Prof. McGonagall's biscuits

[bluesqueak]

No: HPFGUIDX 92536

cyberflower27 wrote:
> Hi! I'm a newbie from NJ!

Welcome!

> Does anyone have any theory on what the significance of the 
> biscuits are or what they may be? I'm pretty sure they're not     
> chocolate...

I think they're significant because offering biscuits is significant 
in the UK. It turns something from 'formal' into 'more informal'. It 
offers hospitality. Biscuits are offered at, say, a break from the 
meeting (like a donut break). A head of house offering a student a 
biscuit signals that this isn't a formal dressing down; they want to 
find out (or in McGonagall's case, explain) what the problem really 
is. 

Harry's refusal of the second biscuit is classic sulky teenager - 
which is why McGonagall tells him not to be ridiculous. He's 
signalling that he wants to reject the good advice she's just given 
him, by refusing something that he actually wants. At least, I never 
knew a teenage boy that *wasn't* a bottomless pit when it comes to 
accepting biscuits [grin].

Pip!Squeak