turns into a cat, and retains vocal ability, albeit with a higher voice.

After Malfoy reveals to the transfigured Harry and Ron that his family has loads of Dark Arts contraband in a secret chamber under the Drawing Room Floor, Ron tells Harry he’ll write to his father the next day and tell him, but nothing later indicates that the Ministry went back to the Malfoy manor and made this discovery.

After Riddle reveals to Harry that he’s Voldemort, Riddle says on page 317, "There are strange likenesses between us, after all. Even you must have noticed. Both half-bloods, orphans, raised by Muggles." Harry isn’t a half-blood. Both of his parents were wizards.

Interesting that the Basilisk, which has the ability to speak, does so when on the attack, so that Harry can conveniently discover that something’s on the loose, but in the Chamber of Secrets, the Basilisk doesn’t say a word.

Also, it never occurs to Harry to try control the Basilisk himself by simply talking to it. Although only the Heir to Slytherin is said to be able to control it, and that isn’t Harry, Harry does have some of Voldeomort’s abilities, like speaking Parseltongue, and since Voldemort is the Heir, it might’ve been worth a try. (In the movie, they actually have Tom Riddle say that Harry won’t be able to control it.)

Nick’s Deathday Party establishes that ghosts can’t eat, as food passes right through them. So how could the mandrake potion work on him?

One thing I forgot to mention: In Chapter 17, when Harry realizes why none of the victims looked directly at the Basilisk, he notes to Ron how each one looked at it indirectly. Noting Hermione and Penelope Clearwater's encounter with it, he says,

"...and Hermione and that Ravenclaw prefect were found with a mirror next to them. Hermione had just realized the monster was a basilisk. I bet you anything she wanted the first person she met to look around corners with a mirro first! And that girl pulled out her mirror--and--"

I'm a bit confused. If there was only one mirror, were both Hermione and Penelope using it? Were they both staring right into it as the Basilisk approached from around the corner?

Notes and Anti-Nits

"The clock in the Weasley kitchen has one hand with no numbers, but things like "Time to make tea," "Time to feed the chickens," and "You’re late." What, no one in the Magic World uses numbered hours? Or is this clock just a decoration?"

I think, this is some sort of decorations, because Mages *do* use numbered hours. Just look at Herminoes Timetable in #3 ;-)

It is said, that the Polyjuice Potion should not be used for transfigurations into animals. Herminoes voice is just one of the strange side-effects from this "potion abuse".

And why doesn’t Harry take off his shoes and clothes before drinking the potion? He allows his robes to rip and shoes to tighten, rather than take them off.
In the excitement and tension, he forgot?

Harry isn’t a half-blood. Both of his parents were wizards.
Yeah, but his mom was a "mudblood" -- both parents were Muggles.

Someone could just use the Reparo spell to restore battered books, or for that matter, battered anything.Luigi Novi

Yes, but there's a question as to how effective the spell is, or if there comes a point when the spell no longer works on an object.

My college classes were three hours long, and certain ones like Freshman Year Drawing or Painting were six.Luigi Novi

Wow, am I glad I don't go to your school! My classes tend to run mostly in the fifty minutes to an hour-fifteen range. Ah, liberal arts. Anyway, I've always gotten the vibe that classes at Hogwarts are an hour long- I can't really back that up with solid evidence, though.

Is there only one changing room? Is it a co-ed changing room?L.N.

It appears that way- I don't remember anything contradicting it.

That would mean this story is set in 1992, and the first book in 1991. But that story came out (in the U.S., at least) in 1997. Why did Rowling set it back then?L.N.

Perhaps that's when Rowling was writing the novels originally.

How did Mrs. Norris get her tail wrapped around the torch if she was petrified?L.N.

If she had her tail wrapped around said torch when she was petrified, I don't see how this is a problem.

How in the world could Harry lob a firecracker into the air and into Goyle’s cauldron, with NO ONE in the room noticing?L.N.

I dunno, if everyone's got their heads bent down, then maybe, and it might be that maybe some people around Harry were Gryffindors (sp?) and thus they might have noticed his movement, but it wouldn't get their dander up to see Harry pulling such a stunt on Crabbe and Goyle.

Nick’s Deathday Party establishes that ghosts can’t eat, as food passes right through them. So how could the mandrake potion work on him?L.N.

Um... by rubbing it on him? I dunno...

In the movie, she even says to make sure that they’re tight.L.N.

Hey! Hey! No movie spoliers in here!

