pauraque_bk

Icon!

semirhage527 made it.

I can't remember who asked me this (you'll see in a moment that I'm having a hard time remembering names today), but it takes me about an hour and a half to do a chapter commentary, depending on how long and how interesting the chapter is. It would take a lot longer if I didn't type so fast... Since the OCR scans are the American editions (and not even always correct), I type out all the quotes I use.

In Chapter 6:

-Watch and wonder as

atdelphi,

caesia390, and the rest of the gang delve deep into the Weasley family neuroses!

-

ani_bester wonders if Peter bit Goyle because his father was a DE.

-

doomandnachos asks who, if anyone, has a legal claim on 12 Grimmauld Place.

Also,

threeoranges has made a post analyzing Harry and Draco's confrontation on the train in that chapter.

PS 7: The Sorting Hat

[McGonagall:] '[...]Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards[...]' (85)

This whole spiel she rattles off sounds very dry and rehearsed, despite the fact that she only has to say it once a year. I think even without the context of the other books, the "every house is special in its own way" line rings very hollow.

[...]Harry looked upwards and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. (87)

I can't remember who pointed this out, but this is one of the few purely artistic uses of magic that we see. The portraits are historical records, but the ceiling is simply for beauty's sake... unless of course it was originally used for astronomy or something.

'Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me[...] (88)

Anyone for the idea that the Hat sent Harry's valentine? *g*

You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil[...] (88)

Rather a far cry from the Hat's later suggestion that Helga took "the rest" -- the ones who weren't smart or brave or ambitious enough. Hufflepuff gets a bum rap.

Perhaps it was Harry's imagination, after all he'd heard about Slytherin, but he thought they looked an unpleasant lot. (89)

This is the end of the paragraph; the narration doesn't elaborate on what looks unpleasant about them.

Sometimes, Harry noticed, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide. 'Finnegan, Seamus', the sandy-haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor. (90)

Sandy-haired! Tsk, fanon.

The hat also takes "a long time" to decide with Neville, but doesn't mention anyone else who gets the same treatment. Any thoughts?

Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought, 'Not Slytherin, not Slytherin.' (91)

Reading this in the context of the first few chapters of the book, I'm a little more sympathetic with Dumbledore's assertion in CoS that this is a meaningful decision for Harry. It's not *just* that he doesn't like Draco (though JKR is careful to have Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle sorted before Harry) -- he's also been told twice that Voldemort was in Slytherin.

[Harry] had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, chips, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup and, for some strange reason, mint humbugs. (92)

What's a mint humbug?

Yet again, I have forgotten who said this, but someone commented in an earlier chapter that part of JKR's extravagance in descriptions like this may be partly attributed to her own destitute state while she was writing them.

The Dursleys had never exactly starved Harry, but he'd never been allowed to eat as much as he liked. (92)

Tsk, fanon again.

[Nearly Headless Nick:] '[...]Gryffindor have never gone so long without winning [the House Championship]. Slytherin have got the cup six years in a row!' (92-93)

I think it's plausible that Snape has taught for at least six years -- may even have been Head of House that long -- so his favoritism may have played a part in Slytherin's winningness. Dumbledore has to essentially cheat to hand Gryffindor the victory this year, so Slytherin are clearly doing _something_ to rack up the points.

[EDIT: Silly me, I forgot it's canon that Snape's been teaching for 14 years as of OotP.]

As Harry helped himself to a treacle tart, the talk turned to their families.

'I'm half and half,' said Seamus. 'Me dad's a Muggle. Mam didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him.'

The others laughed. (93)

Interesting that, rather like when Draco and Harry first met, the conversation here quickly turns to who's Muggleborn and who's not. Even at the Gryffindor table, people are eager to know.

Also, I don't know how laughable this situation is. Nasty confrontations between Muggles and wizards aren't historically... uh, good.

[Neville:] '[T]he family thought I was all Muggle for ages. My great-uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me -- he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned -- but nothing happened until I was eight. Great-uncle Algie came round for tea and he was hanging me out of an upstiars window by the ankles when my great-auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced -- all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased. Gran was crying, she was so happy. And you should have seen their faces when I got in here -- they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great-uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad.' (93)

The readers don't know the word "Squib" yet, which I think explains why Neville says "Muggle". Obviously, in a family of wizards he's not going to be Muggle anything.

We Muggles are horrified that Neville's family put him at risk this way, but in a twisted way, it bespeaks a loving home -- unlike Harry, Neville was never afraid or angry enough to bring out his magic, but needed an artificial situation to make it happen. It's also a bit interesting that both times, it's his great-uncle who's doing this.

Damn -- I'll bet Filch had to go through this same thing from birth to age eleven... except, for him, nothing ever came of it.

JKR has explained that there is no such thing as "not magic enough" for Hogwarts, so either she hadn't decided that at this point, or Neville is mistaken.

If Algie was so happy, why not get Neville a cooler pet? _Are_ the Longbottoms poor?

Professor Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose and sallow skin.

It happened very suddenly. The hook-nosed teacher looked past Quirrell's turban straight into Harry's eyes -- and a sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on Harry's forehead. (94)

Clever JKR. I don't think an Occlumency explanation is needed here; it works as a red herring.

[Percy:] '[T]hat's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to -- everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape.' (94)

Of course, this turns out to be true. I wonder how word got around. Students overheard teachers discussing it?

[Dumbledore:] 'I have also been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors[...]' (94)

This is... rather affecting, actually. Filch has to try to keep kids in line who are vastly more powerful than himself, and is trying to level the playing field.

'Everyone pick their favourite tune,' said Dumbledore, 'and off we go!' (95)

I think it may have been

neotoma who suggested that this was a parody of the British public school choir tradition. Then again, maybe she was the one who wondered what this says about the state of wizarding music...

'Great food, isn't it?' Ron muttered to Harry through the [bed] hangings. 'Get off, Scabbers! He's chewing my sheets.' (97)

"I let you sleep in my bed!"

Let it be known that rodents need to chew on things to keep their front teeth from becoming ingrown. If Ron hasn't been providing his pet with something to chew, any resulting destruction is his own fault. I'm just sayin'.

Perhaps Harry had eaten a bit too much, because he had a very strange dream. He was wearing Professor Quirrell's turban, which kept talking to him, telling him he must transfer to Slytherin at once, because it was his destiny. Harry told the turban he didn't want to be in Slytherin; it got heavier and heavier; he tried to pull it off but it tightened painfully -- and there was Malfoy, laughing at him as he struggled with it -- then Malfoy turned into the hook-nosed teacher, Snape, whose laugh became high and cold -- there was a burst of green light and Harry woke, sweating and shaking.

He rolled over and fell asleep again, and when he woke next day, he didn't remember the dream at all. (97)

This is frustrating, because if he doesn't remember it, what's the point?

It isn't clear (no pun intended) if clairvoyant dreams are normal in wizards, or if Harry is special... or even if Voldemort is influencing him at this early date (and in his present state of being!).

Past re-read posts are here.