CHAPTER DISCUSSION PS/SS 10, THE HALLOWEEN

[jelly92784]

No: HPFGUIDX 188346

 CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone/Philosopher's Stone Chapter Nine: Halloween

1. Which sports rules did you find easier to understand: Quidditch or Baseball?

Janelle: 
haha interesting question- definitely Quidditch!  Although I understand the general rules to baseball, that game has a lot of little rules that I don't always understand- probably because I don't closely follow the game.  There is one thing that I wanted to point out about Quidditch because the seemingly pointlessness of all players other than the Seeker seems to be coming up a lot lately.  True, in the Quidditch matches we see the team whose seeker gets the Snitch usually wins.  The only exception is the one *professional* game that we see.  I think that the school-league games that we see, just like with baseball and such in the Muggle world, do not measure up to the professional leagues.  I think it's likely that professional matches are often much higher scoring and that the possibility of catching the snitch and not winning isn't quite as far fetched.

2. What special circumstances about her getting Harry a broom did McGonagall share with Flitwick in your opinion?

Janelle:
Along the same lines as what others have said, I think that McGonagall simply filled Flitwick in on what was going on: Harry's become Gryffindor's new seeker, I had to arrange for him to get a broomstick even though he's only a first year, etc.  I've always had the impression that McGonagall and Flitwick are on friendly terms (probably partially due to their going to the Three Broomsticks together in Harry's third year) and I think that she filled him in the way that colleagues and friends would.

3. We are shown Trevor zooming around the class in Charms, does that mean that kids' pets are allowed in the classrooms if kids so desire?

Janelle:
I don't think that pets would be allowed in the classrooms- I think it probably has more to do with Neville's tendency to lose Trevor.  Trevor had probably gotten into Neville's bag, then gotten out during Charms class.  Perhaps Flitwick's flying him across the room wasn't a planned demonstration, but more like grabbing a fleeing toad and sending him back to his owner, the kids thought it was cool and so were excited to learn how to make objects fly.

4. We are told that Ron and Harry do not want to go fight the troll, but feel that they have no other choice. What does this say about their characters or any characters when thought like this flashes in their minds?

Janelle:
I have to agree with what everyone has already written about this one, but I also have something to add.  This situation shows that Harry and Ron are good people.  First, they risk getting into trouble (again) to go find Hermione and warn her about the troll.  Then, once they realize that they've locked the troll in a room with her, there's no way that they would just leave her to fend for herself.  

I think what this question is really asking, though, is what you think about a character who has thoughts like "I don't want to do this" run through their mind and then do it anyway.  I think it's important to note that Harry and Ron didn't stand there thinking "I don't really want to fight this troll."  I don't have my book close at hand, but I'm pretty sure that the line goes something like this: "even though it was the last thing they wanted to do, they had no choice, they had to help Hermione."  This isn't saying that they don't want to help Hermione- that's what they set out to do- what they did *not* set out to do was fight a troll.

5. Do you believe that fighting a troll could be a good start for great friendship?

Janelle:
I definitely think that it can be the start of a great friendship, but not that it necessarily will.  It's way more than just the fact that they fight a troll together, but the way that it happens.  First, Harry and Ron go searching for Hermione- even when they're the reason she's upset and hiding in the bathroom to begin with.  Next, they help each other to beat the troll.  Then Hermione lies to the teachers, no small gesture for her, to protect Ron and Harry (even though I don't really understand why they couldn't just tell the truth about what happened, but that's beside the point...).  This is such a bonding experience for them because of the ways in which they help each other through it.

7. We now know Snape agreed to help Dumbledore protect *Harry*. What, in your opinion, explains his extra efforts to protect the Philosopher's Stone, as in  this chapter, when he sees through Quirrell's ruse and checks on the third-floor corridor rather than going into the dungeons with the other teachers?

Janelle:
It's hard to say without knowing exactly how much Snape knows about what's going on.  We know that he knows about the Stone because he's already helped set up its protection- so we know he's helping Dumbledore to keep the Stone safe, so I guess the question is who he thinks he's keeping it safe from.  Did Dumbledore confide in him that he thought Voldemort was behind it?  IIRC, during the Prince's Tale we find out that Dumbledore told Snape to keep an eye on Quirrell, but he doesn't say anything about Voldemort's involvement.  I guess I think that Dumbledore might not have told him, but that Snape knew, or at least suspected, and put in the extra effort to thwart Voldemort.  Let's keep in mind that protecting Harry is not the only reason that Snape has to fight Voldemort- Voldemort killed Lily which, for Snape, is motivation enough to want him finished.