Luigi,

some possible explanations and anti-nits:

Lamenting that Uncle Vernon locked all his things in the cupboard, it says, "What did the Dursleys care if Harry lost his place on the House Quidditch team because he hadn’t practiced all summer? What was it to the Dursleys if Harry went back to school without any of his homework done?" The first years were given homework for the summer? I don’t recall this at the end of the first book. But even if it happened off-scene, why is Ron so shocked on Page 45 (Chapter 4) when Hermione mentions schoolwork in her letter to him? It says, "I’m very busy with schoolwork, of course’—How can she be?" said Ron in horror. "We’re on vacation!"

I don't know if its mentioned in this book or the next that harry got an esp. long homework from snape who just love to punish him if he didn't do it. The homework was probably given in class, as sth. normal, and wasn't mentioned. Hermione, on the other hand, is doing more than the given homework - extra reading and so on - which shocks ron. Also, probably Ron is putting off his homework till the last possible moment to enjoy his holidays.

Obviously, Uncle Vernon isn’t the sharpest drill in the factory. After receiving the letter of reprimand for Dobby’s stunt with the pudding, Vernon tells Harry he will lock him up, that he’s never going back to that school, and that if Harry magics his way out of there, he’ll be expelled. Vernon should know from what happened last year that he’d get a flood of letters inquiring into Harry’s absence, and that eventually Hagrid or someone else would come for Harry. Harry also is a bit irrational in this fear, not thinking that he can make a break for it during a bathroom break, or that he might be able to teleport himself, as he did inadvertantly before finding out he was a wizard.

Well, Harry is only a 12 year old, so you can't expect him to think logical in face of that fear. Harry thinks he is in the dilemma, because if he uses magic to escape, he will be outlawed in the wizarding world, leaving him stranded between everything. Once Uncle Vernon realizes Harry is forbidden to use magic, he doesn't think anybody will inquire after harry.

In Chapter 4, getting reading to go to Diagon Alley, Harry feels a bit guilty that the Weasleys are so poor and he has all that money in his Gringott’s vault. The last paragraph on page 46 reads, "Of course, it was only in the wizarding world that he had money; you couldn’t use Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts in Muggle shops. Well, maybe not, but you could exchange them at banks for gold and silver, couldn’t you? Maybe the Knuts weren’t worth much, but gold is gold, regardless of whatever mark of currency is embossed on them. Indeed the very next sentenced confirms this: "He had never mentioned his Gringotts bank account to the Dursleys; he didn’t think their horror of anything connected with magic would stretch to a large pile of gold."

The key word is that harry can't use the wizard money in shops! and he doesn't think that a 12year old can go to a bank with money with strange inscriptions on them without getting asked many questions and into trouble. Uncle vernon would have no problem taking the money away, as he is an adult.

During the confrontation at Flourish and Blotts, Lucius Malfoy grabs Ginny’s second-hand book out of her cauldron, which is said to be very battered. This is one of the things meant to underscore how poor the Weasleys are, but just as the transporters, replicators, and stasis chambers in Star Trek make certain plot points difficult to buy, so too do all the different spells in the magic world make a tattered book a difficult premise to accept. Someone could just use the Reparo spell to restore battered books, or for that matter, battered anything.

what spells wizards use and which not doesn't seem to follow any logical rules.

Professor Sprout emphasizes the importance of making sure the students’ earmuffs cover their ears entirely and are securely in place. (In the movie, she even says to make sure that they’re tight.) But earmuffs aren’t tight. They’re made for warmth, not sound protection, and can be easily dislodged. Earplugs would’ve been better.

I thought we discussed this already, but probably they are magic earmuffs. Earplugs are too "modern" for the wizarding world - they still use feathers instead of pens and parchment instead of paper, so they are backwards.

Just out of curiosity, how long are middle school classes in the U.K.? (Can we assume Hogwarts class are that length?) I ask, because in Chapter Six, the Gryffindors start the day with double Herbology, then Transfiguration, and then Defense Against the Dark Arts. I’m assuming that the classes occur weekly rather than daily, like in college. (Is that also how it is in the U.K.?) My college classes were three hours long, and certain ones like Freshman Year Drawing or Painting were six. If the students have double Herbology, then Transfiguration, and then DADA, just how many hours is this?

I'd guess 45 mins. This is not college but normal middle school.

In Chapter 7, the last paragraph on page 107 reads, "The rest of the Gryffindor team were already in the changing room. Wood was the only person who looked truly awake. Fred and George Weasley were sitting, puffy-eyed and tousle-haired, next to a fourth year Alicia Spinnet, who seemed to be nodding off. Is there only one changing room? Is it a co-ed changing room?

