CHAPTER DISCUSSION: CH 2, "A Peck of Owls" (slightly modified repost)

hickengruendler hickengruendler at yahoo.de
Mon Oct 13 13:30:00 UTC 2003


No: HPFGUIDX 82828

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Kelley" <kelleythompson at g...> 
wrote:
 
> 
>  Any ideas 
> how the Kneazle's ability to "guide its owner safely home if they 
are 
> lost" will come into play in canon?

I think it is likely that it has do something with Hermione and 
Crookshanks. Crookshanks is more fleshed out than Mrs. Figg's cats, 
so I think he will be more important. 

>Mrs. Figg and Filch are the only 
> Squibs we've met (that we know of); does Mrs. Norris fall into the 
> part-Kneazle category, too? 

Probably.
 
> 
> Q2: What ways does the Ministry have of detecting underage magic? 
> House Elves or portraits? This doesn't seem likely, so what could 
it 
> be?

I have not the slightest idea. I wondered about this, too.
 
> Q3: What *does* "spoiled, pampered Dudley" hear when attacked by 
> Dementors?

Maybe the Ton-Tongue Toffee incident? I think this was a really awful 
incident and surely not a pleasant memory for Dudley. 
> 
> Q4: Petunia says that she overheard "that awful boy" telling Lily 
> about Dementors years ago -- James? Snape? Someone else? What might 
> the circumstances have been that Petunia was able to overhear this; 
> were they at Lily and Petunia's home where they lived with their 
> parents?  Why was this person telling Lily about Dementors and 
> Azkaban? Harry assumes Petunia just happens to remember this scrap 
of 
> info from years ago, but how likely is it that Petunia only 
> knows "scraps" of information about the Wizarding World?

I am not sure at all, if Petunia told the truth. It seemed a lot like 
if she tried to apologize and searched desperatly for a believable 
explanation.
> 
> Q5: When Harry explains about the Dementor's Kiss, Petunia utters 
> a "soft scream". Does she know someone who received the Dementor's 
> Kiss? Is this what happened to her and Lily's parents? If so, did 
> Petunia only know that they were killed due to Lily's connection to 
> the Wizarding World, but never knew how (or why)? Could the victims 
> of the Dementor's Kiss have been someone other than their parents? 
> Who?

Petunia seemed to know what the Dementors are, but not, what they do. 
Therefore I can't imagine that her parents were kissed, otherwise she 
would have known, that Dudley still has his soul. That said, I also 
think that Petunias parents might have been killed by Death Eaters 
and that that is one of the reason, why Petunia resents magic.
> 
> Q6: Vernon says "Why we ever kept you in the first place I don't 
> know..." Is this just a figure of speech, or does he *really not 
> know*? Did Petunia just insist that Harry stay without telling 
> Vernon the real reasons why? 

I think he really doesn't know the reason. When the howler came, 
Petunia knew exactly who was speaking and what was the reason. But 
Vernon didn't. Petunia also told him, that Harry has to stay because 
the neighbours will talk.
> 
> Q7: When Vernon rails against the magical world, Petunia never 
> demurs; but while he rants and raves, she stays in the background. 
> The concern has always been that they want to live a normal life, 
> that they maintain a proper and respectable appearance among the 
> neighbors, among family, in Vernon's career; this is probably true 
> for Vernon, and maybe to some degree for Petunia as well. But does 
> Petunia have another reason for keeping their connection to the 
> Wizarding World a secret? Is her behavior all this time is just a 
> facade? Is she just playing a role?

I don't think so. I think she really doesn't want to have something 
to do with the wizarding world.
> 
> Q8: Petunia's often described as 'nosy', keen to know what the 
> neighbors are up to. We learn this from Harry's perspective; is 
this 
> actually JKR derailing us? Is Petunia really not watching the 
> neighbors, but keeping watch for something or someone else?

I would say it is possible, like I already said in the Lily/ Petunia 
topic. She knows that the boy she took in is in great danger, and 
therefore she and her family are in danger, too. This could really be 
a reason that she is sort of paranoid and wanted to be really 
careful, especially if her parents really were killed by wizards.
> 
 
> *Is* Petunia the person who will exhibit/discover magical ability 
> later in life?  Or is it Dudley or someone else?

I still think it's Argus Filch.

Hickengruendler





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