[HPforGrownups] Chap. 9 Summary: The Writing on the Wall

[devika261 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 24576

In a message dated 8/20/01 6:11:22 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
Zarleycat at aol.com writes:


> Questions:
> 1. What was Snape's "peculiar expression"?  If he really was trying 
> not to smile, what about this situation did he find so amusing?
> 
Snape also had a strange expression (a "shrewd and calculating" one, IIRC) on 
his face when Harry revealed himself to be a Parselmouth at the dueling club. 
 Maybe this is just a red herring to make him seem more sinister than he 
actually is, when really he's just happy to see Harry in potential trouble.  
Still, though... I wonder how much Snape really knows...

> 2. Is Snape's suggestoin that Harry be removed from the Quidditch 
> team reasonable?

Absolutely not.  We know about the rivalry between Snape and McGonagall, and 
Snape was just taking the opportunity to try to weaken the Gryffindor 
quidditch team.

> 
> 3. We know Harry is not very trusting of adults.  Even so, and 
> leaving aside what it would do to the plot, do you think Harry should 
> have told Dumbledore about hearing a disembodied voice no one else 
> can hear?

Yes.  It always bothers me that Harry knows what a great wizard Dumbledore 
is, and he always feels safe when Dumbledore is there, but yet he has doubts 
as to whether Dumbledore would understand his problems.  However, I think 
it's possible that Harry is afraid of revealing to anyone that he is 
different.  Up to this point, he has had doubts about how he fits in at 
Hogwarts and in the wizarding world in general.  He *knows* that hearing 
voices that no one else can hear isn't a good sign, but he is afraid of being 
actually told that by someone for whom he has so much respect.  I think the 
same holds for Harry's ability to speak Parseltongue.  It is not until the 
end of the book that he can actually ask Dumbledore what that means.  I think 
Harry  was afraid that Dumbledore would confirm his fears that he actually 
belonged in Slytherin instead of Gryffindor.

> 
> 4. Why does the incorporeal Myrtle cause the water in the toilet to 
> splash when she dives in?

No idea.  Because it's magic?  <g>

> 
> 5. Is Ron correct that Percy cares more about becoming Head Boy than 
> he does about Ginny?

Percy certainly is very ambitious.  That has always been apparent.  I do 
think that when all is said and done, Percy's family comes first.  However, 
it may take something drastic to make him realize this.

> 
> 6. What is it about getting competent teachers for this school?  
> Can't Dumbledore/Hogwarts Board of Govenors find a living, vital 
> person to teach History of Magic, or are they happy at not having to 
> pay anyone a salary for this position?

Prof. Binns had probably been teaching exactly the same way before he died, 
and if he saw no change, then why should anyone else?  Maybe it's a form of 
discrimination to fire someone just because he's a ghost.  Imagine the 
lawsuits...
In any case, I don't think there's any reason to believe that he isn't 
getting paid.

> 
> 7.  Why wouldn't an heir to Slytherin have appeared sometime in the 
> last 1000 years?  Or can the heir only open the Chamber when there is 
> a particular need to do so?

The Chamber was only opened 50 years ago.  It may have been opened before 
then.  But maybe the other heirs of Slytherin weren't quite as evil as Tom 
Riddle/Voldemort.



Devika :)





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"There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, 
and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them."
--Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's [Philosopher's] Stone
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