I don't think you have to undress to put your robes on - you probably wear t-shirts and shorts or sth. like underneath. In HP1, they change into school robes on the train, just by pulling their muggle jackets off and robes on.

Nearly Headless Nick’s deathday cake establishes that he died in 1492. That would mean this story is set in 1992, and the first book in 1991. But that story came out (in the U.S., at least) in 1997. Why did Rowling set it back then?

Why should she set it at the current date? It can take place whenever she likes! In fact, this is the only time reference at all in the four books sofar - they could take place anywhere in the 80s or 90s.

Heading from Nick’s party to the Halloween feast, Ron says the pudding might not be finished yet. Don’t the plates in the Great Hall magically refill when dwindled, just as the plate of sandwiches McGonagall made for Harry and Ron when confined to Snape’s office for arriving at the school by car?

Probably once the feast is declared finished, the puddings vanish again. Ron might just be making a normal remark.

How in the world could Harry lob a firecracker into the air and into Goyle’s cauldron, with NO ONE in the room noticing?

How would people see it, when everybody is busy with his own cauldron? I don't think that everybody is staring around in snape's class!

In the bathroom, when Harry points out that the three of them won’t fit in one stall as they change into Crabbe, Goyle and Millicent, Ron agrees, and says they’ll use separate stalls. What do they need stalls for? They’re just drinking the potion. There’s not a big need for an entrance in a non-visual medium like the novel, and in the movie, they have Ron and Hermione dash off to the stalls because the potion makes them sick.

They are afraid that somebody might come in and see them use a forbidden potion.

After Malfoy reveals to the transfigured Harry and Ron that his family has loads of Dark Arts contraband in a secret chamber under the Drawing Room Floor, Ron tells Harry he’ll write to his father the next day and tell him, but nothing later indicates that the Ministry went back to the Malfoy manor and made this discovery.

Good point, I overlooked it. It may be that arthur weasley encountered too much pressure from his superiors after a fruitless first search, though. (the minister thinks highly of lucius malfoy, after all.)

Interesting that the Basilisk, which has the ability to speak, does so when on the attack, so that Harry can conveniently discover that something’s on the loose, but in the Chamber of Secrets, the Basilisk doesn’t say a word.

Might be the difference between the basilisk being controlled indirectly by ginny and directly by Tom Riddle.

Also, it never occurs to Harry to try control the Basilisk himself by simply talking to it. Although only the Heir to Slytherin is said to be able to control it, and that isn’t Harry, Harry does have some of Voldeomort’s abilities, like speaking Parseltongue, and since Voldemort is the Heir, it might’ve been worth a try. (In the movie, they actually have Tom Riddle say that Harry won’t be able to control it.)

Give harry a break - he is scared of looking at the thing!

Nick’s Deathday Party establishes that ghosts can’t eat, as food passes right through them. So how could the mandrake potion work on him?

That's why a witch or wizard administers it - she knows how to do it by using magic.

LN>Someone could just use the Reparo spell to restore battered books, or for that matter, battered anything.

S47>Yes, but there's a question as to how effective the spell is, or if there comes a point when the spell no longer works on an object.

Also, books may have some magical component to them (see the picture of Lockhart on the cover of Magical Me), and Reparo may not work on magical items.

ScottN: Yeah, but his mom was a "mudblood" -- both parents were Muggles.
Luigi Novi: His mom was Muggle-born. She was a witch when she gave birth to Harry. Hence, Harry has wizard blood from both sides.

Sparrow47: Yes, but there's a question as to how effective the spell is, or if there comes a point when the spell no longer works on an object.
Luigi Novi: I didn’t see any such question. Even there was a point where the spell "no longer" worked, the person who previously owned the book could’ve used it when they owned it.

Sparrow47: If she had her tail wrapped around said torch when she was petrified, I don't see how this is a problem.
Luigi Novi: How could she have not been petrified until her tail was already wrapped around it? She would’ve been looking at the Basilisk the entire time. Remember, Mrs. Norris was looking at the puddle of water on the floor. It’s likely that she was drinking from it when she saw the Basilisk. She couldn’t have been looking into the water only after her tail was wrapped because in the intervening time, she would’ve had to look at either the Basilisk or down at the water.

Sparrow47: Um... by rubbing it on him?
Luigi Novi: Potions aren’t rubbed on, they’re drunk, and ghosts are intangible.

In the movie, she even says to make sure that they’re tight.L.N.

