Another silly question

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 187228

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Carol" <justcarol67 at ...> wrote:
>
> Speaking of silly questions, I'm rereading CoS (which is funnier than I remembered, at 
> least in places) and I was wondering--does Hermione just leave her cauldron in 
> Moaning Myrtle's bathroom when she and the boys aren't adding ingredients to the 
> Polyjuice Potion? 

Geoff:
The specific piece of canon is:
'There was a clunk, a splash and a gasp from within the cubicle and he 
saw Hermione's eye peering through the keyhole.

"Harry!" she said. "You gave us such a fright. Come in - how's your arm?"

"Fine," said Harry, squeezing into the cubicle. An old cauldron was perched 
on the toilet and a cracking from under the rim told Harry they had lit a 
fire beneath it.'
(COS "The Duelling Club" pp.137/38 UK edition)

It is described as "old" - to me the implication being that it was not Hermione's.
When I taught, there would often be odd cupboards or store areas where 
spare or redundant items were kept. I think this was the case. we know that 
there were such places in Hogwarts. Look at the classroom where the Mirror 
of Erised was kept (PS "The Mirror of Erised" p.152 UK edition) as the sort of 
place in which an old cauldron could end up.

Carol:
> BTW, Moaning Myrtle's bathroom is described in my edition as being on the first floor, 
> but it has to be on the second floor, the same place that the Petrified Mrs. Norris was 
> found. (Or maybe "first" means second--one floor up from the ground floor, which 
> Americans call the first floor--in which case Mrs. Norris was found on the "first" floor--> or "first storey," as the British would say.)

Geoff:
In the UK original, the bathroom is on the second floor as was the attack. 
Harry and the others are coming up from the dungeons and the Deathday 
party:
'"This way,"he shouted and he began to run, up the stairs into the Entrance 
Hall....

...Harry sprinted up the marble staircase to the first floor....

...Distantly, from the floor above and growing fainter still, he heard the voice: 
'I smell blood... I SMELL BLOOD!'...

,,,ignoring Ron and Hermione's bewildered faces, he ran up the next flight 
of stairs three at a time, trying to listen over his own pounding footsteps.

Harry hurtled around the whole of the second floor, Ron and Hermione 
panting behind him until they turned a corner into the last, deserted passage...

...Hermione gave a sudden gasp, pointing down the corridor.

"Look!"
Something was shining on the wall ahead.'
(COS "The Deathday Party" p.105 UK edition)

That firmly puts the attack on the second floor (BTW we would never 
say 'on the second storey' in that context).

And Myrtle's bathroom:

'"As she spoke, they turned a corner and found themselves at the end 
of the very corridor where the attack had happened. They stopped and 
looked. The scene was just as it had been that night, except that there 
was no stiff cat hanging from the torch bracket and an empty chair 
stood against the wall bearing the message 'the Chamber has been 
opened'.

"That's where Filch has been keeping guard," Ron muttered....

....Harry said, "Remember all that water on the floor? Where did that 
come from? Someone's mopped it up."

"It was about here," said Ron, recovering himself to walk a few paces 
past Filch's chair and pointing. "Level with this door."

He reached for the brass doorknob but suddenly withdrew his hand 
as though he'd been burned.

"What's the matter?" said Harry.

"Can't go in there," said Ron gruffly, "that's a girls' toilet."

"Oh, Ron, there won't be anyone in there," said Hermione, standing 
up and coming over."That's Moaning Myrtle's place. Come on, let's 
have a look."'
(COS "The Writing on the Wall" from pp.116-18 UK edition)

I think it is very clear that the action here ends on the second floor. 
The dungeons are in the basement, the Entrance Hall is on the 
ground floor and Harry goes up two floors from there. It would seem 
that the American editors may have erred if there is a discrepancy in 
your edition.