SS/PS Chapter 06 Summary

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

No: HPFGUIDX 28005

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Amber ?" <inviziblegirl at h...> wrote:
> A warning: these questions are not the finest. They are a bit lame. 
Truly I 
> racked my brains but couldn't come up with anything better. If 
anyone can 
> think up more interesting ones, by all means pose them to the group!

Don't worry - the ones about the Weasleys and Hermione made me think 
a bit.


OK, Amber, just to make you happy...No really, this is one of my 
favourite chapters in the entire series so far, and has one of my 
favourite scenes in it (when the twins ask Harry if he is Harry 
Potter.  So poignant, so telling about Harry's psyche at that point, 
as I have ranted about before, so I'll shut up now).

Questions:

1) Why wasn't Harry told about the barrier to the platform nine and 
three-quarters and how to get through it? What do you think would 
have 
happened if Harry hadn't figured out the barrier?

I think that this was an oversight on Hagrid's part.  He was 
obviously not used to contacting potential Hogwart's students, and 
was not clear on what instructions to give.  As he says himself, he 
did keep forgetting how much Harry didn't know, and he is rather 
absent minded as far as details and practicalities are concerned.

2) Do you remember your first impressions of the Weasley family? Of 
Ron? 
What were they?

I loved them.  I especially liked the twins – as mentioned above, one 
of my favourite scenes is when they ask Harry if he is Harry Potter.  
I also thought how kind they were, to help an unknown first year with 
his trunk.  In my experience, that kind of behaviour is quite rare in 
adolescent boys.  I felt that I already knew Percy – his pride in 
being a prefect which he just can't keep quiet about, and I felt 
sympathy for him as things such as that used to make me very happy 
and self-important as well!  Mrs Weasley, just nice and motherly, and 
perhaps slightly harassed, and I liked the way she immediately felt 
protective of Harry, when she insisted that her children weren't to 
ask him about Voldemort.

Actually, Ron was the one I didn't immediately take to (and I know 
some of you will immediately think, no surprises there).  I've never 
particularly liked his humour (apart from the naked joke with Dobby's 
teacosy), but I did feel very sorry for him, with the older brothers, 
hand-me-downs (I had many of those when I was a child) corned beef 
sandwiches
and I'm sure that I realised that he was destined to be 
Harry's friend, not just because of himself, but because of what the 
whole family could give him.  

Finally, I'm quite a fan of Ginny, compared to many people on this 
list, but her first appearance didn't really do much for me.  I just 
thought - little girl, and I used that to explain the immaturity she 
shows in wanting to go and look at Harry.  However, I did think that 
she had a good relationship with her brothers, and liked the fact 
that she really wanted to go to Hogwarts.

3) What was your first impression of Hermione? Did you guess that she 
would 
become a main character at this point?

Yes!  I immediately recognised and loved Hermione.  I know that she 
is initially annoying, but she still has many redeeming features at 
this point as well, and I actually found her quite endearing.  I love 
the fact that she is helping Neville -  I know this can be seen as 
interfering and being bossy, but it also came from recognising that 
Neville did need help (her first lame duck at Hogwarts?) and also 
came from insecurity within herself – making a friend by helping and 
being useful (and mothering already) is a sure fire way not to be 
lonely, although I am sure the latter was subconscious.    

What I find most telling about Hermione in these first scenes is the 
expression "she said this very fast" (para).  Insecurity?  People 
often talk very fast because they want to say everything they want to 
say without being interrupted – and this could be because they are 
worried someone is going to tell them to go away or shut up before 
they manage to get the words out.   I don't know, but I saw these 
first overtures on Hermione's part to be full of mistakes – but not 
born merely out of bossiness and showing off, but out of a desire to 
make friends and not quite knowing how to go about it.

Did I think that she would be a main character?  Yes, because even at 
this stage, you immediately get a sense of who and what she is, and 
she is extremely well drawn, compared to someone like Lavender or 
Dean, for instance.

4) Did you wonder at how Neville could so frequently lose his toad? 
Did 
anyone at this point think up the popular theory that Neville is 
under a 
memory charm?

No.  That only occurred to me during GoF, and I'm not entirely sure 
that I thought of it before someone on this list did – ie. I may not 
have thought it during my reading of GoF at all.  Why are these 
things so hard to pin down sometimes?

Catherine