Hey! Hey! No movie spoliers in here!

constanze: Once Uncle Vernon realizes Harry is forbidden to use magic, he doesn't think anybody will inquire after harry.
Luigi Novi: That’s a specious bit of reasoning on Vernon’s part, but hey, the guy’s a retard.

constanze: The key word is that harry can't use the wizard money in shops!
Luigi Novi: No, the key statement is: "Of course, it was only in the wizarding world that he had money." Shops are mentioned, but the comment isn’t exclusive to them.

constanze: …and he doesn't think that a 12year old can go to a bank with money with strange inscriptions on them without getting asked many questions and into trouble.
Luigi Novi: That doesn’t mean he "only has money" in the wizarding world. He can get the Weasleys to take some of the money and put into a Muggle bank account. The key word is "has." If he had said, "He could only really use his money freely in the wizarding world," that might’ve made more sense.

constanze: Probably they are magic earmuffs. Earplugs are too "modern" for the wizarding world - they still use feathers instead of pens and parchment instead of paper, so they are backwards.
Luigi Novi: Good point. But even then, the muffs should have more secure fasteners, instead of those ridiculous strips of plastic that goes over their heads. It reminds me of that silly breathing device Kirk used in The Cloudminders(TOS). We are talking, after all, about something lethal to them.

constanze: Why should she set it at the current date?
Luigi Novi: She doesn’t have to, but when making references to the date, writers usually use the current one.

constanze: It can take place whenever she likes!
Luigi Novi: Of course it can. I’m simply curious as to why she chose the story to begin in 1991.

constanze: How would people see it, when everybody is busy with his own cauldron? I don't think that everybody is staring around in snape's class!
Luigi Novi: Students do not always focus on the work in front of them in class. True, Snape would probably frown upon this, but I doubt he does so with the Slytherins.

constanze: They are afraid that somebody might come in and see them use a forbidden potion.
Luigi Novi: No, they’re not. They’ve been concocting this potion for a month now, and Hermione said that no one ever goes into that bathroom. Hermione’s statement was that they wouldn’t fit into one stall, not that she was afraid anyone would find them.

constanze: Might be the difference between the basilisk being controlled indirectly by ginny and directly by Tom Riddle.
Luigi Novi: Ginny never controls the Basilisk. Tom Riddle does.

constanze: That's why a witch or wizard administers it - she knows how to do it by using magic.
Luigi Novi: What difference does it make? Ghosts don’t have organs or anything.

ScottN: Also, books may have some magical component to them (see the picture of Lockhart on the cover of Magical Me), and Reparo may not work on magical items.
Luigi Novi: First of all, even if it couldn’t work on a moving photograph, that shouldn’t keep it from working on pages. Second, the idea that a spell in the WIZARDING WORLD wouldn’t work on MAGICAL items would seem to be pretty darn useless. Arent’ just about ALL items in the wizarding world made with some magical component?

ScottN: Yeah, but his mom was a "mudblood" -- both parents were Muggles.
Luigi Novi: His mom was Muggle-born. She was a witch when she gave birth to Harry. Hence, Harry has wizard blood from both sides.
Scott was referring to the fact that Lily's parents were Muggles. Not Harry's. Hence, Lily was a mudblood.

Sparrow47: If she had her tail wrapped around said torch when she was petrified, I don't see how this is a problem.
Luigi Novi: How could she have not been petrified until her tail was already wrapped around it? She would’ve been looking at the Basilisk the entire time. Remember, Mrs. Norris was looking at the puddle of water on the floor. It’s likely that she was drinking from it when she saw the Basilisk. She couldn’t have been looking into the water only after her tail was wrapped because in the intervening time, she would’ve had to look at either the Basilisk or down at the water.
Mrs Norris is a peculiar cat. In a magic school. Why couldn't she have just been 'hanging around'? And what if the basilisk showed it's head from above Mrs Norris's position? Maybe it peeked in through the skylight!

Some nits that my friend Josh and I came up with: How did Fawkes manage to blind the basilisk without getting killed? Was he not looking at the eyes to see where to aim?

And just how big are the pipes in the school's plumbing that the basilisk can slither through? Either you better not fall in the toilet, or that thing can do a Stretch Armstrong!

I cannot see the basilisk fitting through my plumbing with no problem, without shrinking.

Also, at one point, the basilisk seems to move up the wall. Just how strong are these walls? And not being a plumber and all, aren't pipes generally filled - at least partially - with water? I don't believe snakes, as a whole, like water...why should the basilisk?

How did Fawkes manage to blind the basilisk without getting killed? Was he not looking at the eyes to see where to aim?

Maybe phoenixes are immune to basilisks?

