COS Chapter 4 - At Flourish and Blotts

[catherine at cator-manor.demon.co.uk]

No: HPFGUIDX 23315

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Amber ?" <inviziblegirl at h...> wrote:
> 
> (Sorry no alternate version, I had too many things to do last 
night!)

What a shame!  The alternative for Chapter 3 was excellent - really 
made me laugh.


> Yes, I know the following questions are quite silly. However, I had 
a 
> *really* hard time coming up with good ones. This chapter seemed 
pretty 
> straightforward to me! If you have better ones, please post them!

Er, you don't mention in your questions one of the reasons this 
(apart from Chapter 3) is my favourite chapter in the book - I love 
the scene when Ginny stands up for Harry when he is being taunted by 
Draco.  However, I can't think of any good questions about it, apart 
from getting into the whole, valentine argument again - Well, do you 
think that Draco caught onto Ginny's crush this early on and sent the 
Valentine?

> Questions:
> 
> 1) How do you think Dumbledore already knew that Harry was at the 
Weasleys?

Because he is Dumbledore.  He knows things. He is omniscient!  
Alternatively, Mrs Figg could have known that Harry had "done a 
runner," or Arthur could have told someone at the Ministry  who 
passed it on.  Perhaps he has some link with Privet Drive - perhaps 
he is protecting Harry there from afar, and that is why Harry always 
has to go back there.  OK, getting carried away now...

> 2) Why are all the letters from Hogwarts addressed in green ink? 
Any 
> significance or just coincidence? Maybe it's Dumbledore's favorite 
color?

No idea.  It probably looks good, though and is distinctive enough 
not to be overlooked.

> 3) How do you think the Weasley's were able to afford all the 
Lockhart 
> books? Perhaps Flourish and Blotts runs a tab?

Again, no idea.  They had to buy how many sets?  I make it four, as 
Harry gave his free ones to Ginny.  I think that they must have some 
kind of account with them.  Do they actually buy the books though?  
They leave as soon as Arthur gets into a brawl with Lucius Malfoy - 
had they already purchased the books at this stage?

> 4) When floo powder is thrown into the fire, the flames turn green. 
Another 
> coincidence or something deeper there?

You are right, there is a lot of magic associated with green, but I 
can't think why.  This could be construed as being quite ominous, 
given that it is the Slytherin house colours, but it is probably just 
a coincidence.  Green is linked with magic a fair bit though - 
potions are often green, frogs and toads can be as well and they are 
often linked with witches and wizards.  Witches have often been 
depicted with green faces as well.  I know, I'm getting silly, but 
you did say your questions were silly too.
>
 5) Do you think it was wise of the Weasleys to let Harry travel by 
floo 
> powder by himself when he had never done so before? Why can't two 
people 
> travel by floo powder at the same time?

This is a good question.  I can't see any reason why not, unless it 
is simply a question of the fact that the passages/chimneys in the 
network are not wide enough.  However, this doesn't make much sense 
when you consider that Harry could have travelled with Ron, or one of 
the other younger Weasleys, as they are not fully grown and probably 
are not any bigger combined than a fat, full grown wizard.  So it 
doesn't make sense.  I wonder if Hagrid could travel by floo powder?
Anyway, considering what happened, I don't think it was very wise for 
Harry to travel on his own, especially when the whole process seems 
so open to error.

> 6) Were you surprised to hear that Malfoy's grades needed 
improvement? Do 
> you think it's because Mr. Malfoy has unreasonable expectations of 
his son 
> or that Malfoy's grades just aren't up to par?

I think we've talked about how academic Malfoy is before, with this 
scene in mind.  Mr Malfoy is only comparing him to Hermione -who came 
top in everything.  So, there are two possibilies - one is that he 
came a close second to Hermione, and LM is furious that his son has 
been bettered by a Muggle born witch, which would mean he is a pretty 
good student.  The other alternative is that he is average.  I don't 
know what the answer is, but I don't think Lucius would be happy 
unless Draco came top in everything - I think that the comment about 
the grades was designed to spur him on.

> 7) Percy is found reading a book called "Prefects Who Gained Power: 
A study 
> of Hogwarts prefects and their later careers". Do you think this is 
an 
> indication that Percy could be seduced to Voldemort's side?

Percy is very ambitious, but he clearly wants to get into the MoM, 
which isn't a good indication of the fact that he could be seduced to 
Voldemort's side.  We have seen him manipulated in GoF, when he 
obeying orders from Barty Crouch who is under the imperious curse.  I 
think this will make him more wary in the future.  I do not think 
that Percy will accept anything which is less than kosher - he is 
definitely the unwitting pawn type.

> 8) What did you first think of Lockhart when you read his 
description? What 
> was your opinion of him at the end of the chapter?

He made me laugh.  I thought he was vain, egoistical and thought that 
he was bound to be a bad teacher.  We were seeing this from Harry's 
POV, and I often trust his first instincts about someone, and he was 
right.

> 9) Did you make the connection that Lockhart was to be the new DADA 
> professor before he made his announcement?

I can't remember, but I do remember thinking it was fishy that the 
books were on the reading list.  I was also surprised that Molly 
wasn't pretty annoyed when she found out - afterall, putting all his 
books on the reading list was lining his own pockets, and nearly 
bankrupting the Weasleys into the bargain.

Catherine