pauraque_bk

Pardon the unscheduled intermission. Should be able to get back into the swing of things now.

In Chapter 5,

donnaimmaculata discussed at length how much wizards could really help Muggles, which I found quite fascinating. I do read all the comments, even when I don't have anything intelligent to say in reply.

PS 6: The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters

Dudley was now so scared of Harry he wouldn't stay in the same room, while Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't shut Harry in his cupboard, force him to do anything or shout at him -- in fact, they didn't speak to him at all. Half-terrified, half-furious, they acted as though any chair with Harry in it was empty. (67)

I don't think Dudley's newfound terror of Harry is as funny as JKR seems to think it is. The first wizard Dudley ever met tried to turn him into a pig for (I think we have fairly established) no decent reason.

Whether this was Hagrid's intent or not, I think his actions did have the effect of scaring Vernon and Petunia into line. Vernon was bold enough to stand up to Hagrid, but now that Dudley's been made a target, neither of them dares make a move.

[Vernon:] 'Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?' (68)

Hee! Vernon has some great lines in this book.

He raises a good point, too: Wizard transportation is weird. There don't appear to be any methods of family or mass transport that are as convenient and widely available as Muggle cars and busses.

'Taking Dudley to hospital,' growled Uncle Vernon. 'Got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings.' (68)

And what if Hagrid had successfully turned him entirely into a pig? Would he have just left in that case, too? What Harry doesn't know is that if the crime had been reported (and it *was* a crime), Arthur Weasley or one of his co-workers would have been dispatched to fix Dudley up and make the Dursleys forget it had happened.

And, alas, that's about it for the Dursleys in this book. I've really gotten a kick out of doing the first few chapters of these re-reads, since the Dursleys don't normally get a lot of dedicated discussion time.

'Now, what's the platform number?' said the boys' mother.
'Nine and three-quarters!' piped a small girl, also red-headed[...] (69)

Just a device to let Harry know these wizards know where he has to go, I guess. It certainly doesn't seem that the platform number ever changes. Are there any other wizard trains?

'All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important[...]' (70)

A hint of the Peter Pan brand of magic, that which is only accessible if you believe it's true.

'Anyone sitting there?' [Ron] asked, pointing at the seat opposite Harry. 'Everywhere else is full.' (74)

This always seemed a little rude to me, but I guess the idea is that Ron doesn't want it to seem that he's following Harry around.

'Are all your family wizards?' asked Harry, who found Ron just as interesting as Ron found him.

'Er -- yes, I think so,' said Ron. 'I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him.' (74-75)

We've discussed this already... JKR means this to be funny, but it reveals an unpleasant prejudice against Squibs, especially those who choose to leave the wizarding world.

'[...]Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everything thinks they're really funny[...]' (75)

Is that right? F&G don't do well on their OWLs, and of course drop out of school. If they were doing well at this point, what caused their schoolwork to slip?

Ron also notes that he has Charlie's old wand. If the wand really chooses the wizard, this should be a serious handicap (as it arguably is with Neville, who uses his father's wand).

Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat grey rat, which was asleep.

'His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up[...]' (75)

Here's a thought: What if he's not asleep? He perks up pretty quickly when he decides to bite Goyle in a minute, and wouldn't it be more interesting if he's listening to this entire conversation, which is mostly about Harry's life? There are a few points in PoA where, in retrospect, he's clearly listening and reacting to things the kids are saying.

What's this like for Peter? He's already been a pet rat for ten years... maybe he was planning to change back someday at first, but it's been a *long* time. Maybe he's chosen to stay this way, maybe he's been an animal so long he's started to forget his human life... until he hears the name Harry Potter...

Well, this is all speculation. Any other thoughts?

Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling. (77)

Notable because these both seem to be Muggle pursuits.

'Sorry,' [Neville] said, 'but have you seen a toad at all?' (78)

We've already been told that toads aren't in fashion. I like the casual way the various characters are introduced and sketched out in this chapter.

'Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one,' she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth. (79)

Hermione attached herself to Neville early on. They're seen together here, and a bit later they're in a boat together. I wonder, if the troll incident had never happened, if Neville and Hermione would have stayed friends, and Ron and Harry would have kept to themselves.

'Is it true?' he said. 'They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?' (81)

Did Fred and George tell everyone where they'd seen Harry go, or did Neville and Hermione mention it? We also wondered if Neville had repeated what happened in the train compartment in PoA, since Draco hadn't been there to see... Is Neville a gossip?

'Yes,' said Harry. He was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing either side of the pale boy they looked like bodyguards.

'Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle,' said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. (81)

~~My boys!~~ Do you think Draco met C&G on the train, or knew them before? If the former, what does it say about Draco that his first action was to acquire some henchmen he could boss around? It may have been the latter though, since we know now that Crabbe'n'Goyle Senior were DEs, and plausibly friends of the Malfoys.

'You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there.'

He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.

'I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks,' he said coolly. (81)

Why do you think Draco wanted to make friends with Harry? Wanted to associate himself with fame? Even though Harry "killed" for Dumbledore's side? I can see Lucius advising Draco to be friendly with Harry, hoping to nudge him over to their side... and I can equally see Draco relishing the intrigue.

In any case, Harry serves Draco a major diss before Draco has really done anything to him. (He did insult Ron, but only after Ron laughed at his name.)

'I'd be careful if I were you, Potter,' he said slowly. 'Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riff-raff like the Weasleys and Hagrid and it'll rub off on you.' (81)

Yes, Draco is very aware of the history here, the implications of whose side Harry takes.

Goyle reached towards the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron -- Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell.

Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle[...] (82)

Peter's moment of glory! This point has been discussed at considerable length thanks to

mctabby. I admit it's possible he was just scared by Ron jumping up and just bit whatever was available, but to be fair, Peter doesn't usually bite. (He does bite Ron in PoA, but only in a moment of desperation, and never at any other frightening time.) It would be nice to think he was defending Ron, but he hasn't really known Ron very long -- until recently, he was Percy's. Perhaps it was *Harry* he was defending.

'Heads down!' yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy which hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along by a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out on to rocks and pebbles. (83-84)

I only point this out because I'd forgotten about the underground lagoon. That's kind of neat.

Past re-read posts are here.