SS/PS Chapter Twelve Summary and Questions

[lamppost42 at hotmail.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 28767

This is my first chapter summary! I'm so excited!

T'was two weeks before Christmas and all through the school,
 Every student impatiently longed for the Yule.
The Halls were festooned with charmed grandiosity
But the Three were still filled with intense curiosity;
For Flamel eluded their careful detetction,
And they weren't allowed in the Restricted Section.
</couplets>

It's mid-December and the first snow has fallen, bringing with it all 
hijinx pertaining thereto. In anticipation of a holiday from both 
school work and the Dursleys, Harry is able to ignore Malfoy's 
taunting. Although Hermione plans to go home for Christmas, Ron and 
his brothers are staying at Hogwarts because their parents will be 
visiting Charlie. While admiring the Great Hall, Harry informs Hagrid 
that he, Ron, and Hermione not only remember his teatime slip about 
Nicholas Flamel, but are actively researching in their spare time. 
Hagrid refuses to give them any hints, and Rowling uses the third 
person limited POV to reinforce the "Snape=villian" characterization, 
and proceeds to describe the library and (note capitals) Restricted 
Section. While the three diligently research on the penultimate day of 
the term, Madame Pince shoos them out of the library. Hermione makes 
Harry and Ron promise to owl her if they discover anything about 
Flamel in her absence.

When the holidays finally arrive, Harry and Ron spend their days 
lounging in the relatively empty Gryffindor common room toasting 
marshmallows and playing wizard chess. (Mini-flint: "Ron also started 
teaching Harry wizard chess." Harry plays with a chess set that Seamus 
Finnigan "lent him," but Seamus is not in their room on Christmas 
day.). The reader learns how to play wizard chess and that Ron is much 
more skilled at chess than Harry.

On Christmas day, Harry receives his very own Weasley sweater, some 
Weasley fudge, a wooden flute from Hagrid, 50p. from the Dursleys, the 
extremely-important-next-chapter Chocolate Frogs from Hermione, and 
his father's own invisibility cloak.  The cloak is accompanied by a 
note advising Harry to "use it well." Ron whines about the sweaters 
and how much he hates maroon. Enter Gred and Forge: Harry hides the 
cloak, Percy enters the scene only to be frog-marched into family 
togetherness.

Chrismas dinner is huge and opulent, putting a magical spin on the 
tradition of Christmas Crackers. Wine flows, and amusing hats are 
worn. After a snowball fight and a light(er) evening meal, everyone 
goes to bed full and happy, except Harry, who decides to break in his 
new invisibility cloak. Remembering Nicholas Flamel, Harry attempts to 
raid the (note capitals) Restricted Section, but is thwarted by a 
screaming alarm. After narrowly escaping Filch and Snape, Harry finds 
himself in an unused classroom with a huge mirror in which he sees 
himself surrounded by people. When he realizes that the people in the 
mirror are his family, he stands at the mirror transfixed until a 
distant noise brings him back to reality.

The next morning, Ron grumps that he didn't get to go on the adventure 
but agrees to go with Harry that night to find the mirror again. After 
a long search, they find the room, and Ron sees himself as Head Boy 
and Quidditch Captain. The two boys have a brief fight over the 
mirror, which is interrupted by the timely entrance of Mrs. Norris. 
Ron drags Harry back to the Gryffindor tower before Harry can protest.

The following day, Ron urges Harry not to return to the mirror, but 
Harry does not listen. In his desire to see his family again, Harry 
does not even notice the Headmaster sitting in the room. Dumbledore 
admits to having looked in on Ron's and Harry's adventure the previous 
night and explains to Harry that the mirror will show the viewer's 
deepest desires, but contains neither knowledge nor truth.  He also 
says that the mirror will be moved and cautions Harry against looking 
for it again. Before returning to bed, Harry asks Dumbledore what he 
sees in the mirror. Dumbledore replies that he sees himself holding a 
pair of socks. Harry ponders the truth of Dumbledore's response as he 
returns to his room and bed.

Questions:

1. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are visiting Charlie in Romania for Christmas. 
What does this indicate about Charlie? (Why can't he return to the 
Burrow for the holidays? His own family? Work?)

2. Do you feel that the sterotypical portrayal of Madame Pince as the 
ill-tempered, spinsterish librarian is problematic and/or overly 
simplistic, or is it another misleading characterization brought to 
you by Red Herring, Inc.?

3. How did Ron get so good at chess? Who did he play with? The only 
other Weasley that we that we know plays chess is Ron's (possibly 
deceased) grandfather.

4. (How timely!) Sure, Ron complains about maroon sweater (and corned 
beef), but considering that Percy, Fred and George all have their 
first initial knitted into their sweaters and Ron's does not, do you 
think that his family really does notice him less than his other 
siblings? What niche does this leave for Ron? 

5. Percy nearly breaks a tooth on a silver sickle in his Christmas 
pudding. In muggle traditions, the person who finds the coin in their 
slice of pudding will come into money during the following year. 
Considering Percy's low-level Ministry job in GoF, is this just a 
throwaway bit, or is JKR hinting at big things for Percy (and not 
necessarily of a wholesome nature) in future books? 

6. If the Mirror of Erised had not been the Philosopher's Stone's 
final protection prior to December 27th, what kind of puzzle or 
enchantment do you think Dumbledore protected it with between July 31 
and December 27?

7. Assuming Dumbledore WAS being truthful about seeing himself with 
socks in the Mirror of Erised, (a big assumption, but this can count 
as my fun question!) why does Dumbledore desire them so? (see Pablo 
Neruda's ""Ode to My Socks")

My humblest apologies if I've inadvertently violated any Chapter 
Summary rules. I will be posting Chapter Thirteen later today (I'm on 
USA Pacific Standard Time.. late for almost everyone on this list!)  
11 days to the movie and counting...

Spinning in my chair,

Libby
Mundungus42
Former Part-Time Ruler of Chicago