SS/PS MOVIE DISCUSSION

[Carol]

I got interrupted yesterday in the middle of question 13, so I'll try
again.
 
> 13. Professor Quirrell does some amazing magic. Is it his ability or
does having LV in his head provide something extra. Do you think JKR
got the idea of broomless flight from this scene?

Carol:
As I said yesterday, I think the Dark magic that Quirrell performs or
tries to perform near the end of the book is enhanced or inspired by
the presence of Voldemort. Which is not to say that his thoughts are
not his own, he's just "never alone" and will be cruelly punished if
he fails Voldemort (to whom he also seems loyal-he *wants* to
succeed). But if he's really a "mediocre" wizard, the magic must be
partly Voldemort's, especially as some of it seems to be wandless. As
for the idea of broomless flight being from that scene (as filmed?), I
don't think so. I think it was in her mind from the beginning.
> 
> 14. DD visits Harry in the Hospital Wing. He speaks of secrets, and
his own brilliance. How did we miss these character traits in DD?--or
did you catch on earlier? Do you think DD might have been in the
dungeon with Harry all along? He certainly has a good deal of
information about what happened.

Carol responds:
I think I've always been annoyed by DD's comments about his own
brilliance though not as much as in HBP (the book), In this case,
they're overshadowed by the nice comic bit with the Bertie Botts beans
("Alas! Earwax!"). I certainly sensed from the beginning that he
wasn't giving us Snape's entire motive. You don't work hard to save
someone you dislike just to undo an unwanted life debt to that
person's hated father. It was a glimpse into Snape's motivation,
enough for Harry but not enough for me. I don't think that he was in
the dungeon all along, but he (and Snape?) got there in time to see
Quirrell die as Voldemort's disembodied spirit left his body. (There
would have been no obvious physical cause for Quirrell's death in the
book as there was in the film.) So, as usual, DD is combining what he
knows with informed deductions--and, as usual, he's withholding
information about both Harry and Snape.
> 
> 15. Why doesn't Snape look happy when Slytherin is named as having
the most points? What do you think about the upset that follows?

Carol responds:
Snape is the HoH of Slytherin and still loyal to it. Unlike many
readers and viewers, he doesn't associate Slytherin with Voldemort.
He's used to having the House Cup in his office and expects to have it
again. I suspect that, on the one hand, he resents having the points
taken away from his House at the last moment and by such a narrow
margin (not to mention that DD's point count is obviously intended for
exactly that purpose). On the other hand, it's a tactic worthy of a
Slytherin if the Sorting Hats comment about Slytherins being willing
to use any means to obtain their ends is valid. What do I think about
the uspet that follows? That the kids did deserve credit for their
exploits, however wrongheaded and dangerous, because the rule-breaking
was well-intentioned, but not a set of points exactly calculated to
disappoint the Slytherins and reward the whole of Gryffindor, the vast
majority of whom weren't even involved. It would have been better to
give Neville some House points and the others awards for Special
Service to the School (even though, despite DD's claim that the whole
school knows what happened between himand Quirrell, it's quite clear
that no one knows that Voldemort was involved--or how Quirrell died).
It's the first of DD's slaps in the face to the Slytherins. How he
expects them to be personally loyal to him when he treats them that
way, showing obvious favor the Gryffindors (his own House), I don't know.
> 
> 16. Did the movie do an adequate job of contrasting the wonder of
the wizarding world with the darkness of the wizarding world?

Carol:
It was the first film, based on the first book, in which Harry is
still thrilled by his discovery that he's a Wizard and the magic of
Hogwarts. There are hints of the darkness, in Lily's death at the
beginning and the unicorn-blood-drinking Quirrell!mort (who should not
have been able to fly or glide like a Dementor!) and in Quirrell's
uncanonical death scene, but these moments are interspersed with
mostly light or comic moments. We do get a glimpse of the danger of
"ordinary" life at Hogwarts (falls from brooms, Quidditch, Trolls in
the dungeon, a third-floor corridor that's off limits to anyone who
doesn't want to die a painful death, etc.), so it's clear that
Hogwarts is no mundane Muggle boarding school, but it's presented
mostly as an adventure with magic itself, not a brooding threat of
Dark Magic hanging over Harry and the whole school. Which is as it
should be at that point--Harry has an unusual history and an unusual
scar and a personal reason to want to fight Voldemort before he's
ready, but in other ways, he's just like all the other first-years,
learning magic in what still seems like the wonderful (if sometimes
scary or annoying) atmosphere of Hogwarts where you never know where
the stairs are going to take you. 
> 
> 17. Snape was set up as the bad guy all through the movie. Were you
as surprised as Harry that he had been protecting Harry? Did you
expect something different from Snape in the next movie?

Carol:
I think I'd read a little spoiler that said an unlikeable teacher
turned out not to be a villain, so I wasn't surprised. (But I liked
both book and movie Snape regardless.) I don't know what I expected
from Snape in the next film--snarkiness, sarcasm, and point
deductions, I guess (and a lot more Potions class scenes!) I expected
more in the duelling club scene and the exposure of Lockhart as a
fraud, but, then, I'd read the book. I was pretty sure at that point
that Snape was DD's man, based on his actions in SS/PS and on his
words to Quirrell about "where your loyalties lie."
> 
> 18. Are there any scenes that you particularly like or dislike?

Carol:
I'll have to come back to this one when I have more time. Offhand, I
don't like Snape's "as such" line. I'm sure there are others but I
can't think of them right now.
> 
> 19. Do you have any questions to add?

Carol:
Not at the moment. Hard to formulate questions for just the movie,
isn't it?

Carol, whose only surprises with regard to the films relates to their
differences from the books