Chap. 9 Summary: The Writing on the Wall

[katzefan at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 24578

1. What was Snape's "peculiar expression"?  If he really was 
trying not to smile, what about this situation did he find so 
amusing?

I'm guessing the peculiar expression was a combination of a 
deductive frown and a smirk - the former because Snape is also 
speculating on what may have happened to the cat, and the 
smirk because sometimes I think Snape finds it amusing 
anytime someone else is in a bind -- not to mention he is 
speculating on how this can be tied in to Harry.

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

Good grief, no. He's just being ... well, Snape.

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?

Of course he *should* have, but I think fairly early on in the book, 
Ron tells him that "hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a 
good thing, even for wizards" or something to that effect. So
he's now worried that this odd thing is happening to him, and 
like most kids, I think, is very much afraid that telling an
authority figure -- even one as trusted as Dumbledore -- could 
backfire badly for him.

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

Is it possible that ghosts can become a little more corporeal at 
will? In one of the other books (I think it's GoF) Myrtle talks
about not having much choice about ending up in the lake when 
someone flushes the toilet while she's sitting in the u-bend. 
Again, if she's completely incorporeal, you'd think any solid 
material would just pass through her (eeeyuck). So I'm 
wondering if strong emotion (and Myrtle's usually fairly
agitated) or even willpower could allow them to become a little 
less non-corporeal.

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

I don't really think so. Right now Percy looks like he's
going to turn into the ultimate paper-shuffler, but I think if *any* 
member of his family were in serious trouble, he would find his 
priorities being re-ordered fairly fast ... although someone might 
have to smack him upside the head to get him to notice just how 
serious the situation is.

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?

Maybe the teachers' contracts don't accept death as an 
appropriate grounds for dismissal ... ? I also agree with those 
who suggest Binns might still be drawing a salary, though he 
himself certainly doesn't need it. It is a pity, though (as
someone else has also said) that they can't seem to find 
someone who could present the subject in a manner not 
calculated to send the whole class off to Noddy-land. I mean, the 
History of Magic! You'd have to work really hard to make it as
dull a subject as Binns apparently has.

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?

Hmmm, good question. Is it possible that Slytherin's heirs have 
appeared throughout the last 1,000 years, but there's been no 
reason for them to open the Chamber? We now have, in Harry, a 
distinct threat to Voldemort and his ilk, so the heir of Slytherin 
who appears in this generation *will* have a reason to open the 
Chamber.