Scott was referring to the fact that Lily's parents were Muggles. Not Harry's. Hence, Lily was a mudblood.
Luigi Novi: No she wasn't. She was Muggle-born. When a Muggle is discovered to be a witch or wizard, they're no longer considered a Muggle. J.K. Rowling makes this clear in Goblet of Fire when the Death Eaters attack the Muggles at the Quidditch Tournament camp, and Malfoy warns the trio that Hermione could be next. Harry adamently states that Hermione is a witch. Draco says, "Have it your way." I could be wrong of course, but somehow I don't think Rowling sympathizes with Draco's view of it. Someone born a Muggle who later becomes a witch or wizard no long is a Muggle. Harry would only be half Muggle if one of his parents was a Muggle at the time of his conception.

I didn’t see any such question. Even there was a point where the spell "no longer" worked, the person who previously owned the book could’ve used it when they owned it.Luigi Novi

Well, they could have tried and it might not have worked very well, because the book was beyond the point where it could be effective.

How could she have not been petrified until her tail was already wrapped around it?Luigi Novi

I obviously have to read this bit again, mostly because I don't know the position of the torch in question. If Mrs. Norris was simply staring at the puddle, why couldn't her tail wrap around the torch as she was doing so?

Potions aren’t rubbed on, they’re drunk, and ghosts are intangible.Luigi Novi

Right, hence my "I have no idea so I'm going to throw out something that might be plausible" answer. Actually, the potion could have been transformed into a cream, or some such, and then applied to the ghost, as he did have a solid form at that point. (Incidentally, Luigi, did you mean to comment on the section below that or did you just copy it by mistake?)

And just how big are the pipes in the school's plumbing that the basilisk can slither through? Either you better not fall in the toilet, or that thing can do a Stretch Armstrong!MJenkins

I think it was said that the pipes in that particular bathroom were special (magical, y'know), thus allowing for all the movement involved.

Sparrow: Actually, the potion could have been transformed into a cream, or some such, and then applied to the ghost, as he did have a solid form at that point.
Luigi Novi: Ernie Macmillan was told to fan him to the infirmary, so he was no more solid than air.

As for that section, I copied it by mistake. My bad.

What the heck?

No one said that Lily Potter was a Muggle, Luigi. Where in the world are you deriving this from?

If Hermione, a witch with Muggle parents, is considered a mudblood by Malfoy...and Lily was a witch with Muggle parents...she would also be a mudblood. If she was a Muggle with Muggle parents...she can't be a mudblood.

I don't know where the heck you're getting this thing about everyone calling Lily a Muggle. No one's disputed that she's Muggle-born (unless someone called her Muggle hatched and I missed it?).

Scott was the one saying that Lily was a Muggle, not I. My contention is that she was a witch, which is why Harry is not half-Muggle, nor Hermione a Muggle at all.

I suppose that as far as Voldemort is concerned, it's no better to be a mudblood than to be a Muggle. He has the same contempt for both. So, in calling Harry a half-blood, he's not technically correct, since Harry's mother was a witch. Because she was Muggle-born, though, I imagine it's all the same to Voldemort. She might as well have been a Muggle, from where he's standing.

From the way the malfoys show contempt for those of common blood, mudblood and muggle are both insults because the only true wizard/witch is one who comes from the right family, like the malfoys themselves. I mean, Draco sneers at ron, although the weasleys have been wizards for generations, because they are poor, don't live in a manor with house-elves and use silver spoons. Draco sneers at hermione, who is the cleverest witch in her class, because her parents are muggles. I think thats the general idea. If you look at the end of HP4, what dumbledore says to fudge in the hospital ward, you can see clearly both opinions of the wizarding world.

No, I said Lily was a Mudblood, not a Muggle.

But looking back, I can see how it was misinterpreted.

Ernie Macmillan was told to fan him to the infirmary, so he was no more solid than air.Luigi Novi

Not nessecarily. A heilium balloon is a solid object, yet it can be fanned around a room. When he saw the Basilisk, I think Nearly Headless Nick turned into a sort of balloon, or blimp, or whatever, with a solid exterior that could be floated about at will. Thus the potion could be applied directly to him.

If he were like a helium balloon, McGonagall wouldn't have had Ernie fan Nick to the infirmary, she would've simply told him to grab him and pull him there.

If he were like a helium balloon, McGonagall wouldn't have had Ernie fan Nick to the infirmary, she would've simply told him to grab him and pull him there.Luigi Novi

Very true, although perhaps this would be seen as disrespectful?

Why?

Dunno, really. It just seems disrespectful. Alternative explanation: McGonagall perhaps sensed that Ernie might not want to touch Nick? I'll grant the "grab and pull" method makes sense but I think there some valid reasons why it wouldn't be employed.

