CoS 11

[pauraque_bk]

Not from this chapter, but seviet has posted a lovely CoS illustration: Harry and Ron in the staff room (G).

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In Chapter 10, we learned that grapes are a traditional gift for ill people in Britain. hermione_like had some cool thoughts on the Harry-as-werewolf symbolism. Also, good discussion about Harry's concepts of danger and fear.


CoS 11: The Duelling Club

[Percy:] 'Excellent flying yesterday, really excellent. Gryffindor have just taken the lead for the House Cup -- you earned fifty points!' (137)

How does that work? I thought the Quidditch Cup and the House Cup were two separate things.

'If I ever find out who threw this,' Snape whispered, 'I shall make sure that person is expelled.' (141)

This isn't really an unfair response. Potions are dangerous ('Malfoy got a faceful and his nose began to swell like a balloon; Goyle blundered about, his hands over his eyes, which had expanded to the size of dinner plates' (140) ); Harry is lucky no one was caused any permanent damage. I'm reminded of McGonagall's statement in PS/SS, along the lines of "anyone who messes about in my class will be asked not to return".

Also, does Snape ever find out why Harry did this? Because if not (and if he does know it was Harry, as Harry thinks), add that to the list of legitimate reasons Snape has to dislike him.

'Let me introduce my assistant Professor Snape,' said Lockhart, flashing a wide smile. 'He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about duelling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin[...]' (142)

Any thoughts on what really happened here? Did Lockhart ask, and if so, why? And why did Snape agree? Or was it really Snape's idea? Did he want to show Lockhart up? I can see Dumbledore suggesting he participate in order to prevent the situation from degenerating into chaos... in his way of asking Snape do to things Snape doesn't want to do, yet that indicate respect that Dumbledore would ask. (That sentence is ridiculously malformed, but I hope you all know what I meant, because I can't get the words straight.)

Harry hung back, with a vague feeling it would be unsporting to bewitch Malfoy while he was on the floor, but this was a mistake. Gasping for breath, Malfoy pointed his wand at Harry's knees, choked, 'Tarantallegra!'[...] (144)

Despite the fact that Draco first hits Harry with a painful curse (before they're actually supposed to start), Harry retaliates with nothing more than a Tickling Charm, and is apparently too much of a gentleman to do anything to Draco while he's down. But does Harry actually *know* any harmful spells at this point?

[Lockhart:] 'Whoops -- my wand is a little over-excited.' (145)

No comment.

Snape moved closer to Malfoy, bent down and whispered something in his ear. Malfoy smirked, too. (145)

Snape, too, was looking at Harry in an unexpected way: it was a shrewd and calculating look, and Harry didn't like it. (146)

It seems likely that Snape told Draco to set a snake on Harry, to test if he was a Parselmouth. But where would he get the idea Harry was?

Harry wasn't sure what made him do it. He wasn't even aware of deciding to do it. All he knew was that his legs were carrying him forward as though he was on castors and that he had shouted stupidly at the snake, 'Leave him!' (145)

'But I'm in Gryffindor,' Harry thought. 'The Sorting Hat wouldn't have put me here if I had Slytherin blood...'
'Ah,' said a nasty little voice in his brain, 'But the Sorting Hat wanted to put you in Slytherin, don't you remember?' (147)

I'm not fond of the theory that when Harry hears "nasty voices" in his head, they're really remnants of Voldemort. But I have to admit I see where it comes from, here... These just don't sound like Harry, though of course the sentiment behind "Leave him" is what Harry wants, not what Voldemort would want.

'So?' said Harry. 'I bet loads of people here can do it.'
'Oh no they can't,' said Ron. 'It's not a very common gift. Harry, this is bad.' (146)

Another thing I keep thinking I'm going to point out, and then not. It isn't some sort of fandom myth that Hermione gets all of Ron's useful lines in the movie: it's true. Ron isn't as ignorant as the films make him appear. He's reasonably knowledgable about the wizarding world, and gets a lot of expository lines.

