CHAPTER DISCUSSION PS/SS 10, THE HALLOWEEN

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 188358

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

Pippin:
I don't think we can say we understand the Quidditch rules at all, since there are all those hundreds of fouls and we don't know what they are. But it's probably easier to follow the action in a baseball game, since there's only one ball.

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

Pippin:
We don't know the reason for the ban on first years bringing their own brooms, so it's difficult to say. If it's simply to keep first years from showing up with more broom than they can handle, then I see no reason not to make an exception for Harry. The argument is sometimes made that Draco was a good flyer too. But Draco was using the wrong grip so he had some bad habits to unlearn.

Evidently Flitwick didn't think that letting Harry play would give Gryffindor an unfair advantage over Ravenclaw. What Snape thought we don't know, but we do know that in CoS he doesn't hesitate to pre-empt a scheduled Gryffindor practice because Slytherin needed to train its new Seeker.

Hogwarts rules are not inflexible.

 
> 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?

Pippin:
It certainly means that Snape isn't the only teacher who thinks its okay to demonstrate spells on a pet. I wonder how Trevor felt about it? It seems to me being zoomed around would be  more frightening then a momentary regression to tadpolehood.


> 
> 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?

Pippin:
Of course they do have a choice. They, or one of them,  could have gone to get a teacher. But it's like Gryffindors to think that they, and they alone, can make a difference.

> 
> 
> 5.	Do you believe that fighting a troll could be a good start for great friendship?
> 
Pippin:
Adversity often breaks down the barriers between people.


> 6.	When Ron hears Hermione scream after she is locked in with the Troll, he is described turning "pale as the Bloody Baron". What if anything does it mean to you?

Pippin:
The Bloody Baron is the only ghost we meet who's purely scary. The others all have a comic tinge that would make the simile inappropriate.

> 
> Zara's question:
> 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?

Pippin:
Snape has been told that Voldemort will seek to return to power, and must know the stone could aid him in that purpose. Certainly a Voldemort returned to power would be a greater threat to Harry. But Snape is also attached to Hogwarts itself and would defend it against the traitorous Quirrell.

Thanks, Alla and Zara, for the summary and questions

Pippin