Also, look at it from the other end, that of Nick's not being rendered solid. How would fanning him help at that point? The air molecules that would provide the force in fanning him would pass straight through, wouldn't they? Or they'd disperse his ghost molecules (or whatever) so that he looked like the victim of a bad transporter accident.

By "grab and pull," I did not mean to imply that Ernie would've been indelicate in the way that he handled Nick. "Grab and pull" was just the phrase I chose off the top of my head.

And yeah, the air molecules would pass through them. Of course, McGonagall was the one who conjured up the fan for Ernie. Was it some type of special magic fan?

As far as ghosts being solid, "solidity" with ghosts is somewhat paradoxial: They can pass through objects, and so trying to touch one would cause your hand to pass through it, but their apparent "bodies" are contiguous in that they don't disperse. What we see when we see a ghost is probably just a representation of them that mortals perceive. So a fan wouldn't disperse them. If it did, ghosts would have to be terrified of wind, or hell, even floating around too quickly.

Re: applying the Mandrake gunk to Nick. Possibly they sprayed it on him.

By "grab and pull," I did not mean to imply that Ernie would've been indelicate in the way that he handled Nick. "Grab and pull" was just the phrase I chose off the top of my head.Luigi Novi

Okay, I was kind of picturing Ernie with a teather around Nick dragging him through the halls.

So a fan wouldn't disperse them. If it did, ghosts would have to be terrified of wind, or hell, even floating around too quickly.Luigi Novi

Well, I was only thinking about the ghosts "dispersing" in terms of Nick being petrified and thus somehow solidified. Normal ghosts wouldn't have that problem.

Possibly they sprayed it on him.Gordon Lawyer

Possibly, but I think the same problem applies here, in that how is it supposed to be effective?

Of course, McGonagall was the one who conjured up the fan for Ernie. Was it some type of special magic fan?Luigi Novi

Hmmm... that might explain a lot...

In the film, Harry casts the "Rictusempra"-spell at Malfoy. As I know this spell from the book, this is a tickling charm. But Malfoy is thrown back about 5 meters, and he doesn't seem to be tickled anyway.

And: Why is Snape thrown back by this Expelliarmus-charm? He should only get rid of his wand?!

By Andreas Schindel: In the film, Harry casts the "Rictusempra"-spell at Malfoy. As I know this spell from the book, this is a tickling charm. But Malfoy is thrown back about 5 meters, and he doesn't seem to be tickled anyway.
Sure he does.
Luigi Novi: Andreas, this is the novel board. And yeah, I mentioned that on that board in the first post I made after I saw it.

Why is Snape thrown back by this Expelliarmus-charm?
Luigi Novi: He isn't. No one ever uses it on him, either in the book or the film. He uses it on Lockhart.

He should only get rid of his wand?!
Luigi Novi: The Expelliarmus spell also knocks a person back.

Luigi Novi: Andreas, this is the novel board

Sorry. Where is the Harry Potter Film board?

Under MOVIES. It's visible on the LAST DAY board, and on the TOPICS board, it's the sixth link going down.

After clicking on MOVIES, click on JAKE'S MOVIES, then on SCI-FI/FANTASY. The movies are listed in alphabetical order until X-Men. The board for this movie is the fourth link listed after X-Men.

Ah, screw it. Just go here.

By the way, in an angry letter sent to Hermione in The Goblet of Fire she is called a muggle. So some wizards don't really differentiate.

@ Luigi: THX!

Any time.

Uncle vernon would have no problem taking the money away, as he is an adult. Yeah, but he's also a Muggle. Assuming that he manages to even find Diagon Alley, why would the highly suspicious goblins allow him to take treasure out of a vault that isn't his own, sans permission?

I mean, Draco sneers at ron, although the weasleys have been wizards for generations, because they are poor, don't live in a manor with house-elves and use silver spoons. Draco sneers at hermione, who is the cleverest witch in her class, because her parents are muggles. That's because Draco is basically a nasty little kid who was raised to look down on everyone else for whatever imaginary excuse is available. He's the bad guy, ergo he is unreasonably mean to the good guys. It's the parents' faults, really.

NIT:

Tom Riddle says that Harry and he himself are alike because they are both half-blood (or muggle-born, or something like that.) Tom Riddle is the son of a witch and a muggle, which makes him half-blood and at least half-muggle-born. Harry is the son of a witch and a wizard, which makes him NOT a muggle-born. When he first met Draco in Diagon Alley, Draco asked if his parents were "our kind", and when Harry said they were a witch and a wizard, apparently accepted that as a yes. So it seems that "muggle-born" would only refer to people whose parents are muggles, not those whose parents are muggle-born.