'And in case you're getting ideas,' [Ernie] added hastily, 'I might tell you that you can trace my family back through nine generations of witches and warlocks and my blood's as pure as anyone's, so--' (150)

There's that word again, 'warlock'. With a high-class implication this time.

[Harry:] 'Why would I want to attack Muggle-borns?'
'I've heard you hate those Muggles you live with,' said Ernie swiftly.
'It's not possible to live with the Dursleys and not hate them,' said Harry. 'I'd like to see you try it.' (150)

We get what Harry is saying here -- that he doesn't hate them because they're Muggles -- but the Hufflepuffs don't necessarily.


Past re-read posts are here.

Comments

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

This isn't really an unfair response. Potions are dangerous

It's also interesting to see that Snape has the antidote at hand. He anticipates that things will go wrong and is ready to deal with it. A firecracker in class *is* a bit much, though. Harry should have gotten into a lot of trouble for that.

Also, does Snape ever find out why Harry did this? Because if not (and if he does know it was Harry, as Harry thinks), add that to the list of legitimate reasons Snape has to dislike him.

I suspect he figures it out when 1) he figures out the Boomslang skin is missing and 2) gets called to make any Potions of Cat!Hermione.

Any thoughts on what really happened here? Did Lockhart ask, and if so, why? And why did Snape agree?

Snape had an overwhelming urge to smack Lockhart down hard? I rather think Snape was doing it under duress, because Harry notes that he looks at Lockhart quite nastily even before they get down to duelling.

Just to note, Harry's Tickling Charm looks harmless, but it's another apparently weak hex that can have horrible consequences. Tickling can cause the ticklee to faint from oxygen deprivation if it goes on too long.

'And in case you're getting ideas,' [Ernie] added hastily, 'I might tell you that you can trace my family back through nine generations of witches and warlocks and my blood's as pure as anyone's, so--' (150)

I note that at 12-years old, Ernie can trace his family back nine generation. Yes, he probably can't do it from memory, but the fact that he can indicates that it's not only Slytherins who care about purebloodedness.

[arclevel.livejournal.com]

Just to note, Harry's Tickling Charm looks harmless, but it's another apparently weak hex that can have horrible consequences. Tickling can cause the ticklee to faint from oxygen deprivation if it goes on too long.

Good point. This would be a terribly nasty hex to throw at me; I don't do well with being tickled (which, of course, makes other people think it's all the funnier until I either burst into tears or hit them hard).

I suspect he figures it out when 1) he figures out the Boomslang skin is missing and 2) gets called to make any Potions of Cat!Hermione.

Additionally, I suspect that Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle figured out that *something* was seriously wrong and mentioned it to Snape, who would have had a pretty good idea of what happened.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I guess it's possible they don't, though.

I mean, Snape may have put two and two together and decided that Hermione was attempting the Potion just to see if she could do it without suspecting the serious invasion of privacy that actually went on. Hermione speaks of the trouble with Polyjuice being that it's a difficult potion, but surely it's forbidden because it's such an invasion of someone else's privacy. If I were Snape I would have a very hard time not demanding serious punishment if I knew they had done that to my students.

Crabbe and Goyle may have just thought they were jumped by somebody or had some prank pulled on them and not told Draco because they felt stupid. And he might not have mentioned their earlier conversation. If he asked where they'd gotten to, they would naturally hedge so as to not tell him they'd been ambushed. It's a stretch, but I can imagine that nobody ever found out about the Polyjuice, and this is just something that was done to three innocent (of this crime) students that never got addressed. You might have 4 people who all thought something odd went on, but they never put it all together because one was a teacher.

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

This would be a terribly nasty hex to throw at me;

Well, I notice that two apparently 'mild' hexes, the Tickling Charm, and James' Scourgify against Severus in OotP, both seem innocuous on the surface, but both result in the victim choking.