Which, by the way, I find very strange. For example, Draco calls Hermione a Mudblood. She's a witch. If she married Ron and had children, the children would NOT be considered "Mudbloods" even though she is considered one?!


ANOTHER NIT:

Ron says that Lucius Malfoy probably opened the Chamber when he was at school fifty years ago. That means he'd have to be at least sixty years old. Even if none of the Trio have ever met Lucius, they know that his son is only twelve! Would Lucius Malfoy - a pureblood wizard who ought to be very very interested in having an heir to keep the bloodline going - be likely to get his child at the age of fourty-eight?

MOVIE NIT:

Did anybody else find it terribly out of character - and terribly S-T-U-P-I-D too - when Lucius tried to cast ADAVA KEDAVRA on National Hero Harry Potter in Front of Dumbledore's Office Witnessed by his house elf after Dumbledore and Harry had just found a strong indication that he might be a Follower of the Dark Lord? Given how suspicious Lucius looks and acts, he ought to be much better at hiding his feelings, even if he is angry at Harry. Otherwise he'd have landed in Azkaban long ago, with or without money. And Dumbledore is probably one of the few people he fears, and Hogwarts is Dumbledore's domain.

I was surprised at that too, netrat, but since it doesn't occur in the novel, I myself mentioned it on the movie board. Personally, the novel makes more sense during that scene.

NITS:

Does anyone but me wonder how Crabbe and Goyle were sorted into Slytherin? They are most certainly not cunning, they seem to have no ambition other than to follow Malfoy around, and they do everything he says - all of them qualities that would much better befit a Hufflepuff. Of course, they are mean and dumb, and in the wonderful black-and-white-Potterverse all mean and dumb (and ugly) people go to Slytherin. However, if you just take the House criteria into account, it doesn't make sense. I cannot imagine that Salazar Slytherin would approve of those two.

Also, can anyone explain why Hagrid is suddenly and wonderfully redeemed after it is found that he was not the one to open the Chamber? So he did not hatch the monster that killed a girl. He just hatched another monster that probably would have killed other people if Tom Riddle had not discovered it, then sent Harry and Ron into the forest to "talk" to it! Maybe I'm just a Slytherin fan, but I don't see why it would be more acceptable to hatch giant man-eating spiders and werewolves under your bed in the dormitory (where other kids are sleeping!) than to let a basilisk out of a hidden chamber. Surely Hagrid would have been expelled in either case, so why does everyone act as if expelling him had been a mistake? Just because Tom Riddle turned out evil doesn't mean Hagrid is innocent.

Hagrid's affinity for deadly beasts often puts him on the wrong side of the law (His possession of Norbert, for example), but I think it's something that's simply addressed by Dumbeldore with a sigh and a slap on the wrist because it's seen as just one of Hagrid's personality traits, rather than an example of profound malice, like being the Heir to Slytherin and opening the Chamber. Shouldn't Hagrid have been fined and put in jail for possessing Norbert? Or perhaps for using a wand concealed in an umbrella? Maybe. But he just manages to slip through the cracks, probably with Dumbeldore's help, much in the same way that Malfoy slips through on account of his family.

netrat: NIT: Tom Riddle says that Harry and he himself are alike because they are both half-blood (or muggle-born, or something like that.) Tom Riddle is the son of a witch and a muggle, which makes him half-blood and at least half-muggle-born. Harry is the son of a witch and a wizard, which makes him NOT a muggle-born. When he first met Draco in Diagon Alley, Draco asked if his parents were "our kind", and when Harry said they were a witch and a wizard, apparently accepted that as a yes. So it seems that "muggle-born" would only refer to people whose parents are muggles, not those whose parents are muggle-born.
Which, by the way, I find very strange. For example, Draco calls Hermione a Mudblood. She's a witch. If she married Ron and had children, the children would NOT be considered "Mudbloods" even though she is considered one?!
Harry's mother, Lilly Potter, was Mrs Dursley's sister (her first name escapes me right now, but it was also a "flower" name. Their family must have been fans of "Keeping Up Appearances" ). The Wizarding-world's prejudice against "Mudbloods" is rather specious, considering Ron's comment that most of them have muggle blood somewhere in their ancestry anyway. However, in certain quarters, having any recent muggle ancestors marks you as a "Mudblood". So some witches and wizards might regard Harry as less than a pure wizard. That's the problem with being good. I bet no one ever called Lord Voldemort a "Mudblood", or at least, they did live too long after they did.

Maquis Lawyer:

Mrs. Dursley is Petunia.

However, that's the point I wanted to make - if DRACO MALFOY thinks that one generation of wizarding blood is enough, then who could possible be more critical?

NITS:

In my friend's copy (British paperback edition), when Harry reads his book list naming all of Lockhart’s books, one of them is identified as "Wanderings with Werewolves". Later on, after the test, Lockhart says that some of the students should have read "Weekend with a Werewolf" more carefully, but there is no book with that title on the list. I should think that his own book titles belong to the things Lockhart would remember.

The book makes a big point of Harry being Slytherin’s heir and attacking Muggle-borns. Ernie MacMillain says, in order to ward him off, that his bloodline can be traced back through nine generations of warlocks. This is a lot more than can be said for Harry himself! His mother was Muggle-born! Doesn’t it occur to anyone that he might not be the right heir for a fanatic Muggle-hater? (Voldemort became what he is because he hated his Muggle-born father. Harry loves both his parents.)

ANOTHER NIT:

In the Chamber, Tom Riddle says that he and Harry probably were the only Parselmouths to ever attend Hogwarts, apart from Slytherin himself. Later, Dumbledore says that Harry indeed possesses some of the qualities Slytherin prized in his hand-picked students, one of them being Parseltongue. How could Slytherin have prized this quality in his hand-picked students, when the only two parselmouths were WAY after his time?

If everybody knows why Lockheart is a fraud why haven't they thrown him out. Well, they want to but they keep forgetting...he does have the ability to play tricks with memory after all...
Is that a plausible explanation?

Also, the wizards let Harry stay at his uncle's house even though he's abused--two reasons-- adversity builds character, and The Prime Directive of Non-Interference.

Actually that raises an interesting question-- some kids in abusive households become practically saints, and some kids become juvenile delinquents. I wonder what would you
say are the determining factors?

(Aside from authorial fiat. )

Everybody doesn't know Lockhart's a fraud until the end of the story, when he reveals his secret to Harry and Ron.

Nobody except Ron and his family knows that Harrys family abuses him. So far Harry hasn't confided in any adult in the muggle world, and the abuse consisted of verbal downsizing and time in the cupboard, both of which can't be proven to be abuse. Even locking harry in his room with bars on the windows can't be proven to be abuse, neither can the intent to starve harry be proven. Harrys uncle can always argue that the bars protect the house from burglars.

Netrat: about slytherin prizing the quality of parseltongue in his students: prizing means putting importance on it, it doesn't mean that he found it very often.

netrat: Why people think harry might be behind the attacks: these are sneaky attacks, and nobody really knows if muggle-born students are singled out or not. There is an aura of suspicion and fear about, and harry has proven to speak parseltongue and is well-known enough. That makes him suspectible.

And, like you mentioned, voldemort is muggle-born, too, so that alone is not proof. I guess that Tom Riddle didn't show his hatred of muggles during his time, or reveal his muggle-parentage during his reign as voldemort.

harry, about why kids from abusive homes turn out good or bad: I guess this is like in real life. You can argue it depends on character how a person deals with terrible events. Friends can also influence towards one side or other.

The wizarding world knows that Harry was living locked in the cupboard. Recall that his admission to Hogwarts came addressed to him at "The Cupboard Under the Stairs".

Yes, but parents or guardians are allowed to punish their children, so uncle vernon can claim that harry disbehaved. Or he can claim that there is no other room in the house left (they use the spare bedroom for dudleys toys, but they could rent it out for the money). Its often remarked how much harry's keeping costs his uncle.

When Harry gets hurt during the game and Lockheart tries to fix his arm and apparently removes the bone(s) instead, that would be a dead giveaway. But then we can assume Lockheart does something with everybody's memories of the incident.
One thing to note about Harry's abuse is, we don't see things like huge, ugly bruises and scars. So the parents can claim that they're firm disciplinarians, but not abusers.

One big mishap like the bone removal might be a big clue, but even experts make mistakes, so that in itself would not necessarily cause everyone to conclude that he's a fraud.

Of course, the pixie incident, combined with the bone removal, might've caused some of the male students to suspect him, but the females all have crushes on him, so they wouldn't be as suspicious, and only one class witnessed that event, not the entire school or wizarding world.

Throughout most of the book, the Hogwarts staff is waiting for the mandrakes to mature in order to make the potion that will un-petrify the frozen students. I would think they would be able to get a hold of some potion that's already been prepared, or at least some mature mandrakes. What gives?

Mabye it isn't necessary to keep any around because incidents requiring it at Hogwarts are rare.

Mail-order potion? Oh heck, maybe the stuff just doesn't keep long.